Few of the large animals of North America could exist save in a timbered
country where shelter and hiding-places may be had. The wild creatures
which live on the plains at once fall back before advancing settlements,
and eventually, like the buffalo and the antelope, disappear; while the
forest-inhabiting moose, deer, and elk, though in diminished numbers,
still cling to their old-time retreats. The preservation of forests and
of game go hand in hand. He who works for either works for both.
The preservation of our large game now has interest for a comparatively
small class--the naturalist, the sportsman, and the lover of nature;
while the preservation of forests, because of its direct bearing on the
material prosperity of the country, is demanding more and more
attention, and receiving a constantly growing appreciation. Intelligent
action has been taken by National and State authorities in forest
maintenance; public territories have been set aside as permanent
possessions for the people. Since each new forest reservation means a
new game refuge, a record of what has been done for public forests is a
record of what has been done for game protection; and the review is one
which affords abundant cause for satisfaction to all who are interested
in the perpetuation of the large game of the continent.
A bill passed by Congress, March 3, 1891, contained a provision
authorizing the President of the United States to set apart and reserve
from time to time government lands wholly or in part covered with timber
or undergrowth, as public reservations, and to declare by public
proclamation the establishment of such reservations and their limits.
The passage of this law, while an essential step toward forest
preservation, would have availed little unless acted on. Fortunately,
General John W. Noble, who was Secretary of the Interior when the
measure became a law, took a broad view of the importance of forest
preservation. Early in his term of office he had recognized the great
economic value of the Yellowstone Park as a source of water supply, and
had given much attention to the protection of this reservation. The
Yosemite Park also owes a great deal to his fostering care, and it was
through him that the Grant and Sequoia Parks were set aside. When the
enabling act of 1891 presented the opportunity, General Noble at once
recommended the establishment of a number of forest reservations, and
from time to time they have been set aside by presidential
proclamation. Most of them include rough timbered mountain lands, unfit
for cultivation or for settlement. They will serve by far their most
useful purpose as timber reservations, natural reservoirs which will
yield year after year a never-failing supply of water. Mr. Noble had the
wisdom and the independence to lead public opinion rather than to follow
it, and he set an example which it is hoped his successors will emulate.
Nor was he content to stop here. Realizing the rapidity with which
commercial greed was sweeping out of existence important marine species
of the Northwest, he caused Afognak Island, in Alaska, to be set aside
as a perpetual reservation for salmon and sea-lions, and planned the
establishment on Amak Island of a reservation for walrus, sea-otter, and
sea-lions, and of still another on the Farallones for sea-lions and
sea-fowl. These two refuges for the great marine mammals of our western
seas have not yet been established, but the good work set on foot by Mr.
Noble should be continued to completion with as little delay as
possible.
Much more remains to be done. We now have these forest reservations,
refuges where the timber and its wild denizens should be safe from
destruction. What are we going to do with them? The mere formal
declaration that they have been set aside will contribute but little
toward this safety. It will prevent the settlement of the regions, but
will not of itself preserve either the timber or the game on them. The
various national parks are watched and patrolled by Federal troops, but
even for them no provisions of law exist by which those who violate the
regulations laid down for their care may be punished. The forest
reservations are absolutely unprotected. Although set aside by
presidential proclamation, they are without government and without
guards. Timber-thieves may still strip the mountain-sides of the growing
trees, and poachers may still kill the game without fear of punishment.
This should not be so. If it was worth while to establish these
reservations, it is worth while to protect them. A general law providing
for the adequate guarding of all such national possessions should be
enacted by Congress, and wherever it may be necessary such Federal laws
should be supplemented by laws of the States in which the reservations
lie. The timber and the game ought to be made the absolute property of
the government, and it should be constituted a punishable offense to
appropriate such property within the limits of the reservation. The game
and the timber on a reservation should be regarded as government
property, just as are the mules and the cordwood at an army post. If it
is a crime to take the latter, it should be a crime to plunder a forest
reservation.
The national parks and forest reservations which already are, or by
proper protection may become, great game preserves are those given in
the list below. In these reservations is to be found to-day every
species of large game known to the United States, and the proper
protection of the reservations means the perpetuating in full supply of
all these indigenous mammals. If this care is provided no species of
American large game need ever become absolutely extinct; and intelligent
effort for game protection may well be directed toward securing through
national legislation the policing of forest preserves by timber and game
wardens.