THE WILDLIFE SOCIETY 
 
OFFICE OF THE CHAIRMAN,                             Conservation Dept., 
   MEMBERSHIP COMMITTEE                             Albany, N. Y. 
 
                                                    December 20, 1937. 
 
      Dr. Aldo Leopold, 
      University of Wisconsin, 
      Madison, Wisconsin. 
 
 
      Dear Aldo:- 
 
               While the Miembership Committee of The Wildlife Society 
      has been able to dispose of the vast majority of the 513 appli- 
      cations so far sent to us, there remain, as might be expected, 
      quite a few which represent, in the opinion of one or more mem- 
      bers of the Committee, borderline cases. Then, too, there are 
      bound to be cases on which the Committee will have to seek 
      further instructions from the Council, since matters of policy 
      are concerned. These we are saving for the Baltimore meeting, 
      in the hopes that there will result from their personal consider- 
      ation by the Council considerable clarification of the wishes 
      of both the Council and the Society in this respect. 
 
               Also, I hope to be able to present for consideration a 
      number of recommendations of the Membership Committee which may 
      serve to establish basic academic and experience qualifications 
      for Active membership, which will make the job of the Membership 
      Committee less of a personal one. 
 
               With regard to the    _of graduate students 
      as provided for in Article 3, Section 2 of the Constitution, 
      rightly or wronglyI do not interpret it to mean that the Member- 
      ship Committee must recommend any graduate student, majoring in 
      wildlife management, for Active membership, unless he is a"gradu-

      ate of a school approved by the Council, or in the opinion of the 
      Council has acquired an understanding of wildlife management 
      principles, etc". In fact, barring exceptional cases, I doubt
if 
      graduate students should be considered eligible for this grade 
      until they have definitely demonstrated their ability in the 
      field over a period of at least two years. Likewise, I would 
      question granting Active membership status to individuals with 
      B.S. degrees in zoology - even though granted by schools offering 
      excellent basic and fundamental courses in biology and zoology - 
      without a minimum of at least three years of experience. 
               On the other hand, many exceptions to this must be recog-

      nized. Such are brought to the fore by applications on the one 
      hand from such experienced administrators as Seth Gordon and Bill 
      Adams; end on the other by such practical game managers as Boykin 
      and others who have gone up through the mill with Stoddard. 
 
 
It will be rather less difficult to interpret the wishes