Chapter 4, — Wildlife and Fish 



This chapter describes the current and Hkely future 

 status of forest- and range-related wildlife and fish 

 resources and ways in which those resources can be 

 improved. The approach is to describe (1) current and 

 prospective market, social, and ecological demands 

 for the resources; (2) extent to which supplies may 

 meet those demands; (3) implications of imbalances 

 between demands and supplies; (4) most significant 

 problems in the management of the resources; and (5) 

 broad opportunities to enhance wildlife and fish 

 resources. 



The future of wildlife and fish resources depends 

 directly on the management and use of lands and 

 waters. Decisions regarding all resources — including 

 the timber, range, water, and outdoor recreational 

 resources discussed elsewhere in this report — will be 

 critical to the future welfare of wildlife and fish. 



Ecological systems are dynamic and changes in 

 species occurrence and populations are to be ex- 

 pected. Such changes usually reflect changes in the 

 condition of the land and water base. In some in- 

 stances, changes in animal populations have been 

 viewed as reflections of changes in the Nation's envi- 

 ronmental health or quality of life.' In any event, 

 public concerns about the values of wildlife and fish 

 and of many other components of the natural world 

 have risen dramatically over the last few decades. 

 This is reflected in the passage of laws intended to 

 insure the maintenance and enlightened management 

 of these resources, increases in membership of wild- 

 life interest groups, and widespread public interest in 

 both public and private decisions affecting wildlife 

 and fish. 



The following pages first provide a brief overview 

 of the wildlife and fish resources of the Nation. The 

 values ascribed to these resources and the demands 

 placed on them are defined and compared to likely 

 future supplies as a basis for general conclusions 

 about the extent to which desires for wildlife and fish 

 values might be realized. Finally, opportunities to 

 resolve broad problems are defined in terms of habi- 

 tat and population manipulations, regulations and 

 enhancement of uses, cooperative efforts to enhance 

 the condition of private lands, and the generation of 

 new information through research. 



A Brief Overview of the Resource 



The 1.7 billion acres of forest and range lands and 

 associated waters of the United States contain an 

 enormous variety of wildlife and fish, ranging from 

 tropical species in the Caribbean and Pacific Islands 



to caribou above the Arctic Circle to songbirds dis- 

 tributed throughout the Nation. The resident and 

 common migrant vertebrate species and major sub- 

 species directly associated with forest and range 

 lands, or directly influenced by changes on these 

 lands, include about 200 amphibians, 900 birds, 1,100 

 fish, 400 mammals, and 350 reptiles. ^ The distribu- 

 tion of these animals in the United States is indicated 

 in figure 4.1. There are perhaps six or eight times as 

 many species of invertebrates that are also distributed 

 across the Nation. 



Many of these animals spend their lives in rela- 

 tively small areas, such as in or near ponds or forest 

 clearings. In contrast, many of the birds range widely 

 over several continents during their life cycles and are 

 true international resources. The anadromous salmon 

 of the Northwest spend their early lives in fresh water 

 as far inland as Idaho and their maturing years in the 

 ocean, returning inland to spawn and die. They, too, 

 transcend national boundaries. Other animals, such 

 as elk, migrate on a more local basis, moving with the 

 seasons from summering to wintering areas. Still 

 other species, such as the California condor, travel 

 widely each day in search of food. 



As described in the Forest and Range Lands chap- 

 ter, the Nation's land base is subdivided into forest 

 ecosystems (defined on the basis of the existing dom- 

 inant timber type) and range ecosystems (defined on 

 the basis of potential vegetation). Of the resident and 

 common migrant vertebrate species associated with 

 forest and range lands, about half are found in both 

 forest and range ecosystems. Slightly more than a 

 third are found only in forest ecosystems and the 

 remainder are found only in range ecosystems (table 

 4.1). 



Wildlife and fish are unique resources with respect 

 to ownership and regulation. British common law. 



' See, for example, "10 year EQ Trend" printed annually in the 

 February issue of National Wildlife Magazine. 



2 These numbers and all other data in this chapter for which an 

 alternative citation is not provided have been assembled by the 

 Forest Service in cooperation with other Federal agencies and the 

 States, Territories, and Possessions. Descriptions, rationales, the 

 most promising uses, and the availability of the data base are given 

 in Schweitzer, D. L., C. T, Cushwa, and T. W. Hoekstra. The 1979 

 National assessment of wildlife and fish: a progress report. In 

 Trans. No. Amer. Wildl. and Nat. Res. Conf. 43:266273. 1978. 

 Included are data concerning all resident and common migrant 

 vertebrate species found on forest or range lands or in the asso- 

 ciated waters or that are directly influenced by the management of 

 those lands and waters. In addition, vertebrate subspecies and 

 invertebrates are included if they are (1) listed by the Federal or a 

 State government as endangered or threatened by extinction, (2) 

 known or likely to be particularly sensitive to the management of 

 those lands and waters, (3) recreationally important, or (4) com- 

 mercially important. A partial critique of these data is contained in 

 Hoekstra, T. W., D. L. Schweitzer, C. T. Cushwa, S. H. Anderson, 

 and R. B. Barnes. Preliminary evaluation of a national wildlife and 

 fish data base. In Trans. No. Amer. Wildl. and Nat. Res. Conf. 

 44:380-391. 1979. 



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