The San Francisco call., 1899-04-21
PROTECTION TO
MARIN COUNTY
GAME AND FISH
Club Members Who
Are Interested.
SUPERVISORS TO BE DINED
QUAIL SHOOTING SEASON WILL
BE SHORTENED.
Vice President Bergez of the Tamal-
pals Club Gives Some Good
Suggestions in the Inter
est of Game.
SUPERVISORS TO BE DINED
quail SHOOTING SEASON WILL
BE SHORTENED.

An important meeting is now being ar
ranged by the sportsmen Of the Country
Club and the Tamalpais Sportsmen's Club
for the purpose of discussing at length
some plan of action looking to the protec-
tion Of game and fish in Marin County.
The Country Club has invited the Su-
pervisors of the county to a dinner, and
doubtless some conclusion viii then be
arrived at between the sportsmen and
the Supervisors relative to an ordinance
limiting the killing of quail and also the
taking Of trout.
John Berger, the vice president Of the
Tamalpais Club, was seen yesterday and
in answer to a question relative to the
proposed ordinance closing the shooting
season in Marin County for five years
said:
I am not in favor Of an ordinance
which Will practically ruin the game pre-
serves of Marin County. BY shutting of
the spOrtsmen of this city from the en-
iOyment of q pastime which costs club
members annually thousands of dollars
10 maintain. the Supervisors of Marin
County would be doing US a great injus-
uce. The Tamalpals Club has expended
a large amount of money in buildings and
Improvements on its demeSne. and all of
this money benefits the citizens OF Marin
County, as We employ residents of the
county TO do the work we need from time
10 time on the preserve.
1--WE employ keepers in the interests Of
game protection, and l can positively
state that since the inauguration of the
preserve the game-that is, quail and
deer-have increased to a surprising ex
tent. The keepers have thinned out the
Vermin that is so destructive TO game
birds. Large numbers of wild cats, pole
cats, hawks, bluejays, etc, have been de-
Stroyed In the past five years, and to this
destruction We attribute in a great meas
ure the rapid increase in the game sup
ply OF the preserve.
"Sportsmen who are not members Of
the club benefit TO no small extent by the
existence of a game preserve so COnVen-
1ently situated TO San Rafael Large
fOCkS OF quail, which are protected from
slaughter by market hunters and poach-
ers frequently wander outside the boun-
daries of the demesne and are shot by To-
cal SpOrtSmen during the season when it
is lawful 70 kill game birds. There can
be no such thing as gainSaying the fact
That inland game preserves are, in the
present day Of game slaughter a benefit
To any community. Without game pro-
lection, and especially the protection of
quaI ana Such birds as breed at home,
] can confidently say that few birds would
be left in any Of the coast counties for
spOrtSmen to bag.
Outside of club preserves there are
now comparatively few game birds. The
indiscriminate slaughter of game in sea
sor and ont OF season, together w.t. the
increase Of hunters, and especially those
who hunt for the markets has had Tho
effect Of dec'mating the game that a few
years ago was so plentiful. I am in favor
Of TWO things, viz. To open the season
for shooting quail on November instead
OF october ], and the giving to sportsmen
OF three months in which to enjoy a ia
Norite pastime. During the month of Oc-
tober the young birds are foolish and con-
sequently are easily killed. l think that
sp0rtsmen should also be restricted as to
the number of birds killed per day. In
the second place, ! think an ordinance
making II misdemeanOr for any person
10 have trout in his possession less than
NNe inches in length would be VerV bene-
nclal TO the interests of our game fresh
water fishes. | also would be in favor of
the open season for trout fishing com
menclng on May l instead of April l, as
many thousands of trout fry are killed
during the first month of the season by
So-Called anglers Severe measures should
dynamite the breeding fishes which popu-
late the streams by a reproduction of
their species.
Last winter one Of our keepers arrested
portuguese poacher who had twenty
seven large breeding steelheads in his
possession. The fish We're speared in the
IhrockmortOn Lagoon The killing of
those game fish meant the loss of several
million small trout 10 the stream from
oording TO the laws Of our club, members
are restricted from killing more than
twenty-five quail per day or 300 per wear
and as lar as deer are concerned a mem
ber must not Kill more than three bucks
ana a hne Of $50 is imposed on auv
MEMBER who Kills a fawn or doe. I sin
cerely nope that the Supervisors Of Marin
County viii see the wisdom of game pro-
tectlgn by placing limit on it's destruc-