Dec. 31, 1910.] 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
1061 
The Importance of Fish and Game 
Protection. 
Bennington, Vt., Dec. 22 . — Editor Forest and 
Stream: One of the great problems before 
the American people to-day is the conserva¬ 
tion of our natural resources. In the interest 
of this cause, national conventions have met 
and the governors of the various States have 
assembled to discuss suitable measures and 
adopt ways and means to bring it about. The 
agitation is gradually taking tangible form. 
The people are discussing the questions in¬ 
volved and becoming more convinced as they 
proceed in investigating the subject that im¬ 
mediate measures of relief are necessary if we 
are considerate of our future welfare as a 
nation. Out of these discussions it has been 
finally determined that the principal problem 
is to stop wasting our resources at once and to 
prevent wasting them in the future. Now, 
long before this agitation became general in 
its form there were many good and earnest 
men in the field making a sincere fight to pre¬ 
serve and protect that branch of our re¬ 
sources which includes the supply of game, 
fish and birds. 
We come into contact daily with men who 
say there is just as much game and fish now as 
there ever was, and yet we find these same 
men demanding of the State commissions that 
they redouble their efforts at stocking de¬ 
pleted waters with fish and depleted covers 
with game. If there is such an ample supply, 
why this feverish desire for more? Can we 
not depend upon natural reproduction to keep 
the balance even? As a matter of fact, these 
men fully realize the growing decrease, but 
they fear to acknowledge it lest the commis¬ 
sion get new laws enacted which will curtail 
their selfish pleasure. That is the real truth 
of the situation. Such men are not willing 
to forego one particle of their own pleasure 
to advance the good of the whole, therefore 
they should be entitled to little influence in 
the councils of the game and fish protection¬ 
ists. We want to consult men of broad views. 
We want to counsel with those who are will¬ 
ing to sacrifice their own selfish interests for 
the common good. We want the assistance of 
those who are willing to reserve their gun¬ 
fire to save the game. That is the class of 
men who will accomplish this result, if it is 
accomplished at all. 
Occasionally we meet a man who inquires: 
“What does it all amount to, anyway, this at¬ 
tempting to save the game and fish? Why 
not permit each person to take all the game 
he desires, and whenever he so desires? The 
fish and animals are here for the benefit of 
man, so why restrict his right in taking them 
at his pleasure?” It seems hardly necessary in 
this day of widely diffused knowledge on the 
subject for us to point out the economic value 
of insect and seed eating birds to the farmer, 
the food value of game birds, fish and certain 
species of animals and the increasing value of 
fur-bearing animals. There is no question 
concerning the value of these birds, fish and 
animals to mankind, the question is, how can 
we best use and conserve the supply without 
waste and prevent their extinction? The con¬ 
ditions are rapidly militating against us, and 
we must recognize the premonitory signs and 
take heed, lest we be too late, as we have 
been in the case of the buffalo,’the passenger 
pigeon, the beaver, and the wild turkey. 
What is meant by fish and game protection 
and propagation? While the two are closely 
related, protection and propagation are two 
distinct branches of the subject. They require 
two different classes of specially trained men 
to carry them into effect. For protection we 
need men who are familiar with the laws and 
have the physical and moral courage to carry 
out our measures. For propagation, we must 
have men skilled in the knowledge of fish- 
culture and natural history. Protection con- 
BIG TARPON. 
W. A. Jones with a tarnon weighing 200 pounds, 7 feet 
5% inches in length and his rod and reel. 
sists in the enactment of sane, simple and 
scientific laws, and'a just, energetic and rigid 
enforcement of the same. What do we mean 
by sane, simple and scientific laws? We mean 
brief, clear and just measures, founded solely 
upon the authority of scientific knowledge of 
the ways, habits and breeding seasons of fish 
and game, and which will insure to the latter 
ample opportunity to reproduce their kind 
without molestation. Any measure which 
directly or indirectly tends to this end, or 
which militates against destroying wild life 
so rapidly that it cannot keep nature’s balance 
even is a true .measure of protection. Any 
law not founded on this theory is a fraud and 
a deceit, and should not be permitted to parade 
under the guise of a protective measure. 
Measures which limit the amount of game or 
fish to a person, that limit the size of fish to 
be taken, that license hunters to support a 
fish and game department on a business basis, 
or .which secure to each individual his full 
rights in respect to the game, are indirect 
measures of protection. 
All these laws should be safe and sane, and 
by that we mean they should not be so harsh 
raid restrictive as to cause the people to rebel 
and treat them with contempt, for then we 
cannot enforce them and they are worse than 
no laws at all. If the people lose respect for 
one law, they quickly form the habit of losing 
respect for all fish and game laws, and defy 
their enforcement. When we make a law 
permitting the people to take game or fish 
under given conditions, those conditions must 
not be so harsh, technical and interwoven with 
red tape that the people will lose all pleas¬ 
ure in attempting to observe them. The con¬ 
ditions should be easily observed and under¬ 
stood, and place no burdens on the people. 
When this rule is followed, we have true pro¬ 
tective laws. 
Equally important with good laws, is the 
necessity of their strict enforcement. This 
may really be more important in its way, for 
there is more protection where a few laws are 
rigidly enforced than where there is a whole 
statute book of good laws and none of them 
enforced. 
Educajing the people in a knowledge of the 
benefits to a state of its supply of fish, game 
and birds is a great aid to this work. It 
causes the decent and reasonable man to think 
and study, and when men begin to study and 
agitate a subject, good results are certain to 
follow. But that is not all. If it were, we 
need only to issue forth in a campaign of 
education and our object would be attained. 
There are lawless men in every community, 
who will not listen to reason. As a rule, these 
are the worst offenders, and the only way to 
restrain them is by force of the law fully ex¬ 
ecuted against them. The laws are directed 
against this class and we would need no ex¬ 
ecutive department of the government if this 
class did not exist. Laws would then be self- 
enforcing. Unfortunately, in the work of fish 
and game protection we have a large lawless 
class to contend with, and their offenses are 
committed in such isolated and remote sec¬ 
tions that it requires hard work and great 
vigilance to apprehend them. So, give us 
wise, simple and scientific laws, and a business¬ 
like executive department to enforce them, 
and our game, fish and birds will certainly not 
be exterminated, even if they don’t increase 
sufficiently rapid to meet our earnest hopes and 
efforts. 
In late years a new element has come into 
the consideration of fish and game laws. It 
is the moral element of responsibility. This 
is due to the licensing of all hunters. No man 
can now-hunt without a license, and the money 
he contributes for his license goes to support a 
department for his benefit; therefore, he has a 
direct interest in that department, and a new 
legal right in respect to the game. This license 
is in the nature of a contract between the 
State and the hunter. The consideration is 
that there shall be game to hunt and the 
licensee be assured of an equal opportunity of 
securing his just share. So, if the State does 
not preserve the game and so limit the bag 
that there will be a share for each licensee, it 
