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Show still is too wet, which causes severe damage to the sod by trampling. The forage itself is far less able to withstand grazing pressure during the early spring growth state than at any other time, because the young plants have not yet been able to store up sufficient food in their roots and stems. Plants that are grazed before they have stored up their vital food supplies never can make normal growth thereafter. Often they fail to produce seed at all, and if this too- early grazing is continued year after year, they are gradually exterminated. Progress in solving the problem of winter range for wildlife will be slight until the following mistakes are corrected: ( 1) Too much reliance on artificial feeding of wildlife. Either the numbers should be reduced to the carrying capacity of the range or additional winter range should be acquired. ( Acquisition of key areas for winter range has been an important Pittman- Robertson Act contribution in some States of the basin.) ( 2) Lack of realization that lands available for winter use by game are rapidly being withdrawn for other uses by man. ( 3) Tendency to give attention to methods of hunting, effects of predators, poaching, and lengths and dates of open and closed seasons, rather than to the real issue, which is lack of adequate winter range. 80 The species which have shown the best increases are principally forest dwellers. Some wildlife of the open range, like the antelope, has recovered to some extent, but even with this species the limits imposed on the extent of recovery by overgrazing have been pointed out. The sage hen has shown a small recovery but is similarly limited. That the bighorn owes its decline at least in part to the depletion of forage will be brought out later. The sharptailed grouse represents one of our definitely vanishing game species. . . Studies have shown the limiting factor to be the disappearance of suitable habitat for this species. The cultivation, overgrazing, and burning of their natural range has limited it to small islands at the present time. Here is an example where propagating and planting of additional birds could not benefit the birds unless the habitat conditions are corrected. 81 The rarer fur bearers, particularly martens, wolverines, and fishers, are showing little or no recov- 80 Murie, 1944. 81 Utah Fish and Game Commission, 1940, p. 6. 818271° 50- 7 ery. Hardly anyone knows what a fiisher is and few wildlife men actually have seen one. These species so far have been raised with little or no success in captivity. They represent one of the few cases where habitat destruction is not involved, for millions of areas of suitable forest land still are available. Some regulations have been passed, but the actual enforcement of protection measures in winter wilderness areas has been inadequate. 82 Martens are fairly numerous in the mountain forests of the Colorado River Basin, but a Forest Service census for the entire area includes no fishers, and only five wolverines in the extreme northern end of the basin. 83 Formerly all three species occurred in the higher mountains at least as far south as the north lines of Arizona and New Mexico. In 1938, it was officially conceded that " The trapping of fur bearers on the national forests is without benefit of any system of management or control of trapping efforts." 84 Postwar plans eventually may change this. Another species that is not far from extinction is the otter. No otters were listed by the Forest Service in 1943 for national forests in the Colorado River Basin. 85 However, in Arizona, " there is a small colony on Clear Creek and two or more colonies on the lower stretches of Rock Ruin River. 86 Meanwhile millions of tons of soil continue to wash away needlessly. In the Southwest and elsewhere, permissible grazing capacity has long since been exceeded and " vegetation now is far from adequate to protect the surface against the erosive forces." 87 The following statements for Utah summarize the situation for nearly all of the Colorado River Basin and afford no reason for complacency: Range conditions over our state generally show little improvement over those of the last two decades, excepting in some areas where Federal Agencies have been able to improve them. The Forest Service through restricting of grazing, and through better range management practices, has been able to improve several areas. The Grazing Service and the Soil Conservation Service through their activities have 82 Beard et al, 1942, p. 79, 83 Swift, 1945b, p. 135. 84 Beard et al, 1942, p. 87. 85 Swift, 1945b, p. 134. 86 A. A. Nichol, letter, Dec. 29, 1945. 87 Thornthwaite et al, 1942, p. 127. 75 |
