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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.
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