Dorr, George B.

English

University of Maine

The University of MaineDigitalCommons@UMaineMaine History Documents Special Collections1917Wild Life and Nature Conservation in the EasternUnited StatesGeorge B. DorrFollow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistoryPart of the History CommonsThis Monograph is brought to you for free and open access by DigitalCommons@UMaine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Maine HistoryDocuments by an authorized administrator of DigitalCommons@UMaine. For more information, please contactum.library.technical.services@maine.edu.Repository CitationDorr, George B., "Wild Life and Nature Conservation in the Eastern United States" (1917). Maine History Documents. 74.https://digitalcommons.library.umaine.edu/mainehistory/74Maine F 27 .M9 S46 ;IEUR DE MONTS P UBLICATIONS v . 6 VI Wild Life and Nature Conservation in the Eastern States ISSUED BY THE WILD GARDENS OF ACADIA BAR HARBOR, MAINE :Firs t glimpse of the ocean on the path to H ugucnot Head in th e Sieur de .Monts na tional pa rk upon the coast of .l\Ia ine ( I J a m es Bryce Kern e r von Maril aun Uuiv. of Vienn a A. F. Schimper Univ. of Bonn C. S. Sa rgp.nt L". S. Forestry Repor t A. R. Wa ll ace SIEUR DE MONTS PUBLICATIONS VI "WILD LIF'E .AND NATURE CONSERV ~TION . IN THE E ASTERN STATES. Th e ..L\ ppalachian r egion of ilnerica contained until lately th e fin es t temperate-zone for est, and th e rich est in pecies, in the world . It ranged unbrokenly from the northern boundary of the United States to Alahama and the R ed R iver r egion of Louisiana, and it stretched from the .Atlantic lowlands to th e prairies . Now, compara-tively little of this fores t is left in an unalter ed state ; its ar ea has shrunk to a fraction of what it \"\~a s , and is still shrinking rap idly. It is a fOI"est of imm ense antiquity. The earliest fo ssil r eeord of the broad-lea ved, deciduous-leaved type of tree found in the 'world is found in deep-placed rock-strata of tb e south ern Appalachians, and th e evidence is strong that never since that imm easurably far-off tim e has the long succession of it s trees been br oken, south of the limit of ice-sheet invasion. It is unique today in species no longer to be fo und elsewher e, such as th e Tulip Tree, of whicb a dozen other species once (h.-elt "sithin it; th e Magnolias-now elsewher e found in eastern Asia onl.v; th e Tu pelo, th e Liquidam ber, Sassafras, and other s. Ancientl.v as rich as i t in these and other forms, th e whole continent of Europe at the present tim e can s al'cely SllOW one-half its " calth in genera and speCles. 3 Giant fap lc-tree in P ennsy lvania M. L . F ernald N. S. Shale r 1. C. Russell J . P . Les ley Cha rles E liot A. R. Wallace A. F. Schimper Dutch and English Co lo-nial R eports These species, forever irreplaceable if lost, a re-like many of our native wild-flowers, birds and animals whose home the for est was- eriously endangered under existing conditions ; and eastern .L\ mel'ica stands in the way today of losing swiftly, in a single human lif et ime, its long inh eritance of wealth and beauty in the natural world, in trees , in flowering shrubs and plants, in birds and oth er form s of animal lif e. Again, the Atlantic coast lands on the one hand and the Mississippi Valle.y, WWl its branches, on the other, are r egions des tined to be permanen t and crowded homes of indu stry and trade-homes of men, that is, on a vast scale. Between . them, and everywh er e within easy r each from them, li c the Appalachian mountain ranges, of great natural beauty and r efreshing quality in exten. ive tract. , the ancient home of these magnificent for-es ts, th e sour ce of str eam s, rich in delightful un-dcrgrowth and faunal life. This region of wood s and mountains, terminating in a magnificently watered l'egion in the north, presents possibilities of incalculable importance to the crowded city population s of the East, the Soutl1, and the great Central P lains . To save it to the utmost in beauty and r efr eshing quality is imperative, in view of the great coming need, and it is yet more impera -ti ve to save to those who will come after us the for est 's wealth of tree and plant pecies, of bird and other animal life. For tlwse are tbings, precious in every sense, that once lost are lost for-c\-el', and not a few are lost already. 'What is now proposed is this-founded partly on a scheme urged yea r s ago b.,' Dutch and Eng-lish naturalists for the preservation of th e native fore st and its associated life in thcir eastern col-A magnificent region of mountains, lakes, and forest in the nor th A. R. Wa llace Charles Eli ot National Assn. Audubon Societi es J am es Bryce onies and partly on the knowledge that biologi~ts have gained in r ecent years concerning bird and oth er wild life conservation: To establish a systematic chain of r eserves, large or small as opportunity serves but selected always with well-s tudied r efer ence to the preservation and favor-able exhibit of the native for est and other floras, the bird and oth er faunas of their r egion; and to choose th ese areas, also, so as to make of each, so for as possible, a scenic r eservation and a p ark, contributing to health and pleasure and the de-velopm ent of a love for nature. Each such r eser ve would thus contribute-variou sly, according to its character-toward these general ends : (1) the preservation of the native fores t flora, its trees and underplants ; (2) the preservation of bird and other forms of ani-mal life, natively inhabiting the forest; (3) op-portunity for scientific observation and study of these both, existing naturally under their original conditions ; (4) conservation, in the public inter-est, of beautiful and inspiring land scapes; (5) the establishment of a means of study for plant-ers, landscape architects and foresters who have work to plan and carry out in th e surrounding regIOn. In certain places, one or the oth er of these objects would be dominant- as bird sanctuaries along th e shore from Cape Cod southward, or scenic r eser vations in tracts of exceptionally striking scenery, such as mountain heights and river gorges or beautiful coast landscapes. To the development of landscape work along broad and natural lines-work soundly based on nature-nothing that could else be done, no train-7 Gra ndl'ather M ounta in fi nd its ha rd -wood I'orest, North Carolina American In-stitut e of Architects C. S. Mi l10 t M. L . F ernald U. S. Biolog i-ca l Survey ing in schools or study of foreign examples im-possible of r eproduction her e, would contribute so liberally as this. In exhibiting to architects and land scape architects, or men charged with the development of public parks, the whole range of native material within their reach, a work of widest influence would be accomplished, and one that would aid greatly in the creation of a national landscape art. For the botanist and entomologist such r eserves, g rouped in a linked series r eadily and quickly traversed, would not only provide living co llec-tions of th e r are plant and insect species of eacll r eg ion, difficult to study otherwise, but would also save from destruction many an inter esting life form else certain to become extinct as the ~- oods are cut 'away, the lands denuded and burnt over_ For the preservation of the bird and other wild life of the Continent, migra tory as the form er largely is, absolute sanctuaries, well grouped and not too far apart, have already proved themselves beyond dispute essential, in the presence of a time wh er e human for ethought and prompt ac-tion only can avert the swift destructiveness of human agencies more ruinous biologically and wider spread than the destructive agencies of any previou s age, glacial or oth er, the rocks or later clays r eveaL GEORGE B. Dorm. 9 Fores t interior in the outheI'll .\ ppalaehians-Seale is given by th e man and horse upon the trail Ancient sea-cliff on Mount Desert I sland, raised by coa tal elevation and deeply sunk in woods 

Wild Life and Nature Conservation in the Eastern United States

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Wild Life and Nature Conservation in the Eastern United States

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