Show protection of beaver will improve fishing jn in basin basi work of beaver slows slow down erosion and ponds aid in storing flood waters john P madsen madse i deputy game warden and beaver control commissioner each year more of the sporting and pleasure seeking public are being lurel lured to our mountain tops there in the cool balmy air on the banks of some clear sparkling stream they relax and get out of life the real enjoyment ilat that brings happiness and contentment no picture ever painted of the wide out of doors bo be it ever so beautiful is complete without the finishing touch of wild lita life wild life is not only int arestia ivri i but bill is fascinating and offers a greater field for recreation than any les ks k s ule time activity indulged in utah is known the world over for her beautiful str arrs earns many oi of them abounding with fish her thousands of pheasants and up herds of big game and beaver and land birds I 1 many sportsmen come from california alej a ij other states to participate in our big game hunt thousands of deer dec some of the largest and finest specimens known are arc taken annually in utah this year more than were killed by the who I 1 participated in this hunt each year from three to four hundred elk permits are issued and practically a hundred per cent killed duchesne county has one of the largest big game ranges in the west and it contributes some of the finst specimen of bucks to be found a anywhere the elk herd is on the increase and in in a few years will supply its portion of the number necessary to satisfy the dex demand rand fishing due to the erosion erosion condition which is responsible for the death dealing floods that litter our streams with filth killing all animal life has not been so good as in years gone one by each year the department plants in our streams and lakes more than thirlee i million fish many of which have been carried away in foods and lost completely of recent years the department has been planting fish in the higher I 1 lakes and streams and the belts results are already noticeable last year sportsmen from outside of the basin st 1 who number about eighty per per cent of our fishermen informer me our stream fishing was the best in the state more rearing ponds will be added to the whiterocks hatchery and a sight for all another hatchery in the basin is in i the making which should give us an ample supply upland birds have been the de apartments part ments greatest concern no increase in their numbers has been realized in the past five years because of the fact that lher native haunts havo bei i ji je strayed prohibiting their I 1 tion my observation of this I 1 species of our wild life convinces me that they cannot increase un til bird sanctuaries are establish ed cd excluding their enemies which are pr predatory birds and beasts I 1 i and sheep sanctuaries would al alj j so provided thern them wi wih h sini nr testing nesting and winter feeding sigund lurina them back to their native haunts where in years gone by they existed ii i i thousands chinese pheasants which have inc increased re ased materially in the county in recent years have partially replaced the loss in upland birds there are I 1 thousands of pheasants in the county and a iy ay nimrod capable of seeing down his gun barrel was rewarded Jed with a bag limit during the recent open sea season son decidedly off ducksw migratory birds such as ducks and ge geese se have been decided decidedly lyl off th the reason your guess is as I 1 good as mine however the drainage l of lakes swamps and their natural nesting areas is partly the cause utah ranks first among the states in building refuge millions of dollars have been spent in creating marshes in m th the state and where formerly dusty alkali beds existed now are seen beautiful fresh water lakes offering a haven an ani and I a resting place tor lor these birds in their flight from winter feeding grounds to nesting places in the magnificent lake region ol of canada the uintah basin has been fortunate in receiving her share ol of bird refuges stewart lake at jensen and many other reservoirs which lure birds to their fresh waters have been completed in the past year and we have the promise of leota lake which will cojei seven hundred acres and offer one of the finest small marshes for migratory birds in the state through the cooperation of luperi superintendent C C wright of the indian agency and in the spirit of fairness and honesty a program lias has been worked out with the indian inhabitants of the basin whereby they liae agreed to honor and respect the fish and game laws of the state and tc p propagate rop agate and protect wild life 0 and off th their air tribal lands of the indians are now ing in the beaver program er a are doing a fine job i poaching is also being kept to i minimum through the cooperation of the farmers the sportsmen an 3 the press value ol of beaver not until recent years has tin the value of the beaver been appreciated in the past we have thought of them 0 only in terms of their fur and the price it brought utah was first explored by trap who came here in quest of beaver I 1 fur trapping was carried on so extensively that in some sections the furry creatures were vere completely annihilated ten years ago ahel a I 1 came into the fish fiah and game department there was a 1 scant five hundred beaver in the county through protection transplanting transplants ig aj a J the fine cooperation of the forest department and sportsmen beaver in duchesne county have increased to several thousand in fact I 1 believe there are more in the cou ity than in the remainder of the state in the last legislature a law was passed for the propagation and protection of the beaver though this law as many defects which we vve hope will be corrected in the main it will ado adi greatly to the development ON of this growing industry commissioner cook of the state fish and game department placed the responsibility s of putting this law into effect in my hands and since that time some same thirty two areas or districts have been created with a caretaker over each one who must see to the protection and propagation of the beaver when they have increased to the capacity of the food and water supply the caretaker will then be authorized to trap the surplus turning the hides over to the state who will in turn issue him a check for half the price of the hides already under this program the beaver aleaver herds have been increase 0 one le hundred percent those of you who iio closely observe the mountain tops and slopes have no doubt noticed a decide change creep creeping ng over the entire surface the barren wastes on the face of our o once oice ice b dutiful P mountains caused by erosion oyer overgrazing over grazing and flood waters which which have left scars and unsightly galleys are fast being filled in and converted into ful ul marsh a and aid id meadow lands land through brough the untiring efforts of th the industrious beaver if we are successful in building our beaver herds berds to the capacity of the feed and water of our vast domain they will contribute more than a any ny one thing hing to the correction of our arese prese present it erosion condition fishing aid the small ponds and lakes built by y the beaver offer some of tile the inest finest fish rearing ponds in the state here the small fry in the shallow water shaded by tile the fol age of the willows are protected from rom their enemies and grow in into t 0 gerlings fingerlings fin in and large fish undisturbed any fisherman can call rest assured that hat he will land a big one in one of these beaver ponds when heavy icovy cloudbursts come plow plowing ing down the mou mountain etain slopes calling filth and stencil stench and killi killing ng everything in their paths the fj fish sh arge and small crowd to the sh al waters of these lakes and remain in there protected until the flood subsides the beaver will contribute more to the fish supply tha than thai i any 1 other one thing in the state 1 in addition the ponds built by beaver are valuable in the storage of water for sheep and cattle and by retaining flood waters which gradually seep into the earth and the hen i burst forth in beautiful springs miles down the mountain side add greatly to the flow of water in streams during the months of july and august to spend A program is now in the making whereby the state on a pro rata ata basis with the federal govern gover i mient ment wi will 11 spend more than fifty thousand dollars for the rehabilitation of wild life utah through the able management of commissioner cook is the first state to qualify aider this program 0 our state fish and ga game me commissioner s ioner who is a nationally known authority on wild life and its development who has accomplished nore for the state of utah than any of his predecessors joins join me in wishing all duchesne duches n e county sportsmen and the other seventy thousand who boug bought ht licenses h 1937 and spent three million dollars in pursuit of fish and game a merry christmas and may the year 1938 bring added results in the development of wild life and the finny tribe |