The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1909-01-17
S-P- -R-T- 10
BY w. o. RIsHEL.

The call for a state convention by
the Commercial club should accomplish
wonders toward shaping public opin-
ion in favor of better fish and game
laws. 1t seems a hard thing to say,
but il is doubtful if there is a state in
the great west today where the fish
and game interests are as little pro-
tected as they are in Utah. Like all
western states. Utah was at one time
a paradise for game fish, game birds
and game animals, but through poor
laws and poorer enforcement of the
laws on the statute books, fish and
game, with the single exception Of
ducks, are rapidly becoming extinct.
The object of this convention is to get
all the sportsmen of the state, If pos
sible, together for the first time and
unite on laws good for all, and see
that legislation is passed whereby it IS
possible for the game wardens to en-
fere the laws.
Attitude of Farmers.
one serious setback in the past has
been the attitude Of the so-called
sportsmen residing in and around salt
Lake City. in their efforts for better
and the enforcement of laws. The So
called "city sportsnen" are for str1cter
laws. smaller limits in the Kill, and
larger hatcheTies for the propagation
Of game fish. It is hard to understand
why this stand will not in every way
benefit the country sportsmen as well
as the city hunters and fishermen
These conditions will certainly make
more game and fish and the country
hunters would derive the benefit TO a
far greater extent than the city sports
men, as they are on the grounds all the
year around. The farmer who has a
we'll stocked stream of trout passing
by his door, certainly would receive
a greater benefit in fishing than the
city sportsman who visits this stream
once a year. Yet each year about the
the time the legislature meets the
farmer sportsmen cry down the city
hunters who are asking for better con-
ditions in the interest OF all.
Who Pays for Proteetion7
In order to bring about these condi-
tions the city sportsmen secured the
passage of a bill in the last legisla-
ture for a license tax of one dollar
to give the state fund to Work on.
In doing this the city sportsmen Will
ingIy created a tax, the burden of
which they were compelled TO carry
themselves.
The average city sportsman does not
have more than a week in the year
to take advantage Of the hunting and
fishing Of the state, while the farmer
sportsmen can fish and hunt any day
during the open season as the game Is
always within his reach. 1t is estimated
that every fish taken from the streams
of the state by the city sportsman costs
him a dollar each and this is not far
from being true. Yet he willingly pays
il for the chance of a few days outing
in the country. The report Of the fish
and game fund shows that Salt Lake
county pays nearly one third of ths
amount that goes into the treasury
and IT is probably safe to say that the
city sportsmen of the four largest
towns in the state, Salt Lake, Ogden,
Logan and Provo pay nearly two
thirds Of the entire fund. Yet each
year the country sportsInen practically
demand that the laws be made to their
liking.
Duck Clubs.
1t IS stated above that all classes Of
game in the state is rapidly decreasing,
except ducks. And here is where the
duck clubs come in, the duck clubs
which are derided at every meeting Of
the legislature by people from the cOun-
try Any person who viii stop to in
vestigate the duck clubs and their
methods of doing business, If he be fair
and impartial. cannot help but aeknow-
ledge that it is the duck clubs practi-
caily alone which have saved this class
of game birds from extinction. The
writer is not now, nor never has been a
member Of any duck club and when
they were first organized, was one Of
the first to declare against them. But
when we see ducks constantly on the
increase, see duck clubs making thous-
ands of additional acres Of duck ground
each year. see them planting feed for
the ducks. protecting the birds in breed
ing season with their own hired war
dens. and doing more to enforce the
laws than the game wardens them
selves, it is hard to see where they