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Fauna Series No. 1
Approach
Fauna of the National Parks
of the United States
CONSERVATION OF THE WILD-LIFE RESOURCES OF THE PARKS
Recognition of these factors by those entrusted with the care of the parks led to intensification of the protective function until vandalism was wiped out, while poaching has been reduced to a minimum in all but a few parks where it, too, will be eliminated as conditions grow more favorable. But this part of conservation has not been enough. The need to supplement protection with more constructive wild-life management has become manifest with a steady increase of problems both as to number and intensity.
An early example of classic note is the bison of Yellowstone. The necessity of saving the bison left no alternative to intensive management. No one questioned the sacrifice of policy involved in the maintenance of the herd in a state that was only semiwild. It was either that or lose the great buffalo to this country except as Exhibit A in a zoological garden.1 Still, this case was an exception, and no one even for a moment considered that it established a precedent for dealing with other species.
FIGURE 3 – American bison frequent a lake-bottom
wallow.
Management was necessary to preserve this member of the park
fauna.
Photograph taken September 17, 1929, Lamar Valley, Yellowstone
wild Life Survey No. 415
The policy of noninterference with wild life became more and more deeply intrenched. Protection would do the rest. Nevertheless, time proved that management of some sort would have to be invoked to save certain situations, especially as the parks were opened to thousands of visitors, causing a flood of fresh complications.
The conclusion was unavoidable. Protection, far from being the magic touch which healed all wounds, was unconsciously just the first step on a long road winding through years of endeavor toward a goal too far to reach, yet always shining ahead as a magnificent ideal. This objective is to restore and perpetuate the fauna in its pristine state by combating the harmful effects of human influence.
The park faunas face immediate danger of losing their original character and composition unless the tide can be turned. The vital significance of wild life to the whole national-park idea emphasizes the necessity for prompt action. The logical course is a program of complete investigation, to be followed by appropriate administrative action.
The unique feature of the case is that perpetuation of natural conditions will have to be forever reconciled with the presence of large numbers of people on the scene, a seeming anomaly. A situation of parallel circumstance has never existed before. Therefore, the solution can not be sought in precedent. It will challenge the conscientious and patient determination of biological engineers.2 And because of the nature of the task, it is inherently an inside job. Constancy to the objective can be made a certainty only by employment of a staff whose members are of the Service, conversant with its policies, and imbued with a devotion to its ideals.
1 The Extermination of the American Bison, with a Sketch of its Discovery and Life History, by Hornaday, William T. Report of United States National Museum, 1887, pp. 369-548.
2 A designation applied by, Dr. Alexander Ruthven and others to workers in this field.
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Last Modified: Tues, Feb 1 2000 07:08:48 pm PDT
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