Page 274 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

252 OUR VANISHING WILD LIFE
Of the many strong and aggressive state game commissions that I would Hke to mention in detail, space permits the naming of only a very few, by way of illustration.
New York.—Thanks to the great conservation Governor of this state, John A. Dix, the year 1911 saw our forest, fish and game business established on an ideal business basis. Realizing the folly of requiring a single man to manage those three great interests, and render to each the attention that it deserves and requires, by a well-studied legislative act a State Conservation Commission was created, consisting of three com- missioners,oneforeachofthethreegreatnaturaldepartments. These are salaried officers, who devote their entire time to their work, and are properlyequippedwithassistants. Thestateforceofgamewardensnow consists of 125 picked men, each on a salary of $900 per year, and through a rigid system of daily reports (inaugurated by John B. Burnham) the activities and results of each warden promptly become known in detail at headquarters.
Fortunately, New York contains a very large number of true sports- men, who are ever ready to come forward in support of every great measure for wild-life protection. The spirit of real protection runs throughout the state, and in time I predict that it will result in a great recovery of the native game of the commonwealth. That will be after we have stopped all shooting of upland game birds and shore birds for about eight years. Even the pinnated grouse could be successfully introduced over one-third of the state, if the people would have it so. It was our great body of conscientious sportsmen who made possible the Bayne- Blauvelt law, and the new codification of the game laws of the state.
Tennessee.—Clearly, Honorable Mention belongs to the unsalaried State Commissioner of Tennessee, Col. J. H. Acklen, "than whom," says
there is no more active and enthusiastic game protectionist in this country. Whatever has been accomplished in that state is due to his activity and public spirit. Col. Acklen, who is now president of the National Association of Game Commissioners, is a prominent lawyer, and enjoys the distinction of being the only commissioner in the country who not only serves without pay, but also defrays a large part of the expenses of game protection out of his own pocket."
Surely the Commonwealth of Tennessee will not long permit this unsupportedconditionofsuchagamecommissionertoendure. That state has a wild fauna worth preserving for her sons and grandsons, and it is inconceivable that the funds vitally necessary to this public service can not be found.
Alabama.—I cite the case of Alabama because, in view of its position in a group of states that .until recently have cared little about game pro- tection, it may be regarded as an unusual case. Commissioner John H. Wallace, Jr., has evolved order out of chaos,—and something approaching areignoflawoutoftheabsenceoflaw. To-daytheStateofAlabama stands as an example of what can be accomplished by and through one clear-headed, determined man who is right, and knows that he is right.
Dr. Palmer, '
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