26 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



affords opportunity to social organizations to bring the 

 rhildrcn to the Park. Here the under-nourished, play- 

 starved child finds in the verdant splendor of the woods 

 a new life. 



Never before was the need for strengthening the 

 physical fibre of our young citizenship more pressing. 

 The report of the examiners of the War Department as 

 to the physical condition of recruits is, to say the least, a 

 document which might well engage the attention of the 

 preservers of the nation. The opportunities, therefore, 

 given through the camps of the Palisades Park, at its 

 health and recreation stations, are vital factors in the 

 conservation movement. The work in this field, briefly 

 summarized, consists of: 



(a) Establishing standard camp plants, where ap- 

 proved social and civic organizations may bring 

 their charges. 



(b) Standardizing, as far as possible, the administra- 

 tion of these encampments, so that the child de- 

 rives the largest benefit therefrom. 



(c) Standardizing the dietary, in order to insure to 

 each camp an adequate supply of nourishing food. 



(d) Formulating recreational programs, in order to 

 wholesomely occupy the time of the child. 



(e) Formulating and carrying out a nature study 

 educational program through bird walks, under 

 the leadership of bird experts ; fishing excursions ; 

 hikes, etc. 



(f) Developing the trails of the Commission in such 

 a way, so that, through the use of unobtrusive 

 signs, the walk becomes a study in nature's labo- 

 ratory, rather than an aimless hike. 



The extent of this operation can be gauged when it is 

 remembered that these camps stretch from the lower 

 Palisades region to the Highlands of the Hudson and 

 west as far as Central Valley. In addition to the camps 

 for the children who come from charity associations or 

 settlements, three lakes are devoted to Boy Scout 

 activities, the annual daily census of this group during 

 this summer having been 1,600 boys. There are also the 

 camps for self-supporting working girls, who pay moder- 

 ate sums, for which they procure all and more benefits 

 than are derived from the conventional, commercial 

 boarding house. 



THE CALIFORNIA GRAY SQUIRREL AN ENEMY 

 TO THE DOUGLAS FIR 



BY J. HOOPER BOWLES 



'T'HE California Gray Squirrel, sometimes known as 

 * the Oregon Gray Squirrel, has been a resident of the 

 State of Washington ever since 1896 to my personal 

 knowledge. At that time it was by no means common, 

 largely owing to lack of legal protection, in my opinion. 

 Many people claim that they were introduced into the 

 state, but it seems much more probable to me that they 

 may always have been here in limited numbers. It 

 would be a comparatively small matter for animals of 

 such well known migratory propensities as the large 

 squirrels to wander from Oregon up into this state. 



These animals seem to be confined almost exclusively 

 to what I call the prairie districts. This type of country 

 was, a comparatively few years ago, undoubtedly almost 

 devoid of any timber except the oak, but has been 

 steadily encroached upon by the Douglas Fir. This 

 resulted in the death of the oaks. The same process is 

 going on today, another case of survival of the fittest, 

 I presume. This type of country has little or no small 

 undergrowth, such as the Sal-lal and ferns, and is 

 peculiarly suited to the Gray Squirrels. The line where 

 the prairie country meets the mountain country, with its 

 dense undergrowth, is exceedingly abrupt, but none of 

 this species of squirrel will be found over that line, 

 unless by accident. 



About ten years ago, I am uncertain of the exact date, 

 the squirrels were given legal protection, the result being 

 an immense increase in their numbers. Up to that time 



it seems probable that their destruction of the firs was 

 little more than nominal, or I should almost certainly 

 have noticed it. In a very short time, however, the 

 results became most glaringly evident, until, at the time 

 of this writing, hundreds of thousands of dollars worth 

 of timber has probably been destroyed. In many large 

 groves a low estimate would place two-thirds of the trees 

 with the tops dead, or dying, making the destruction of 

 the rest of the tree merely a matter of a short time. 



So far as my observations have gone the Douglas Fir 

 is the only tree attacked, this being confined to what is 

 known as the second growth timber. The tree is girdled 

 of its outer bark, the objective being the inner bark and 

 soft wood just underneath. I know this to be a fact, 

 because I have shot the squirrel at its work and found 

 the stomach to be packed with the material above men- 

 tioned. Small trees are liable to be attacked close to the 

 ground and girdled to the top, but trees of from twenty- 

 five to a hundred feet in height usually have only the 

 upper half injured. Girdling usually commences, I 

 believe, about three-quarters way up the tree, the squir- 

 rels then working up and down. It is probable that they 

 begin this work when the sap starts running in the 

 spring, as I have never seen any signs of it before 

 January at earliest, and it is almost altogether discon- 

 tinued in June. Signs of their work at once become 

 evident, as strips of bark about six inches long litter the 

 ground in all directions. 



