! 



United States Department of Agriculture ., ■•■>' - 

 Bureau of Biological Survey >^ a[ 



'T, ?:. 



1?7ildlif e Rese arc h and Management Leaflet BS-37 



Washington, D. C. Fe"bruary 1936 



THE C0R5ELATI 0N OF FOREST RY AKD WILDLIFE MMAGEI^ITT * 

 By Ira N. Gabrielson, Chief 



In attempting a "brief discussion of the correlation of forestry and 

 wildlife management, which can touch only a few of the more important fac- 

 tors, temporarily ignoring exceptions, may I emphasize that the discussion 

 is in no wa.y critical of foresters or forestry practices, "but merely at- 

 tempts to indicate a few points at which it seems possi"ble to correlate 

 the two functions for the greater good of wildlife. 



Can forestry and wildlife management he correlated into, an economi- 

 cally feasi"ble program? It is certainly possi'b-le. How then can it be 

 started? Several steps which can contribute to this end suggest themselves 

 as worthy of consideration. 



1. Some additions to the curriculum of the average forestry school. 



2. Comparatively slight modifications of present forestry manage- 

 ment practices to correlate them with the needs of wildlife. 



3. Similar modifications in the viewpoint of and practices advo- 

 cated by biologists and conservationists. 



It has "been my privilege to know intimately many foresters and 

 visit many forests during the past twenty years. The average forester 

 is well trained in his profession when he leaves school. He knows 

 thoroughly the technical side of surveying, timber cruising, trail build- 

 ing, and the multitude of other activities which maJce up the routine of 

 his profession, but comparatively few of them clearly conceive of a forest 

 as an interrelated community of living organisms. This is no particular 

 fault of theirs, as until recently few forestry schools have included 

 anything, more than very inadequate courses in biology and ecology in their 

 curricula. During the last few years several schools have started courses 

 ■under the general term of Game Management or Wildlife Management, but not 

 many of them have been operating long enough to graduate students with a 

 biological background. 



♦Reprinted by permission from the Journal of Forestry 34 (3): 98-103, 

 Feb. 1936.- 



