Yearbook^ of Agriculture 1949 



ers. They exterminated the gray timber 

 wolf from virtually all its range ex- 

 cept a small part of the Lake States, 

 yet originally the timber wolf and sub- 

 species, such as the buffalo wolf, occu- 

 pied nearly all of the territory now in 

 the United States, except California. 

 The cougar, or mountain lion, once 

 was associated with all forest regions; 

 now it is found in the rougher sections 

 of the West, but in the East is limited 

 to a few individuals in Florida. The 

 grizzly bear, once a respected animal 

 of the western range and forest coun- 

 try, now is confined to the wilderness 

 sections only of Montana, Idaho, and 

 Wyoming. The last known California 

 grizzly, the Golden Bear of the Cali- 

 fornia State flag, was killed in 1922. 



THE CLEARING OF FORESTS for agri- 

 culture and the widespread cutting and 

 burning of the remaining wooded 

 areas profoundly affected the wildlife 

 habitat. One important change was 

 the increase in the borders and edges 

 in the remaining forest and woodland 

 areas ; another was the tremendous in- 

 crease in the herbaceous and shrubby 

 cover, which favored browsing and 

 edge animals, such as deer, bobwhites, 

 rabbits, and grouse. 



The relation of forest changes to 

 deer management in the East and the 

 Lake States is of particular interest. 

 The virgin forests were not particularly 

 well suited to deer, because openings 

 and browse areas were limited. But 

 after the forests were opened up by 

 lumbermen, and further changed by 

 fires, the browse supply became exten- 

 sive. At about the same time, some 

 States started to protect and restore the 

 white-tailed deer. Through restocking 

 where needed and the adoption of laws 

 favorable to building up the herds, the 

 deer were especially encouraged just 

 when the food supply became most 

 abundant. 



The deer thrived beyond expecta- 

 tions. Instead of a few hundred or a 

 few thousand deer, States like Penn- 

 sylvania and Michigan soon had sev- 

 eral hundred thousand. All seemed for 



the best, until it was realized that the 

 deer had exceeded the food supply. 

 The browse shortage was intensified b^ 

 the fact that under improved fire pro- 

 tection the forests were recapturing the 

 land. The stems and twigs, which had 

 been good browse for deer, had de- 

 veloped into pole-sized stands of sec- 

 ond-growth forests. As the trees grew 

 beyond the reach of the deer, they 

 formed a closed canopy and shaded 

 out the shrubs, vines, and herbs. 



The deer and elk have made marked 

 increases also in the western forests, but 

 the situation has been somewhat differ- 

 ent. There was the same public support 

 for herd protection, but logging and 

 fires had affected but a small propor- 

 tion of the forest area. The western for- 

 ests, with certain exceptions, however, 

 were grazed by cattle and sheep. There- 

 fore, when big-game species increased, 

 they often did so on land that was al- 

 ready being grazed too heavily by do- 

 mestic livestock. The situation created 

 many problems on public and private 

 land, and much good livestock and 

 game range has been seriously over- 

 used. As in the East, the reduced food 

 supply has brought about starvation of 

 big game in localities where the hunt- 

 ers have not harvested the surplus. 



Although the cut-over and burned 

 forest favored deer, elk, and grouse, it 

 was not good for species that required 

 stands of old growth; the tree squirrels 

 found less food and fewer dens; the 

 marten and fisher could not exist in 

 the new environment; the turkey also 

 found the young, open forests unsatis- 

 factory because they were deficient in 

 mast. 



The change in the forest cover also 

 changed the stream conditions and fish 

 life. Under the virgin-forest conditions, 

 the streams were normally in a stabi- 

 lized condition. And the forest cover 

 checked the runoff; streams ran clear; 

 flows were normal ; channels tended to 

 be stable, and water temperatures 

 fluctuated only a little. But when wa- 

 tersheds were seriously disturbed by log- 

 ging, fire, or grazing, the streams were 

 subjected to flood conditions and dis- 



