1899. 



AMERICAN FORESTRY ASSOCIATION. 



"5 



the establishment of such a National 

 Park for their use, and as time passes 

 these benefits will be appreciated more 

 and more." 



On February 10, 1899, after a further 

 examination and reconsideration of the 

 proposed boundaries, in response to the 

 requests of various petitioners, a revised 



plan, comprising seven townships, was 

 recommended as satisfactory to all the 

 interests involved. There are a few 

 claims of record within the limits of the 

 reservation, but their acreage forms so 

 small a part of the total area that their 

 existence presents no difficulties to the 

 administration of the reserve. 



Fishermen for the Forests. 



Why Anglers Should Become Members of the American Forestry- 

 Association. 



Although it has to do only with their 

 pleasure, yet anglers, more than most 

 men, are interested in the preservation 

 of the water supply. Fish must swim. 

 Without water there can be no fish, and 

 the angler who appreciates the condi- 

 tions governing the water supply is one 

 of the strongest advocates of forest 

 preservation. There are a thousand 

 reasons why he wishes to have forests 

 about the brooks and lakes that he 

 fishes. 



As we become better acquainted with 

 the result of fish culture, the economic 

 aspect of fish and fishing has come to be 

 regarded as more and more important, 

 and this is a consideration which should 

 appeal strongly to the average man ; 

 but after all it is not with such results 

 that the. angler chiefly concerns himself. 

 He loves his art less for the fish that it 

 yields him than for the recreation it 

 affords, for the opportunity to employ 

 his skill, and for the absolute rest which 

 he derives from an occupation so differ- 

 ent from that of most of his life. Yet, 

 if there were no hope of catching fish, 

 he would not care to be an angler, and 

 so he greatly desires to have the fish 

 supply preserved and increased. With- 

 out an abundant supply of pure water 

 of the proper temperature, this cannot 

 be done and that water cannot be had 

 without the forests. 



The forest and its floor have been 

 aptly enough compared to a great 



sponge, which the melting snows and 

 the Spring rains fill full of water, and 

 which holds this water, giving it out by 

 innumerable springs and rills through 

 the dry months, to make glad the thirsty 

 earth. This is above all things the 

 function of the forest : to gather water, 

 to hold it, and to send it out again little 

 by little, so that it may do the most good 

 possible. On the forests depend the 

 water supply, the food supply and the 

 shelter for the fish. They regulate, too, 

 the temperature an 1 purity of the water, 

 and are the home ^f much of the food 

 which supports the l.'sh. In view of all 

 this it is not strange c hat anglers as a 

 rule are earnest advocates of forest 

 preservation. 



These are some of the reasons that 

 they give for the faith that is in them. 



Well-wooded districts are subject to 

 more rain than treeless regions ; and 

 the forests are vast reservoirs of humid- 

 ity, lessening the dryness of the sur- 

 rounding atmosphere, assisting the flow 

 of spring and stream, preventing fresh- 

 ets at the end of the Winter, and in Sum- 

 mer feeding spring and lake giving forth 

 the clear and cold water in which fish 

 delight and thrive. On the other hand 

 we know that when the forests are de- 

 stroyed the volume of the waterflow is 

 diminished and the fish is injured in 

 many ways. The disastrous freshets, 

 which are likely to occur, follow the 

 melting snows or the Spring rains, sweep 



