Page 365 - Our Vanishing Wild Life

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NATIONAL AND STATE PRESERVES AND REFUGES :j4;i
estate of Charles Conrad, and three were presented from the famous Corbin herd, at Newport, N. H., by the Blue Mountain Forest Association.
Starting with that nucleus (of 43 head) in 1910, the herd has already (1912) increased to 80 head. The herd came through the severe win- ter of 1911-1912 without having been fed any hay whatever, and the founders of it confidently expect to live to see it increase to one thousand head.
The Grand Canyon National Game Preserve of northern Arizona, embraces the entire Grand Canyon of the Colorado River, for a meandering distance of 101 miles, and adjacent territory to an extent of 2,333 square miles (1,492,928 acres). Owing to certain conditions, natural and other- wise, it is not the finest place in the world for the peaceful increase of wildgaine. TheCanyoncontainsafewmountainsheep,andmuledeer, but Buckskin Mountain, on the northwestern side, is reeking with moun- tain lions and gray wolves, and both those species should be shot out of theentireGrandCanyonNationalForest. ItwasonBuckskinandthe western wall of the Canyon itself that "Buffalo" Jones, Mr. Charles vS. Bird, and their party caught nine live mountain lions, in 1909.
I regret to say that "Buffalo " Jones's catalo experiment on the Kaibab Plateau seems to have met an untimely and disappointing fate. For three years the bison and domestic cattle crossed, and produced a number of cataloes; but in 1911, practically the whole lot was wiped off the earth by cattle rustlers ! Mr. Jones thinks that it was guerrillas from southern Utah who murdered his enterprise, partly for the reason that no other persons were within striking distance of the herd.
Mount Rainier National Park.—This fine forest park is the great summer outing ground of the people of the state of Washington. Its area is 324 square miles, and as its name implies it embraces Mount Rainier. Easily accessible from Seattle and Tacoma, and fairly well though not adequately—provided with roads, trails, tent camps, hotels and livery transportation, it is really the Yellowstone Park of the North- west.
The Yosemite National Park in California is so well known that nodescriptionofitisnecessary. Itsareais1,124squaremiles(719.(522 acres). Its great value lies in its scenery, but along with that it is a sanctuary for such of the wild mammals and birds of California as will not wander beyond its borders to the certain death that awaits every- thing that may legally be killed in that state.
Crater Lake National Park.—Like all the National Parks of Americagenerally,thisonealsoisagamesanctuary. Itissituatedon thesummitoftheCascadeMountainsofOregon. ThewonderfulCrater Lake itself is 62 miles from Klamath Falls, 83 miles from Ashland, anditis6mileslong,4mileswideand200feetdeep. ThisNationalPark was created by Act of Congress in 1902. Its area is 249 square miles (159,360 acres), and it contains Columbian black-tailed deer, black bear, the silver-gray squirrel, and many birds, chiefly members of the grouse family. Owingtoitsloftyelevation,therearefewducks.