The Ely miner. [volume] (Ely, Minn.) 1895-1986, 1923-09-21
BEAVER AND GAME
TALKED OVER.
FISH AND GAME COMMISSION
Err J. r. GOULD MEETS WITH
SPORTSMEN AND
TRAPPERS.
(By w. L. BAKERY

HcdTly ali pIOlSSslOuS met al lflt
Community Center here yesterda!
at the call of the new State Gam.
and Fish Commissioner James F
Gould, and spent the greater par
of the day discussing the question
of beaver trapping in northern Min
nesota particularly on and adjoining
the Superior State Game Refuge
and Superior National Forest.
Calvin A. Dahlgren, Supervisor
of the Superior National Forest, ex.
planned the purpose of the meeting
and introduced Mr.. Gould, who wa:
accompanied by d. A. Peterson
Chief Game Warden from St. Paul
and Wardens James Harris of Ely
Howard Rustad of Virginia, Jane:
Beatty of Cook, and w. A. Tabor
of Two Harbors.
81 am dyed in the wool con-
servationist" said Commissioner
Gould in his opening remarks, "and
believe that all of US should look be.
yond the ends of our noses in the
matter of game protection. He
the beaver and moose
census, that is being taken by the
State Game and Fish Commission
and the U. S. Forest Service, and
said that until that work was COM
pleted and the data compiled, it
would not be possible for the Com
to state its policy exactly.
DR.. Harry E. Newgord, President
of the Ely Chapter of the Izaak
Walton League of America, ad-
dressed the meeting briefly and ex-
pressed the views of the league as
opposed to any trapping on the re-
fuge until the damage done by
beaver was definitely shown or the
fact of an excess in any locality
firmly established by the census and
field investigation. DIR. Newgord
felt that the refuge should be closed
until the census was completed.
eff each trapper is allotted only
one township, the fur bearing ami
mails will be exterminated in a
short time, said Albert Faille, one
of the eldest and most experienced
trappers in the region, who has
been trapping for eighteen years.
Mr.. Faille claims that a trapper
should be given a reasonable terri
tory so that he could practice con-
servation and still find it sufficient
ly profitable for him to go into the
woods.
In reply to DIR. Newgord's point
that the annual crop of fur could
be harvested by the state and pro-
vide a very substantial yearly in
come for the state, Mr.. Gould was
of the opinion that such plan was
under the present laws
and appropriation. In connection
with this point, he also said that he
believed the Game and Fish Depart
ment one of the most important in
the state and that it should be
by a straight mill-tax
levy.
Ed. Lake, a trapper, was of the
opinion that, "a thousand trappers
would go into the territory, if it
was closed to trapping, and said
that the licensed trappers would
protect the areas. allotted them.
Elmer Pruit, another trapper from
The Stony River country agreed
with Lake in these statements and
mentioned several of his expert
ences as trapper and homesteader.
"In some places there are too
many beaver, and in others, not
enough, said Joe Cook, trapper
from Winton, and Rudolph Klobuch-
er of the Birch Lake country,
agreed with him and added that the
raising and lowering of the water
by the power company's dams was
with beaver. State Rep
resentative A. j. Thomas called at
sention to the necessity for fish
ways at the various dams and re-
quested that the Commission in
vestigate that point at the dams on
lakes around Ely.
Forest Supervisor Dahlgren stated
that the beaver should be trapped
put entirely where they were doing
damage and left where they were
not doing damage. He pointed out
that the Game Refuge included
much of the Superior National For
est, that the Government was in the
business of raising timber in the
Forest and that beaver should not
be allowed to build dams and flood
and kill timber. Mr.. Dahlgren also
stated that he knew of some four
or FIVE thousand acres on which the
timber had been killed in this way,
that it was not all Government land
but that all the timber producing
land should be protected alike from
beaver.
Game Warden Beatty said that
during his examination of about
$4,000 acres on the western end of
the Refuge in a more or less tens
i've way, he had found only about
120 acres of timber flooded by
beaver and was of the opinion that
sixty beaver would be enough to
take out of the territory he had ex-
Many questions such as the effect
of beaver on moose range, the
length of time beaver had been in
the region, the death of moose from
disease and ticks, etc. were discussed
without arrival at definite conclu-
sions, but it was generally estab-
lished by the trappers that the
wolves were killing many deer and
that there were many wolves in the
Refuge. In this connection Mr..
Gould made it firmly plain that the
trappers who were successful in
wolves would be given pre-
ference when the beaver trapping
permits were issued.
During the discussions Commits
sioner Gould outlined the policy of
the State briefly as follows: That
beaver trapping permits would be
issued only where the census showed
it necessary or where there was de-
finite knowledge of injury by the
beaver. TIL at trapping permits
would not be issued Unfortunately
and that each trapper would be
given a definite territory for which
he would be responsible and which
he must protect from poaching be-
fore, during, and after the season.
Each trapper will be appointed a
ra,oo uvorden hnudpd as Such and