In an 1897 Forest and Stream article entitled “The Prairie Chicken-Past, Present, and Future,” the reporter claimed that despite the human and natural attacks on pinnated grouse, “it preserves its existence and numbers to an astonishing extent.” However, in Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Illinois, Louisiana, and Indiana, “it remains in greatly reduced numbers or is not found at all, though, years ago, abundant.” He claimed that the progress of civilization, with tilled soil, railroads, and larger populations, coupled with destructive weather like droughts and floods, had meant the death of the prairie chicken in those regions. In addition, shooters, sportsmen, and market hunters killed grouse in the thousands. “Minnesota, Dakota, and Manitoba” contained vast tracts of land that were still unsettled and wild, so the bird remained there. Still, he cautioned it was only a matter of time before the chickens in those areas would meet the same fate as those in the more civilized states.[1]
Several lawmakers believed they had enacted adequate protection for prairie chicken overhunting in 1897 and allowed the moratorium on their killing to lapse in 1898. The year before the ban ended, the Arkansas legislature had seen fit to raise the non-resident licensing fee from $10 to $25. The 1875 non-resident fee had gone unenforced for over twenty years after two county judges had declared it unconstitutional but remained on the state law books. Why lawmakers believed that county officials would now enforce the law is unclear. They included no additional provisions for its enforcement, such as funding for game wardens. However, legislators did believe that the higher cost would cause fewer non-resident market hunters to travel to Arkansas to ply their trade. That measure would be enough to protect the prairie chicken and other Arkansas game and fish.[2]
[1] “The Prairie Chicken—Past, Present, and Future,” Forest and Stream, August 14, 1897.
[2] Palmer, Hunting Licenses, 14.
Arkansas Wildlife History 