218 
WILD LIFE PROTECTION FUND 
Having turned on the light, the result now depends upon 
the action or non-action of the serious-minded men and wo¬ 
men of the Far West. The citizen who desires action should 
at once take steps to acquaint all his State Senators and 
Representatives with his views, and call for action. We no 
longer “appeal” to lawmakers for the rights of the wild 
creatures. We demand them! 
Many times it becomes the duty of all men delegated and 
empowered by their fellow citizens to frame and enact new 
laws, to lead public sentiment , rather than to ivait in order 
to folloiv it. This is overwhelmingly the case now in regard 
to the protection of wild life. We are convinced that in one 
year’s time we could prove to the satisfaction of an over¬ 
whelming majority of the citizens of any western state that 
the time has come to give 6-year close seasons to the sage 
grouse and for that matter, to various other species of up¬ 
land game birds. It took just one year to educate the sports¬ 
men of the state of New York from a starting-point of hos¬ 
tility to the finishing-point of complete acquiescence in the 
making of a 5-year close season on quail throughout that 
state, except on Long Island. 
But there is no time in which to reach the individual 
sportsmen of any western state; and it would be unwise to 
delay action in order that such an attempt might be made. 
Even if the legislatures of the western states met annually, 
the delay would be highly unsatisfactory; but it must be 
remembered that from March 1, 1917, TWO WHOLE 
YEARS must elapse before this question can be taken up 
anew, and acted upon! 
The danger point of extermination is in many localities 
too near to permit of such a delay. It therefore would seem 
to be the imperative duty of the members of the legislatures 
of the sage grouse states to lead public opinion in this matter 
in 1917, rather than to delay two years longer in order to 
follow it. 
The duty of the citizen is clear enough, but it is not easy 
to reach the individual in order to inform him of all the 
