Ladysmith news-budget. [volume] (Ladysmith, Rusk County, Wis.) 1907-1927, 1922-07-21
What To Do About Them Big
Question In Conser-
vatiOn
HUNTERS AND FISHERS
DISCUSS LIVE TOPICS
Meet With Deputy Commissioner and
Go Over Problems of Saving
Fish and Game

terested in the conservation of our
fish and game was indicated by the
earnestness with which they discussed
the subject among themselves and
with d. M. Cranston, representative
of the Wisconsin Conservation Com
mission, at a meeting held at the Cham
ber of Commerce rooms Monday night
There was a good attendance and more
interested persons were detained from
the meeting through attendance at the
school district meeting held at the
same time in the gymnasium.
The rapid depletion of the muskrat
population of the state brought out at
this meeting strong sentiment for
no open season for these valuable fur
bearing animals. If the muskrat is to
be retained as an inhabitant of our
lakes, ponds and rivers, it is going to
be necessary to give it more protection.
Many were in favor Monday night at
this meeting of an entirely closed sea-
son for the rats for a term of years,
though some would allow an open
season for river rats, as they do not
need the same amount of protection
as those of the ponds and lakes
The Beaver Puzzle
The meeting went on record as be-
ing in favor of an open season for
catching otter, beaver and mink The
beaver is the puzzle for the conserva-
tion commission. They ARE a very
valuable fur animal and one easy of
extinction. On the other hand, these
animals are destructive and a nui-
sance in some respects. Their skill
fully-constructed dams cause farm
ers' meadows to be overflowed and
they prevent the trout, one of our
highly prized game fish, from reach
ing the head waters of the streams
which they inhabit, in the fall, when
they seek the warm springs for self
preservation in winter. Trout are
many times frozen in the lower
reaches of the creeks because of the
shallowness of the water, combined
with the severe temperatures of win
fer weather Deputy Commissioner
L. M. SOule declares the loss of trout
from this cause in Rusk county is
great But, if trappers are licensed
to catch beaver year after year, it is
a question of only a few years when
none of these animals will be left in
Wisconsin. 1t is the opinion of Mr..
Soule, and of many others, that the
state commission should have the en-
"a IL md thnt
all beaver caught, or beaver dams de-
stroyed, should be done under the di
rectiOn of the state commission, they
to take action on complaint. On some
streams the beaver do no damage,
while on others they do considerable
harm.
Public Conferences
The commission does not desire to
go ahead and initiate laws on the
subject of fish and game contrary to
the wishes and the best interests of
the state, and for this reason they call
meetings in all counties Of the state
for the purpose of threshing out the
problems of conservation with the
people.
The subjects under discussion at
this meeting brought up related mat
terS discussed at the state meeting
held at Madison last week, when $50
deputy wardens and representatives of
rod and gun clubs from every county
in the state gathered to consider con-
servation of fish and game and to ex-
change ideas and suggest changes in
the present laws. Deputy Warden
Soule and Judge Manning attended
this meeting from this county. Among
the more important additions to, or
changes in, the laws proposed, Mr..
Soule states, are the following:
Cat License Proposed
That every owner of a house cat in
the state of Wisconsin should be re
quired to procure a license for it at
an annual cost of 81. The reason for
the licensing of cats would be to rid
the state of thousands of cats that
prowl the woods at night causing un-
told fatalities to game birds.
The most important revision was in
the form of a resolution on the sub
ject of stream and lake pollution
caused by industrial waste. The
sportsmen recommended and petitioned
the legislature that the sum of $4,000
be annually appropriated and turned
over to the state board of health to be
used to remedy the situation. A Sec
Ond important resolution petiti0ned
the conservation commission and the
which will give to the fishermen of