Wildlife in the United States 



19 



ducers of \vildlife food. These hardwoods, as in the 

 case of those in the Monongahela Forest, may be 

 expected to develop in mixture with the coniferous 

 plantations. The plantations should eventually pro- 

 vide both shelter and subsistence for wildlife. 



Some wildlife species, notably rabbits and deer, maj' 

 become inimical to the estabUshment and growth of 

 plantations. In the national forests of the Lake 

 States, rabbits have increased to the point where 

 brush areas cannot be successfully planted. Planting 

 must either be linoited to more open areas (where rab- 

 bit damage is much less severe) or measures under- 

 taken to reduce the rabbit population. 



Modification of Wildlife Alanagement: Wildlife 

 management plans must sometimes be modified to 

 accord with plans for timber management on specific 

 areas. Relatively inaccessible portions of many na- 

 tional forests must necessarily be handled under 

 extensive forest management, involving less frequent 

 cuttings wliich cannot be confined to small areas 

 scattered tlirough the entire unit. Under such condi- 

 tions, wildhfe management must be directed toward 

 smaller populations, changes in relative number of 

 species, or a fluctuation in populations with character 

 of cover on the various portions of the unit. 



Wildlife and Domestic Livestock- on Forest Range: 

 Probably in no other phase of forest-land management 

 is the interrelation of wildlife production and other 

 forest uses so apparent as in the use of forest range by 

 wildhfe and domestic hvestock. 



Increase of wildlife on the national forests, requiring 

 in some instances adjustments between game and 

 domestic stock, have sharply focused the attention of 

 foresters and game specialists upon the need for care- 

 fully planned and coordinated use of forest grazing 

 areas. 



The outstanding example is on tiie Kaibab Plateau 

 where an area now comprising about 727,000 acres 

 was set aside in 1906 as a Federal game preserve, with 

 deer the principal game species. A measm'e of pro- 

 tection was afforded by the operations of the United 

 States Biological Survey up to 1923 in destroying 

 predators, and conditions were made favorable for the 

 deer in other ways. As a result, deer increased until 

 the forage producing capacity of the area was insuffi- 

 cient not only for the deer and domestic stock, but 

 even for the deer alone. Notwithstanding a reduc- 

 tion of domestic livestocks, to a point where competi- 

 tion with deer was at a minimum, the continued in- 

 crease in deer resulted in great tlamage to the more 

 valuable forage plants and timber reproduction. 

 The productive capacity had been reduced to a degree 

 which would sustain not more than 5 to 10 percent of 

 the game which it was capable of supporting under 

 proper conditions of normal use. Action has been 



under way for several 5'ears to remedy the situation, 

 and the excessive deer population has been reduced. 

 Restoration of properly balanced wildhfe and vegeta- 

 tive conditions presents intricate problems of biological 

 relationships and management. 



Increasing knowledge of forage requirements of 

 game, as difl'erentiated from the recjuirements of 

 domestic hvestock, offers excellent opportunities for 

 determining a well-balanced relation between numbers 

 of game and hvestock. Satisfactory determination 

 of permanent ratios requires additional research and, 

 in tlic final analysis, should afford the means of obtain- 

 ing the best development and use of the wildhfe resource 

 in its proper relation to timber and other lines of pro- 

 duction. 



Proi'iding a Proiier Balance Between Wildlife Species: 

 The proper balance between the various classes of 

 wildlife is also important. Experience in many places 

 has amply demonstrated that the status of the natural 

 wildlife population may be disturbed bj- changes of 

 food and cover conditions that favor one or more 

 species over others, or protection by man of certain 

 species from natural enemies. The ultimate goal of 

 land use is the mdespread application of principles 

 that will result continuously in proper balanced pro- 

 duction of timber, other forest products, and a variety 

 of wildlife. 



Competition between ^\•ildlife species may at times 

 be a vital factor. In the southwestern part of the 

 Sacramento Mountains in New Mexico, on the Lincoln 

 National Forest, wild turkey are very scarce. They 

 have, in fact, nearly- disappeared from that part of the 

 mountains. On this particular range, deer have in- 

 creased on private holdings and adjacent national forest 

 land. Use of the range bj^ deer and domestic stock 

 has so decreased the available quantities of the more 

 palatable shrubs that the deer are forced to supplement 

 their usual food with acorns and juniper berries. This 

 use of mast by deer, together with reduction of other 

 turkey food tlu^ough overgrazing, destroys the winter 

 forage supply for turkey. In the north end of the 

 Sacramento Mountains, where deer are not plentiful, 

 there are great numbers of turkeys. 



The Sitgrcaves National Forest, in Arizona, provides 

 another instance of the need for careful balance between 

 wildlife species. Elk have increased on the simuner 

 range here to such an extent that they are kiUing out 

 the wallows in high mountain meadows. This, together 

 wnth overgrazing of yuccas and other plants utilized 

 bj' elk along the canj-on walls, and trampling of the 

 soil, is resulting in erosion. The delicate relationships 

 between a constant supply of clear water, the develop- 

 ment of aquatic life, and sliaded pools, so necessaiy 

 to provide proper habitat for trout in the streams 

 flowing from this range, are upset by erosion. Floods 



