FISH FOR THE FORESTS 



699 



ALONG A FAMOUS TROUT STREAM. 



THE SUMMER HOME OF JOHN W. RINCKEL ON THE MCCLOUD RIVER, SHASTA NATIONAL FOREST, CALIFORNIA. 

 RIVER IS FAMED FOR ITS WONDERFUL TROUT FISHING AND IS ONE OF THE FEW STREAMS WHERE THE 

 DOLLY VARDEX TROUT ARE FOUND. THESE, AND RAINBOW TROUT, ARE LARGE AND PLENTIFUL. 



THIS 



Unfortunately there is a very defi- 

 nite limit to the number of fish that a 

 given body of water will support. A 

 stream may become overstocked just 

 as readily as a pasture and, so far as 

 the stock are concerned, with as dis- 

 astrous results. Then, too, there are 

 many obstacles to full natural repro- 

 duction so that the fish cannot repro- 

 duce as fast as they are captured or 

 destroyed. To these difficulties may 

 be added the losses caused by cloud- 

 bursts which sweep the fish from the 

 streams, or by drouths that leave the 

 fish stranded in small pools in which 

 they finally perish, or by unscreened 

 irrigation ditches, through which the 

 fish are carried into field and meadows, 

 where, of course, they die. or by the 

 pollution of streams by mill tailings, 

 sawdust, coal dust, or sewage. Another 

 fruitful cause of loss are laws which 



allow fishing before or during the 

 spawning season. In this connection 

 it should be understood that fishermen 

 and hunters in the national forests are 

 subject to the game and fish laws of 

 the States in which the forests are 

 situated. Excessive fishing is in itself 

 sufficient to deplete a stream, but when 

 it is coupled with one or several of the 

 complications enumerated, the fishing 

 value of the stream is temporarily and 

 all too often permanently destroyed. 



During the past three years the con- 

 siderations mer.tioned have led certain 

 of the national forest districts to give 

 increasing attention to the question of 

 replenishing depleted streams and 

 stocking the bodies of water which 

 are capable of supporting fish life but 

 do not contain fish. Examples of pri- 

 vate enterprise have demonstrated 

 most conclusively that a small expen- 



