WILD LIFE IN MINNESOTA 



By PROF. CHARLES JOHNSON, University of Minnesota 



THE mink population has greatly 

 diminished in many parts of 

 Northern Minnesota, where it 

 was formerly quite common and 

 where conditions are well suited to its 

 habits. That it has been trapped out 

 is the cause. 



The otter, the pine marten or sable, 

 and the fisher are so few in Minnesota 

 today that their total disappearance 

 from the State seems but a matter of a 

 few years. 



Unless protective measures are 

 adopted, the end result is clear. 



The fisher and the marten are pri- 

 marily deep-forest animals, and there- 

 fore are doomed to pass with the 

 forest. 



The lynx and wild-cat have become 

 exceedingly scarce. The lynx has 

 nearly vanished from our north woods 

 and the wild-cat is too scarce to have 

 any serious standing as a game de- 

 stroyer. 



The black bear, once plentiful 

 throughout all the northern regions of 

 the State, has suffered relentless per- 

 secution, and to this day is generally 

 killed on sight whenever opportunity 



offers. Harmless alike to man and 

 beast in our State, the black bear should 

 have a closed season for a period of 

 years, and when reopened, the killing 

 season should be regulated by law. 



I believe our deer population at pres- 

 ent is between, say, 30,000 and 40,000 

 at most. 



Some of our wild life is near extinc- 

 tion, and the killing of it should be 

 completely stopped for a period of 

 years. Others are surely decreasing, 

 perhaps more rapidly than we are 

 aware, and still others are as yet hold- 

 ing their own. 



Our big-game animals and many of 

 our choicest fur-bearers we have seen 

 are essentially forest dwellers, and their 

 fate is inseparably wrapped up with the 

 fate of the forests. Minnesota has 

 abundant natural resources for the per- 

 manent preservation of all her wild 

 forms and needs but the awakening of 

 the people to a full realization of their 

 worth, that they may insist upon the 

 enactment of proper measures such as 

 the proposed forestry amendment for 

 State forests would provide for game 

 refuges. 



China's Match Wood Imports 



The imports of matches into China greatly exceed in value any other wood product. 

 Most of the matches come in from Japan. 



Sawdust for Grape Packing 



Redwood sawdust is being used by vineyardists in California for packing fresh table 

 grapes. It takes the place of the ground cork used for imported Spanish grapes. 



Idaho's Highest Peak 



Hyndman Peak, Idaho, the highest named peak in the State, is more than 12,000 feet high. 

 Several unnamed peaks near it are of about the same elevation. All are on the divide be- 

 tween the Sawtooth and the Lemhi national forests. 

 414 



