DEPLETION OF WILD LIFE 323 



"Of the elk in the National Forests, about a 

 third form part of the great herds ranging in and 

 out of Yellowstone National Park. The Olympus 

 elk in the Olympus National Monument, included in 

 the Olympus National Forest of western Washing- 

 ton, have increased to about seven thousand and pre- 

 sent an administrative problem in as much as the 

 areas upon which they congregate in winter are 

 along the river-bottoms under dense timber where 

 nutritious food plants are becoming scarce. Elk 

 occur or have been established in some of the Na- 

 tional Forests of all of the Rocky Mountain and Pa- 

 cific Coast States. Of the western groups, Nevada 

 is the only State having no elk. The animals have 

 been established in the National Forests of North 

 Carolina, Oklahoma and South Dakota. They have 

 increased so rapidly that the limits of the range in 

 some of the plants now necessitates development of 

 plans for disposal of a surplus. 



"Among other large wild animals worthy of 

 note on the National Forests are 12,000 mountain 

 sheep, 10,500 mountain goats, 4,300 moose, a few 

 caribou, 3,000 antelope and 149 buffalo." 



Theoretically, the original balance of life holds 

 in our National Parks, but practically wild life is 

 maintained there in some approximation to its origi- 

 nal condition only by careful management. In each 

 park there are one or more small areas for camps, 

 hotels, and motor concentration whose native quality 

 has disappeared. The Yosemite Valley, for exam- 

 ple, is urban in all essential respects, and the various 



