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2, A od RECEIVED
Ses sah JAN i ees
REPORT OF |||
THE :
CHIEF OF THE |||/—
BUREAU OF
BIOLOGICAL
SURVEY
1937
REPORT OF THE CHIEF OF THE BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL
SURVEY, 1937
Unirep States Department oF AGRICULTURE,
Bureau or BrorogtcaL SURVEY,
Washington, D. C., September 15, 1937.
Hon. Henry A. WALLACE,
Secretary of Agriculture.
Dear Mr. Secretary: I present herewith the report of the Bureau
of Biological Survey for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1937.
Sincerely yours,
Tra N. Gasrretson, Chief.
CONTENTS
Page Page
Tntrodienioneeemeee seen ss aera Ste eee 1 | Migratory-waterfowl restoration program_-___- 31
The chief program of the year--_----------- 1 Refuge restoration and development_-___-_-- 31
Outstandine eventss.-----..-----_---------- 3 Habitat reconnaissance and improvement -_ 35
Keeping the public informed _---_---------- 5 Easement refuges--_-_---------------------- 36
Funds available to the Survey-------------- 5 Providing for maintenance and patrol___-_-- 37
Organization of the Bureau----------------- 5 | Administration of national wildlife refuges____ 38
Research on wildlife status and management - 6 IBirdsretu ees eee eee aed 38
Statusot watertowli2s 202243) 2 20 tet 6 Big-game preserves. _ 45
Research on forest and range fauna__-_------ 8 | Wildlife conservation la 51
Biological research on refuge areas__-------- 9 Resulatony achone= sean eee 51
Wildiife-management research ____--------- 9 Work of game-management agents __- 52
Biological investigations in Alaska_--_------ 12 Violations and penalties imposed -__-------- 53
Banding game and other birds_--_---------- 12 Court action on the baiting regulation_ 55
Records of bird distribution---_------------- 13 Wildlife conservation in Alaska_______- 55
State surveys and reports---- 14 | Importation and other permits issued---- 56
Economic studies of wildlife__-------- “idgre 14 Foreign species excluded__-_----------- 56
Waterfowl] food investigations. ------------- 14 Species entered under permit_-_-.-_----.--- 57
Mosquito control in wildlife habitat-_-_----- 17 Permits under the Migratory Bird Treaty
Laboratory research in food habits_--------- 18 TACGP ALA OES eerie = SEE pas AE Tyee ee 58
Cooperative food-habits,research__---------- 19 Permits for special uses of refuges__--------- 59
Field investigations of injurious species_---- 20 | Cooperative control of predatory and other
Fur-animal conservation and restoration------ 21 THUMOUS ain asses 59
Interest in fur resources international____--- 21 Predatory animals-_--.------------- he 59
Demand for information increasing - -------- 22 Rodent control s.t ---+2scsse-=2=+ pay 60
Progress in fur farming ---_.--------.-------- 22 Supply depot and laboratory. ----- Bayes 62
Research in cooperation with other agencies- 93 | Control methods research__--___--- mie 62
Fur Animal Experiment Station-_---------- 23 Lethal doses for bait material____ Be 62
Rabbit Experiment Station--_-------------- 24 Burrow fumigants-_-_--~----------- rr 62
Wildlife disease control_--.------------------- 26 Orchard-mouse control__._----------------- 63
Relationship of domestic stock and wildlife_ 26 Improved Tat baits! ~_~_--2_-_-_-=--=+--+--- 63
Pollution problems_------------------------ 26 Rodents and range and forest regeneration-- 63
Diseases of fur animals_.__-_---------------- 26 Goyote migrations.- f+ 5. -tne44--- b= - 63
Acquisition of lands for refuges- -------------- 7
INTRODUCTION
THE CHIEF PROGRAM OF THE YEAR
With the formulation of the national wildlife program that inspired conserya-
tionists in 1935 and 1936, a program with objectives that approached the ideal
more closely than had been found practicable in any that preceded it, the
Bureau of Biological Survey has settled down to the more matter-of-fact but
equally essential task of carrying out the details. It is this sort of activity
that has characterized the work of the year—this and the continuing develop-
ment of attitudes and plans to provide greater and broader cooperation for
the restoration and conservation of the Nation’s wildlife resources.
24692—37 1 ech 1
!
yy ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 1937
As waterfowl management is fundamentally dependent upon the availability
of breeding, stocks, it is incumbent upon the individual sportsman, organizations
interested in wildlife, and the local, the State, and the Federal Governments,
each in its peculiar field, to carry out its own obligations in effecting the
return of birds to the nesting grounds. It is now gratifying to report that
with the educational and informational work that has been undertaken over
many years, including that of the Biological Survey, this responsibility is being
taken more and more seriously: there is increasing cooperation between Federal
and State Governments, and there is ever more manifest among sportsmen a
willingness to support and abide by regulations restricting former liberal
hunting privileges. There is also a growing appreciation of the fact that unless
hunters exercise self-restraint in the kill of migratory game, there will be no
birds to occupy the refuges now being acquired and improved under a $21,000,000
program and the plans for the restoration and rehabilitation of this great
resource will be fruitless.
The conservation gains thus attained since the inception of the waterfowl-
restoration program are now being consolidated. The farsightedness that
resulted in the provision of funds for beginning the execution of the Suryey’s
waterfowl recommendations over many years brought forth numerous diverse
and widely scattered proposals for refuge restoration. The original plans are
being carefully scrutinized, and through careful research the chief efforts are
now devoted to a distribution of refuges that will benefit all sections of the
country and all species of wildlfe.
Less spectacular than the engineering works for the restoration of water
areas, than the flights of increasing numbers of wild fowl to the reestablished
lakes and marshes on their ancestral breeding grounds, is the underlying
research. This research, as instituted by the Bureau more than half a century
ago is being expanded to cover the new conditions brought about by the
inception of the restoration program. Although the chief emphasis has been
on the successful prosecution of this program, there has been no relaxation
in other directions. Research has been vigorously pursued affecting nonmigra-
tory game and nongame species, their distribution and abundance in the wild,
their economic status, and their susceptibility to propagation and perpetuation
under controlled conditions, as on fur farms, game preserves, and elsewhere.
Many who live in favored sections, in which waterfowl] will always be found
so long as any remain on the continent, still ask the Bureau for more liberal
hunting privileges, either from purely selfish motives or through an incomplete
understanding of the calamitous conditions in other parts, particularly on far-
distant breeding grounds that produce under highly adverse conditions the very
birds they wish to shoot. To illustrate, except for small numbers of a few
species, the middle Atlantic seaboard does not produce the waterfowl locally
hunted. Rather, many species come from the great prairie sloughs of the
North Central States and Canada, so that improvement of local breeding
grounds only cannot increase the supply of the birds sufficiently to meet the
hunters’ requirements. In such areas the only possible local help is to limit
the kill while the rehabilitation of breeding grounds is going on and serious
efforts are being made to restock the restored refuges.
Hunting regulations are irksome, as are most restraints on individual initia-
tive, and it is no pleasant task for the Biological Survey to impose restrictions
on the use of a national resource that was traditionally available to all citizens
from the time of the discovery and early settlement of the country up to a
generation ago. When the dwindling of this resource began to be felt, it was
then almost too late to remedy the situation. Even conservation officials shared
the rather general opinion that there was no hope for the waterfowl and that,
as they seemed destined to go anyway, the season might just as well be opened
wide to allow duck hunting 12 months in the year—on the nesting grounds, on
the spring migration routes, and anywhere else.
If the old hopeless condition still prevailed many would feel exactly the
same way about it now, but it has undergone a change. During the last 38
years, since the Biological Survey has for the first time been enabled to do
constructive work on a seale large enough to give real hope for the future,
more than $20,000,000 has been available for the purchase and develonment of
refuges, including restoration of water levels, providing better feeding, breeding,
and wintering grounds, and fencing and posting areas acquired. The program
is simple and biologically sound but by no means completed. Its success
depends upon many factors, some of which are outside the control of those
handling the work.
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 3
In the first place, if there are to continue to be ducks and geese in this
country, they must have suitable habitat in which to breed, feed, and rest—
in other words, marshy areas in localities favorable for the birds must be
increased rather than further drained. In the second place, adequate breeding
stock must be returned to these marshes and to the far greater nesting areas of
Canada.
The knowledge that waterfowl follow four main flyways in traveling twice a
year between breeding and wintering grounds has influenced the selection of
sites for refuges. Surveys show that there are in this country approximately
7,500,000 acres of marshland well situated along these flyways that can be
restored to constitute the framework of an adequate refuge system. To supple-
ment these major areas, the Bureau is endeavoring to restore by local coopera-
tion every available acre of marsh within the natural breeding grounds of the
birds.
The habitat-restoration work is usually in places not readily accessible to
great numbers of people, and thus much of it is not seen, which is just as
well, because successful nesting demands seclusion. The waterfowl breeding
grounds within our continental territory are largely in the northern tier of
States west of the Great Lakes, a region that experienced a great calamity:
when changed by the drainage movement that swépt the country in the last
century. Both Federal and State Governments wish to put water back in
many of the drained ponds and marshes. Up to the present time the Biological
Survey has acquired or optioned, or has had reserved by Executive order, more
than 2,000,000 acres on which restoration measures and improvements for wild
fowl are now being undertaken. Examples of nesting-ground restoration are
given in later pages of this report. When present funds are exhausted the
program will have reached nearly the halfway mark. The completion of the
work depends to a large extent upon the support the program receives from
the sportsmen of the country. The constructive work of refuge rehabilitation
is interesting and fascinating. Restrictive measures applied to such outdoor
recreation as waterfowl] hunting, though never popular, are necessary.
There is no magic way to restock the new and former breeding areas.
Hither an increasing number of birds must be allowed to return to them
each spring or the sport of duck hunting will vanish. The necessity for severe
restrictions on hunting has not passed.
As intimated in the report a year ago, for the first time in 10 years or more,
a slightly increased breeding stock returned northward in 1936. That meant
that the drastic restrictions of 1935 reduced the losses among the birds to less
than the number that were produced the previous spring. It is encouraging
to report that continuation of the restrictions during the 1936 season and the
cooperation of sportsmen had a similar result: the number of birds returning
to the breeding grounds in 1937 exceeded the number of 1936. These facts were
ascertained on the breeding grounds by Survey representatives who have
checked certain definite areas during many Seasons.
OUTSTANDING EVENTS
Events that marked the past year’s work of the Biological Survey may be
briefly noted as follows, the details being given on subsequent pages:
WILDLIFE RESEARCH
Research centers.—Assignment of the first permanent research worker to the
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge (Okla.) and near completion of a wildlife
laboratory there; and establishment and planning the development of the
Patuxent Research Refuge (Md.).
Reestablishing musk oren.—Safe transfer of the remaining 27 animals in
the musk ox herd to Nunivak Island from the Experiment Station at Fairbanks,
Alaska.
January waterfowl inventory.—Confirmation of earlier conclusions that ducks
and geese are slowly increasing in numbers, by cooperative surveys of water-
fowl-concentration areas of the United States by an army of fully 2,000 biolo-
gists, game-management agents, pilots of water and air craft, and other
personnel. f
Investigations in Mexrico.—Reports by two field parties that despite limited
market shooting, migratory waterfowl probably enjoy greater security during
their sojourn in eastern and western Mexico than elsewhere on the continent.
\
4 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRIGULTURE, 1937
Mosquito-control studies.—Injury ‘to wildlife checked by persistent surveil-
lance of Federal, State, and municipal drainage and mosquito-control projects.
Predation on waterfowl.—Completion of waterfowl-nesting studies in two
contrasting areas, from which it is indicated that the emphasis on predation
changes from year to year, crows being locally responsible for nestling mor-
tality at one time and skunks, weasels, foxes, or other predators at others.
Food of coyote.—-Completion of a 6-year stomach-analysis study of the food
of the coyote in relation to livestock and wildlife, as a basis for formulating
control policies.
Rabbit experiments.—Determination by cooperative experimental hat manu-
facture of the relative felting qualities of wild cottontail and jack rabbit
pelts; and demonstration of the value of the self-feeder, whereby whole grains
are utilized and feed costs lessened, almost revolutionizing domestic. rabbit-
feeding practices.
Sex in foa-pelt values—Through study of receipts from auction sales of
some 10,000 silver fox skins, demonstration that pelts of males, both pups
and adults, brought higher prices than those of females.
Quail diseases——More prompt diagnosis and eradication of epizootics on
game farms made possible by study of protozoan infections in bobwhite quail.
Deer and tick fever—Denonstration that deer in Florida are hosts of the
tropical variety of the fever tick.
NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGES
Refuge lands purchased.—Approval or consummaticn of negotiations for the
sacquisition of 134,655 acres of waterfowl refuge lands at an average cost of
‘$10.46 an acre, bringing the total of national wildlife refuge lands purchased
since July 1, 1933, to 1,558,298 acres, at an average cost of $6.50 an acre.
Refuges reserved by the President—Hstablishment by Executive orders of
11, national wildlife refuges, aggregating 1,874,300 acres in 7 States, primarily
‘for the protection and preservation of resident game species, bringing the total
thus! reserved in 4 years to 4,037,470 acres in 17 refuges.
Refuge surveys.—Surveying, monumenting, posting, and mapping 295,900
acres in 57 national wildlife refuges, as prerequisites to adequate adminis-
tration. f
Acquisition expenditures.—Expenditure of $1,123,051 in acquiring new refuges
for. migratory birds, purchasing areas previously optioned, and completing
purchases of lands within the boundaries of older refuges.
Hextension of eascment-refuge program.—LExtension into Montana of the ease-
meni-refuge program of migratory-waterfowl restoration, begun in North Da-
kota last year, bringing the number of projects completed or under construc-
tion, to. 75 and the acreage to 118,777.
W. P. A. cooperation.—Allotments totaling $1,628,926 made by the Works Prog-
ress Administration for developing refuges in 10 States.
N.Y. A. assistance.—Through cooperation on the part of the National Youth
Administration, the employment of several hundred young men in making
waterfowl observations, food and cover plantings, and nesting studies on migra-
tory-bird refuges.
Refuge development by C. 0. C—Refuge development by Civilian Conserva-
tion Corps enrollees extended to 28 waterfowl refuges and big-game preserves,
primarily in building up essential water resources and food and cover growth.
Refuge utilization—An estimated threefold to fivefold increase since the
inception of the emergency program in 1934 of the wildlife populations on the
Bureau’s, migratory-bird refuges.
LEGISLATION, AND REGULATION
“Mexican treaty—Exchange of ratifications and proclamation on March 15,
1937, of a Convention between the United States and the United Mexican States
for protecting migratory birds and regulating shipments of game mammals. be-
tweén the two countries.
Hun ting regulations.—Providing ‘protection by close: seasons for brant on
Atlartie coast and for redhead and canvasback ducks.
Law enforcement.—Successful prosecution for conspiracy to violate the Lacey
Act of persons illegally handling furs, and continuance of the drive against duck
bootleggers' ‘and persons taking waterfowl by means of. bait. i /
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 5
PREDATOR AND RODENT CONTROL
Predators in Aloska—Resumption of predatory-animal control in Alaska to
demonstrate methods to resident trappers and to aid them in obtaining neces-
sary equipment.
Control of rodents—Under Bureau supervision reduction of rodents on
34,652,418 acres for the protection of farm crops, range grasses, silvicultural
plantings, and reclamation waterways and the conservation of surface soils;
and development of improved orchard-mouse baits and field practices in New
England.
Hawaiian rat control—Establishment of a control-methods laboratory and
bait-production plant in Honolulu for experiments in rat control and for the
manufacture and canning of baits for distribution to island plantations.
KEEPING THE PUBLIC INFORMED
To present currently the results of its research and other activities, the
Biological Survey contributes to the several series of publications of the De-
partment and issues, chiefly for use in replying to correspondence, a mimeo-
graphed series of Wildlife Research and Management Leaflets, references to
certain numbers of which. are made under appropriate headings in this report.
The Bureau on occasion has issued statements for the press, threugh which
interested groups are currently informed on its activities, and has participated
through its public-relations and other technical staff in radio programs. To
promote visual information on its-work for wildlife, the Survey has partici-
pated in exhibits, cooperated in motion-picture production, and contributed film
strips to the Department’s series with accompanying outlines for lectures.
Through members of its technical staff the Bureau has been represented during
the year at numerous gatherings of ornithologists, mammalogists, conservation-
ists, sportsmen, wildlife managers, fur farmers, stockmen, and others inter-
‘ested in the protection, propagation, utilization, and control of the Nation’s.
valuable resources in wild-animal life and has thus had opportunity to present
in greater detail and to special groups such information as is summarized
in this report. Two of its published contributions, combining the programs
and subject matter of several projects, may here be noted: Wildlife in Land
Planning (Leaflet BS—-71) and Game Management on the Farm (Farmers Bulle-
tin No. 1759). Of the latter 90,000 copies were printed, two-thirds of which
were distributed before the end of the fiscal year.
FUNDS AVAILABLE TO THE SURVEY
From regular and emergency appropriations a total of approximately $6,030,-
000 was available for the work of the Survey for the year. Of this sum
$1,836,224 was carried in the Agricultural Appropriation Act for regular activi-
ties; an estimated total of $600,000 has been collected from sales of Federal
migratory-bird hunting stamps; and $12,340 was allocated to the Bureau from
the Bankhead-Jones special research fund for an economic study of wildlife
management as a supplementary farm enterprise. The sum of $40,000 was
allotted from the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1935 to complete work
carried on in North Dakota on the development of waterfowl refuges, and
$6,100 for resulting administrative expenses. F. C. Lineoln
Section of Rood HabitsMeav4. 1 iairg: nyn oiporearsg a Clarence Cottam
Section of/hur7Resources#au iS a2nb A ees Frank G. Ashbrook
Section tof: Disease (Controle aise Swe eee DE ee ee J. Ei. Shillinger
Division of Land Acquisition Rudolph Diffenbach
Section of Appraisals and Negotiations____________________-____ R. M. Rutherford
Section“of Surveys!-and) Mapsel ven A es ee ee A, A. Riemer
Division of MigratonyaWaterlowlsin te 8 2s yee a ee J. C. Salyer, IT
Assistant, in charge of Section of Maintenance and Patrol____________ A. C. Elmer
Section of Reconnaissance and Habitat Improvement_=—~~_~-__~____ W. F. Kubichek
Section of Restoration and Development__-___-___________________ Amos B. Emery
Division! ofi\iGame Managements. 2h a Be eee eek Stanley P. Young
Assistant, in charge of Section of Big Game Refuges and Game Agents__W. &. Crouch
Section vio te Wanw 7 PimtorCemen ts sa ee ete nee a ES Ee ene eee F. P. Callaghan
Section of Importations and Permits_____~--_--_____-__________ Rk. W. Williams
Section of Predator and Rodent Control_______~~_-_______-_-_________ A. M. Day
Regional directors (with headquarters) :
Region 1 (Pacific) , Portland, Ore gee Be i EE LEAS AEE Reh eee Wm. M. Rush
Region‘2'(Mountain)';; Denver, Colo _ 22 = eee eee Leo L. Laythe
Region 3 (Southwestern), Albuquerque, N. Mex___~__-_--_--_-__ Donald A. Gilchrist
Region 4 (West Central), Des Moines, Iowa______~--___-~-__-~-_-__-- George Tonkin
Region 5 (Southern), State C ‘ollege, IBIS pap oni Mes ER VALUE MOLE MCA LOT CE Roy Moore
Region 6 (Hast Central), Milwaukee! Wis liu2 62 fryer 2 Oot Daniel H. Janzen
Region 7 (Southeastern), Atlanta, Ga__-_-__-____________--_--~_____ James Silver
Region 8 (Northeastern), Portland, Maine___-___-_---__-__-__-- Bertrand E. Smith
Region: 9), (Plains); Omaha Nebrat2 sh en aes Eee Burnie Maurek (acting)
Region 10' (Alaska), Juneau,’ Alaska__—_-~____- ib Frank Dufresne
VETERAN WORKERS RETIRED
Three veteran workers of the Bureau were retired during the year: Theo.
H. Scheffer was retired on February 28 after 27 years in scientific and control
work in Washington, D. C., and in the field, during which he was the author
of Farmers’ Bulletins and other publications on moles, pocket gophers, moun-
tain beavers, and the crested myna. Harry H. French, after 32 years’ service
in the Department, which began in the Forest Service in 1905, was retired on
January 31 as superintendent of the Wichita Mountains (Okla.) Wildlife
Refuge, with which he had been connected since 1926, during the earlier years
as Forest Service supervisor. Ethel N: Jett, who began work in 1908, also with
the Forest Service, was retired on January 31 after 17 years’ service with
the Survey, during the last part of which she was custodian of the Bureau’s
photograph files.
RESEARCH ON WILDLIFE STATUS AND MANAGEMENT
STATUS OF WATERFOWL
SURVEYS IN CANADA
At the beginning of the year four field parties of biologists were making water-
fowl observations on the southern Canadian breeding grounds, one in British
Columbia, the second in Alberta and western Saskatchewan, the third in
eastern Saskatchewan and Manitoba, and the fourth in Nova Scotia and New
Brunswick, and a fifth party worked north through the Mackenzie River Valley
to its vast Arctic-coast delta. All observers were guarded in voicing optimism
on the results of their work, but the leaders were in agreement in supporting
the opinion of the previous year that the decline of most species had been
stopped.
Breeding-ground observations were resumed during the spring of 1937, and at
the close of June all four of the Bureau’s flyway biologists, including two
recently appointed for the Atlantic and Central flyways, and one party made
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY Tf
up of two experienced game-management agents, were still in the field, in
most cases on the identical areas surveyed in past years. The northeastern
party made a short reconnaissance of Newfoundland, which included, through
cooperation of Newfoundland officials, an aerial survey without expense to
this Bureau. All parties report almost weekly by mail-or telegraph, but final
reports will not be at hand until early fall.
INVESTIGATIONS IN MEXICO
Two field parties of biologists were sent in December to investigate water-
fowl conditions south of the Rio Grande, one on the lakes, marshes, and
lagoons of the western parts of Mexico, the other in the east. A third party
was given a short assignment in the Valley of Mexico. The western operations
were extended south to Acapulco, and the eastern to the Laguna de Tamiahua,
south of Tampico. Most of the larger lakes and lagoons known to be im-
portant wintering areas were visited and their waterfowl populations care-
fully checked. The eastern party, while in the Laguna Madre section of Texas,
saw a raft of redheads, conservatively estimated at about 100,000 birds, or
more than the combined reports on the species from all other areas.
Despite the notion entertained by many sportsmen that waterfowl are
slaughtered in large numbers in Mexico by the use of armadas and other whole-
sale destructive devices, the birds appear to be safer in that country than in
any other part of the North American Continent. Some marketing of wild fowl
was found, but the number of birds so taken throughout all of Mexico is far
less than the slaughter by sportsmen in any one of our important waterfowl
States. The use of armadas (batteries of guns) has now been prohibited by
the Mexican Government. Some Mexican areas used by waterfowl have suf-
fered from drainage, but in general, conditions for the winter sojourn of the
birds in that country are highly favorable.
JANUARY INVENTORY IN THE UNITED STATES
As the culmination of the year’s investigations on the status of waterfowl,
a January inventory was planned and executed under the direction of the
Bureau’s regional officers, so as greatly to increase the coverage. The dis-
astrous Ohio-Mississippi flood violently disrupted plans for region 5 (southern),
but throughout the season the regional director and his agents had maintained
such close touch with the waterfowl] situation that the status of the birds was
known with a fair degree of accuracy before they were dispersed over thousands
of square miles of flooded bottom land.
A large part of the field personne! of the Bureau was assigned to this work,
and these forces were augmented by State police and conservation officers,
members of the Forest Service, Soil Conservation Service, Bureau of Agri-
cultural Engineering, C. C. C. camps, State agricultural colleges and universities,
and others. Patrol boats and other watercraft were supplied by the States,
by the Bureau of Marine Inspection and Navigation, and by the Coast Guard.
Aircraft were furnished by the Army Air Corps, the Naval Air Service, the
Coast Guard, a commercial tire and rubber company, and a few private
individuals. In region 7 (southeastern), the regional director had 18 seaplanes
and blimps and 1 autogiro at his disposal. Three naval blimps from Lake-
hurst, N. J., were used in region 8 (northeastern), while in region 5 one
naval bomber made a flight of 1,700 miles across the Gulf from Pensacola,
Fla., to the mouth of the Sabine River, Tex. In some of the snowbound
interior districts the observers carried out their assignments with a fine spirit
of cooperation by the use of snowshoes.
MIGRATION OBSERVATIONS BY COOPFRATORS
Reports on the status of waterfowl within the United States were received
from 655 cooperating observers for the fall migration of 1936, and from 594
of these volunteers for the spring of 1937. Their tabulations and analyses fully
substantiated the reports of the official staff upon studies in 1936 on the
breeding grounds.
SUMMARY OF REPORTS
The reports are in substantial agreement that the mallard, black duck, pintail,
baldpate, Canada goose, and blue goose are the species now in the most
satisfactory condition, and that the menaced goldeneye is steadily increasing.
8 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 1937
The status of the other diving ducks continues unsatisfactory, and although
the canvasback made notable gains it is still necessary to give complete protec-
tion to the redhead, the canvasback, and the ruddy duck. The findings from
the investigations on the status of waterfowl are basic considerations in the
adoption of regulations placing restrictions on hunting. They were given in
some detail in a mimeographed leaflet (BS-88) issued in May.
RESEARCH ON FOREST AND RANGE FAUNA
Progress was made during the year in cooperation with the Forest Service
in research on the relationships of wildlife to forestry, grazing, and other
land use.
At the Harrison Experimental Forest, in Mississippi, particular attention
has been devoted to birds in relation to the destruction of longleaf pine seed.
Observations and check experiments show that during a year of low seed pro-
duction birds are not attracted to the area affected and that they are not apt
to destroy planted seed. Research also has been conducted on the distribution
and relative abundance of rodents, on comparison of late fall and early spring
plantings in relation to destruction of pine seed by birds and mammals, and on
the distribution and population of birds and mammals in the Gulf States.
Research temporarily suspended at the Lake States Forest Experiment Station
was renewed in September, and studies were resumed on the relation of rodents
and rabbits to forest plantings. Investigations of the status and food habits
of white-tailed deer, and their effect on the forests, and studies of management
of winter feeding yards of deer have shown that it is not always so much
general lack of cover or food that makes winter conditions critical for deer
as it is the inadequate distribution of these necessities. Forested winter con-
centration areas need more openings provided with browse, and the open burns,
logged lands, and brush areas are in need of cover to attract deer from the food-
depleted “yards.” Some advance also has been made at the Lake States station
in a long-time study of the beaver, particularly as to its food and water re-
quirements, and in developing methods for determining the carrying capacity
of the environment for these mammals.
At the California Forest Experiment Station a study of the relationship of
wildlife to the regeneration of pine forests is a major project. On cut-over
areas in the sugar pine-fir type, sugar pine is not restocking as desired, re-
production being largely to white fir and incense cedar. Rodents, by their
response to habitat changes following cutting and by their food preferences,
play an important part in the regeneration of certain species of trees. Damage
by rabbits to seedlings planted during the fall of 1934 at Big Springs brush-
lands was approximately 40 percent to Jeffrey pine and 60 percent to ponderosa
pine. Studies have been made at this station of the effect of burns on animal
life and forest renewal. Research has continued on wildlife in relation to the
range and to forage production, and on animal-plant interrelationships. In
these studies experimental enclosures and check exclosures have been set up for
ground squirrels, pocket gophers, and kangaroo rats, and the former stocked
to determine the quantity and kinds of forage consumed by each rodent. The
biologist at this station is also cooperating with the Forest Service in studies
of quail management and coyote-deer relationships.
The research suspended for nearly a year on the Pillsbury State Forest, in
New Hampshire, was resumed in April, with special emphasis, as formerly, on
the ruffed grouse. Wildlife-management studies included observations on
response to cover manipulation, on the movements and seasonal requirements
of game, and on cultural methods for use in cover management. Practical
measures employed included the encouragement or planting of satisfactory
food plants after experimental work to determine the requirements of the
plants and of the wildlife species for which intended.
In an investigation of transplanted beavers, conducted in Oregon in coopera-
tion with the Forest Service, special attention was paid to the food require-
ments of these animals and to the suitability of the colonization sites.
Under a cooperative agreement with the Forest Service, evaluations of
national forests as wildlife areas have been made in Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Michigan, New Hampshire, Vermont, Virginia, West Virginia, Kentucky, North
Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Mis-
souri, and Oklahoma. Among recommendations made were the following;
That before roads or trails are built, or recreational areas established, the
regional and forest wildlife technicians be consulted; that forest-road develop-
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 9
ment be analyzed and that where it is determined that roads are largely for
administrative use they be closed to the public; that general stream surveys
be made with the idea of selecting beaver-planting sites; that special attention
be given to the livestock-grazing problem, to determine forest areas where
recreational and wildlife uses might be of greater value than grazing, and that
where the two are in conflict, control should be by regulation and strict patrol;
that wildlife data be assembled and laid before the State game departments,
and a mutual plan of action be agreed upon; that parts of forest nurseries be
devoted to raising seedlings of wildlife food plants; that technicians be con-
sulted and careful consideration and study be made, and an agreement reached,
as to areas that should be reserved for game; that all forest uses be correlated
closely with fish and game uses; and, that insect and rodent control be under-
taken only where technical supervision can be furnished from the Bureau of
Entomology and Plant Quarantine and the Bureau of Biological Survey,
respectively.
BIOLOGICAL RESEARCH ON REFUGE AREAS
WICHITA MOUNTAINS WILDLIFE REFUGE
Work has been continued on an extensive research program for the Wichita
Mountains Wildlife Refuge, in Oklahoma, and, although the laboratory build-
ing has not yet been completed, a biologist stationed there began work on
January 1 on several problems. Plants have been collected for identification
as a basis for cover-type studies, a cover-type map made of a 75-acre enclosure
in the northwest corner of the refuge, and a cover-type study of Winter Valley
pasture completed, the area mapped, and a survey made for fencing three
experimental pastures.
PATUXENT RESEARCH REFUGE
The Patuxent Research Refuge area in Maryland was first occupied by the
Bureau on May 15, 1936, by permission of the Resettlement Administration, 7
months before the refuge was established by Executive order, December 16,
1936. Its development has proceeded as expeditiously as possible with a small
personnel, and preliminary surveys have been made of the existing plant and
animal life. Thirteen miles of 9-foot nonclimbable fence have been erected in a
boundary strip cleared 20 feet wide to facilitate its maintenance; 4 miles of
service roads have been graded and graveled and 12 miles of trails cleared for
patrol work; and 45 buildings and other structures that constituted a fire
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BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY ol
Union Slough Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, in north-central Towa, while
containing only 864 acres, constitutes an important link in the Mississippi Valley
flyway. The peculiar nature of the ownership and the relatively high value of
the lands involved, situated as they are in a highly developed agricultural sec-
tion, have presented problems in acquisition, but the project is being consum-
mated with the active cooperation of the State.
MIGRATORY-WATERFOWL RESTORATION PROGRAM
Progress in the program of migratory-waterfowl restoration has resulted in
materially increasing the acreage of suitable land and water habitat. Emphasis
this year, however, has been on physical and biological rehabilitation to bring
the refuges to their highest carrying capacity for wildlife. Under the guidance
of hydraulic engineers water-impoundment structures have been placed on all
refuges suitable for flooding. Wildlife technicians have supervised the planting
of tons of duck-food plants and of millions of food-bearing trees and shrubs to
make the areas further attractive to wildlife. The results have been gratifying
and the waterfowl productivity of the many nesting refuges in the Great Plains
already has increased three to five times over what it was under natural condi-
tions. Their upland game and fur resources also have been correspondingly
built up. It is now demonstrated that methods adopted in the restoration
program are a practical success. Reconnaissance surveys over the entire refuge
system have shown increased utilization by waterfowl and have demonstrated
the need for further acquisition and development of refuge sites at certain gaps
in the principal flyways of these migrants.
REFUGE RESTORATION AND DEVELOPMENT
CIVILIAN CONSERVATION CORPS COOPERATION
On the average 24 C. C. C. camps, comprising a total of approximately 4,000
men, were engaged during the year in wildlife-conservation work on 27 refuges
in breeding grounds, along migration routes, and in wintering grounds of migra-
tory birds, as well as on ranges of big game and in areas that produce fur-
bearing animals.
One camp supervised by the Survey developed a research center at Lake
Okoboji, Iowa, for the cooperative study of wildlife problems; a large detach-
ment from a Forest Service camp built fresh-water ponds and improved adminis-
trative facilities at the Cape Romain Refuge in South Carolina; and another
detachment began cooperative work with the Utah Fish and Game Department
for impounding fresh water at the mouth of the Weber River to eliminate
waterfowl mortality from botulism in the vicinity of the Bear River Refuge.
New camps were established on the following refuges: The Sacramento
Refuge, Calif., known to many sportsmen and naturalists as the Spalding Ranch;
the Okefenokee wilderness area in Georgia, where a tract of approximately
300,000 aeres has recently been made a refuge; Tamarac Refuge, Minn., a
beautiful wooded bird haven; Medicine Lake Refuge, in the plains of eastern
Montana; and Lacreek Refuge, unique in an arid section of South Dakota
because of its wonderful supply of spring water.
The vital relationship of the conservation, use, and control of water to the
successful functioning of refuges has received special attention in the work of
the year. Biologists have cooperated with engineers to plan the dams, dikes,
and water-control structures that have been built by C. C. C. enrollees to restore
the areas to a condition most favorable for wildlife. Hach area was studied to
determine its peculiar deficiencies and the special measures required to over-
come them. Along the eastern coast, fresh-water ponds were provided as they
are a great attraction where salt water is predominant. In coastal marshes,
water levels were stabilized to the great benefit of vegetation and dependent
animal life; and in dry areas of the West, reservoirs were constructed to con-
serve the spring run-off for maintenance of nesting and feeding marshes.
In addition to improving water facilities the C. C. C. job has included the °
construction of nesting islands ranging from three-quarters of a mile in length
down to the small muskrat-lodge type. Some are grassy for duck and shore-
bird nesting; some are gravelly landing bars for geese: and a few are rocky to
attract gulls, terns, cormorants, and other birds. Not only do these islands
furnish ideal nesting sites, relatively safe from predators, but they serve also
as wave breakers to protect shore lines from erosion and favor the growth of
aquatic food plants.
32 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURH, 1937
The planting in tremendous quantity of marsh and aquatic vegetation and of
shrubs, vines, and soil-binding grasses has also been an important accomplish-
ment, both in increasing wildlife productivity on refuges and: in decreasing soil
erosion. During the year, more. than a million trees were set out by C. C. C.
enrollees, primarily to provide windbreaks and wildlife cover, and secondarily
to landscape refuge headquarters sites.
To supplement the natural vegetative cover, which on many of the refuges has
not yet recovered from long periods of unrestrained erosion, hundreds of shel-
ters of various types were erected for winter protection of upland game birds
and mammals. Many were of the lean-to type, others in the form of tepees, and
some of the open-brush-pile variety. Food and cover-producing shrubs and
vines planted nearby will be serviceable later.
To facilitate refuge management, truck trails, bridges, lookout towers, fire
lanes, telephone lines, small headquarters and utility buildings, and seed- and
taber-storage cellars have been constructed, and to keep out livestock and
prevent trespass, fences and boundary markers have been erected. The gather-
ing and planting of aquatic seeds and tubers, stream and lake-bank protection,
soil conservation, general clean-up, and salvaging of old buildings are other
contributions of the C. C. C. enrollees to the program of refuge improvement.
The third year of C. C. C. activities under technical supervision of field agents
of the Bureau finds refuge areas showing a remarkable physical transformation,
especially in the West, where now, covered with mantles of protective vegetation
and having stabilized water areas, they stand out in marked contrast to the
eroded dry lands that surround them. The following tabulation presents in
detail the varied nature and the extent of the accomplishments by the ©. GC. C.
camps during the year, which are exclusive of work done by regular employees
on other refuges:
Structural improvements :
Bridges :
MNO O tps a tre es SS es eee Ee eee number 4
Vehicle eee A ok Nees ee ae eee eee Se ee Ee dof 33
Buildings :
lookout: towersiie. a) Bence Oh etl eee A Oe do==== 9
Bathhouses 2) See ee ee ee Ce ee ee ee eee doz 222 83
Cabins, patrol houses, and dwellings________________________ doles 21
Garages, barns, and service and other buildings___-___________ dole 98
Cribbing\Pincluding filling isthe we ee ete Eee eubic yards__ 1,110
MEN. COS Se ee oe ae ee rods__ 211, 395
CORB EES (eB LEST See aa pe cc a ed pe fel os Sa al a oe Pe Sl dows 284
Power lines2o sce Serko ee) Ob ees See a eee eee miles__ 10
Sewage and waste- disposal systems:
Disposallujbe d Sis sete ee ee ee ee Ses Bee Se eee square yards__ 2, 640
Disposalstanks Zand \pools= == 22 SNe See an eee number 4
Sewer! linesligce his eee SC Ee SU es ae Eee EES feet__ 5, 973
Telephone “lines + oes pe Septet Nee ss miles__ 89
Water-supply systems:
OpengditCh es Se feet__ 2, 650
Pipedor -tileslines— Busse Mave Se eee LES SE 2 ee SET ee dor 16, 145
Springs, water holes, small reservoirs___-_------_--.----_ number__ 9
Wells, including pumps and pumphouses———__~_-~--___-_-____ do_—__ 6
Other improvements:
Camp fireplaces 2c us ti SU 2 ME SEE SP Tah ES “number__ 11
Cattle guards!-=-2- =" =a ed bese sere erewa Feu eens Tee a dox2=s 27
Portals: 2 yoo oe ee SR eee ee ee te do===s 16
Signs, markers, and monuments—_____________~_____-_______ dolve2 952
Stone! wall shiiiS Us iSO ie SEE OTE Ee Be Eee ee a eee rods__ 82
Table and bench combinations____~--_-_--»+_-____=-_--___ number__— 20
Miscellaneousis ss — Bac eer ae ee ae ee ea do2222 53
Transportation improvements: x
Roads :
HMootitrails suas ops Unt mrele Sey Dito aise ie Se Ne ee ains miles__ 7
DAD Ye eto ish |p aes Lull ee Se Se a eS eee ae do 222 380
Qustryineslimestones = sce Ee eae tons__ 19, 647
@rushin ge SL LOTTA A SEE DE tee PIN ESE doe 18, 189
Hauling prisons Oz pied eos, ai) 7st boll isan dol2ite 21, 505
Erosion control :
Stream and lake bank protection_______-_______-______-__ square yards__ 91, 996
Treatment of gullies:
Bank sloping pp ae a aa a hy SA ee ps 2 A SO Oa Ie ee a doss28 154, 006
Seeding -and,;soddings2 =. | eee es Se ee doe2= 5,175
Tree planting en i ae LS oe ee aqoeZe=s 1, 000
Gheck?! dam's 78 20s Ole DNs ERE AT EY A SE number__ 18
Terracing, seeding, and sodding____---_______+_--________ square yards__ 18, 930
Sheet erosion planting ==< =~ = 23 oS ee ee ee acres__ 10
Miscellan Cousin eee 2 ee Sea eee man-days__ 1, 807
Fire suppression and fire-hazard reduction:
Bighting Horest::| fires eel ey A aN eae ie ee eae eI doza=e 10, 221
Wirebreaks)22 22s ae ee eee eee miles__ 187
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY
ist)
w
Fire suppression—Continued.
Fire-hazard reduction :
TP Oe.G8 Ce ae ee ee ee miles__— 3
Others es LS ee eee ee acres__ 1, 330
Hinesprevyention— =. <1, _ S22 ea ae Se ee ee en Re man-days_—~— 776
Recreational and demonstration area development :
Beachcimprovement—* 22. fe. SS Se ic BU See acres__ 4
Fine grading, road slopes, ete__-_---__ LSE EE SF Ss square yards__ 52, 774
Generalicleantup =! eo Fe Gai Dee eee a eee et ee —-acres__ 3, 868
Mandseaping,, ,undifferentia ted sea a ee eee dose 690
Obliteration :
MROMGSL Eh 214 tha) tS Ue i) i She A) ae oe gE ee ee miles__ By
ROLEOW Pits) .dlulmps=——-=- — == eee ee man-days__ 353
Parking areas and parking overlooks__—___—_____—_______ square yards__ 9, 655
Public camp- and picnic-ground development__-_____-_--________-- acres__ 24
Raging hundesirable ‘structuresS22 22 20) eee ee eS number__— 4, 995
Soiliprepavation 25pm. 22” aS pees pees eek eh eee te acres __ 334
Walks, concrete, grav el, cinder, (hia SN BEA RS a Pt feet__ 2, 316
Water conservation :
Clearing and cleaning:
Whamnnels! 2 So 8 on oe ee ee square yards__ 1, 156, 598
INCRE GMOLMSIUCS {= 2 et Sk ee ee ee acres== 769
Dams, impounding and diversion :
@oneretex= =U is _ 8 ee EE JiR) 22 2 oh eee es ecubie yards__ 6, T95
US? reat hott Bee ee eee dona 220, 199
Fills, i) a en bets ee eee LE Se ey ee oS done 4,551
INESES GIN Y= eee ee eee ee eee ee ee ee dose = igen te)33
IRIPTap = sae 2 SSeS eee ee eee square yards__ 8, 436
Steel ees eek lo iy Ete ce a cee ee NS eae Ae, pounds__— 79, 475
Mxcavations, ‘eanthi «2222.22 = eee el eee SS eubie yards__ 77, O76
Hxcavationus rocky o—— 22.2 OE Se ee ee eee do===— 2. 155
Iceveeshidikes and, yettiesiie 224. Sil ee Le ae ea ES doi s- 1799, 356
bxcavation of (channels, ditches, and canals:__—+--— == ees ets do. 22 687, 500
bekegand pond development_—-_ —* 2. + man-days__— 31, 033
Bipemlinessand (conduits=_—-=" 2. = See ee eee ee ee ee ae feet__ 2, 486
Riprapping or paving:
IROCKMOI :COMCTCUCG. = = ee ee square yards__ 62, 503
Brush orbwillows= 2 oii. 22 es eee eee eee go — = 35, 526
Water-control structures, other tham: dams_—__-_--_--_-_____-= number__ Da
Conchetesors MaSODi y= — 42 ee cubie yards__ DOB
OO Geant a ee ee ee feet__ 269, 796
Wildlife habitat improvement :
Mieldiplantingyoriseeding "(trees) IU S2 See ee ee ee eee acres__ 31
Boodsand!) coveraplanting.and) seeding — >. =. Se eae eee dos 5, 507
INUMSeries == ee ee ee eee man-days__— 8, 193
Movingwand: planting = trees and shrubS==—= === === number__ 953, 906
Seed collection_—_~~~ pak S Se we SE ee eee eee pounds__ 50, 126
Seedinoesand \odding=- 3-22-2425 45 See Se ee ee] acres__ 5S
Other activities
Emergency work:
iIWildilitetfeeding = 25). t sey ts eee erent Eph. Eee ge man-days__ 291
Other work (floods, CtGs)\e=—s= eee See ee eee eee dona 21. 343
Hracicaclonwote POISONOUS, OF Pest plants eee ee ee acres__ 1, 435
aSeCi DeStaIGOULLOl= == = ee eee dow. 1, 012
Preparation and transportation of material___________________ man-days__ 31, 974
Reconnaissancem and? investigation-~ 3-255 Ss. ees ee eeeee dot) = 3, 156
Re GHeNIEECOUELON Gs = ss a re acres____ 18, 067
Surveys
Gradetlinds!? 321248 oG ts ies eee ee Se ey aie miles__ 350
1Oyiat 2) CS Oe ae oO ee ee ee oe eee Soa eee eer areas is. Su 410
TROPORMAD DG. oe a Se ee ee acres_ UBY BEY
Vpe2 ae Be aoe Se ee ES done 32, 175
Other Saas See Pee ea wee BOS eee: man-days__— 4, 946
COOPERATION OF WORKS PROGRESS ADMINISTRATION
Allotments of $1,628,926 by the W. P. A. enabled the Survey to carry on
projects designed to provide employment for those in need of relief and at
the same time to conserve water and wildlife, check floods and erosion, in-
crease fur production, provide stable water supplies, and develop waterfowl
refuges in the following States: North Dakota, Montana, South Dakota,
Nebraska, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Wyoming: Work
was done on such important wildlife-restoration projects as the 75 easement
refuges in North Dakota and Montana, the Souris River refuges in North
Dakota, the Red Rock Lakes refuge in Montana, the Delta refuge in Louisiana,
and the Seney refuge in Michigan.
The Long Lake Migratory Bird Refuge in Burleigh County, N. Dak., one of
the easement refuges, exemplifies the type of work thus made possible and
the results obtained. Although part of this once excellent waterfowl area
was purchased by the Biological Survey in 1932, it was most of the time a dry,
barren lake bed until extensive development was undertaken after W. P. A.
labor and funds became available. Long Lake is again functioning as a nest-
34 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 1937
ing haven for migratory waterfowl. Three large dikes and several smaller
ones have been constructed and have caught a large part of the run-off
trom winter snows and spring rains. For the first time in years this 14,000-
acre marsh area was covered with water, and ducks returning from the
South last spring settled there by the hundreds. The dikes now provide three
water-holding units, two of which are already excellently suited for water-
fowl nesting. During dry spells, the spring run-off can be confined to these
two units, thus assuring the birds plenty of water at all times. This year,
these two units had a depth of 4 feet of water and their overflow filled the
remaining unit to a depth of 1% feet.
If for no other reason than the conservation of water, the W. P. A.
projects sponsored by the Biological Survey on its bird refuges in the West
ure distinctly advantageous to the communities in which they are located
and are well worth their cost. In addition, in accomplishing their prime pur-
pose, they are at the same time providing work for the needy and improving
wildlife conditions.
On the Delta Migratory Waterfowl Refuge, a 48,735-acre wintering haven for
waterfowl in Plaquemines Parish, La., that is also representative of the
refuges under development, crews of the W. P. A. have made outstanding
progress. Inaccessibility of the area made it necessary to obtain four “quar-
terboats” from the United States district engineers on which to house the
men working on the refuge. Though no development work had been under-
taken earlier, a great deal has been accomplished since the advent of the
W. P. A. crews in August 1936, including the razing of numerous unserviceable
buildings at the old quarantine station, the construction of new ones, and
the repair of others from salvaged materials, construction of a sea wall, a
wharf, and fences, posting boundaries, and landscaping.
COOPERATION OF NATIONAL YOUTH ADMINISTRATION
Through cooperation of the N. Y. A. several hundred young men on its
rolls, and working under its rules and regulations, began this year to receive
preliminary training in wildlife management under the direct supervision of
the Biological Survey on many of the Bureau’s bird refuges. Their duties
consist of observing wildlife, making nest and brood studies, planting for food
and cover, and doing other types of work for which they are found qualified.
All those selected were first interviewed personally by members of the Bureau,
and each month all have been furnished printed and mimeographed bulletins,
instruction sheets, and other aids. They are required to prepare weekly re-
ports on the area on which they work, the reports are carefully checked, and
records are made for future reference. Lettel’s are written as necessary ad-
vising of errors in reporting, answering the many inquiries made, and encour-
aging the writers to continued enthusiasm in their wildlife work,
The training given has been along the lines of conservation, wildlife man-
agement, and identification of native plants and animals, and the young men
have made great advancement and improvement in the work since its incep-
tion in January. Some examples of individual assignments are: Patrol of
‘the refuge areas; submission of weekly reports on the state of structures,
signs, buildings, plant and animal life and on water conditions; observing
and reporting on the activities of predators; planting tree and shrub seedlings ;
destroying nests of crows; finding, staking, and watching duck nests; acting
as unofficial game warden (reporting violations to the Biological Survey
agents in charge of the refuge); and cultivating and caring for plantings
made on the refuge. :
This cooperative work is mutually beneficial to the Bureau and to the young
men: To the Bureau it is valuable not only in the work accomplished, but
also from a public-relations standpoint; as the interest and enthusiasm of this
group of workers is resulting in a more general interest in and knowledge of
wildlife conservation in the communities in which they reside. For the young
men thus employed it is providing much-needed work and is giving them
training in wildlife-management practices that may be useful in later life.
ENGINEERING WORK ON REIUGES
For the purpose of facilitating the supervision and direction of the engi-
neering work on the Biological Survey’s migratory-waterfowl restoration
projects, the United States has been divided into three districts—the eastern,
central, and western—with an engineer from the Bureau of Agricultural
BURBHAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY 35
Engineering in charge of each. The work in all three districts has included
surveying, topographic mapping, preparation of plans for the construction of
water-control structures, and actual construction work. Among outstanding
accomplishments were the completion of a water-control structure on Jack
Creek in the Cape Romain Refuge, S. C.; preparing and letting the contract
for constructing dikes and control structures on the Mud Lake Refuge, Minn. ;
surveying the entire Sabine Refuge, La., and preparing plans for the stabiliza-
tion of the water levels in one unit; completion of the east levee on the Squaw
Creek Refuge, Mo., by ©. C. C. labor; construction of a dam and control
structure on the Taleot Refuge, Minn.; completion of construction of a dike
and water-control structures on unit 1 of the Seney Refuge, Mich.; building
by ©. C. C. forces of dam 357, with control structures, on the Lower Souris
Refuge, N. Dak.; and preparation of plans for diverting the Little White
River into pools on the Lacreek Refuge, S. Dak.
In addition, topographic surveys and complete engineering plans. necessary
for letting bids have been made on the Savannah River Refuge, in Georgia and
South Carolina; Boulder Canyon Refuge, in Arizona and Nevada; Rice Lake
Refuge, Minn., Delta Refuge, La. ; Bombay Hook Refuge, Del.; and Mat-
tamuskeet Refuge, N. C. Through a cooperative arrangement with the C. C, C.,
water-control, conservation, and development works are in process of con-
struction on the Malheur Refuge, Oreg., Tule Lake and Sacramento Refuges,
Calif., and Medicine Lake Refuge, Mont.
Other important engineering activities for the year include the filing of
water rights on all North Dakota refuges and on the Medicine Lake Refuge,
Mont.; release of water from the large storage dam on the Upper Souris Re-
fuge, N. Dak., which was supervised by the Souris River watermaster, a hy-
draulic engineer employed by the Biological Survey; supervision and distri-
bution of the spring run-off of the Souris River; and completion of an engi-
neering report for the National Resources Committee on the Bosque del Apache
Refuge, N. Mex.
Engineering plans were made during the year in a cooperative attempt of
the Bureau of Biological Survey and the Utah Fish and Game Commission to
eliminate a natural death trap for water birds on Great Salt Lake, at the
mouth of the Weber River in Utah. In the past thousands of birds have
perished here annually from botulism, a disease that prevails in these alkaline
flats during periods of low water. Construction work is already under way
through the use of a large C. C. CG. detachment from the Bureau’s Bear River
camp.
HABITAT RECONNAISSANCE AND IMPROVEMENT
Water-impoundment structures erected during the year serve to increase the
production of aquatic food plants on many refuges as well as to insure an ample
supply of water on nesting areas to accommodate young birds during the flight-
less stage. To supplement food and coyer plantings attractive to birds on refuges
that were deficient in this respect, more than 300,000 pounds of seeds, tubers,
rootstalks, and other vegetative parts were gathered on other refuges where
the stand was ample for the purpose. Much was accomplished also in eradicat-
ing certain species that retard or prevent the growth of recognized waterfowl
food and cover plants. Noteworthy was an operation at the Mattamuskeet
Refuge, N. C., where more than 2,500 acres of dense cattails were cut at the
time when the plant’s energy was being expended in producing fruiting heads.
The few stalks that reappeared were again cut, after which the rootstalks
perished. The disappearance of cattails was followed by a dense growth of
the highly desirable three-square bulrush.
Practically every refuge has some sections of value to the local upland
game birds and mammals. Tracts unsuited to the nesting requirements of
waterfowl are utilized for growing food plants for them and for food and
cover for upland game. Development of these areas includes the planting of
wheat, corn, millet, milo, clover, rye, barley soybeans, alfalfa, and similar
crops. Many of the grainfields are harvested to supply seed for future plant-
ing and supplementary winter food for the birds.
Approximately 5,500,000 trees and shrubs suitable for food and cover and
tolerant of local conditions were planted during the year on refuges in the
Great Plains region, where such growth has been destroyed by recent years of
drought and overgrazing. About two-thirds of this total was temporarily set
out in nurseries and the remainder in their permanent locations according to
the improvement plans.
36 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, 1937
While planting is being undertaken primarily to provide food and cover, every
effort is being made to control wind and water erosion by use of appropriate
vegetation. Many miles of newly constructed dikes have been sown also to
soil- and sand-binding grasses.
The fact that islands are relatively free from predators renders them at-
tractive as resting and nesting sites to many species of water birds. For this
reason, in its efforts to improve conditions for wildlife on its refuges, the
Bureau has constructed many artificial islands, which not only have attracted
migratory waterfowl but also nesting colonies of other species of water birds.
Cormorants, pelicans, and ring-billed and California gulls have colonized on
several islands on the Bear River Refuge, Utah; pelicans and gulls have bred
in large numbers on an island on the Malheur Refuge, Oreg.; and cormorants
and terns were noted on the islands of the Waubay Refuge, S. Dak., soon after
their completion.
To provide for the needs of the tree-nesting species of waterfowl, in-
cluding wood ducks and goldeneyes, which find a dearth of suitable cavities
in trees, a number of nesting boxes have been constructed and placed on
many of the Bureau’s refuges. On Waubay Refuge, S. Dak., two of three
such boxes were this year occupied by goldeneyes. The fact that only one
previous nesting record has been established for this species in South Dakota
demonstrates their value.
To prevent interference with the production of waterfowl and other game
birds, intensive work was undertaken on many refuges for the control of
predators in no immediate danger of extermination. Major activities were
against skunks, which were found to destroy 80 percent of the nests on the
Lower Souris Refuge in 1986. Other more or less destructive nest robbers are
bull snakes, coyotes, foxes, raccoons, and crows.
EASEMENT REFUGES
The phase of the migratory-waterfowl restoration program instituted in
North Dakota in 1935 with the establishment of 32 easement refuges was this
year extended to Montana. 'The success of the 1936-87 program, as well as of
the first year program, has been primarily due to the splendid cooperation of
the various counties and other political subdivisions in lending their facilities
and equipment and of landowners and other conservation-minded residents
who gratuitously granted perpetual easements to the sites and otherwise lent
their support and assistance. As a result of this cooperation there are now 75
easement refuges in these two States, both of which contain important water-
fowl breeding grounds. Of the aggregate of the 118,777 acres composing these
75 refuges, rights to 110,154 acres were thus acquired without cost to the Gov-
ernment (table 3). .
All development work on these easement projects has been done by W. P. A.
relief labor. Of the W. P. A. funds allotted to the Bureau for migratory-
waterfowl conservation, a large part was expended on this type of project.
Since the ‘cost of procuring the’ sites was ‘negligible, and since great savings
were effected by the use of borrowed equipment, practically all the available
funds passed directly into the hands of deserving relief clients.
The new projects added during the year were selected primarily for their
value as waterfowl and other wildlife refuges, secondarily as water-conserva-
tion projects, and lastly as recreational areas. The availability of relief labor
and the need for work projects were also taken into consideration. Every effort
was made so to locate the proposed projects with reference to others already
established as to avoid a concentration of refuges in any one section of a State.
The heavy rainfall and run-off during the spring of 1937 provided an ade-
quate test for the water-control structures on established easement refuges
and demonstrated their worth in water conservation and as waterfowl projects.
It was estimated in the fall of 1936 that there were about 2,000,000 birds on
the 71 projects in North Dakota.
The extension of the easement-refuge system into Montana did not actually
get under way until April 15,.and the four projects in that State are still in
the construction. stage. Some difficulty was experienced in getting started,
primarily because the program was entirely new to Montana residents and
required some educational work. Further, Montana laws lend themselves less
easily to this purpose than those of North Dakota, where the State legislature
authorized and directed the several counties in which Biological Survey refuge
projects are located to exempt from taxation all inundated refuge lands and-
to waive recording and filing fees for necessary documents.
BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY
37
TABLE 3.—Bird refuges established in North Dakota and Montana by gratuitous
casements to the Federal Government
State and refuge County Area State and refuge
North Dakota: Acres North Dakota—Contd.
Appert Lake----_----- Emm ONSso === 1, 120 Tost, bake: -—--—~=--_.
Ardock Lake-_-------- Walshe aeoceoee 13,025 Maple River. _.------
Billings Lake___------ Cavalier__ 760 Minnewastena_ aes
Bone Hill Creek__---- LaMoure__-_ 640 Oen Lake ______- be.
Buffalo Lake_-_------- Pierce. 222 = 2, 073 Painted Woods___----
Camp Lake--.-------- McLean__-___--- 1, 313 Pioneer Lake__--__ =
Canfield Lake_--_---- Burleigh___--__- 458 Pleasant Lake_-------
Charles Lake_-_------- Hettinger___-__- 800 Prairie Lake____------
@haselJuake:! 2-22. - Stutsman ee eene- 18, 484 Pretty Rock___- 22
Cherry Creek_-_-___-- McKenzie__ t. 400 Rabb Lake_-_--- ase
Clearwater___--.----- Mountrail__ e 187 Rock Lake__-_-_--- a
Clouds Lake____._---- Pargents—— soa 840 ROSeR AKC wes ee
Cottonwood Lake__--| McHenry___---- 1, 013 School Section Lake - -
Dakota Lake_____.--_- Dickeys. 22228 2, 520 Shell Lake. _.__--.----
Hlickertal == -=..--_ Emmons__.---.- 640 Sheyenne Lake__-
Florence Lake_.------ Bumlerchee sa 670 Sibley Lake_--_--
Maliiwayee es Stutsman___-_--- 160 Silver Lake___--------
Hiddenwood_____---- MclLean_----_--- 568 Snyder Lake__--_-_-----
Hobart Lake___------ Barnes’ >.2..2 558 1,791 Springwater Lake-____
utchinsone 5222224) Kidder! =__- 3.22 458 Stewart Lake____- ah
Johnson Lake_-_-_-_---- Nelson and 1, 608 Stoney Slough__ ==
Eddy. Storm Lake_----- a
Kellys Slough. .__-_-- Grand Forks__--| 1 1, 490 Sunburst-
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