Show Scout Project Benefits Deer By Mark McSwain and Jeff Barneck Have any of you ever thought about our partly barren hillsides hillsides hillsides hill hill- sides above Bountiful and Centerville GRADUALLY this problem is bein being so solved ed through the assistance of the Boy Scouts For conservation projects ts Scouts are planting Bitter Brush Not only do these projects benefit Scouts in earning merit badges and advancement in rank but the Bitter Brush they plant plantis is winter food for deer DURING THE winter the snow is very deep in the high nigh mountains It is difficult difficult difficult dif dif- if not impossible to obtain food So the deer migrate migrate migrate mi mi- grate to the foothills to get food The only problem is there is no food for the deer to eat This is where the Scouts come in Through the planting of the Bitter Brush the deer get a plentiful supply of winter food thus preventing starvation starvation starvation tion of the deer This also makes our hillsides less barren barren barren bar bar- ren and more pleasant to look at This helps prevent soil erosion too RECENTLY Troop No of the Bountiful Ward has been engaged in the Bitter Bitter Bitter Bit Bit- ter Brush project This is is how the seeds are I planted i iA jA j I j A H HOLE LE ABOUT two feet j j square is dug This hole is about six inches deep and its sides slant downward about about thirty degrees It is dug this way to catch the rain thus promoting growth About 15 to 20 seeds are planted around the sides of each hole I Each individual seed is planted plant plant- ed in in a different spot in the hole and not all in one bunch The seeds are planted in different different different dif dif- ferent spots so that if a small animal were to find one he would world wo ld not find them all IT TAKES about two years for the roots of the Bitter Brush to get beneath the t roots of other plants and weeds Then they grow very rapidly It takes a couple more years for the Bitter Brush to reach maturity This is one of oC the many ways that conservation projects play a key role in the training of Boy Scouts and provide benefit for our wildlife and control soil erosion |