Montana labor news., 1937-02-04

In the West where forests, streams
and snow-clad mountains lie just
beyond the centers of population and
| where primitive areaS are not all
destroyed, interest is growing strong
er toward the public use of the out
of-doors for health and happiness.
Commercialism is still driving to
make money by rapid exploitation.
Can we check the quick private
profits on neutral resources that
have been running the peoples ac-
count into the red?
Who is to watch the public's in
terest in our wildlife resources when
they are wasted by greed and care
lessness? The average citizen hasn't
the time, and what is everybody's
business is nobody's business. There
fore, the American Nature Associa-
ton of Washington, D. c., was en-
dowed for this purpose by Charles
Lathrop Pack and his son, Arthur
Newton Pack. Education is used as
the key to conservation. The chill
dren of today must straighten out
the tangles of tomorrow.
To the promoter and e~xploiter, all
our wildlife resources have had but
one use, killing for profits of some
kind. The conservation history of
America reveals many examples of
killing the goose that laid the golden
egg, the most striking of which is
the trappers' campaign against the
humble beaver to get quick profits
on his hide. It is very much like
making a stew out of a productive
hen or a roast out of a fine milk
cow. Natures engineer, the beaver,
has a good warm coat, but his great
est service has been in creating
earliest industry of conserving soil
and water. In the West he has
proved to be the most valuable wild
animal in existence and n that
built up a vast amount of wealth.
AS a %conserver of soil and water
the busy beaver is more logical and
tolls with a more persistent purpose
than mar in building dams. Both
have the same incentive, to store up
water. A beaver dams a stream to
nraafo n root oro,,pJ b,r bo,,co g.,
protection. Man dams a stream to
create a reservoir for irrigation and
power. In this day and age when
western people are so conscious of
dams the beaver ought to be
crowned as our wildlife citizen num-
Der one, bees-se in arid areas he
builds reservoirs to save water with
out cost, while man is building
enormous dams to store up water,
but saddling future generations with
gigantic debts.
A long time ago when the great
mountain ranges were lifted up from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, the rains
came and the floods swept down the
gullies and canyons, washing the
rich topsoil to the sea. Then the
beavers moved in, building dams
along all the little streams, stopping
the rush of waters, and the soil
settled to the bottom. Ponds filled
up with silt, turning into meadows;
more ponds and more soil developed
from little to big valleys, getting the
whole topography of the country
ready for mans arrival and benefit.
The water table was built up from
its sources. Forests were fostered
and conserved moisture in the
sponge-like soil. Innumerable ponds
and lakes made homes for fish life,
waterfowl and fur-bearing animals.
Streams grew and fed rivers to irri-
gate the lower stretches of the land.
The proof today is clear that a
beavers value is in his work and
not solely in his hide. The facts
have been uncovered in thousands
of areas in the West. Beavers were
trapped out, ponds and lakes dried
up, the water table lowered, and
~grass-covered valleys reverted to
deserts. Soil erosion and dust storms
followed which are the tragic pic
lures Of today.
Let me give you an example: Two
trappers took out 900 beaver pelts
one winter from the headwaters of
Silver Creek and its tributaries in
the southeastern part of the Ochoco
National Forest in eastern Oregon.
With no beaver engineers left to
take care of the dams, the ponds dis
appeared. Grassy meadows built up
by sub-irrigation died out. Instead
of $4,000 tons of pasturage along the
streams, worth SO to. IS a ton, the
amount was reduced to a few hun
dred tons. Each year the water sup
ply lessened. Good trout streams
disappeared. Ranchers had to dig
wells and pump water for their
stock. Farmers lower down who
had used the water for irrigation
watched their ranches revert to a
desert.
The trappers in one season cashed
in their catch for $4,000 or $4,000.
This may be compared to a con-
tlnual yearly loss to stockmen OF
approximately $4,000. 1t has now
run into &c tLo.,rnndc The