He should be a good
leader as well as a trained naturalist. The Province should send him the
best warden it can find, to act as his chief assistant. After a year's
work, afloat and ashore, in summer and winter, with birds and mammals,
he ought to be able to make a comprehensive and unbiassed report, which,
by itself, would repay the Commission for introducing conservation into
such a suitable area. Zoogeographic maps and charts would be an
indispensable part of this report.
* * * * *
To sum up:--
I beg to propose that the Commission should bring the Canadian Labrador
under conservation by protecting bird life on the coast for a term of
five years, as an experimental investigation, and by examining, for one
year, the whole question of the birds and mammals, inland as well as on
the seabord, and in winter as well as summer. The cost of the first
would be $5,000 a year for five years = $25,000. The cost of the second
would be $5,000 for one year only. The total cost would be $30,000.
I would never have ventured to suggest this plan to the Commission if I
had not been encouraged by one of your own most valued members, Dr
Robertson. But as soon as he told me what your powers were I saw clearly
that, in this particular case, the Commission and the Canadian Labrador
were each exactly suited to the other.
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