From Farmers’ Bulletin No. 510, U-S.  Dept. of Agriculture]

Elsewhere there appears a statement regarding the elk of Jackson Hole, and the efforts made and being made to save them.  At this point we are interested in the game of Wyoming as a whole.

  First of all, the killing of mountain sheep should absolutely cease,
  for ten years.

  A similar ten-year close season should be accorded moose and
  prong-horned antelope.

  All grouse should now be classed with doves and swans (no open
  season), and kept there for ten years.

  Spring shooting is wrong in principle and vicious in practice; and
  it should be stopped in Wyoming, as elsewhere.

  The automatic and pump shotguns when used in hunting are a disgrace
  to Wyoming, as they are to other states, and should be suppressed;
  and the silencer for use in hunting is in the black list.

* * * * *

CHAPTER XXXII

NEED FOR A FEDERAL MIGRATORY BIRD LAW, NO-SALE-OF-GAME LAW, AND OTHERS

We are assuming that the American people sincerely desire the adequate protection and increase of bird life, for reasons that are both sentimental and commercial.  Surely every good citizen dislikes to see millions of dollar’s worth of national wealth foolishly wasted, and he dislikes to pay any unnecessary increased cost of living.  There must be several millions of Americans who feel that way, and who are disposed to demand a complete revolution in bird protection.

There are four needs of wild bird life that are fundamental, and that can not be ignored, any more than a builder can ignore the four cornerstones of his building.  Listed in the order of their importance, they are as follows: 

  1.—­The federal protection of all migratory birds.

  2.—­The total suppression of the sale of native wild game.

  3.—­The total suppression of spring shooting and of shooting in the
  breeding season, and

  4.—­Long close seasons for all species that are about to be “shot
  out.”

If the gunners of America wish to have a gameless continent, all they need do to secure it is to oppose these principles, prevent their translation into law, and maintain the status quo.  If they do this, then all our best birds are doomed to swift destruction.  Let no man make a mistake on that point.  The “open seasons” and “bag limits” of the United States to-day are just as deadly as the 5,000,000 sporting guns now in use, and the 700,000,000 annual cartridges.  It is only the ignorant or the vicious who will seriously dispute this statement.

THE FEDERAL PROTECTION OF MIGRATORY BIRDS.—­The bill now before Congress for the protection of all migratory birds by the national government is the most important measure ever placed before that body in behalf of wild life.  A stranger to this proposition will need to pause for thought in order to grasp its full meaning, and appreciate the magnitude of its influence.