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The Louisiana Conservationist magazine, published by the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of Louisiana’s natural resources.
Citation preview
B®QJ)QSD&KL&IT
Number 6
Legal Opinion
Restricts Use
Df Refuge Funds
The Attorney General has ruled
hat all funds received from min-
;ral exploration on the Roeke-
'eller Foundation Wildlife Refuge
md Game Preserve must be ex-
>ended for the purpose of mainte-
lance and policing of the preserve,
rhis was announced recently by
Conservation Commissioner Joseph
j. McHugh in answer to consid-
irable speculation that funds from
)il that may be discovered on the
Preserve could be used for the
>peration of the Conservation De-
jartment.
The opinion was requested by
Hale Boggs, Attorney for the Con-
servation Department. The At-
torney General's opinion stated
;hat proceeds from the Preserve
shall be deposited in the State
Treasury earmarked into a spe-
jial fund to be used for the ex-
slusive purpose of preserving the
wild game life on the refuge. The
Act of Donation by the Rocke-
feller Foundation to the State
provided also that any available
surplus above the amount neces-
sary for policing and maintaining
the preserve, may be used for
public education and public
health.
The Conservation Department
has received $89,350.00 from the
granting of a permit to conduct
mineral exploration on the pre-
serve, and this has been deposited
in the State Treasury in a special
fund. This is the amount bid by
the Humble Oil and Refining Com-
pany for the exploration lease
on the 85,000 acre Rockefeller
Foundation Wildlife Preserve. The
lease became effective March 1
and is for 100 days, at the end
of which time the State Mineral
Board is expected to offer it for
public bidding for development
purposes.
.. .
Louisiana's official Bird, The Pelican. This picturesque photograph
was taken at the bird's natural breeding ground, Brown Pelican Hatch-
ery on North Island in St. Bernard Parish.
Southern Foresters Urge Public
Aid to Curb Forest Fires
(PHOTOS ON PAGE 7)
Adoption of resolutions urging
the public to actively support the
appropriation of four million dol-
lars in the national agricultural
appropriation bill as approved by
the bureau of the budget for
co-operative forest fire control and
urging passage of Senate Bill 45
which provides authorization for
the federal government to give
stronger financial assistance to the
extension of forest fire control to
all of the state and privately
owned forest lands in the United
States, were features of the an-
nual convention of Southern State
Foresters held in New Orleans,
Thursday, Friday and Saturday,
April 15, 16 and 17.
In the resolution the 12 South-
ern state foresters said, "having
passed through the most severe
spring fire season of record is
self-evident that adequate forest
fire control continues to be the
most pressing forest problem need-
ing immediate attention."
The Forestry Division of the
Louisiana Department of Conser-
vation was hosts to the gathering
and M. H. Anderson, Louisiana
State Forestry, took an active
part in the proceedings.
Feature of the Friday session
was an address by Governor SamJones. Forester Anderson intro-
duced Conservation Commissioner
(Continued to Page 7, Column 1)
State's Natural
Resources Cited
By Gov. Jones
Speaking before the annual con-
vention of the Louisiana Police
Jury Association in Lafayette,
Wednesday, April 28th, Governor
Sam Jones, outlined an eight
point program for the future of
Louisiana and its people.
Placing the conservation of
Louisiana's vast natural resources
first in importance, the Governor
urged, among other things, utili-
zation of additional marsh lands
so that the fur industry of the
State may be doubled. He stated
that continued protection and de-
velopment of Louisiana's resources
to its greatest advantage would
result in increasing oil reserves
and the establishment of greater
refineries within the State.
He urged the replenishment and
restoration of fish, oyster, shrimp,
game and other wild life, both for
commercial and sporting purposes
in order to increase the attrac-
tiveness of the State for out-of-
state tourists and visitors, as well
as creating new business.
The first two points in the Gov-
ernor's suggested program for a
Greater Louisiana pertaining to
conservation and utilization of
natural resources are as follows:
'First. I suggest that we adopt
program of land utilization.
Louisiana has a total of 29,000,000
acres of land, only 6,000,000 of
hich is now in cultivation, I
therefore propose:
"(A) That a drainage program
be inaugurated which will bring
into cultivation an additional 5,-
000,000 acres of the richest allu-
vial lands in Louisiana.
"(B) That the fur industry be
doubled by utilizing additional
marsh lands providing the proper
j
vegetation and fresh water.
(Continued to Page S, Column 3)
LOUISIANA CONSERVATIONIST
SAM H. JONESGovernor of Louisiana
JOSEPH L. McHUGHConservation Commissioner
LOUISIANA CONSERVATIONISTPublished Monthly in the interest of conservation by the
Louisiana Department of Conservation126 Civil Courts Building, New Orleans, La.
John L. Conner Isaac D. ChapmanExecutive Assistant to Commissioner Editor
Permission for publication of all material in this issue is granted on condition that we receive marked copies and that credit be givenany illustrations reproduced. Contributions and photographs will be welcomed. Each should be accompanied by stamped return enve-lope. Proper credit will be given on all material accepted.
Volume 1 MAY, 1943 Number
By JOS. L. McHUGH
During recent weeks, it has been incumbent upon me as Com-missioner, to attend two national conferences pertaining to the im-portant problem of increasing the nation's oil production. At boththe Interstate Oil Compact Commission Conference held in Wichita,Kansas, and the National Conference of Petroleum Authorities heldin Washington, the seriousness of the oil situation was impressed uponus. To help alleviate this situation, and to stimulate the search fornew oil reserves, Secretary of the Interior Harold Ickes, who is Pe-troleum Coordinator for the nation, has been trying to get a sub-stantial increase in the price of crude oil. The OPA has not doneanything about it, and in view of the President's recent "hold the
line" order, reports from Washington indicate that the OPA will turndown the request. The seriousness of this oil problem cannot be over-emphasized. Many high petroleum authorities share the opinion that
the nation faces a critical shortage of current producible oil whichwill hamper the war effort. The crux of the problem lies in the fact
that drilling and operation costs have constantly risen while the price
of crude oil has remained at a low level. Under these circumstances,the oil drilling business, which at its best, has always been a big
gamble, has now become even less attractive to independent oil
operators and investors, with the result that many oil operators havecurtailed their activities, putting their money into farm lands andother investments. In addition, the oil industry is confronted withthe problems of obtaining necessary materials, such as steel, and like-
wise the manpower shortage, both of which are equally as serious in
other industries throughout the nation. The solution of such prob-lems in a democracy naturally takes time, but I am confident thatthey will eventually be worked out for the best interests of the entire
nation.
The Louisiana Press Association is holding its annual conventionin Opelousas on May 7th and 8th, and I want to take this occasion to
again express my appreciation to the newspapers of Louisiana fortheir fine cooperation in helping us to publicise the importance of con-servation in time of war. Time and again in this war the press of thenation and of Louisiana have performed outstanding feats of publicservice. To the newspapers goes the credit for the tremendous successof the nation's scrap drive and the more recent history-making thirteenbillion dollar war bond drive. The Louisiana Press performed public
service of the highest type in both of these undertakings. My hat I]
off to you, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Fourth Estate.
Considerable publicity has been directed recently toward thli
apparent pending doom of the Singer Preserve in Northeast Louisianaas a wildlife refuge due to the fact that the virgin timber on thsPreserve is rapidly being cut out for use in the war effort. Thl)
Conservation Department is thoroughly conversant with the situationand has not been asleep on the job. Repeated efforts have been madto save this tract of land without success. We know, for example, tha;
the highest authorities in Washington, including the President of thl
United States, have been acquainted with the situation, and have bee?unable to do anything about it. The President personally wroteletter to Secretary of the Interior Ickes, who is in charge of thl
United States Fish and Wildlife Service, asking him to do whateve^possible under the conditions to save at least a part of this uniquotract. Pressed by war time demands, Congress has refused to apprcjpriate any funds for this purpose, and there again the matter has bee:stymied. We are making an effort of our own to purchase some parof this tract for a State Wildlife Refuge with Pittman-Robertson lan.i
acquisition funds, and the matter is still in the negotiation stagei
During the years that the Department has protected the Singer PreJ
serve, large concentrations of deer and turkey have been developeeon these lands. The cut-over lands are supporting this wildlife asresult of the protection given by the Department. We have mad!every effort to save and protect this area but conditions beyond oujcontrol make it impossible for the Department to do any more.
CHINA ASKS FOR ANDRECEIVES SOMELOUISIANA SLASHPINE SEED
The Division of Forestry of the
Louisiana Department of Conser-
vation recently received a request
from the Director of the National
Bureau of Forest Research, Chung-king, Szechuan, China, asking for
a small amount of Louisiana Slash
Pine Seed to be used for experi-
mental purposes by the Chinese
Government.
The request came through the
Southern Forest Experiment Sta-
tion.
In accordance with this request,
M. H. Anderson, Director of the
Forestry Division, stated that twopounds of Slash Pine Seed has
been forwarded to the United
States Forest Service who will
send same to the Chinese Embassyfor shipment to China.
GAME COMMISSIONERSTO MEET IN ATLANTAThe Southeastern Association o<
Game and Fish Commissioner!will hold a meeting in Atlantai
Georgia on May 24, 25 and 261
according to word received by thi
Louisiana Department of Conser J
vation.
Federal officials of the Unitei
States Fish and Wildlife Serviiand conservation officials fronthe States of Louisiana, ArkansasTennessee,- Alabama, Kentucky!Mississippi, Florida, GeorgiaSouth Carolina, North Carolina
and Virginia are expected to atl
tend the meeting.
Major James Brown, Directo:
of the Wildlife and Fisheries Division and Captain J. G. AppelDirector of the Enforcement Division, plan to attend the meeting
as representatives from LouisianaW. F. Dearman, Director of th<
Fish and Game CommissionMississippi is President of the Association.
LOUISIANA CONSERVATIONIST Three
Commercial Fishing in State)uring First Year of the WarA report on the take of the
•esh and salt water fishery prod-
its of Louisiana for 1942, the
rst year of the war, just corn-
led by the Conservation Depart-
ent gives an interesting sidelight
: the effect of the war on com-ercial fishing in Louisiana, whenimpared with the record for the
evious two years.
A complete compilation of the
•oduction for the years 1940,
)41, and 1942, is published at
e bottom of this page. The com-irison is very interesting.
Generally, it shows that the
ke and value of what is consid-
ed fresh water fish was higher
1942 than in the two years
evious.
Most salt water fish, with the
itable exceptions of such species
catfish, speckled sea trout, red
h and common salt water fish,
owed decreases over 1941.
Shrimp production in Louisiana
so showed a slight drop in 1942er 1941, although it was an in-
ease over the year 1940.Shrimp production in Louisianar the past three years, based onports kept by the Conservationjpartment, show the following;ures
:
1941 production, 108,210,133pounds.
1940 production, 83,409,675pounds.
1942 production, 107,513,463pounds.
While the take of shrimp for
1942 was less than that of 1941,
the value of the shrimp showed aconsiderable increase last yearover 1941.
The report on the sale of an-gling licenses for 1942 is not com-plete due to the fact that sometwenty parishes have not as yetreported their sales to the Con-servation Department. However,based on the reports already in,
and from indications the Depart-ment has received on the sale of
licenses for fishing in the variousparishes, there is every reason to
indicate an increase over the 47,-
000 fishing licenses sold in 1941.
SEVEN MINERAL HEARINGSHELD TUESDAY, MAY 4TH
The Commissioner of Conserva-tion and his staff of mineraltechnicians conducted seven min-eral hearings on Tuesday, May 4th,
at the Monteleone Hotel in NewOrleans.
The hearings included the ap-
plication of the Midstates Oil
Corporation for an exception to
Section 2, Order number 35; the
application of M. H. Marr and G.H. Vaughn for the issuance of an
order and permit to dually com-plete and produce oil or gas froma well in the Golden MeadowField; the application of the Car-ter Oil Company and Phillips
Petroleum Company for adoptionof rules and regulations andmethod of allocation of allowableproduction in the Elm Ridge Field
in LaSalle Parish.
Also heard was the application
of C. I. Production Company, Inc.,
for issuance of an order to duallycomplete and produce oil or gasfrom the Company's Samuel HaasEstate Number 2 well in the PinePrairie Field; the application ofRoy Lee, Trustee, for the issuance
of an order to dually complete the
Crowell-Spencer Number 2 well in
the Pine Pairie Field; the appli-
cation of the Midstates Oil Cor-
poration and T. L. James Com-pany for issuance of an integra-
tion order pooling these property
interests for production of oil andgas from the Pettit Zone of the
Haynesville Field.
ELEVEN PER CENTDECREASE IN FUR
Although complete figures are
not available, there is an indicated
1 1 per cent decrease in the pro-
duction of fur in Louisiana dur-
ing the 1942-43 season as com-pared with the previous 1941-42
season. This is considerable less
than was expected, due to the un-seasonably warm weather duringthe recent trapping season.
Tri-State Mineral
Hearing Scheduled
For Rodessa Field
A tri-state hearing of oil regu-latory bodies of Louisiana, Texasand Arkansas, will be held in
Shreveport on Wednesday, May12th, at 10:00 A. M. in the Wash-ington-Youree Hotel, for the pur-pose of adopting uniform rules
for the operation of the RodessaField.
The hearing will be conductedby Conservation CommissionerJoseph L. McHugh and represen-tatives of the Regulatory Bodiesfrom Texas and Arkansas will
join in the hearing with the ideaof adopting, as far as practicable,
uniform rules for the three states
as affects the Rodessa Field.
On the same day in Shreveport,the Minerals Division will also holdhearings on fields in Caddo Parish.
These include the application ofthe Stewart Oil Company for theissuance of an integration orderfor the pooling of property in-
terests for the production of oil
and gas from the Pettit Zone ofthe Shreveport Field; the appli-cation of the Bering Oil Companyfor a permit to drill Noel Unitnumber 2 well in Caddo Parish;and the application of J. M. Har-per, Jr., for permit to drill Lane-Jordan Number 1 well in CaddoParish.
VALUE AND "TAKE" OF FRESH AND SALT WATER FISHERIES OF LOUISIANA
esh Water Fish1940
Production
rtfish 2,671,553 lbs.Jspergou 835,588'oonbill 66,690iffalo 2,347,506•esh Water Turtles 126,655esh Water Shrimp 1,455,220ogs 1,286,016•ayfish 284,185iscellaneous 460,207
5aby" Green Turtles 2,961,514 Trtls.:rrapins 5,466 doz.irimp Hulls 406,485 lbs.
W. F. Species 9,533,620 lbs.
iscellaneous: includes Gars, German Carps, Drums, etc.
dt Water Fish:
1941Value Production
240,439.77 2,864,363 lbs.
41,779.40 842,54110,003.50 42,728
112,375.30 2,421,56718,998.25 123,857
145,522.00 1,041,715321,504.00 817,57522,734.80 172,11923,010.35 649,441
29,615.14 1,719,730 Trtls81,990.00 1,674 doz.8,136.90 255,128 lbs.
1,056,109.41 8,975,906
Value
358,045.3742,552.467,263.76
173,725.3618,578.55
125,005.80204,396.2517,211.9051,055.28
17,197.3030,132.005,102.56
1942Production
3,433,928 lbs.
904,08672,977
3,161,029104,030147,201746,256872,840762,330
2,046,262 Trtls.
620 doz.301,800 lbs.
Value
549,428.4872,326.883,648.85
316,102.907,282.10
25,024.17186,564.0069,827.2030,493.20
20,462.6212,400.0015,090.00
itfish
S. Trout:d Fisheepsheadounderslappersminion S. W. Fish,lit Water Turtles..
110,480 lbs.
221,319232,69864,68995,821
184,131191,67128,563
•abmeat 1,659,537
8,838.4033,197.8518,615.845,175.129,582.10
18,413.109,583.551,701.78
414,884.25
95,392 lbs.
141,968218,10680,859
124,542210,792230,58836,213
2,389,285
$ 1,051,166.59
9,539.2021,295.2021,810.608,085.90
14,945.0421,079.2018,447.042,897.04
716,785.50
10,506,477 lbs.
2,046,262 Trtls620 Terrapins doz
$ 1,308,650.40
W. Species 2,788,709 lbs.
ard Shell Crabs 1,794,555 doz.)ft Shell Crabs 63,938 doz.
102,152 lbs.
341,605348,11546,96578,056
383,907276,03635,158
1,238,135
5,107.6068,321.0052,217.254,696.50
11,708.4088,296.6122,082.883,551.80
619,067.50
$ 519,991.99269,183.2553,938.00
$ 843,113.24
3,527,745 lbs.
2,177,743 doz.73,868 doz.
$ 834,884.72544,435.7581,254.80
$ 1,460,575.27
2,850,129 lbs.
1,578,365 doz.57,644 doz.
875,049.54338,220.0086,466.00
2,814,971 lbs. Fish $1,299,735.541,636,009 Crabs doz.
LOUISIANA CONSERVATIONIST
CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT'SQUAIL HATCHERIES READYFOR BUSY SEASON
Production of quail at the Con-
servation Department's Louisiana
State quail hatchery near BatonRouge for the 1942 season is un-
der way, and the goal this year is
6,000 quail. Announcement to
this effect was made last week by
Consei-vation Commissioner Joseph
L. McHugh, following a confer-
ence with Major James Brown,Director of the Department's Di-
vision of Wildlife and Fisheries.
This is the first seasonal opera-
tions at the Louisiana State quail
hatchery since the new $35,000brooder house and hatchery wereconstructed last year. With the
new equipment, this hatchery is
now considered one of the finest
of its kind in the entire country.
The Conservation Department also
operates two smaller hatcheries at
Natchitoches and Lacombe. Whenthese hatcheries operate at full
capacity, it can produce more than
12,000 birds a year.
More than 2,500 quail from
last year's stock, has been dis-
tributed throughout the state dur-
ing the past few weeks. About650 quail has been retained for
breeding stock at the various
hatcheries.
The stock has been improved in
the past year by highly selective
culling as well as the purchase of
new stock from outside sources
so that birds from this year's
hatch should be the healthiest
produced in years.
The flock is kept in a battery
of 100 "holding pens", where the
birds are in groups of 20 to 25,
segregated by sexes. Following
the spring releases, the birds are
paired off and placed one pair to
a pen in the approximately 200breeding pens.
In explaining the procedure that
is followed, Major Brown stated,
that within two weeks to a monthafter being placed in the breeding
pens the birds will start to lay andeach hen will produce approxi-
mately 60 eggs and some will pro-
duce more than 100 eggs each be-
fore stopping. In wild natural
surroundings the quail generally
raises one brood a year, laying 15
to 20 eggs for the setting.
Therefore, the artificial sur-
roundings and the practice of re-
moving the eggs daily tricks
mother quail into laying the en-
tire year's output consecutively.
The eggs cannot be held for
more than eight to 10 days with-
out reducing the degree of fer-
tility, so at periods of no longer
than this maximum eggs are in-
troduced into the large, electrical-
ly operated incubator. This in
cubator will hold 7000 eggs. It is
a special bit of equipment de
signed for this purpose.
The eggs are in the incubator
for 19 days, when they are trans-
fered to a smaller incubator with
specially built trays so that the
young birds as they hatch out
find their radius of operations
closely restricted. This, it seems,
is due to the fact that the youngquail practically hits the tray run-
;
..-.. ;.. , .
Mating pens for egg production and holding pens for young quail.
Upper photograph shows side view of the five Brooder Wings of thequail hatchery; lower; a front view of the incubator, office, feed andwork rooms.
ning and within a few momentsof emerging into this world he is
ready to operate at very high
speeds.
When removed from the incuba-
tor the young quail are placed in
battery brooders similar to those
used for young chickens. Butthese wards of the state have a
hotel system that consists of five
wings in which are 20 brooders
each. When they are old enoughto withstand the rigors of fresh
air, the back ends of the brooder
pens are raised, which gives wayto a modern, sunswept, back porch
on which the youngsters can
frolic at will.
Here in this modern concrete
and metal nursery the young quail
are kept for five to six weeks,
during which they become fully
feathered and are grown up in
every way but size. They are
then placed in the holding pens
where within the next few weeksthey attain their full maturity
°.nd late in fall about half of the
crop is selected for release.
When released some of the
birds are sent to the four experi-
mental sections in different parts
if the state where field biologists
are stationed.
Others are released on public
hunting grounds to bolster the
quail crop in any areas where it
may be "slipping" due to over-
hunting or other causes. Andfinally many of the birds are
turned over to Louisiana wildlife
federation clubs who release themin understocked areas throughout
the state.
CLOSED SEASON ONFROGS DURING MAY
While many people may not be
aware of it, there is a closed sea-
son on the taking and selling of
bull-frogs and lagoon frogs dur-
ing the entire months of April andMay.
THANK YOU, CHICAGO,BUT WE HAVE SOMEALLIGATORS
The Department of Conservi
tion has received an offer froi
the Chicago Zoological Park t
supply Louisiana with some sv!
plus alligators they have in thei
possession.
The letter from the director 6
the park to J. N. Gowanloch, Chit
Biologist of the Division of WiHlife and Fisheries Division, msithe offer, in the following words
"We have here four or five huidred alligators—animals of asizes. These have been broug^to us by people traveling in th
South and if it is the plan of th
State of Louisiana to introduc
alligators in proper places, I worder if you could use some of the?
animals. We would be glad t
crate them carefully and delivt-
them at the express office £a
shipment wherever you wish."
The answer is thanks, just th
same for thinking about us, br
we have plently of alligators i
Louisiana, some in proper place
and some not so proper!
CHICOT STATE PARKTO OPEN ON JUNE 6TH
Chicot State Park, located eigk
miles northeast of Ville Platti
will open this summer for the firii
time, on June 6th, it has been ai
nounced by William Wells, Actin
Director of the State Parks Conmission.
A beautiful lake, comprisim
some 2,000 acres, has recentli
been completed. The park wihave 10 cabins completely fu:
nished, boats for rent, picn
tables, barbecue pits, and oth(
conveniences.
LOUISIANA CONSERVATIONIST Five
Dam Building Beavers Thrive in Louisiana Under
Protection of Conservation DepartmentNot many people in Baton*
Rouge know it, but there were
;o many beavers in East Baton
Rouge Parish last fall that it was
recessaiy to remove some of them
to other areas because farmers
were complaining that the beavers
were eating up their corn crops.
The Conservation Department,
through Captain J. G. Appel,
Chief Enforcement Officer, dis-
patched several agents to work
in East Baton Rouge Parish and
for a period of time these agents
were busily engaged in trapping
the beavers and transferring them
to other areas where their num-
bers are not so great.
This work was under the super-
vision of Jake Wolfley, Conser-
vation ranger, who is now in the
Navy. Over a period of several
weeks, Ranger Wolfley and his
assistants trapped over 18 beavers
on the Amite River between BayWood and Grangeville in East
Baton Rouge Parish and they were
later released in the Tangipahoa
River area.
Investigation last fall showed
that rows of corn nearest the
river had been eaten by the beav-
ers, who emerge from their habi-
tats, attack the corn stalks and
then take the corn back home with
them.
You haven't heard much about
the beaver in Louisiana recently,
simply because of the fact that
they are not as numerous as the
muskrat or some of our other fur
bearing animals. As a matter of
fact, while the beaver is not as
plentiful as in years past, they
have managed to survive remark-
ably well, because of the fact that
for the past twenty years or more,
the Department of Conservation
has rigidly protected these animals
by closed seasons and constant
surveillance so that today in the
parishes of East Feliciana, St.
Helena, East Baton Rouge, and
Livingston, along the Amite and
Comite Rivers and their tribu-
taries, the beaver continues to
abide in large numbers.
In telling of his experiences
while engaged in trapping the
beavers, former Ranger Wolfley,
made these observations:
Although a majority of the
beaver trapped were small, weigh-
ing from fifteen to thirty pounds,
he nevertheless found some to
weigh from forty to sixty-five and
even eighty pounds.
"In my experience with the
beaver," stated Wolfley, "I have
This is the type trap used for trapping live Beaver.
Transfer cage, showing live Beaver being transferred to holding pen.
found him to be, when not ex-
cited, usually friendly, in fact, in
two or three days he can be handfed and handled with compar-atively little danger."
The beaver is a rodent not un-
like the muskrat, except larger,
with compact heavy body, aquatic
and noctura] in its habits. Its
pelage is a soft dense coat of fine
waterproof underfur overlain by
coarse guard hairs, the color vary-
ing from light tan to almost black,
the male being darker than the
female.
One characteristic of the beaver
is its cleanliness. It can often be
seen washing and combing its soft
fur with the claws of its webbedhind feet, this being accomplished
by the double combing claws which
can be found immediately beneath
the nail of the two inside claws.
The fore-feet are also used in this
operation.
The thing most distinguishable
about the beaver is its tail; broad,
flat and hairless, which has caused
much discussion as to its use.
Many believe it is used in trans-
porting mud to be used in dammaking. However, nothing has
been found to substantiate this
belief.
The menu of the beaver is also
similiar to that of the muskrat.
The beaver being strictly vega-
tarian lives only on roots, barks
and various plant life. His tastes,
however, lean toward corn on the
cob, (which caused the farmers
complaint in East Baton RougeParish)
,green willow bark, and
roots, maple, aspen, and cotton-
I
(Continued to Page S, Column 4)
.j.
Close-up of the native Louisiana Beaver, showing texture of fui
Louisiana protects its animal life through wise conservation. There
for more than twenty years.
. The Beaver is an example of howhas been a closed season on beaver
LOUISIANA CONSERVATIONIST
* ****
*
News of Meetings and Activities of
Louisiana Wildlife Federation Clubs
^*******#*********************-X-*-X-***-3(-*'J!-****-3«-****5;
(Editor's Note—Under this
heading we will publish
each month reports of meet-ings of the various conser-
vation and sportsmen or-
ganizations in the state, or
other reports of their ac-
tivities. We invite the va-
rious units of the Louisiana
Wildlife Federation to makeuse of this medium to in-
form the public of their
meetings and activities.)
EAST CARROLL FISHAND GAME ASS'N HOSTTO NOTABLE GATHERING
The East Carroll Fish and GameAssociation was host to a notable
gathering- of state officials andcitizens at its annual meeting andbanquet held in Lake Providence,
Wednesday night, April 14th.
C. W. Lyon, president of the
Fish and Game Association, in
opening the program, told of the
organization's activities in havingthe lake stocked, guarded, andevery effort made to have it
stream filled with fish that wouldbe any fisherman's delight.
Judge Frank Voelker was mas-ter of ceremonies.
Governor Sam Jones discussed
the economic outlook of the Southin an interesting address. TheGovernor brought with him to the
meeting Irvin S. Cobb, noted au-
thor and humorist, who was visit-
ing in Louisiana. Mr. Cobb deliv-
ered a typical humorous Cobbtalk which kept the large crowdin a continual uproar of laughter.
Joseph L. McHugh, Conserva-tion Commissioner, delivered aninspiring address on the impor-tance of conservation in war-time.
A large number of state offi-
cials were guests of the sports-
men's organization at the gath-
ering.
CADDO WILDLIFE GROUPENDORSES BAYOU PROJECT
Ait a well attended meetingTuesday, April 20th, the Caddochapter of the Louisiana -Wildlife
Federation, unanimously endorsedthe Black Bayou dam project andinstructed its president, Dr. A. T.
Johnson, to co-operate in everyway with the Caddo police jury in
plans for the completion of the
dam.
Through courtesy of AlfredGlassell, recently elected vice-
president for the entire southernregion, three newsreels of DucksUnlimited, depicting breeding
grounds in Canada and show-ing the vast amount of work to-
wards improvement were pre-sented. From 30,000,000 ducksin 1937 to 100,000,000 in 1942is the record to date, it wasstated. Much work is needed to
reach the goal of 400,000,000.Committees Named
Dr. Johnson, the president, an-nounced a list of committees forthe current year appointed re-
cently by the board of directors.
The committees are:
Membership and lapsation—F.
A. Cloutier, chairman; Smith Day,F. A. Ellis, Sheriff J. H. Flournoy,Charles Harbuck, Harry Robinson,Holmes Thurmond and N. H. Whe-less.
Entertainment and program
—
Arthur Birdwell, chairman; A. B.
Fife, Charles Home, Will Mercerand James S. Reily.
Legislation and law—P. N.Browne, chairman; Mayor Sam S.
Caldwell, Tom Comegys, S. P.
Cousin, Huffman Lewis and ClaudeProthro.
Publicity—Tom Hope, chair-
man; R. R. Bacon, W. C. Brewer,Dr. George Garrett, H. Lane Mit-chell, John Hunsicker, C. A.Parker, Chester Ray and AshleySibley.
Fish—Bill Bottom, chairman; L.K. Barney, Dr. Dorff Bean, Em-mett Haddad, E. E. Heister, R. C.
Ridgeway and Dr. C. W. Williams.Game and wild fowl^H. C.
Bryant, chairman; Jerome Fer-guson, A. C. Glassell, G. C. Mad-den, W. C. Taylor, H. C. Teacleand R. B. McWilliams.
Reception—A. G. Hammett,chairman; John McW. Ford, Maj.B. A. Hardey, Hunter Huckabay,Dr. Sam Kerlin, Sherwood Loeand Turner Morgan.
State's Oil Allowable CutA slight decrease in the daily
oil allowable for Louisiana duringMay has been ordered by the state
conservation department in fixing
356,170 barrels a day as permittedproduction next month.
This compares with a total of
358,218 barrels a day under the
April allowable, the decrease dur-ing May to be around 2,000 barrels
a day.
Although the total state allow-
able for May has been reducedslightly, th|e allowable for SouthLouisiana has been hiked a little,
South Louisiana's allowable is set
at 271,695 barrels or a little morethan the 270,604 barrels per dayduring April.
Ducks UnlimitedDrive for FundsMaking ProgressA large number of new mem-
bers have become enrolled in
Ducks Unlimited as a result ofthe publicity given to the drivefor new members in the Aprilissue of the Conservationist.
In the third congressional dis-
trict a total of $119.00 has beenraised up to April 29th, withmore funds expected. Conserva-tion agents have assisted in thedrive and have distributed copiesof last month's issue of the Con-servationist which carried detailed
information about the work ofDucks Unlimited.
In the third district, the workof calling the attention of sports-
men and conservationists to thework of Ducks Unlimited was un-der the direction of SupervisorGordy Simon of Lafayette and In-
spector J. C. LeBlanc.The following agents assisted
in this public relation activity:
Wilton DeCuir, Lionell Broussard,Maurice Huval, Charlie Bou-dreaux, Winnie Platsmire, JamesThaxton, Cliff Reeves and Whit-ney Vincent, and Wilfred Landry.Each person subscribing to
Ducks Unlimited becomes a mem-ber of the organization. Thereare no set membership dues andpersons may subscribe accordingto their means whatever theywish. The money is used to im-prove duck hunting. Louisiana hasa particular interest in this workbecause a movement is under wayto create a series of lakes in theCanadian breeding grounds to beknown as Louisiana Lakes.
In Lake Charles, Crowley andJennings, interested sportsmen in
those cities are raising funds forDucks Unlimited and a nice sumof money is in prospect.
The subscription blank whichappeared in the last issue of the
Conservationist is being reprinted
this month for the benefit of those
who may have misplaced their
copy. Richard R. Foster of New.Orleans is Louisiana State Chair-
man of Ducks Unlimited.
CONSERVATIONSEAPLANE AVAILABLEFOR USE IN ANYEMERGENCY
Conservation Commissioner Jo-
seph L. McHugh wants the peopleof Louisiana to know that the'
Department's seaplane is available,
for use in any emergency.During recent months, the sea-
plane, a small two seater, whiclfis capable of landing in smallstreams, has aided in the rescue!
work of several drownings. Theaplane has aided rescue parties att
1
White Lake in Vermilion Parish;;
at Cross Lake in Caddo Parish,,
and at Wildswood in Jefferson
Parish.
The plane has also been usedl
recently in the performances off
various missions for the Coastt
Guard.
Primarily the seaplane is usedl
for patrol activities for the Con-servation Department.
The seaplane may be obtained I
for use in emergencies, such as
rescue work, etc., at any time, bycommunicating with the Conser-
vation Department at its offices in i
New Orleans.
FORESTRY OFFICIALVISITS LOUISIANA
Dr. H. N. Wheeler, of the United ;
States Forestry Service, Washing-ton, D. C, spent the week of May3rd in Louisiana, and delivered a
,
series of lectures under the
auspices of the Forestry Division
of the Department of Conserva-tion.
Dr. Wheeler spoke in Mansfield,
Springhill, Benton, Minden, andJonesboro.
CONTRIBUTE TO DUCKS UNLIMITED-USE THIS SUBSCRIPTION BLANK
DUCKS UNLIMITED, INC.430 Notre Dame Street
New Orleans, La.
I hereby subscribe to Ducks Unlimited, Inc., the
sum of $..
Contribute in accordance with your means. Deductible forIncome Tax.
LOUISIANA CONSERVATIONIST
foresters UrgePublic Aid to
iurb Fires(Continued from Page 1)
oseph L. McHugh, who in turn
resented the Governor.
He dealt briefly with the sub-
ect of farmers whose standard
f living- is below average andaid that their standard of living
as a direct bearing on the man-er in which forest problems muste handled.
Asserting that the South is
eing discriminated against in
reight rates, the governor said,
Too much of it, however, springs
com our own lethargy and in-
bility to solve our own prob-
;ms."
"The sooner we begin to doorae independent thinking andcting and get to the point wherere say, 'We are going to solve
ar own problems,' the sooner weill be solving them independ-
ntly," he said. "We have beenfraid to speak out against in-
lstices; we have developed a sort
f inferiority complex of whiche should be ashamed and for
hich there is no cause."
Lyle Watts, chief of the Unitedtates forest service in Washing-»n, endorsed the governor's ad-
ress and urged each member of
le group to be aggressive in ex-
ressing his thoughts on forestry
id reforestation "for that is howe progress."
The Governor also declared that
ouisiana should have a textbook
on forestry and stated that sucha textbook covering all phases of
Louisiana's natural resources is
now in the course of prepai'ation.
Mr. Watts, at the morning ses-
sion, asserted that there have beenmore fires in the South this yearthan in recent years because "peo-
ple want the forests to burn.
Farmers set fires themselves to
get grazing lands for their cattle,"
he said. "Millions of dollars goup in smoke so that hundreds of
dollars might be made."
Unless the Southern states wakeup to the realization that becauseof lack of funds their forests will
go unprotected these things will
happen
:
"Fires will catch in the forests
near the Southern coastlines andships will be silhouetted against
the horizon for Axis submarines
to torpedo. Navy encampmentswill be in danger of partial or
total destruction by forest fires,
and the future of Southern in-
dustries will burn with every tree
that falls from fire."
The above predictions weremade by Percy Merrill, Montpelier.
Vei'mont, state forester of Ver-
mont and president of the Na-tional State Foresters' Associa-
tion, who was one of the featured
speakers at the convention.
J. S. Holmes of North Carolina
is president of the Southern For-
esters' Association and presided
during the business sessions.
Other speakers at the meetingincluded J. C. Kircher, Regional
Forester of the U. S. Forest Ser-
vice in Atlanta; C. F. Evans, also
Governor Sam Jones addresses the convention of State Foresters.Left to right, Forester Henry J. Malsberger of Florida; Forester MasseyH. Anderson of Louisiana and Governor Jones.
Conservation Commissioner Joseph L. McHugh welcomes forestersLouisiana. In the above photograph, left to right, are J. S. HolmesNorth Carolina, President of the Southern Group of State Foresters;
srry Merrill, Vermont, President of the American Association of Stateiresters; Commissioner McHugh, and Lyle F. Watts, Chief of the• S. Forest Service, Washington, D. C.
of Atlanta, who has charge of
state and private forestry in the
South; Frank Heyward, Jr., man-ager of the Southern PulpwoodConservation Association; Dr.
Clarence G. Korstian, dean of
the school of forestry of DukeUniversity; Brooks Toler, For-ester of the Southern Pine Asso-ciation.
The convention was held in con-
junction with the War and Con-servation Committees of the
Southern Pine Association.
The following state foresters
attended the convention: F. H.
Lang, Arkansas; Glen R. Durell,
Oklahoma; W. E. White, Texas;Albert Leggett, Mississippi; J. 0.
Hazard, Tennessee; Jake Stauffer,
Alabama; H. J. Malsberger, Flor-
ida; W. D. Young, Georgia; Bill
Hammerlee, South Carolina; J. S.
Holmes, North Carolina; Fred Pe-derson, Virginia, and M. H. An-derson, Louisiana.
NEW FORESTRY BOARDNAMED BY GOVERNORA new Forestry Governing
Board has recently been appointedby Governor Sam Jones. Themembers include P. A. Bloomer,Fisher; W. T. Murray, Rochelle;
C. V. Holbrook, DeRidder; Ven-tress S. Young, Bogalusa; RalphW. Hayes, head of Department of
Forestry, Louisiana State Univer-
sity, ex-officio member.Conservation Commissio ner
Joseph L. McHugh is ex-officio
chairman of the Forestry Boardand Massey H. Anderson, Director
of the Forestry Division, is sec-
retary of the board.
Shreveport ManNamed Official of
Ducks Unlimited
Alfred C. Glassell of Shreveportwas elected a vice-president ofDucks Unlimited at a recent meet-ing of the organization held in
New York.
At the meeting, President WillJ. Reid of Long Beach, California,
reported that Ducks Unlimited hadestablished 103 waterfowl nesting-
refuges in Canada covering 1,064,-
000 acres. With a continuing in-
crease of membership of over26,000 the organization will carryon "in fulfillment of an obligation
which we owe to our brother
sportsmen in the service," declared
Mr. Reid.
Warning against the danger of
indiscriminate shooting and un-warranted slaughter of game un-der the guise of increasing thewartime meat supply, Ducks Un-limited calls upon governmentalagencies to permit only normalharvesting of surplus wildlife
"crops."
The warning against any move-ment that might lead to destruc-
tion of the nation's game resources
was issued following the annualmeeting of the organization's
Board of Trustees. State branchesfrom coast to coast are repre-
sented on the board.
Glenn L. Martin, Maryland air-
plane manufacturer and memberof the board, declared that hunt-
ing and fishing were among the
most desirable forms of recreation
for war workeis.
Eight LOUISIANA CONSERVATIONIST
TYPES OF VIOLATIONS WHICHWERE MADE DURING
APRIL, 1943
Angling Without License 16
Using Illegal Tackle to Catch
Game Fish 19
Commercial Pishing Without
License 4
Catching and Possessing
Shrimp in Closed Season 10
Hunting at Night 2
Hunting Out of Season 6
Hunting Deer Out of Season... 2
Hunting Squirrels Out of
Season 1
Trapping Without License 4
Total 64
AGENTS PARTICIPATING IN
APRIL, 1943 ARRESTS
Avery Abshire, Cliff Ardoin,
Angelo Benandi, Charles J. Boud-
reaux, John Busalacchi, Sam J.
Chaze, Ernest Coats, Fred Cook,
Jackson L. Dorsey, W. W. Egan,
C. W. Elam, D. L. Farrar, T. H.
Forman, Jr., E. B. Head, LesmaHebert, Clarence Hood, R. I. Ken-
nedy, John Lestrade, J. V. McCon-nell, Jas. E. McFerrin, Lawrence
Madere, J. 0. Mayeux, Earl Nu-gent. Robert J. Pertuis, H. A.
Pipes, Frank Ragas, Jack Stan-
field, Robert J. Silva, Lawrence
Sintes, Allen J. Swayze, Oliver
Taunton, Frank Trocchiano, Earl
Vaught, Paul Votier, Elton Wil-
liams.
Natchitoches 2
Orleans 1
Ouachita 2
Plaquemines 10
Red River 5
St. James 2
St. John 1
Vermilion 10
Washington 2
Webster 1
Total 64
LOUISIANA
EDITORS VIEWS
PARISHES IN WHICH VIOLA-TIONS OCCURRED AND
ARRESTS MADE INAPRIL, 1943
Avoyelles 1
Bienville 2
Caddo 3
Cameron 2
Concordia 8
DeSoto 3
Evangeline 1
Grant 1
Iberia 1
Jackson 2
Lafourche 1
Livingston 1
Madison 1
MARSH HARECOMPETITION
(From the Shrevenort Journal)
The state of Oklahoma is doing
its best to offer something in the
way of competition for the Loui-
siana marsh hare as a potential
source of meat supply, but the
best it can do is to suggest the
eating of crow meat—and that is
very puny, if you ask for our
opinion. As a matter of fact, wehave never heard of any humanbeing—except a defeated politi-
cian—who "ate crow," and none
of these professed to have a liking
for it. It was always a dish forced
upon them by the sovereign voters.
But now comes Jess Pullen, as-
sistant attorney general of the
Sooner State, pleading that while
the country endures a meat short-
age, "10,000,000 succulent meals
are going to waste in Oklahoma
alone." He wants to kill the
crows, not only because of their
meat, but for the further reason
that they are feasting on the com-
monwealth's war-essential peanut
crop. "It is time," sighs Mr. Pul-
len, "to revive the crow-eating fad
of the early 30's. Why, if I had
the priorities for the dynamite,
and shot to kill them, I'd show you
how to put a crimp in the black
markets with the biggest blackbird
market you can imagine." (In one
paragraph he calls them crows,
and in the next blackbirds.) TheOklahoman then goes on to assert
that "srow meat tastes like roast
duck," leaving us to wonder whyhe does not refer to this nuisance
bird as a "nigger quail," or some-
thing of the sort.
In the days of the depression,
says an Oklahoma City dispatch,
it was this same Jess Pullen who
sang the praises of crow meat so
loudly and so persistently that
some meat dealers stocked it,
luncheon clubs partook of it (with
pictures for the newspapers) and
a few restaurants featured it. But
the fad didn't last long. The old
superstition in regard to "eating
crow" got it down in short order
—and it has stayed down, as it
deserved, ever since. But this at-
tempt to stem the popularity of
our marsh hares, otherwise the
muskrat, will not succeed. Okla-
homa can't put anything over on
the Pelican State when it comes
to providing food for the hungry.
We'll have our own assistant at-
torney general get out an injunc-
tion, or something, unless Jess
Pullen calls off his crusade for
crows.
State's NaturalResources Cited
By Gov. Jones(Continued from Page 1)
"(C) That an intensive forestry
and grazing program be adopted
in the hill land; that cheap sources
of fertilizer and agricultural lime
be developed within the state to
assist in the development of pre-
pared pastures for an increased
cattle business.
"Second, I suggest that the re-
sources of this state be protected
and developed to the greatest ad-
vantage to our people so that
"(A) Our reserves of oil maybe increased and the greatest pos-
sible recovery may be made from
the known reservoirs, and still
greater refineries be established
within our borders.
"(B) That our natural gas maybe protected and preserved for the
primary purpose of developing the
industrial possibilities of the state
instead of piping the gas to dis-
tant sections already richly en-
dowed with fuel reserves, and that
thus a new industrial empire man-
ufacturing synthetic rubber, safe-
ty glass, plastics and solvents be
established.
"(C) That the full extent of
solid minerals may be determined
by our geologists for use in the
ever-expanding chemical and al-
lied industries of the state, and
"(D) That our fish, oyster
shrimp, game and other wild lifei
may be replenished and restoreci
both for commercial and sporting
purposes, increasing the attrao
tiveness of our state for out-of-!
state tourists and visitors, as we^i
as creating new business."
BEAVERS(Continued from Page 5)
wood. The Louisiana Beaver haj:
been found to bark yellow pine
and wild blackberry vines as wea
as numerous hardwoods. Ilf
Northern States, the beaver lives
in huts constructed with mudgrass, vines and sticks, and ir
winter this hut when frozen offers
complete protection against msjf
rauding animals. However, th<.
Louisiana Beaver seems content to.
build its home on the bank of i
small stream, the entrance being
below the surface of the water ana
extending upward toward the livs
ing chamber which is above thfj
level of the stream.
The most characteristic trait ol
the beaver is that of dam building)
Nothing is more closely identifies
with the beaver than his ability
to construct dams. Some dans
have been observed built strong!
enough for three grown men mwalk across, being over 100 feet
long and made entirely of vines; 1
sticks and mud. It is indeed re<
markable to see the type of wort
these busy fellows accomplish
Working from down stream, thej
begin at either side, working to"
ward the middle until the strean
is entirely blocked. They continue
to pile .on sticks, small logs, vineji
and mud until the stream is em
tirely blocked; then they continui
to pile on sticks, small logs, vines;
sods and mud until the stream ii
raised to the desired level. Nffl
only small twigs are used in thai
construction, but observers have
seen logs three to six inches il
diameter and two to four feet 3
length woven into the dams 9expertly that it is impossible fo<
on3 man to pull them out.
Trapping the beaver is,
course, strictly prohibited and thej !
are fully protected by the Stat
and the laws are rigidly enforced
However, the Department of Coifi
servation, from time to time, ha
undertaken the task of thinnin;
out some of the more congeste>
areas and transplanting them t
sections where they will enjo
more freedom and at the sam<
time propagate in parts of th
State where they have heretofor
been scarce.