Supplement to Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador by William Wood
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William Wood >> Supplement to Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador
Commission of Conservation
Canada
SUPPLEMENT TO
ANIMAL SANCTUARIES
IN
LABRADOR
SUPPLEMENT TO
AN ADDRESS PRESENTED
BY
LT.-COLONEL WILLIAM WOOD, F.R.S.C.
Before the Second Annual Meeting of the
Commission of Conservation in
January, 1911
OTTAWA, JUNE 1912
_Animal Sanctuaries
in
Labrador_
SUPPLEMENT TO
AN ADDRESS
BY
LT.-COLONEL WILLIAM WOOD
OTTAWA, CANADA
1912
SUPPLEMENT TO AN ADDRESS ON
Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador
BY
LIEUT.-COLONEL WILLIAM WOOD, F.R.S.C.
The appeal prefixed to the original _Address_ in 1911 announced the
issue of the present supplement in 1912, and asked experts and other
leaders of public opinion to set the subject on firm foundations by
contributing advice and criticism.
The response was most gratifying. The twelve hundred review copies
sent out to the Canadian press, and the hundreds more sent out to
general and specialist periodicals in every part of the
English-speaking world, all met with a sympathetic welcome, and were
often given long and careful notices. Many scientific journals, like
the _Bulletin of the Zoological Society of America_, sporting
magazines, like the Canadian _Rod and Gun_, and zoophil organs, like
the English _Animals' Guardian_, examined the _Address_ thoroughly
from their respective standpoints. The _Empire Review_ has already
reprinted it _verbatim_ in London, and an association of outing men
are now preparing to do the same in New York.
But though the press has been of the greatest service in the matter of
publicity the principal additions to a knowledge of the question have
come from individuals. Naturalists, sportsmen and leaders in public
life have all helped both by advice and encouragement. Quotations from
a number of letters are published at the end of this supplement. The
most remarkable characteristic of all this private correspondence and
public notice, as well as the spoken opinions of many experts, is
their perfect agreement on the cardinal point that we are wantonly
living like spendthrifts on the capital of our wild life, and that the
general argument of the _Address_ is, therefore, incontrovertibly
true.
The gist of some of the most valuable advice is, that while the
_Address_ is true so far as it goes, its application ought to be
extended to completion by including the leasehold system, side by side
with the establishment of sanctuaries and the improvement and
enforcement of laws.
Such an extension takes me beyond my original limits. Yet, both for
the sake of completeness and because this system is a most valuable
means toward the end desired by all conservers of wild life, I
willingly insert leaseholds as the connecting link between laws and
sanctuaries.
But before trying to give a few working suggestions on laws,
leaseholds and sanctuaries, and, more particularly still, before
giving any quotations from letters, I feel bound to point out again,
as I did in the _Address_ itself, that my own personality is really of
no special consequence, either in giving the suggestions or receiving
the letters. I have freely picked the brains of other men and simply
put together the scattered parts of what ought to be a consistent
whole.
LAWS
It is a truism and a counsel of perfection to say so, but, to be
effective, wild-life protection laws, like other laws, must be
scientific, comprehensive, accepted by the public, understood by all
concerned, and impartially enforced.
To be scientifically comprehensive they must define man's whole
attitude towards wild life, whether for business, sport or study. One
general code would suffice. A preamble could explain that the object
was to use the interest, not abuse the capital of wild life. Then the
noxious and beneficial kinds could be enumerated, close seasons
mentioned, regulations laid down, etc. From this one code it would be
easy to pick out for separate publication whatever applied only to one
place or one form of human activity. But even this general code would
not be enough unless the relations between animal and plant life were
carefully adjusted, so that each might benefit the other, whenever
possible, and neither might suffer because the other was under a
different department. If, in both the Dominion and Provincial
governments there are unified departments of agriculture to aid and
control man's own domestic harvest, why should there not also be
unified departments to aid and control his harvest of the wilds? A
_Minister of Fauna and Flora_ sounds startling, and perhaps a little
absurd. But fisheries, forests and game have more to do with each
other than any one of them with mines. And, whatever his designation,
such a minister would have no lack of work, especially in Labrador.
But here we come again to the complex human factors of three
Governments and more Departments. Yet, if this bio-geographic area
cannot be brought into one administrative entity, then the next best
thing is concerted action on the part of all the Governments and all
their Departments.
There is no time to lose. Even now, when laws themselves stop short at
the Atlantic, new and adjacent areas are about to be exploited without
the slightest check being put on the exploiters. An expedition is
leaving New York for the Arctic. It is well found in all the
implements of destruction. It will soon be followed by others. And the
musk-ox, polar bears and walrus will shrink into narrower and narrower
limits, when, under protection, far wider ones might easily support
abundance of this big game, together with geese, duck and curlews. It
is wrong to say that such people can safely have their fling for a few
years more. None of the nobler forms of wild life have any chance
against modern facilities of uncontrolled destruction. What happened
to the great auk and the Labrador duck in the Gulf? What happened to
the musk-ox in Greenland? What is happening everywhere to every form
of beneficial and preservable wild life that is not being actively
protected to-day? Then, there is the disappearing whale and persecuted
seal to think of also in those latitudes. The _laissez-faire_ argument
is no better here than elsewhere. For if wild life is worth exploiting
it must be worth conserving.
There is need, and urgent need, for extending protective laws all
along the Atlantic Labrador and over the whole of the Canadian Arctic,
where the barren-ground caribou may soon share the fate of the
barren-ground bear in Ungava, especially if mineral exploitation sets
in. Ungava and the Arctic are Dominion grounds, the Atlantic Labrador
belongs to Newfoundland, Greenland to Denmark, and the open sea to
all comers, among whom are many Americans. Under these circumstances
the new international conference on whaling should deal effectively
with the protection of all the marine carnivora, and be followed by an
inter-dominion-and-provincial conference at which a joint system of
conservation can be agreed upon for all the wild life of Labrador,
including the cognate lands of Arctic Canada to the north and
Newfoundland to the south.
This occasion should be taken to place the whole of the fauna under
law; not only _game_, but noxious and beneficial species of every
kind. And here both local experts and trained zoologists ought to be
consulted. Probably everyone would agree that flies, wolves and
English sparrows are noxious. But the indiscriminate destruction of
all mammals and birds of prey is not a good thing, as a general rule,
any more than any other complete upsetting of the balance of nature. A
great deal could be learnt from the excellent work already done all
over the continent with regard to the farmer's and forester's wild
friends and foes. A migrating flight of curlew, snipe, plover or
sandpipers is worth much more to the farmer alive than dead. But by no
means every farmer knows the value of the difference.
This is only one of the many reasons why a special effort should be
made to bring a knowledge of the laws home to everyone in the areas
affected, including the areas crossed by the lines of migration.
The language should be unmistakeably plain. Every form of wild life
should be included, as wholly, seasonally, locally or otherwise
protected, or as not protected, or as exterminable, with penalties and
rewards mentioned in each case. All animals should be called by their
scientific, English, French, and special local names, to prevent the
possibility of mistake or excuse. Every man, resident or not, who uses
rod, gun, rifle, net or snare, afloat or ashore, should be obliged to
take out a license, even in cases where it might be given gratis; and
his receipt for it should contain his own acknowledgment that he has a
copy of the laws, which he thoroughly understands. Particular clauses
should be devoted to rapacious dealers who get collecting permits as
scientific men, to poison, to shooting from power boats or with swivel
guns, to that most diabolical engine of all murderers--the Maxim
silencer,--to hounding and crusting, to egging and nefarious pluming,
to illegal netting and cod-trapping, and last, but emphatically not
least, to any and every form of wanton cruelty. The next step may be
to provide against the misuse of aeroplanes.
I believe it would be well worth while, from every point of view, to
publish the laws, or at all events a digest of them, in all the
principal papers. Even educated people know little enough; and no one,
even down the coast, at the trading posts, or in Newfoundland, should
have the chance of pleading ignorance. "We don't know no law here"
ought to be an impossible saying two years hence. And we might
remember that the Newfoundlanders who chiefly use it are really no
worse than others, and quite as amenable to good laws impartially
enforced. They have seen the necessity of laws at home, after
depleting their salmon rivers, deer runs and seal floes to the danger
point. And there is no reason to suppose that an excellent population
in so many ways would be any harder to deal with in this one than the
hordes of poachers and sham sportsmen much nearer home.
Of course, everything ultimately turns on the enforcement of the laws.
And I still think that two naturalists and twenty men afloat and the
same number ashore, with double these numbers when Hudson bay and the
Arctic are included, would be enough to patrol Labrador
satisfactorily, if they were in touch with local and leasehold wardens
and with foresters, if the telegraph was used only on their side, if
they and the general inspector were all of the right kind, and if the
whole service was vigorously backed up at headquarters. Two fast motor
cruisers and suitable means of making the land force also as mobile as
possible are _sine qua non_.
The Ungava peninsula, Hudson bay and Arctic together would mean a
million square miles for barely a hundred men. But, with close
co-operation between sea and land, they could guard the sanctuaries as
efficiently as private wardens guard leased limits, watch the outlets
of the trade, and harry law-breakers in the intervening spaces. Of
course, the system will never be complete till the law is enforced
against both buyers and sellers in the market. But it is worth
enforcing, worth it in every way. And the interest of the wild life
growing on a million miles will soon pay the keep of the hundred men
who guard its capital.
LEASEHOLDS
An article by Mr. W.H. Blake, K.C., of Toronto, on "The Laurentides
National Park" appeared in the February number of the _University
Magazine_. The following extracts have been taken from Mr. Blake's
manuscript:
"It was in the year 1895, that the idea took substance of setting
apart some two thousand five hundred square miles of the wild and
mountainous country north of Quebec and south of Lake St. John as 'a
forest reservation, fish and game preserve, public park and pleasure
ground'. At a later date, the area was increased, until now some three
thousand seven hundred square miles are removed from sale or
settlement. An important though indirect object was the maintenance of
water-level in the dozen or more rivers which take their rise in the
high-lying plateau forming the heart of the Park.
"When the ice takes in early November the caribou make it their great
rallying ground. These animals, so wary in summer and early autumn,
appear to gain confidence by their numbers, and are easily stalked and
all too easily shot. It is to be feared that too great an annual toll
is taken, and that the herd is being diminished by more than the
amount of its natural increase. Slightly more stringent regulations,
the allowance of one caribou instead of two, the forbidding of
shooting in December and January, when the bulls have lost their
horns, would effect the result, and would ensure excellent sport in
the region so long as the Park exists and is administered as it is
to-day. There is, however, very serious menace to the caribou in the
unfortunate fact that the great timber wolf has at last discovered
this happy hunting ground. Already it would seem that there are fewer
caribou, but the marked increase in the number of moose may be one
cause of this. Before the days of the Park the moose were almost
exterminated throughout this region; but a few must have escaped
slaughter in some inaccessible fastness, and under a careful and
intelligent system of protection they have multiplied exceedingly. Man
may not shoot them, and probably only unprotected calves have anything
to dread from the wolves.
"In the administration of this Reserve the government adopts a policy
which has shown admirable results; and as this policy is in direct
contrast to the one pursued in the Algonquin Park it may be
interesting to explain and discuss it. It can be admitted, as a matter
of theory, that a 'public park and pleasure ground' should be
maintained by the people for the people, and that no individuals
should have exclusive rights conferred upon them to fish or shoot
within it. This ideal conception takes no account of human nature, and
a scheme that has to do with the control and conduct of men should not
disregard their weaknesses, or the powerful motive of self-interest.
The greater part of the Laurentide Park is free to anyone who takes
out a license and complies with certain regulations. But, at the
points most threatened by poachers, the practice is followed of
granting five-year leases of moderate areas to individuals and to
clubs. The first requirement of these grants is that the lessee shall
appoint a guardian, approved by the Department, and shall cause the
conceded territories to be protected in an adequate manner. The
guardian, for his part, is immediately answerable to an individual who
pays his salary. He contrasts his former precarious living as a
trapper or poacher with the assured competence which he now earns more
easily, and makes his election in favor of virtue. Thus he becomes a
faithful servant both of the Government and his employer, and a
really effective unit in the protection of the Park. The lessee, in
turn, will neither practice nor tolerate any infringement of the laws
which would imperil his lease, nor deplete of fish and game a country
which he intends to revisit. He would not necessarily be actuated by
these motives if he entered the Park casually and considered nothing
but his own sport or pleasure. It may be added that the lessee has
reasonable assurance of the extension of his privileges if they are
not abused and knows that he will be compensated for moneys properly
expended if the Government sees fit not to renew his term. The
guardians co-operate with one another under the general guidance of a
most competent inspector, and the striking increase in fish, fur and
feather is apparent not only in the region immediately protected but
also ouside its boundaries. Trappers who fought bitterly against being
excluded from this part of the public domain now find that the
overflow of wild life into the surrounding country enables them to
bring more pelts to market than they did in the old days, and have
become reconciled. Guardians, gillies, carters, porters and canoemen
live in whole or in part, on providing fishing and shooting. Under no
other arrangement could the conceded territory afford sport and a
living to so many people, and in no other way could the balance
between resources and their exhaustion be so nicely maintained."
On page 47, Mr. Blake corroborates the statement of the shameful act I
mentioned at the bottom of page 18 of my _Address_. "On sighting a
band of six caribou he bade his man sit down to give him a rest for
his rifle. He then fired and continued firing till all were killed.
When his companion made to walk towards the animals, Sir ---- said to
him roughly:
"'Where are you going?'
"'To cut up the caribou.'
"'... I don't want them.'"
This game murderer killed three times as many as the prescribed limit
on this one occasion. Yet nothing was done to him!
SANCTUARIES
However desirable they are from any point of view leaseholds are not
likely to cover much of Labrador for some time to come. They should be
encouraged only on condition that every lessee of every
kind--sportsman, professional on land or water, lumberman or
other--accepts the obligation to keep and enforce the wild-life
protection laws in co-operation with the public wardens who guard the
sanctuaries, watch the open areas and patrol the trade outlets.
I have very little to add to what I said about sanctuaries in the
_Address_. Most of the information received since it was published has
only emphasized the points it made. And as no one has opposed and many
have supported the establishment of the Harrington sanctuary I again
recommend it strongly. The 64 miles in a straight line between cape
Whittle and cape Mekattina should be made into an absolute sanctuary
for all birds and mammals. If some more ground can be taken in on
either side, so much the better. But the 64 miles must be kept in any
case. The Bird rocks and Bonaventure island, one of the Mingans, the
Perroquets, Egg island and The Pilgrims, are all desirable in every
way. There are plenty of islands to choose from along the Atlantic
Labrador and round Hudson and James bays. It is most important to keep
the migratory birds free from molestation during the first fortnight
after their arrival; and the same applies to migratory mammals, though
not quite in the same way. Inland sanctuaries should be made near
Hamilton inlet, in the Mingan and Mistassini districts and up the
Eastmain river. Ultimately an Arctic sanctuary might be made on
either Baffin or Melville islands. A meteorological station in the
Arctic, linked up with Labrador by wireless, would be of great benefit
to the weather forecasts, as we now have no reports from where so much
of our cold or mild winters are affected by the different drift of
enormous ice-fields; and whenever one is established, a wild-life
protection station should accompany it.
Sanctuaries should never be too big; not one tenth of the whole area
will ever be required for them. But they should be placed where they
will best serve the double purpose of being natural wild "zoos" and
over-flowing reservoirs of wild-life. The exact situations of most,
especially inland, will require a good deal of co-operative study
between zoologists and other experts. But there is no doubt whatever,
that they ought to be established, no matter how well the laws are
enforced over both leaseholds and open areas. Civilised man is
appreciating them more and more every day; and every day he is
becoming better able to reach them. By giving absolute security to all
desirable species in at least two different localities we can keep
objects of Nature study in the best possible way both for ourselves
and our posterity.
Only twelve years ago forty mills were debasing the immemorial and
gigantic sequoia into mere timber in its last refuge in California.
But even the general public sees now that this was a barbarous and
idiotic perversion of relative values. What is a little perishable
timber, for which substitutes can be found elsewhere, compared with a
grove of trees that will be the wonder and delight of generations?
What is the fleeting but abominable gratification of destroying the
harmless lizard-like Tuatera of New Zealand compared with the deep
interest of preserving it as the last living vertebrate that takes us
back to Primary times? What is the momentary gratification of wearing
egret feathers compared with the certainty of soon destroying the
herons that produce them altogether; or what can compensate for the
vile cruelty done to mutilated parent birds and starving young, or the
murder of Bradley, the bird warden when trying to protect them?
LETTERS
The following quotations from a few of the many and wholly unsolicited
letters received are arranged in alphabetical order. They are strictly
_verbatim_:
_Australia._ The Animals' Protection Society. F. Montagu Rothery,
Esq., Secretary, 82 Pitt Street, Sydney, New South Wales.
Here in this State our _fauna_ and _flora_ are both rapidly
disappearing, there being so many agencies at work for their
destruction. It will soon be too late to save many of our
beautiful birds and animals, and I am anxious to bring
under notice your words for the preservation of animals by
a system of sanctuaries.
Dr. Robert Bell, late Chief Geologist, Geological Survey of Canada,
who has made many explorations in Labrador and adjacent lands and
waters, and who has always given special attention to the mammals,
writes:
I approve very heartily of the plan. It will be a humane
thing to try to protect the animals and will be very
advantageous in every way. It will no doubt receive the
sympathy of all classes. There will, however, be some
difficulties to overcome and much work to be done before the
plan gets into successful operation.... As to the location
and dimensions of the sanctuary, the north side of the lower
St. Lawrence is the most suitable or only region left,
except where it is too far north to benefit the most of the
mammals and birds which we should try to preserve. It will
be desirable to reserve and protect as great a length of the
shore as possible, but perhaps enough will be found between
Bradore bay on the east and Great Mekattina island on the
west, or this might be extended to Natashkwan. To carry it
up to Mingan, it would become more and more difficult to
protect the coast the further up you come. Between Mekattina
island and Natashkwan, there are no attractive rivers to
tempt trespassers to go inland, those which exist being
difficult for canoe navigation....
The animals soon find out where they are safe and come to
live in even a small area. The Algonquin park is a case in
point. There the bears have increased immensely in a few
years and the less noticeable mammals and birds have also
increased very much. I know of a more conspicuous case of a
small area, on the Nelson river, where, owing to an
old-standing superstition of the Indians, the animals have
not been molested for a long period and they have become
much more numerous than elsewhere.... Everything that can be
killed is called Game. Most of it should be called animal
murder and should be discouraged.
The Sanctuary should be placed in charge of a committee of
naturalists. But zoologists are scarce in Canada and those
who have taken an interest in the animals might be included.
Faithful men to carry out their instructions I think can be
found.
The President of the Boone and Crockett Club, Major W. Austin
Wadsworth, Geneseo, N.Y., wrote:
I wish to express officially the admiration of our Club for
your paper on Animal Sanctuaries in Labrador, because the
whole question of Game Refuges has been one of especial
interest to us and we have been identified with all
movements in that direction in this country.
Captain R.G. Boulton, R.N., retired, was engaged for many years on the
Hydrographic Survey of the Lower St. Lawrence, the Gulf and
Newfoundland. He says:
There is no doubt, as regards the conservation of _birds_,
that sea-birds, such as gulls, &c., &c., are useful "aids to
navigation," by warning the mariner of the proximity of
land, on making the coast. On foggy shores, like those of
Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, they are especially
useful, and it is to the advantage of the voyaging public to
conserve what we have left. While carrying on the Survey of
Georgian bay, and North channel of lake Huron, 1883-1893,
the _Bayfield_, my surveying vessel, was more than once kept
off the rocks in the foggy weather which prevails in May and
June, by the chirping and warbling of land birds.