Jan. 23, 1909.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
139 
lovers of nature. Most of these passes are 
closed for many months of each year by snow; 
some of them are available only after the use 
of the axe to give footing on the hard ice of 
glaciers lying close to the divide, but one or 
two of them are of such a nature as to event¬ 
ually accommodate wagon roads, by which per¬ 
sons unfitted for the strenuous efforts now re¬ 
quired to reach the higher country may have 
opportunity to view it at close range. None of 
them that are south of the Canadian boundary 
will ever be used for a railway route. At some 
future day the locomotive may cross from Can¬ 
ada to the waters of the Flathead River and 
wend southward to the towns and farming val¬ 
leys adjacent to Columbia Falls and Kalispell 
and form a link with the Great Northern Rail¬ 
way. A route on the west side of the Flathead 
River is very available for the location of a 
railroad track. In the valley of the Flathead 
River are several square miles of land which are 
admirable for grazing purposes, but over the 
greater part of the area the soil is so thin as to 
preclude its extensive use for farming. 
The area incloses about 1,340 square miles. 
In it are 250 lakes, ranging from ten miles to 
a few hundred feet in extent; there are more 
than sixty glaciers between five square miles and 
a few acres in area; there are animals, plants 
and rocks in numbers and quantity to satisfy 
the most ardent student, and views of great 
variety, beauty and grandeur to gratify the artist 
and lover of nature. 
The area is in every way suited to the pur¬ 
poses of a national park and game preserve. 
The benefits which would come to the persons 
living close to or within the area would in a 
very short time compensate them generously for 
any temporary inconvenience they may experi¬ 
ence. 
Brown’s Tract Guides. 
Utica, N. Y., Jan. 16. —Editor Forest and 
Stream: At the annual meeting of the Brown’s 
Tract Guides’ Association, which was held in 
Boonville, Jan. 14, the following officers were 
elected for the ensuing year: President, Ned 
Ball, Old Forge; Vice-President, Melville J. 
Oley, White Lake; Secretary and Treasurer, A. 
M. Church, Boonville; Executive Committee, 
John Sprague, of Old Forge; Charles Martin, of 
Big Moose; J. Van Arnam, of Inlet; William 
Stell, of White Lake; Charles H. Smith, of 
Beaver River; Roy Crego, of Boonville, and 
Benjamin Sperry, of Old Forge. It was de¬ 
cided to hold the next annual meeting at Old 
Forge. 
The annual report of the secretary and treas¬ 
urer, A. M. Church, showed the association to 
be in a prosperous condition. An abstract of 
the report follows: At one time last winter it 
looked as if it would be necessary to spend con¬ 
siderable time in the feeding of deer, and we 
began to have them located and the conditions 
examined. This work was done under the 
direction of President Sperry, Game Protector 
Ball and Mr. Crego. Fortunately rain came, 
settling the snow and making a crust upon which 
the deer could walk and even run. Further 
operations for this purpose were not considered 
necessary. We employed guides and others 
when we could in watching for violations of 
the game law, protecting spawning beds, and 
have tried to assist the game protectors wher¬ 
ever we could. At the time of holding our last 
annual meeting, a bill had been introduced in 
the New York Legislature overhauling the game 
law generally. The bill carried with it several 
features which had long been advocated by our 
association, among them being the hunting 
license, the non-sale of trout, partridge and 
woodcock. It is very generally conceded that 
the new law is good, much better than New 
York has had in the past. If further changes 
are made, the sale of deer or venison should 
be prohibited, or the killing restricted to one 
deer to a person, or both. Deer seemed to be 
as numerous in the past season as they had been 
before, and notwithstanding the unusually dry 
time, many were killed. Fewer bucks and more 
small deer were taken than is usual. It is not 
thought that as many were killed as in the pre¬ 
vious hunting seasons. 
Two serious accidents from the use of fire¬ 
arms occurred in our section; one in the vicinity 
of Wood’s Lake, the other between Forestport 
and Twin Lakes. One was by the accidental dis¬ 
charge of a companion’s gun, the other the re¬ 
sult of handling a gun muzzle first. 
Our section was more fortunate than some in 
having none but very small forest fires which 
were quickly put out. The weather was un¬ 
usually fine for the greater part of the summer 
and fall. The forests were as dry as tinder and 
the conditions were everywhere such that the 
least spark would start a blaze. Nothing but 
the utmost care on the part of the people pre¬ 
vented the most sweeping fires the country ever 
saw. Building fires for the purpose of cook¬ 
ing was discouraged as much as possible, some 
of the hotels refusing guests’ food to be cooked 
on hunting trips unless the parties were accom¬ 
panied by guides. The Maine law requires that 
parties camping or building fires in the wild 
lands of the State between May and November 
shall be in charge of a registered guide. The 
New Brunswick law marks its forest territory 
in sections and all guides are licensed and as¬ 
signed their sections, within which they shall 
operate, protect the land from fires, the game 
from unlawful hunters and are held responsi¬ 
ble for the protection of their sections. No 
other guide must hunt their section and they 
must as well respect the rights of others. They 
are forbidden to hunt or carry a gun and will 
refuse to do so even for their sportsmen. They 
will carry his boats, packs, money or anything 
else, but not his gun. There are some sugges¬ 
tions there for New York lawmakers. 
In point of employment the season of 1908 was 
fully up to the usual standard or better. Com¬ 
missioner J. S. Whipple, in his annual report 
to the Legislature, makes some recommendations 
that are well worth your consideration. Among 
them the creation of a paid fire patrol main¬ 
tained at State expense, and that the patrol 
should be given the power given to the game pro¬ 
tectors. He also recommends an amendment to 
the constitution so that the commission may 
lease campsites on State land, to which there 
can be no objection, provided such campsites are 
limited in size and under proper regulations as 
to sub-leasing and cutting forest timber. 
Hon. James S. Whipple, State forest, fish and 
game commissioner, was present at the meet¬ 
ing and delivered his address on “Forestry” 
which was greatly enjoyed. W. E. Wolcott. 
Hunting in California. 
San Francisco, Cal., Jan. 16 .—Editor Forest 
and Stream: It is claimed that duck shooting 
this season has been the best in the vicinity of 
San Francisco that has been noted for many 
years. At times, of course, the shooting on 
some of the marshes has been poor, but as a 
general rule the birds have been plentiful, and 
when they were not to be had at one place they 
could be found in large numbers at another. 
When the season opened there was great sport 
on all the shooting grounds and every one was 
enabled to secure good bags. For a time the 
birds left the Suisun marshes, but they have now 
returned and club members are having great 
sport at their different preserves. The Los 
Banos, Gustine, Newman, Field and Tule clubs 
in the San Joaquin Valley have had great sport 
all season, but the birds are now becoming a 
little scarce there and are also said to be in 
rather poor condition. On account of the cold 
weather and heavy fogs that are now prevalent 
inland, the birds are coming back in large num¬ 
bers to the bay waters. It is expected that as 
soon as warm weather sets in again there will 
be a great movement of the ducks back to the 
valley where food is’now becoming so abundant. 
The Empire Club at Elkhorn, in Monterey 
county, is able to report a highly successful sea¬ 
son, and at no time has there been a lack of 
birds in its preserves. The excellent season en¬ 
joyed here is attributed to the plans and fore¬ 
thought of the members of the club, for an 
immense amount of work has been done on the 
preserves to make them attractive to the feath¬ 
ered tribe. The ponds of this club are all artificial 
and are kept filled with fresh running water. 
They are laid out in the shape of a four-leaf 
clover and it is impossible for the birds to come 
into the ponds without getting within range of 
some of the blinds. The quail shooting in this 
vicinity has also been exceptionally good, the 
best, perhaps, in the vicinity of San Francisco. 
Quail shooting at the present time is better 
than it has been at any time during the present 
season. The absence of these birds from their 
usual haunts earlier in the season is accounted 
for by the fact that the season has been a very 
dry one and that the birds have shelter in the 
high ridges where there is plenty of cover. The 
heavy rains of late have driven them forth, how¬ 
ever, and they are now much more plentiful 
than they were a few weeks ago. The season 
closes on Feb. 15. 
In the vicinity of Los Alamos there is some 
excellent sport at the present time hunting jack- 
snipe, which are plentiful there now. This bird 
is a very difficult one to hit and the sport is 
relished by all the sportsmen who have tried it. 
Black sea brant made their appearance in large 
numbers at the head of Tomales Bay recently, 
and several local sportsmen have made trips 
there with splendid results. These birds feed 
on the eel grass that grows in this vicinity and 
this is one of the few places on the California 
coast where they are to be found. They are 
extremely wary and hard to shoot, remaining 
far out on the ocean, save when they come in 
to feed at low tide. To get them it is neces¬ 
sary to anchor out on the bay on the line of 
flight. Heavy guns and large shot are necessary 
to get them, as the range is generally a long 
one. A. P. B. 
