The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1921-06-03
LIVE GAME.
(By Arthur H. Carhart, Recreation
Engineer, u. S. Forest Service.)


The Superior National Forest
stands today a Playground for 9
Nation" and is to become the 'Play
ground of The Natien. The elements
found in this great Forest are of such
potential worth that it viii not be
difficult to produce in Nortehrn Min
nesota one of the most noted of all
National Fairgrounds.
Analysing those factors which
make this great area magnificent
playground Sin the rough" it will be
found that one of the greatest lies in
the presence of the great Minnesota
Game Sanctuary which is partly with
in the boundaries of the Forest.
Game has always an appeal to the
outdoor man or woman and the pres
ence of game has made more than
one outing land famous the world
over
But there is certainly a question
of just what kind of use of the game
resource will produce the most value
not only for the visitors but for the
country itself. The popular con-
ception is that in order to have the
game of a country draw tourist traf-
fic it must be game which can be
hunted. There is little question but
that this view which had good founda-
ton in the past is without so much
support at the present time. Hunt
ing will always draw men to the wilds
to bag big game but it will not draw
nearly so many in proportion to the
total tourist population of the country
today as it did twenty years ago.
To illustrate, few years ago when
Bill Jones went on a hunting trip or a
tour in the west it was written up in
the papers for miles around. It was
an event in the community. Maybe he
represented one tenth of one percent
of the population in a town of
1000 population somewhere in Iowa.
Today in that same town fifty or a
hundred men of the Bill Jones type
start out in their auto and travel as
far and see as many or more scenes
and there is nothing but few lines
in the local news saying that Bill and
his family went on an auto trip which
took them to Pixies Peak, or Emerald
Lake or some other beauty spot and
that the whole family reported good
time.
The point is that with an increased
population there is also an increase
in the percent of the population which
annually takes an outing. But this
increase does not come from the
ranks of the game hunter. It comes
from the great mass of people who
would rather see a live wild deer than
eat hundred meals of venison or
see a thousand mounted deer's heads.
A live wild animal has a hundred
times more appeal to them than one
dead even if it means steaks and a
hunting trophy.
Stated little differently, it is
probable that every third tourist
twenty years ago Joined the tourist
ranks to hunt big game. Today
it is probable that not more than one
man in a hundred or even in several
hundred go on a vacation for the ex-
press purpose of getting shot at a
deer or moose.
So while there is chance of draw
ing some few men out of every thous-
and of the potential tourists being
attracted to the Superior National
Forest region by the fact that in GER
tain areas they may hunt big game
there are going to be hundreds out
of every thousand who will come if
they can be assured of seeing wild
deer, moose or beaver in a native set
ting of pines, spruce and tamarack.
And the queer part of it is that with
these people who come only to look
on the deer or moose in the live wild
state, they are as keen about seeing
the animal as the average big game
hunter is keen about bagging one.
And they win tell to friends and
aquaintences the fact they saw wild
animals in their native haunts as
quickly as will the hunter tell of bag
ging big buck. And the big feat
ure of all is that the same live ami
NAL may be viewed by hundreds but
shot only once by the hunter.
1t is up to the people of the entire
state and especially of Ely and
Duluth to awaken to the fact that the
wild game has one of the greatest
of all values found in the Superior
Forest when recreation values are
judged. And it must be further
realized that this great public prop
erty in the game of the Forest has
dozen and dozens of times the value
alive in the great State Game
Sanctuary that it has if it is the VIC
tim of the hunter.
One of the three greatest drawing
cards for the great tourist and receat-
ion land in the Superior National
Forest is live game and when the
local people and state at large actual
ly realize that killing it within the
sanctuary is destroying one of their
greatest public assets, the illegal
hunter win be branded a. an enemy
Of the community As surely as is the