OUR MOUNTAIN MEADOWS 



413 



A Stream-Side Meadow. 



HERE THE INVASION IS WELL ADVANCED AND THE YOUNG GROWTH OK TREES THICK AND HARDY. 



only been within the last twenty years 

 or less that sheep grazing on the Park 

 has been effectively stopped. It is sig- 

 nificant that the jungles now growmg 

 up in the meadows are all less than 

 twenty years old. 



There can be no question as to the 

 facts. They are patent to any observer. 

 The remedy is less clear. The fact, 

 however, that the sheep herders pre- 

 vented the change that is now in prog- 

 ress shows that the problem can be 

 solved. Their method was, however, 

 a wasteful one. Not only were the 

 seedlings in the meadows destroyed by 

 their fires. 1)ut the yotmg trees through- 

 out the l)urned-over areas of the forests, 

 and many a full-grown tree as well. 

 The cost to the forest was far greater 

 than the good to the meadows. There 

 is, however, one way that might prove 

 feasible. Each year several hundred 

 soldiers are stationed about the Park 

 as a patrol. They register and control 



the movements of campers, and are 

 expected to prevent cattle and sheep 

 from being herded into the Park, as 

 well as to prevent or extinguish forest 

 iires. Now if this band of soldiers can 

 be set to work with brush scythes and 

 axes, trimming out the meadows, a 

 great deal of good will result. Two or 

 three seasons of such attention will 

 easily restore the meadows to their 

 former state, and a little work each 

 year will keep them in good condition. 

 If we are not willing to have the sol- 

 diers work, then a force of forest 

 rangers should be given the task of 

 keeping the meadows open. Whatever 

 it costs in trouble or money, we should 

 see to it that this Park of ours — the best 

 rind most w^onderful camp ground in 

 this country — is not allowed to lose its 

 public usefulness and charm. The 

 meadows, once gone completely, can 

 never be restored. 



