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About Medford mail tribune. (Medford, Or.) 1909-1989 | View Entire Issue (Jan. 26, 1936)
m itji .v ';- Mountain sheep that roam the highlands will find greater protection when the new foreitation system is completed on great Government reservations QJQCJM K&ckste OGAM By G. K.. Spencer T)ALANCED forests" to the natural equilibrium which prevailed when America was primitive, with the recogni tion that animal life Is vital to the health of the trees, are now sought by the National Forest Service as a cardi nal objective in the attack on the great flood and erosion problem at the very source of the trouble. Engineers and agronomists who are now tenaciously attempting to hold the soil from wastage Into the sea with their nation-wide field works and check dams are merely holding the front lines until vast primitive areas can be re-estb- f lislicd on the mountain watera':ieds. In these "primitive areas," specifically e flncd as such by the National i r st Service, great carnivorous animals will again roam, preying on herbivorous ani mals, as they did when America was young. Not all American forest regions will harbor the mighty beasts of prey again, but only those regions farther removed from civilization. Present plans call for retention of such "primitive areas" at the remote headwaters of the great river systems. In such regions the spread of the coyote, fast becoming recognized as a national peril, will be checked by natural biological defense. To meet the coyote in States where it has now appeared notably New York, Pennsylvania, Ten nessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Alabama other measures must be devised. Disappearance of larger ani mals in these States laid the way open' for the coyote, which Is now inflicting serious annual losses on farmers and livestock owners. Feasible methods for restocking our new primitive areas, however, with beasts of prey recognized as necessary In a balanced scheme of nature, have been proposed and are still under further study by George M. Wright, Joseph 8. Dixon and Ben H. Thompson, of the Wild Life Survey. IN CO-OPERATION with the National ' Park Service, it is proposed to buy out the properties of Individual private land owners In and near the primitive areas, so thj stock and animals of such Indi viduals will not suffer from the occa sional depredations of carnivorous charts. It has now been recognized that there is a limit to the elimination of wild animals beyond which a peril rises for humankind. Vast floods in the Missis sippi Valley, In the Sacramento Valley and the Ohio Valley can easily be traced to forest denudation and the disappear ance of "-ground cover" which in long past decades held rain and snow mois ture and released It slowly the year round. But the place of wild animal life in maintenance of tree health and porous topsoil is a new discovery. Even rodents normally considered quite obnoxicus, such as the gopher, have a large and Important role In ma ntenance of the porous topsoil allien absorbs and holds moisture. Along with predacious animals, there must be restored the animals, such as deer and mountain sheep, on which they feed. It Is admitted by the rorcst Service and National Park Service that the restoration of primitive conditions, even in our more remote watershed regions, will Involve some losses for man. but these are to be checked against and bal anced with the Immensely vaster losses "y flood and the national peril If erosion continues on Its present scale. Even the great Investment In our mighty dams Is threatened by rapid silting of their basins, a silting which can be somewhat ameliorated by engineering works In the i . rm vr. us1 UFTn jw-v-jl .it S if, i2:-2.?,A" T A contented American family, a c"uraged ,of mu!tipiy t-"der Kwfe Jii 7$ new forestry set-up '&&JlSwJwf&S.Ji4:J Yfifl rMml place in Nature's scheme-and .iFrr, " V' .l their scientific place in man's scheme Government Scientists to Call on Grizzly Bears, Mountain Lions and Other Carnivorous Animals to Help in Battle Against Floods and Fires str r.ms'ibove the dams, but which can only be successfully attacked at the source, in the remote regions where the waters originate. Man camiot have an Ideal condition for himself alone; he must discover na ture's balance and In that discovery mv He his only Insurance against fatal peril to his civilization. In areas where glacier remnants arc found, as around Rainier, the primitive cc.'.dltion which formerly existed can be This is one of the reasons why America suffers from great floods. Im proper logging methods have denuded the hillsidea, leaving the land exposed lo the elements and water runs away Instead of being absorbed hy the soil easily learned by studies of animals found preserved in the Ice. In other areas there are historical records avail able a to conditions which prevailed when the forefathers brgsn clearing out the forests and the animal with them And another tiling : The United States has larae numbers of de r snd elk now on an amuMl Winter "dole' of hay and pri ill nhkli is rarted to them in various parts of the West. With the proper number of carnivorous animals, th' n umbers of these dole-fed herbivorous ueasts will be held to healthful limits, even though their total census r.ui be greater than Bt present b cause they will have natutal food in the new pr.ml tlve areas, riielr very feeding, under natural conditions, helps maintain tre? lealth. Then. loo. we have thousands of nowi bears and even numerous great nrlr-illrs on a "do'e' dlH In Nallonal Purk. These bears, undei natloual ron diiioiis. would tit In wllh a prlmltl e scheme and also prriorm their bit to ward forest health without n eelty for ijotiearned doles from man. In other words, animals now dole-fed as part of the tourist scenery of National IT HAS long been recognized that the serious problem posed by destruction of valuable tre?s and other herblnge by grazing animals In the National Parks is due to swollen numbers of grazing animals because of lack of control by carnivorous animals. Thus, many prob lems will be solved by restoration of predacious animals. How will this encouraged reforestation affect humans? The Wild Life Survey has this to say: "A very few park animals are dangerous to human life. A few more are merely offensive. No species except certain p "nous reptiles are to be considered d :irr ' at all tunes. Whenever It la nec.f ,ary t- act at all against them, mnns r-f.' rtlon should be governed by a fu'l r::illza'.lon that his ul'.lmnte Inter, est is brut served by prcwvlng tl (suiia intact.' Even th? lynx l suggested for re .tor a -lion In many arms. Kur-bearlng ani mals are very definitely lo be rneour sued. Tall Isles of 'the pioneers'' snenl ilwlles are no dis.ouiil d largely, be aiwe It lias became known that erlnzllos III not go out of tlieli way to attack mankind. However, they will not brook interference with their own family life. Vet p'"?f2.aph-rs olten lake pictures of grizzly mothers and their cubs at clc io range without trouble of any kind. Mountain lions, on which thero has been a heavy bounty for many years, are now being encouraged to return In c r.r.ln specified areas. They will con tinue to be cleareil out on other areas, however. These animals, too, shun man and attack only when closely pressed, and then vsry Infrequently j they want to put as much distance between them selves and man as possible. C:ily with cunning and persistence cr i hunters get close to. them, and they have been destroyed up to date because of their, destructive attacks on range cattle. With restoration of their normal wild herbivorous prey, It Is expected they will not be pressed into approach ing man's habitations or his ranges. Though one-third of the area of the United States Is forest land or potential forest land, such a wide expanse will not be required for prevention or floods and perilous erosion. At present the National Forests comprise some 182,000, 000 acres and private forests some 430. 000,000 acres, with other Urge potential forest areas which have been denuded by logging and man's agricultural ac tivities. Large acreage In such categories Is to be. returned to forest. Underbrush, within safe limits, will be permitted to accumulate as conducive to animal life. This goes for predacious and preyed-upon bird life, also. The heron and the osprey, the eagle and the cormorant are wanted back. fNB cardinal difference between v-' forests which covered primitive America and the new forests will be that the new forests will be protected from Area set by lightning and man's care lessness by an ami Ting futuristic system of fire control. It la known that fovea fires almost of eontlnsntal proportions us d lo ra".e over America a thousand years ago. To prevent destruction of the work now In progress the new forests and the present ones, r.gardleu of national. Stale or private ownership are to be protected by a retlrulale system ol roads, on which lork I now proreedlng at a furious pure, oner whlrh srlnilltlcslly equipped (cr sl-nre-nhtliig armies will move to attack nr. If temporarily defeated, will be withdrawn In orderly and safe manner. Standard specifications have been es tablished for great 120-foot flre-observ- lng towers, to be erected in all Important forests, regardless of ownership. It I recognised that it la to the public in terest to protect even private forests if owners are unable to And funds to do it for themselves. Some 300 of these high towers have been erected in the last two years and the Forest 8ervlce estimates that a thousand more will be required, with observers on day and night relays In every one of them. In the great California forests, ob servers for such towers are now being trained. Deliberate fires are sat, under many different conditions of weather and visibility, to train the eyes of the men In spotting fires. Circular handsaws really portable power saws which can be carried by one man have been devised for quick . penetration through dense undergrowth. THOUGH the publio has scarcely realized It, within the last few years the Forest Service has gone scientific In a big way. It has had to develop many Instruments peculiarly fitted to Its work, Including tractors which cannot tip over on sleep mountainsides. , Tactics In moving men up in front of fires and In drawing them away safely have been originated. The Id ?a Is to save men or, If casual ties must be inflicted, that they be held to a minimum. As in real war, casualties are expected. Seventeen mm were killed In action last year, suffering deaths comparable to those by flame-throwers In military . war. Those men were not mere amdteurn, either. They Included John S. Everltt, supervisor of the Shasta National Forest In California, a veteran of veterans in flre-flghting. He perished In the flames, fighting for America as truly even more so. In real fact than a soldier on front-line action against a foreign enemy. Forest-Are flames frequently reach scvernl hundred feet Into the air. As a grrnt Are burns It heals the surround ing air, which Is forced upward by de scending columns of cold air. thus cre ating huge powerful winds over great areas, winds In which not even air planes a thousand feet In altitude can exist These winds add oxygen to the ilres and whip them up. Oflen tne Area lenp a mile ahead hi a single huge step I Last year the greatest forest Ares of our history occurred; this year may And amelioration In the situation due to the Immease plans and wide system for checking such fires. ...,. PAGE THRfcE
