ABSTRACT
The American public has obviously changed the way it views the management of the nation's living natural resources. For example, hunting and trapping were a fully accepted part of the American way of life; a large and increasing percentage of the public considers these activities as socially unacceptable. Wildlife, as well as all other natural resources, was there for the taking. The wilderness had been conquered. Few people required food from the wilderness or recognized a personal need to protect livestock or crops from damage by wildlife. Harvesting of forestlands had become so highly mechanized that few people were employed there. People who only a generation ago had grown up on farms and ranches were rearing their children in the suburbs or major cities. The crusades were largely fulfilled, and the nation seemed to lack a focal point for a sweep of commitment and urgency and a well-defined need to conquer.
