Use of the Kaibab Lesson in Teaching Biology Christian C
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A Textbook History: Use of the Kaibab Lesson in Teaching Biology Christian C. Young T HE Kaibab deer ascended to national celebrity form. Rather than attempt to present science as a in the 1920s when their numbers increased series of discrete principles, however, many recent rapidly in the forest north of the Grand Canyon education reforms demand a more involved look in Arizona. The deer population then crashed as into the process of science (AAAS 1993). Scientific swiftly as it had grown. In the decades that followed, principles can be presented in their rightful place- scientific biologists used the popular story of the Kaibab deer as the products of diverse and hard-won Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/62/8/559/54015/4450978.pdf by guest on 26 September 2021 to demonstratethe adverse effect of predator control investigations, not as mysterious and isolated con- on prey populations. The deer gained notoriety in cepts invented or discovered by past geniuses. biology textbooks, illustratinga single scientific prin- ciple-what Aldo Leopold called a wildlife "irrup- tion." Textbook use of the case fell off precipitously The Story of the Kaibab Deer after 1970 when ecologist Graeme Caughley noted In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt established that the Kaibabirruption did not result from predator the Grand Canyon National Game Preserve on the control. In this article, I recount the once-familiar KaibabPlateau. His intention was to protect the mule tale of the Kaibabdeer and describe how this history deer from overhunting by humans and predation by is still relevant in biology classrooms, but for a natural enemies. He knew that human activities had different reason. I suggest that teachers can use the depleted wildlife species throughout the country, and history of the deer to teach students about the way only a few locations in the West still contained the ideas change. scientific numbers that had flourished a few decades earlier. Kaibab case stands as a prime illustration of The Roosevelt hoped that future generations of wildlife how history can more broadly inform the process of enthusiasts would be able to visit the KaibabPlateau and the relationship between science and science to witness an abundance of wildlife not remaining it no longer serves as an example society. Although elsewhere. of the direct link between human interference in The plateau is about 60 miles from north to south predator-preyrelations and the virtual destructionof and approximately45 miles wide. It is bordered by an entire deer the Kaibabdeer population population, the Grand Canyon on the south and east, by Kanab shifted dramaticallydue to a combinationof ecologi- Canyon on the west, and high desert on the north. factors that deserve examination. This approach cal These vast natural boundaries isolate the plateau a valuable introduction to studies of ecology offers (Figure 1). An estimated 4,000 deer lived in this area and conservation. when Roosevelt established the preserve, and he can also use the case to examine the way Teachers hoped that protection would increase their numbers use other historical examples that appear in they significantly. standard textbooks. Like so many of the "real- most The United States Forest Service administered the life" found in traditionalscience textbooks, examples new preserve as it had the surrounding forest lands the Kaibabcase represents a series of oversimplifica- since the 1890s. Ranchers grazed fewer domestic and exaggerations.These accumulateas a result tions animals there for a combinationof reasons, including of uncritical borrowing from one type of source degraded forage conditions and reduced permits from (primaryscientific publication) to another(specialized the Forest Service. The mandate of the preserve textbook) to yet another (general textbook). Eventu- prohibited all deer hunting on the plateau and at the ally, accurate knowledge about the development of same time exterminated"varmints" such as mountain scientific ideas is lost, and the ideas themselves are lions, bobcats, coyotes and wolves. Bounty hunters fixed in a more accessible but not always factual diligently tracked and killed mountain lions, which they viewed as the most significant enemy of the Christian C. Young is an Adjunct Professor in the Department deer. Wolves were already rare by 1900, having been of Natural Sciences at Cardinal Stritch University, 1316 N exterminated by ranchers before Astor St., Milwaukee, Wi 53202. e-mail: [email protected]. almost completely the turn of the century. Although local ranchersmay THEKAIBAB LESSON 559 Utah Arizona Fredonia, Arizona n approximate boundary of KaibabPlateau Highway 89 - - - politicalboundaries I LeFevre Over ok Lake Jacob Highway 89 Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/62/8/559/54015/4450978.pdf by guest on 26 September 2021 Jumpup Point ) \Kaibab National R \ Forest ) \ \ \ t)~~~~Park ( W2 ;~~~~~aioaPir erial Sublime/j ~~~~~Bright Grand anyonAnge Colorado River Figure 1. Schematic map of the Kaibab Plateau, north of the Grand Canyon. not have favored the establishment of a game preserve esters based their estimates on very limited actual on lands where they formerly grazed large numbers counts, since the rugged country on and around the of livestock, they certainly supported the removal of plateau made complete censuses practically impossi- predatory animals that constantly threatened their ble (Mann 1941). cattle, sheep and horses on surrounding lands. In 1913, Roosevelt visited the plateau himself to Each year, local Forest Service officials estimated hunt mountain lions and noted the abundance of that there were more deer on the plateau than in deer (Roosevelt 1913). The Forest Service report for the previous year. These estimates served to provide that year chronicled Roosevelt's suggestion that some evidence of foresters' success in increasing the deer deer hunting be allowed. Hunting would require herd more than they reflect actual increases. Accord- a significant change in policy, however, since the ing to Forest Supervisor Walter Mann, previous for- proclamation that created the preserve prohibited 560 THEAMERICAN BIOLOGY TEACHER, VOLUME 62, NO. 8, OCTOBER2000 hunting, and no single individual or agency felt PRESERVED sufficiently confident of the situation to change the mandate of the preserve at that time (Mann 1941). When the newly formed National Park Service dedicated Grand Canyon National Park in 1919, juris- diction of lands immediately north of the canyon rim I,~~~~~~~~0 went to the Park Service. This divided the preserve between Forest Service and National Park Service administration. The boundary between the two extended across the plateau from east to west about Larger organs 15 miles from the canyon. No barrier prevented the allow easier learning deer moving from park land to forest land within AMoredeveloped systemsfor /' j the preserve, and it soon became evident that differing management philosophies would lead to interagency advanced studies conflict over the deer. Reducedprices just in timefor back-to-school At about the same time this change in jurisdiction Downloaded from http://online.ucpress.edu/abt/article-pdf/62/8/559/54015/4450978.pdf by guest on 26 September 2021 took place, forest officials began to report potentially PIG 11-13", plain PGS1 1 13N $11.35 serious problems for the future of the deer. They PIG 11-13", double PGS1113.2N $14.95 suggested that the abundant deer might eventually deplete the plateau of edible vegetation, but neither PIG 13-15", plain PGS1 315N $14.55 the Forest Service nor the Park Service took any PIG 13-15", double PGS1315.2N $15.99 corrective action for a number of reasons. The primary reason for delay in preventing further NEBRASKA . population increase was quite simply that no one knew what action would be appropriate. The situation SCIENTIFIC did not appear disastrous in 1920, and foresters had 3823 LeavenworthStreet www.nebraskascientific.com no way of predicting how rapidly the deer herd was Omaha, NE 68105-1180 Fax: 402-346-2216 growing or even if the number of deer was still increasing. Moreover, officials in the Park Service were continually engineering new campaigns to entice more tourists to the Grand Canyon and hoped the rounding lands remained uncertain, and some argued deer on the North Rim would become a major attract- that there was no reason to consider reducing the ion in their own right. It seemed foolish to do deer herd because the vegetation on much of the anything until the scientists or wildlife experts under- plateau was still in excellent condition. At the request stood the situation more fully. of Forest Service officials, the Secretary of the U.S. Even if the federal government reached some agree- Department of Agriculture commissioned a study of ment on how deer within the preserve ought to be the plateau. This established the Kaibab Investigating managed, any action that involved actually killing Committee composed of biologists, foresters, conser- deer faced numerous obstacles. Those who favored vationists and hunters. hunting needed to establish the legality of hunting In the summer of 1924, the committee visited the in the preserve. More crucially, National Park Service Grand Canyon National Game Preserve to assess the policy strictly forbid hunting on its lands. In addition, condition of the deer and their food supply. Many state game departments held jurisdiction over hunting officials hoped the findings of this group would lead on all public and private land. Arizona became a to a new policy for the preserve. Those who hoped the state in 1912, and in the early 1920s the state govern- situation could be resolved quickly were disappointed ment favored tourism around the Grand Canyon when the experts did not reach agreement on a over hunting (Foster 1970). The Forest Service in number of key issues. Their estimates of the number particular recognized that its legal right to kill deer of deer ranged from 50,000 up to 100,000 (Figure 2).