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Fauna Series No. 1
Methods
Fauna of the National Parks
of the United States
CONSPECTUS OF WILD-LIFE PROBLEMS OF EACH PARK
ZION CANYON
The topography of Zion National Park is such that the animal life enjoys a natural protection. The chief difficulties are in the surrounding region. About 60,000 head of domestic sheep are grazed above the park on the Virgin River watershed. This region has been grazed for more than 50 years. The forage is greatly injured, and the erosion severely accelerated. The effect of this grazing upon Zion National Park is evidenced in the enlarged and changing stream bed in Zion Canyon. Old farms which used to lie along the river have been washed away, and the floor of the valley has been cut away to a depth of 15 to 20 feet in many places. If the floor of Zion Canyon is destroyed – it is apt to be if the present tendency is not corrected – the park will be ruined, to say nothing of the damage already done to the winter range.
The greatest danger to wild life, however, is the destruction of the water supply. In overgrazed places the water rushes off the denuded mountain slopes with no time for percolation into the soil; then the water holes are dry when water is most needed. It is also destructive of fish and all other forms of life in the streams. Every effort should be made, in cooperation with the Forest Service, to limit and regulate this grazing above the park. In its present tendency the industry is suicidal, and the damage to the park and range will be irreparable.
Grazing of domestic sheep is carried on dangerously close to the east rim of the canyon, and there is some poaching upon the summer range in that portion of the park. It would be very desirable if the east boundary could be moved a few miles further east in order to give a more effective protection to the wild life of that region.
Within the park a resident of Cedar City owns 540 acres near the Temple of Sinawava. This tract of private land is so vital to the heart of the park that the owner has been given the privilege of grazing an equal portion of land in the northwest corner of the park, in the region of Potato Valley, in lieu of his grazing privileges on the Sinawava holding. The northwest corner of the park is badly overgrazed by sheep, and erosion is severe. Sheep carcasses have been strychnined and left in this portion of the park to poison predators, chiefly mountain lions. It is evident that such a situation is inimical to the wild life of the park. The private holding within the park should be acquired as soon as possible.
BROAD-TAILED BEAVER (Castor canadensis frondator). – Beavers were in the park when the region was first settled by the pioneers. but no beavers have been there in recent years. It has been suggested that they be reintroduced into Zion Canyon, along one of the west tributaries of the canyon, where they could have some seclusion and still be seen from the trails. The reintroduction of beaver, however, seems inadvisable because of the freshet character of the streams due to overgrazing on the watershed, and because the narrow valley floor is now largely occupied by human developments.
MOUNTAIN LION (Felis oregonensis). – Mountain lions are controlled in the region around the park, and the park is scarcely large enough to protect them. The sheepmen in the region consider that the mountain lions in the sheep territory above the park, on the headwaters of the Rio Virgin, are park lions driven out of the park by highway blasting. A sheep herder of a lessee in the park said that on May 24, 1931, a lion killed six sheep two miles east of Potato Valley. Last fall the same sheep herder found two fawns killed in the same region, supposedly by lion. The herder poisoned the carcasses and left them. Ranger Russell reported that a mountain lion and two kittens had been killed in the northeast section of the park about March 1, 1931. Above the park, between Cedar Mountain and Zion, the sheepmen each fall distribute poisoned horse carcasses, but report that they do not get many lions in this way.
The very few mountain-lion depredations about which we could get information do not seem to warrant further control within the park.
ROCKY MOUNTAIN MULE DEER (Odocoileus hemionus). – Deer are plentiful within the park. We saw deer tracks in every section of the region traversed. There is a hint of possible complication for the future if the number of mule deer frequenting the canyon increases materially. Fifteen years ago Yosemite Valley had no more deer than Zion has at the present time. To-day the deer constitute an important problem, having done considerable damage to the flora of Yosemite Valley. Apparently the vegetation in Zion Canyon has not suffered as yet. By careful management such a situation may be definitely averted.
A few deer are killed each fall just below the south entrance to the park. Coyotes are few, and constant warfare is waged against mountain lions in the region. Consequently, the deer are increasing and can afford the losses around Springdale and Rockville, just south of the park, even though this is the natural winter range for park deer. Should the effect of hunting become too serious in this area, protective steps might need to be taken. No such measure seems necessary at present.23
ROCKY MOUNTAIN BIGHORN (Ovis canadensis canadensis). – Mountain sheep are present in the park. They have been seen in bands numbering up to 18 along the Zion-Mount Carmel Highway, and are to be found in the valley behind Bridge Mountain. They are in protected country and seem to be maintaining themselves. However, there are some indications of poaching.
In general, range conditions at Zion have greatly improved since 1900. The outlook is favorable for most forms of wild life. Certain features, as outlined above, need adjustment, but any moves must be made advisedly, with due regard for the sheep industry of the region as well as for the park.
23 See p. 34.
SOUTHWEST PARKS
Bryce Canyon | Carlsbad Caverns | Grand Canyon | Mesa Verde | Zion Canyon
PARKS
Southwest | Rocky Mountain | Pacific Coast | Eastern | Territorial
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Last Modified: Tues,
Feb 1 2000 07:08:48 pm PDT
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