the wild game. The refuges are under the direction of the Federal
and the State game departments. To perpetuate game animals and
game birds, it is not enough to pass game laws and forbid the
shooting of certain animals and birds except at special times of
the year; it is also necessary to provide good breeding grounds
for the birds and animals where they will not be molested or
killed. The game refuges provide such conditions.

The division of the range country into small farms and the
raising of all kinds of crops have, it is claimed, done more to
decrease our herds of antelope, elk, deer and other big game than
have the rifles of the hunters. The plow and harrow have driven
the wild life back into the rougher country. The snow becomes
very deep in the mountains in the winter and the wild animals
could not get food were it not for the game refuges in the low
country. In the Yellowstone National Park country great bands of
elk come down from the mountains during severe winters and have
to be fed on hay to keep them from starving, as there is not
sufficient winter range in this region to supply food for the
thousands of elk.

Where the elk are protected from hunters they increase rapidly.
This means that some of the surplus animals have to be killed,
otherwise, the elk would soon be so numerous that they would
seriously interfere with the grazing of domestic livestock. In
different sections of the elk country, a count is made every few
years on the breeding animals in each band. Whenever a surplus
accumulates, the state permits hunters to shoot some of the elk.
If the breeding herds get too small, no hunting is allowed. In
this way, a proper balance is maintained.