Concerns over the relentless slaughter of the nation's waterfowl arose early in the nineteenth century, and by mid-century those first expressions of concern erupted into a full-blown, multi-faceted debate that included, among others, professional hunters, farmers, resort owners, sportsmen, and state legislators.
In 1871 The New York Times published, for consideration by those involved in the debate, a review of laws for game protection maintained by foreign nations. Clearly, the question of 'rights' to birds and other game loomed large for Russians and Europeans, but laws lacked any thought of actually protecting wildlife or its habitat; rather, protecting the exclusive rights of landowners to wildlife on their property dominated legislation, a construct dating to feudal times. Only Switzerland claimed that the State itself owned the wild creatures within its boundaries.
In the U.S., legislation to actually protect birds and wildlife rather than simply the right to hunt appeared in many states prior to the Civil War. Limited in scope and local in application, such legislation fell far short of protecting migratory birds, whose flight patterns knew no state boundaries. In October 1891, W.M. Elder, a member of the recently-formed Chatham (N.J.) Fish and Game Protective Association, pushed the discussion to the national level by expressing his concerns in a letter to President Benjamin Harrison. The president's response, seen here in a personally penned letter, is among the earliest known acknowledgements from the federal level of the need to protect game birds.
Transcription:
"EXECUTIVE MANSION
WASHINGTON
October 28th, 1891
William Elder, Esq.
Secretary
Chatham, N.J.
My dear Sir:
I have your letter of the 22nd in which you discuss the necessity of a closed spring season for migratory game birds. I do not doubt that the adoption of legislation by the states prohibiting spring shooting of these classes of game birds would greatly tend to increase their numbers, and I have sometimes thought that it was essential to the preservation of their species.
