CHAPTER 15 

 FORESTS AND WILD LIFE 



Human life is absolutely dependent upon wild life and forests. 

 Without these things we would become extinct as a race. 



JAMES OLIVER CURWOOD. 



NECESSARY as are the forests to the welfare and comfort of 

 man, there are other forms of life that depend for their very 

 existence on these wooded areas. To many species of animals 

 and birds, forests represent food, shelter and abode. Yet not all 

 of them are forest dwellers. The mountain sheep or bison, 

 seldom seek the shelter of the woods but the great bulk of 

 animals that go to make up our wild life depend largely on 

 the forest for concealment, breeding ground, and food. It is 

 so with the birds. Many species live a portion or all of their 

 life in the open fields, but for even greater numbers, the tree- 

 covered areas is their natural abode. 



In Europe back in the days when hunting was the unique 

 sport of kings and nobles, large tracts of timber land were 

 kept inviolate to public use because they were the abiding 

 places of deer, elk, boar, and other game. Foresters in those 

 days were guardians of the wild life. They were officers of the 

 king, charged with the duty of protecting forest trees so that 

 these in turn would provide refuge for the animals that sought 

 shelter there. 



So guardianship over the forest dwellers has become part of 



167 



