Page 322 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

300 OUR VANISHING WILD LIFE
clean her house in one siege, instead of fiddling and fussing with all these mattersonebyone,throughaseriesoftenlong,wearyyears. Thetime forputteringwithgameprotectionhasgoneby. Itisnowtimetomake short cuts to comprehensive results, and save the game before it is too late.
Washington:
The state of Washington still flatters herself that she has all kinds of
biggametokill,—moose,antelope,goat,sheep,caribouanddeer. Evi- dently this is on the theory that so long as a species is not extinct, it is "legal " and right to pursue it with rifles during a specified "open season."
The people of Washington need to be told that conditions have greatly changed,anditisnowhightimetoputonthebrakes. Itistimeforthem to realize that if they wait any longer for the sportsmen to take the initiative in securing the enactment of really adequate preservation lav/s, alltheirbiggamewillbedeadbeforethoselawsareborn! Everyman shrinks from cutting off his own pet privilege.
Some of the game laws of Washington are up to date; and her big- gamelawslookallrighttotheunaidedeye,butarenot. Herbirdlaws areachaoticjumbleoflocalexceptionsandspecialprivileges. Asanet result of all her shortcomings, the remnant of a once fine fauna of big game and feathered game is surely being exterminated according to law. A few local exceptions will not disprove the general truthfulness of this assertion.
Ten years ago a few men in Seattle resented the idea of outside co- operationintheprotectionofWashingtongame. Theysaidtheywere abundantly able to take care of it; but the march of events has proven that they overestimated their capacity. To-day the wild-life laws of thatstateareonlyhalfbaked. Comewhatmaytome,Ishallsetdown without malice the things that the great and admirable State of Wash- ington should do to set her house in order. It is not good for the resourceful and progressive men of the Great Northwest to be clear behind the times in these matters.
Stop local game legislation, and enact a code of laws covering the entire state,uniformly. Countylegislationistwentyyearsbehindthetimes!
For ten (10) full years, stop the killing of elk, mountain sheep, mountain goat, caribou,inoose,andantelope. Regardingdeer,Iamindoubt.
Prohibit the sale of all wild game, no matter where killed, by the enactment of a Bayne law, complete, which will also
Promote the breeding, killing and sale of domestic game for food purposes.
Make a careful investigation of the present status of your sage grouse, every other grouse, quail, and all species of shore birds, then give a five-year close season, all over thestate,toeveryspeciesthatis"becomingscarce." Thiswillembracecertainly one-half of the whole number, if not two-thirds.
Provide two bird refuges in the eastern portion of the state, where they are very greatly needed to supplement the good effects of the State Game Preserve estab- lished on Puget Sound in 1911.
Bar the use in hunting of the odious automatic and pump shotguns that are now so generally in use all over the United States to the great detriment of the game and the people.