224 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



The beaver formerly existed in enormous 

 numbers across the whole American continent 

 from the Atlantic to the Pacific. Today they 

 exist in a few localities but in very small num- 

 bersfrom the Rio Grande, in Texas, northward 

 through the mountain regions to the limit of 

 trees, and southeastward through Canada to 

 northern New England. Ten years ago it was 

 estimated that there were about a thousand 

 left in Colorado. They are present in a few 

 localities in Wisconsin after having been pro- 

 tected by law for twelve years. In Europe 

 there are so few of these animals left and they 

 have to live under such unusual conditions that 

 they have lost their natural habits. 



The flesh of the beaver was formerly esteemed 

 for food and a substance called castoreum was 

 taken from the animal, but the reason for trap- 

 ping and killing such enormous numbers was 

 the demand for the skins for furs and for the 

 making of beaver hats. 



These animals do much more good than harm, 

 and when it was found that their numbers were 

 decreasing with startling rapidity, some of the 

 states began to afford them protection by law. 

 In 1901 the beaver was considered extinct in 

 the following states in which it had formerly 

 been found: 



"No damage is being done 

 by beaver to timber anywhere. 

 The animals cut down small 

 poplars and eat the bark. This 

 is not marketable timber. The 

 dams do not flood and destroy 

 marketable timber, because the 

 lands flooded are swamp lands 

 and have been flooded by beav- 

 vers before, and not a tree 

 grows upon the land that can 

 be killed by flooding except wil- 

 low and alder brush and small 

 second-growth poplar. 



"Nine-tenths of all com- 

 plaints have originated from 

 people who merely want the 

 privilege of trapping and sell- 

 ing the fur. Great numbers of 

 beaver have been killed in this 

 country during the past few 

 years, and the fur shipped out 

 of the State and sold. It is 

 hardly fair to call it trapping, 

 because instead of traps dyna- 

 mite is used with which to 

 slaughter the defenseless ani- 

 mals while their houses are 

 frozen. 



"Forest fires are the greatest 

 menace and drawback to the 

 prosperity of this country, for 

 the farmer as well as the lum- 

 berman, which confronts us 



today. In unsettled districts the beaver is the only fire- 

 fighter and the only protection that we have. Their dams, 

 which have been built along small streams, have had 

 the effect of raising the water level in this part of the 

 country on the creek bottoms and marshes, which form 

 most effective barriers against fire. In some cases these 

 barriers extend across entire townships. 



"Until within a few years ago there were no beaver 

 in the country, and the water level lowered over three 

 and one-half feet. This had the effect of draining the 

 swamps so that the front went down below the roots of 

 tamarack and cedar timber. 



"Such timber did not begin to leaf until as late as the 

 month of August, and finally began to die from want of 

 nourishment. Since the beaver came back no tamarack 

 or cedar is dying; their dams protect us from fires and 

 floods; the waters of the country have been conserved, 

 and we have had no drouth. 



"There are large lakes in this country that would be 

 dry were it not for the work of the beavers a century ago. 

 The Government surveyors meandered lakes in many 

 places that became dry land after the early trappers had 

 destroyed the beaver. We hope the time will come when 

 the beavers may reconstruct such dams, and there is 

 plenty of room for all the farmers and all the beaver. 

 We want both, and we assure you that there are just as 



Protective legislation has 

 several states. 



been enacted in 



many people who are land own- 

 ers that want the beaver pro- 

 tected as there are people who 

 are not land owners and who 

 want the innocent creatures de- 

 stroyed." 



An experience in Canada 

 demonstrates the truth of the 

 observations in the two letters 

 quoted. The inhabitants of a 

 certain district complained to 

 the government of damage that 

 beaver were doing. When the 

 government authorities ar- 

 ranged to capture and remove 

 the beaver a protest against 

 such action was sent. This pro- 

 test was signed by some of the 

 very individuals who had made 

 the complaint. Here again it 

 was evident that men wanted 

 to trap beaver, and, failing in 

 this, they were anxious to have 

 the animals left in the locality. 





A LARGE CLASS 



REGISTRATION for the 

 second semester of the 

 ' College of Forestry at 

 Syracuse has just closed, with 

 261 men and 1 woman regis- 

 tered as applicants for the de- 

 gree of Bachelor of Science. 

 No special students are accepted 

 in the college at Syracuse. Already twenty-five men have 

 signed up for the year of practical work in the State 

 Ranger School, at Wanakena, which opens the first Tues- 

 day in March. Out of the thirty-five men who have been 

 graduated from the State College of Forestry at Syra- 

 cuse, twenty-eight are in some phase of forestry work. 

 It is not expected that 80 per cent of its graduates will 

 continue to go into forestry, and yet this answers, in a 

 way, the question which is commonly asked as to what 

 men who are going into forest schools may do. 



ARBOR DAY IN WASHINGTON 



A RBOR DAY in the State of Washington is April 14. 

 /-% On this day much interest will be manifested in 

 forest and bird life through exercises conducted 

 by the various public schools throughout the State. The 

 State Department of Forestry has suggested to teacher* 

 and children that the forests may be considered an inheri- 

 tance given mankind for use, not for destruction by fire; 

 necessary for health, happiness, beauty and service. 

 Health by the purification of the atmosphere; happiness 

 in the home of which some part is constructed of forest 

 material ; beauty in the forest verdure ; service in the 

 industrial development of the forest resources; and of 

 revenues derived from the sales of timber on school land c 

 belonging to the State of Washington. 



