D. INTERESTS AND MANAGEMENT 



1. UNION OF INTERESTS AND 



MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL 



AREAS 



BY V. E. SHELFORD 



With the growth of population, the 

 destruction of forest and other original 

 types of vegetation, and the modifica- 

 tion of streams and lakes progresses 

 rapidly. We have no royalty or nobil- 

 ity whose hunting and fishing pre- 

 serves are being withheld from exploita- 

 tion. Many more reserves are needed, 

 but each year it becomes more difficult 

 to secure them. Such reserves as are 

 already created are continuously threat- 

 ened with partial exploitation. 



Probably the only effective way to 

 retain all the features of existing re- 

 serves and secure an adequate number 

 of new ones is to create and maintain 

 a public interest in each reserve as well 

 as in reserves in general. The public's 

 knowledge of the uses of preserves is 

 scanty. The interests which may com- 

 bine in one reserve have been too little 

 emphasized and may be classified as 

 follows : 



A. INTERESTS IN PRIMEVAL AREAS 



7. Scientific interests 



1. Biology. There is a growing 

 tendency to make use of reserves of 

 original character as a check on various 

 laboratory operations, and in the study 

 of ecology, as well as in the older taxo- 

 nomic and natural history work. 



2. Forestry. Natural areas will be 

 valuable to foresters as object lessons, 

 for comparison and standardization of 

 forestry practice. They will serve as 

 a standard of accomplishment of Nature 

 alone and as a guide by which the cor- 

 rectness of the foresters' efforts to 

 improve on Nature may be gauged. 



Permanent sample plots, corresponding 

 to the "quadrats" of the ecologist, are 

 left in their original conditions for 

 comparison with adjacent plots vari- 

 ously treated, so that changes in the 

 composition, growth, and history of 

 natural forest stands, as compared 

 with modified stands, may be noted. 

 On some of the National Forests a 

 number of permanent plots are also 

 maintained for the study of herbaceous 

 vegetation and principles of range 

 management in order to compare con- 

 ditions on grazed and ungrazed areas. 



3. Geography. Geographers require 

 a knowledge of original vegetation 

 and animals to interpret existing cul- 

 tures, to generalize on various climatic 

 and economic questions. 



4. History. Historians require in- 

 formation similar to that sought by 

 the geographer, in the interpretation 

 of historical facts, and especially in 

 interpreting the events of pioneer 

 days. 



II. Literary and artistic interest 



1. Many pieces of literature cannot 

 be interpreted without a knowledge of 

 the original vegetation. Bryant's poem 

 "The Prairies" is an example. Not a 

 few teachers of literature make use of 

 preserves. 



2. Many artists who are students of 

 nature use natural subjects. 



777. Recreational interests 



I. Sportsmen desire to increase the 

 amount of game and in many states 

 certain areas are set aside as game 

 sanctuaries. In Pennsylvania a game 

 sanctuary has a single wire stretched 

 around it and is kept carefully guarded 

 by wardens. No hunting is allowed 

 inside the wire. The game is allowed 



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