Fauna Series No. 1 Cover Contents Foreword Approach Methods Analysis Conspectus Suggested Policy

Fauna of the National Parks of the United States PROBLEMS OF GEOGRAPHICAL ORIGIN FAILURE OF PARKS AS INDEPENDENT BIOLOGICAL UNITS The preponderance of unfavorable wild-life conditions confronting superintendents is traceable to the insufficiency of park areas as self contained biological units. In the present era of park development, this geographical cause ranks as the most important of the three major causes of wild-life problems. If the influx of visitors were to increase in the future at the same rate that it has in the past 15 years, competition between man and animal in the park could easily become more influential in faunal maladjustments than the geographical factor. At present, not one park is large enough to provide year-round sanctuary for adequate populations of all resident species. Not one is so fortunate – and probably none can ever be unless it is an island – as to have boundaries that are a guarantee against the invasion of external influences. To all this the practical-minded will immediately retort that an area with artificial boundaries can never be a true biological entity, and obviously this is correct. But it is equally true that many parks' faunas could become self-sustaining and independent if areas and boundaries were fixed with careful consideration of their needs. Already many parks are being improved in this regard, and there is a vast amount more that can be done. When all advisable enlargements and boundary corrections have been made, there will still be external influences and probably some range in adequacies to be reckoned with and some management measures will be necessary for the protection of the affected species. Whereas both general types of problems due to the inadequacies of parks as independent biological units must be met primarily by changing the boundaries, as the only means of dealing with the fundamental cause, success can not be as great in one instance as the other. By his action, man can restore a needed range to a park provided he is willing to do it, but there is absolutely no way he can keep every unfavorable influence out of that park – not so long as boundaries are artificial, and some of them must always be that. NEXT> CONDITIONS CAUSED BY FAILURE TO INCLUDE THE COMPLETE ANIMAL HABITAT

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