"... In 1896 the Supreme Court stated that "...the fundamental principles upon which the common property in game rests have undergone no change...the power or control lodged in the State, resulting from this common ownership, is to be exercised...as a trust for the benefit of the people, and not as a prerogative for the advantage of the government...or for the benefit of private individuals as distinguished from the public good." (Geer v. Connecticut, 161 U.S. 519 (1896))."
http://politicswildlife.blogspot.com/2010/11/who-does-wildlife-belong-to-public.html
