24 
FOREST AND STREAM 
January, 1920 
FORESTS STREAM 
FORTY-EIGHTH YEAR 
FOUNDERS OF THE AUDUBON SOCIETY 
GOVERNING BOARD 
GEORGE BIRD GRINNELL, New York, N. Y. 
CARL E. AKELEY, American Museum of Natural History, New York. 
FRANK S, DAGGETT, Museum of Science, Los Angeles, Cal. 
EDMTJND HELLER, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, D. C. 
C. HART MERRIAM, Biological Survey, Washington, D. C. 
WILFRED H. OSGOOD, Field Museum of Natural History, Chicago, 111. 
JOHN M. PHILLIPS, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Pittsburgh, Pa. 
CHARLES SHELDON, Washington, D. C. 
GEORGE SHIRAS, 3rd, Washington, D. C. 
WILLIAM BRTJETTE, Editor 
JOHN P. HOLMAN, Associate Editor 
TOM WOOD. Manager 
Nine East Fortieth Street, New York City 
THE OBJECT OF THIS JOURNAL WILL BE TO 
studiously promote a healthful interest in outdoor rec- 
reation, and a refined taste for natural objects. 
August 14, 1873. 
1920 
y HE past year, more than others, has been marked 
*■ by the general acceptance of the doctrine of 
outdoor recreation. The Great War taught us what 
benefits are derived from healthy exercise in the 
open. Our vast training camps brought to thou- 
sands of our young men the incentive to continue 
regular outdoor work. It is no longer considered 
folly to spend a vacation under the open sky — to 
hunt and fish. Men who, awhile ago, regarded the 
diminution in the supply of game and -fish with con- 
sternation, because they would be compelled to cease 
hunting and fishing are now content with other 
pleasures never considered in their younger days. 
That they take full measure of satisfaction from 
their recreation is everywhere evident. To those 
who are fond of the gun, the rod and the paddle, 
there are abundant opportunities to practise, ex- 
periment and compete in friendly rivalry involving 
knowledge and skill. All occupy the mind and the 
body, furnishing the relaxation busy persons need. 
As a nation we are coming to a fuller realization 
of the beauty and grandeur of the vast country 
round about us. Conservation of our natural re- 
sources is beginning to take its rightful place among 
the prime necessities of national life. The time has 
come to cease destroying and to assist nature to 
build. 
The new year will be a better one for the sports- 
man and the woodsloafer than those that are gone. 
But each must assist, for the benefits will be for all. 
THE FEELING FOR PARKS 
A LL over the United States there is a continuing 
** expansion of the outdoor sentiment — a healthy 
sign. The establishment of the Bureau of National 
Parks and the appointment at its head of Stephen 
T. Mather, a man of extraordinary ability and en- 
ergy, expressed this feeling. 
All over the country straws are showing which 
way the wind blows. One of these is the effort to 
establish a park in the Indiana-Lake Michigan sand 
dune country — a region of sand hills lying for fifteen 
miles along the shore of Lake Michigan in Porter 
County, Indiana. Useless in large part for agricul- 
ture, it is the home of many unusual wild animals 
and plants, which ought to be preserved ; and facing 
on the lake shore with a varied surface, it offers great 
possibilities for a large and beautiful park. 
In the year 1917 Mr. Mather recommended the 
reservation of the region for this purpose, and an 
association has been formed to advocate its estab- 
lishment. There has been opposition by residents of 
Porter County who feared that such a park might in- 
terfere with the commercial development of the 
county, but this feeling has largely disappeared, and 
it is thought that now the Chamber of Commerce 
of Valparaiso and the National Dunes Park Associa- 
tion will co-operate to have such a park set aside. 
How large it will be and just what boundaries may 
be established for it time alone can tell. 
In Iowa efforts have been made to establish state 
parks and to improve the lakes which dot that beau- 
tiful state. The legislature has authorized the use of 
$50,000 from the fees obtained from hunters’ licenses 
for the purchase of land for public parks. It is pro- 
posed that one of these shall be what is known as the 
Devil’s Backbone Park in Delaware County. Other 
tracts scattered about the state have been recom- 
mended — some in the North and some in the South. 
One of the last, near Kesauqua, of over 1100 acres, 
contains interesting native trees and many game 
birds. An effort has been made to induce all the 
farmers within a mile of this park to agree to pre- 
serve the area about it as a wild life refuge. 
It is the purpose of the state to retain the lakes 
wherever practicable and to purchase land on their 
shores for state parks. Citizens have made gifts of 
land for park purposes, and many petitions asking 
for state parks have been received. A recent session 
of the General Assembly appropriated $100,000 for 
the creation of such parks. 
What is going on in Indiana and Iowa is taking 
place in many other states. Sometimes the work at- 
tracts no notice, but all over the land there is a strong 
undercurrent of feeling in favor of the establishment 
of these open spaces for the benefit of the whole 
people. 
A WHOLESOME WINTER SPORT 
("VVER much of the northern country the ground 
^ is now covered deep with snow ; bitter cold has 
hardened the waters in lakes and streams and keen 
winds sweep over deserted fields, whistle through 
ragged hedgerows and bow the tree trunks in naked 
woods. It is a hard time for all outdoor life — these 
mid-winter days when the cold grows stronger. Es- 
pecially is it hard for the birds. To a large extent 
their food is covered by snow, and search as indus- 
triously as they may, there is little enough to be 
found that they can eat. 
The mammals have an easier time. Running in 
all directions under the snow are the tunnels of the 
mice and shrews, which feed on the roots of grasses, 
the bark of the farmer’s fruit trees and much green 
vegetable life that is to be found. ’Coon and squir- 
rel and muskrat are snugly curled up in their winter 
nests not to emerge until the cold is broken ; the 
hardy mink travels up and down the stream and 
catches fish and digs out frogs hidden in the bot- 
tom, and now and then finds a dead bird ; while the 
tireless fox searches everywhere for field mice, feeds 
