9 "^ITH TOT CLE SM'S KATUKAIISTS 



S", T;. : . .ri'Tsr 0=' A s.i'ioultuie 

 RELEASE Friday, Eebruary 24, 1933 



1 



EOR BROADCAST USE ONLY 



Reading Time; 10 Minutes 



AlTNOUMCEI.'iEIJT ; And here is Uncle Sam's Naturalist, ready to talce us on another 

 trip into the Great Out-o '-Doors . Today, ^ve'll visit the big home for our furred 

 and feathered folk of 'lilds along the upper stretches of the Mississippi, '^e 

 make this trip through the courtesy of the United States Biological Survey. 



Better "bring your Seven-Leagae Boots along v/ith you today. 



You may need them to cover the long, long stretch of country that lies 

 ahead of us. 



We're starting at Davenport, Iowa. From Davenport, we hit up the Missis- 

 sippi through the UpT)er L/Iississippi River ?Jild Life and Fish Refuge for a distance 

 of approximately 284 miles — yes sir, all the way up to Wahasha, Minnesota. As 

 we move along, we'll hop back and forth from one side of the river to the other 

 to set our feet down in- four different states — Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, and 

 7/isconsin . 



But be careful where you hop with those big boots or you may hop clear 

 outside of the refuge. For, you see, this refuge is merely a fringe along the 

 river. It ranges from two miles wide to five miles. 



That little ribbon of bottomland, and islands, and marshes, and lakes is 

 what you might call the I/iississippi ' s elbow room. Every spring, Ole Man River 

 swells up his chest and comes rollin' along southward in a big huff, sweeping 

 aside everything that stands in his wa^^. Our little stretch of refuge land lies 

 right in his path. Any farm or business you might try to locate there would al- 

 ways be in danger of flooding. 



So, some of the friends of our wild life said, "T?hy not keep that bottom- 

 land in its natural condition? Those thickets, and marshes, and lakes make a 

 fine home for wild birds and animals, aiid fish and other water-folk. All kinds 

 of trees, and wild flowers, and water plants in there, too. They will be inter- 

 esting to nature lovers." 



Well, Congress thought that was a good idea. So, in 1924 it set aside 

 that little strip of overflow lend along the river as a wild-life and fish refuge. 



Incidentally, the land has a double purpose. That particular stretch of 

 the Mississippi lies on one of the important flight routes of our migratory 

 birds. So, it's not only a refug:e for the native wild life, but also a link in 

 our nation-wide system of stoiD-overs for ducks, and geese, and other birds while 

 they're on their warj north or soiith. They can stop over there long enough to 

 refuel and rest . 



-ooOoo- 



