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See those mo-ond-like affairs sticking xip out of that stream just ahead of 

 us? Know what they are? 



Yes, you're right. Beaver lodges. 



The wild life men of the Biological Survey "brought a colony of heavers in 

 here four years ago as an expe r i:\ient . And from all appearances, that experiment 

 worked. Tlie original colony of beavers has increased to almost a hundred. The 

 refuge rangers ran onto six new colonies just last fall. At one point, they 

 found the "beavers had built a dam and backed water up a stream for nearly two 

 miles. That dam not only makes a home for the beavers but also makes the stream 

 more livable and home-like for muskrats, ducks, and other wild life. 



^ell, you begin to see we have quite a family of wild folk here in our 

 Upper Mississippi River '.^ild Life and Fish Refuge. But that's only because we 

 protect them. 



Just as fast as we bring new areas of land and water into the refuge, we 

 put them under strict regulation. Of course, that doesn't mean we shut folks 

 out of the refuge entirely. Ray C. Steele, the superintendent, tells me you can 

 take fish, ajid mussels, and. other kinds of water life in most parts of the refuge 

 so long as you observe the State la.vs. You also can go into certain parts of 

 the refuge in the fall to hunt ducks, and geese, and other waterfowl. Moreover, 

 folks in the neighborhood of the refuge trap muskrats and minks. But, of course, 

 a.ll of that fishing, and hunting, and trapping is regulated very closely by the 

 game officials. 



The game officials also tirotect the wild life from starvation and fire. 



In V7inter, when the northern stretches of the refuge are covered with a 

 heavy blanket of snow, the Biological Survey rangers pxit out small hoppers of 

 feed for the -oheasants, and q-uail, and other upland birds. They aJso plant small 

 patches of corn and buckwheat and let it stand as winter food for the birds. 



Our rangers are also plaoiting trees in the refuge. Not long ago, they put 

 in about 600 food-producing trees near McGregor, Iowa. Those trees include raal- 

 berry, and wild plum, and wild crab. 



But starva.tion is a small worry compeared with fire. 



Superintendent Steele tells me the fire hazard ha^s been unusuaJly bad 

 during the past several seasons. 7ith the IviississipxDi running at a low stage, 

 many of the lakes and marshes have dried up. Tliose lakes ajnd marshes used to 

 check the sprea^d of fire. But, now, the dry reeds ajid grasses carry the flames 

 along like tinder. 



During the dry seasons, the whole 284-mile stretch of refuge is often 

 little less thaji a. tinder box. 



A thoughtless hunter or camper leaves his camp fire unattended — or for- 

 gets to put the fire out with wa.ter, or to cover it with dirt before he leaves 

 — or a careless smoker drops a. lighted match, or a cigarette, or a ciga^r — or 

 a farmer lets a brush fire get awa^^ from him — or a spark drifts in from a 

 passing train. 



