National Park Service
Fauna Series
George Melendez Wright
National Park Service Historic Photograph CollectionIn 1927 George Wright joined the National Park Service as assistant park naturalist at Yosemite National Park, serving under Naturalist Carl P. Russell. While at Yosemite in 1927-28, George Wright and others discussed wildlife conservation in the national parks. Deer in Yosemite Valley, it seemed, were too abundant and tame. Cougars and other large predators were believed to be very scarce or nonexistent. Black bears raided campgrounds for food and were fed garbage each evening. But the National Park Service had no program devoted to the necessary field research on which better wildlife conservation and interpretation could be based.
The National Park Service Fauna Series began in 1929 when George Wright proposed that there be established a wildlife survey program for the National Park Service, which would be funded by him personally until the program's value could be demonstrated. Director Horace Albright approved the proposal and strongly supported it. Preliminary surveys of the status of wildlife and the identification of urgent wildlife problems in the national parks began in 1929. In each park, effort was made to determine original and current wildlife conditions, to identify causes of adverse changes, and to recommend actions that would restore park wildlife to its original status.
In 1933 the department published the first report on the survey's preliminary findings and recommendations, entitled Fauna of the National Parks of the United States, a Preliminary Survey of Faunal Relations in National Parks, also known as Fauna 1. For many years, this classic NPS document was used by park biologists as the working "bible" in their policy-making decisions.
Fauna 1 essentially formulated the first park wildlife-management policies. The broader implication of the report was that it made science a necessary ingredient to proper park management.
R. Gerald Wright,
Wildlife Research and Management in the National ParksFauna No. 1 stands as the threshold to a new era in Park Service history. Its conception of "unimpaired" in essentially ecological terms marked a revolutionary change in the understanding of national parks by Service professionals. Recommendations for scientific research, ecological restoration, protection of predators and endangered species, reduction or eradication of nonnative species, and acquisition of more ecologically complete wildlife habitats were among the many farsighted aspects of this report.
Richard West Sellars,
Preserving Nature in the National Parks: A HistoryAfter the publication of the first two titles in this series, the Fauna Series shifted the focus to more species-specific topics, ranging from the wolves of Denali and Isle Royale to the bighorn sheep of Death Valley.
Long out-of-print, a total of seven reports were released in this series, including two by noted biologist Adolph Murie. On-line editions of these reports can be accessed by following the links below.
For more information concerning George Wright, the George Wright Society is a group of professionals who work in protected areas and on public lands who remain committed to keeping the spirit of George Wright alive.
1. Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: A Preliminary Survey of Faunal Relations In National Parks, George M. Wright, Joseph S. Dixon Ben H. Thompson, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC, 1933.
2. Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: Wildlife Management In The National Parks, George M. Wright, Ben H. Thompson, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC, 1934.
3. Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: Birds And Mammals Of Mount Mckinley National Park, Joseph S. Dixon, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC, 1938.
4. Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: Ecology of the Coyote in the Yellowstone, Adolph Murie, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC, 1940.
5. Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: The Wolves of Mount McKinley, Adolph Murie, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC, 1944.
6. Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: The Bighorn of Death Valley, Ralph E. Welles and Florence B. Welles, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC, 1961.
7. Fauna of the National Parks of the United States: The Wolves of Isle Royale, L. David Mech, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Washington, DC, 1966.
The Elk of Grand Teton and Southern Yellowstone National Parks, Glen F. Cole, Research Report GRTE-N-1 and manuscript for Fauna of the National Parks of the United States, U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1969.
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