GUNS Magazine January 1960

owse was abundant. The area was difficult to reach, so
both deer and timber were left to their own resources
without outside intervention.
Between 1918 and 1924, the deer herds grew from an
estimated 20,000 head to over 100,000. However, experts
estimated the food supply was capable of supporting only
about 32,000 deer.
More than three times the natural number of deer fed
on the tender browse, so it was soon eaten out. Thousands
of deer starved and thousands of young trees were stripped
of their life-giving foliage. Arguments raged-should the
surplus deer be harvested? Several highly qualified observers
believe the Kaibab deer population hit bottom with
less than 5,000 surviving.
Nature maintains a balance between wildlife and its food
supply-the forest. When deer populations outgrow the
food supply, as they did on the Kaibab range, starvation
drasticany cuts the numbers. If they didn't die, too many
deer stripping young trees of edible bark could kill the
forest itself.
A 1948 survey in Wisconsin determined that the overabundant
deer population there was destroying young trees
at a rate one hundred times that season's loss by forest
fires. So the deer population is reduced by Nature to preserve
the forest. This is one of the fundamental concepts of
conservation.
While the primary purpose of a Tree Farm is to grow
timber as a crop for use in the manufacture of more than
5,000 items Americans use every day, the n1Y.ltiple use of
these timber holdings benefits both sportsman and forester.
Planned harvests of the surplus big game helps to maintain
Nature's balance and prevent useless wildlife waste by
starvation. Keeping this balance helps, too, in giving the
forest an opportunity to rejuvenate itself and replace the
trees harvested for their wood. Studies have shown that
harvesting the surplus deer eases the eruption and collapse
pattern demonstrated by the Kaibab deer, and it saves the
forest from the rampage of hungry mouths seeking out the
young and tender shoots of new forest growth.
Conservationists know that a healthy deer herd can more
than double its size in just one season-so planned harvesting
is vital. And planned harvesting, of its "twin crops," is
vital to the Tree Farm concept.
The Tree Farm Program, though still in its infancy, is a
nationwide movement begun by the wood-using industries.
Its purpose is to bring many smaller forest properties under
good timberland management. Most of the larger holdings
are accredited Tree Farms and thousands of the smaller
ones are enrolling in this tree-growing movement.
The interest which started this project is, naturally, a
business one-to assure a high level of production, yet
guarantee a future wood supply. To become a Tree Farm
in this National system, a forest property must be privately
owned, tax-paying and dedicated to growing repeated crops
of timber. It must be managed in accordance with good
forest management practices including protection against
fire, insects, disease and destructive grazing. The accredited
tree farmer must necessarily give consideration to other inherent
values of the woods as watershed protection, wildlife
and recreation areas. Increased wood production is foremost,
but wildlife production is also increased by good forest
management. Information on the Tree Farm System is
available from American Forest Products Industries, 1816 N
Street N.W., Washington 6, D.C. (Continued on page 52)
Pete Mondino of III. gun club calls ducks
at Drumstra tree farm. Club members help
reduce fire hazard. Above, Weyerheuser timberman
marks a company cabin for hunters' use.
26 GUNS JANUARY 1960