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Show humus that is essential to plant growth. In addition, the loosening and turning over of the earth through burrow excavations permits air to enter, which is required by the humus- forming bacteria. It also allows water to penetrate the soil, which otherwise would settle and pack year by year until it became as impervious as sandstone. When water penetrates the earth instead of quickly running off the surface, there is far greater plant growth; the soil washes away but little or not at all; floods are fewer; the soil is more fertile; and the land is a better place for living- and for recreation. Animals.- If plants are essential not only to other forms of life, but to most recreation, animals are hardly less so. During the decade ending in 1930, hunters and fishermen increased 400 percent and totaled 13 million. It was estimated that the recreational attraction of wildlife accounted for 254 million dollars of tourist expenditures annually, and that 158 million dollars was spent by hunters. 3 By 1945, in spite of wartime restrictions, 20 million anglers and hunters spent 2 billion dollars per year in pursuit of their sport.* The postwar trend toward shorter working hours 3 Bureau of Biological Survey, 1935, p. 1. 4 Carhart, 1945; cf. Presnall, 1945a, p. 18. Figure 29.- Chipmunk of the Transition Zone. Figure 30.- The spreading ripple of a beaver. and increased leisure no doubt will result in still more hunting and fishing. Some estimates place the future annual expenditures for this purpose at 3 billion dollars. 5 At the beginning of the war only about 2 percent of the millions who went into the armed forces had previous experience with firearms. Their new skill and acquired habits of wide travel surely will further stimulate hunting, and no doubt fishing as well. The trend may be still further accelerated if there should be a revolutionary increase in civilian aviation, permitting the average sportman to reach even the remote and choicest fishing and big game areas in a few hours. Fishing and hunting are only two of many recreational values of wildlife. Rivaling the sportsmen in enthusiasm is a rapidly increasing group of amateur and semiprofessional wildlife photographers. Though the hunter may have a lifetime of unforgettable experiences, the wildlife photographer can claim an even richer field of opportunity and golden memories. For him there is no closed season, and no animal, however rare, is on his forbidden list. With luck and patience he may " catch and hold," to enjoy forever, yet unharmed, many beautiful and vanishing creatures denied to the hunter, such as the trumpeter swan of the 5 Carhart, 1945. 57 |
