Most of our conservation laws were codified around 1940.
If you look at the laws defining the functions and duties of the DCNR, the word "management" was not used where authority was delegated to protect wildlife. The intent of the law was restoring wildlife populations and protecting those populations.
Here's what the deer population looked like at the time our game and fish law were written. I don't think anyone had sex ratios and age structure in mind when they mentioned conservation in the law.
