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United States Biological Survey: a Compendium of Its History, Personalities, Impacts, and Conflicts

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United States Biological Survey: a Compendium of Its History, Personalities, Impacts, and Conflicts AUTHOR(S).—TITLE I Special Publications Museum of Texas Tech University Number 64 21 January 2016 United States Biological Survey: A Compendium of its History, Personalities, Impacts, and Conflicts Edited by David J. Schmidly, William E. Tydeman, and Alfred L. Gardner Editorial Comment: HISTORY AND ARCHIVES IN NATURAL HISTORY: WHAT CAN THEY TELL US? “If you don’t know history, you don’t know anything. You are like a leaf that doesn’t know it is part of a tree.” Michael Crichton “There is history in all men’s lives.” William Shakespeare “The past is never dead. It’s not even past.” William Faulkner The history of natural science yields a complex mosaic not only about the life and work of naturalists, but also quite specific and unique perspectives about their investigations, collections, and personalities. It is instruc- tive to see how some of the thoughts, attitudes, and practices of today differ from those of the past. Here history plays a key role in unlocking the complexities of how science changes. It can even enlighten us about ideas that began 100 years ago and that are still percolating in scientific debates. A sophisticated understanding of the past is one of the most powerful tools we have for shaping the future. The history of any enterprise is important to instill a sense of identity and purpose and remind people of “who we are.” Or as Pearl Buck once said, “If you want to understand today, you have to search yesterday.” One of the most impressive aspects of these papers is the depth and scope of the search process that Buck alludes to. The work presented here is comprehensive and utilizes previously untapped sources. An archival-based written record provides a scientific laboratory for historical investigation of both past and present events. The various papers represent these perspectives that relate to the field of natural history and the discipline of mammal- ogy. Twentieth-century mammalogy is inextricably linked to the history of the United States Biological Survey and its key personnel. The history represented here is based on a wide use of primary sources and brings a large variety of archival material to remind us of Marc Bloch’s notion that “history is the science of man in time.” ~ David J. Schmidly, William E. Tydeman, and Alfred L. Gardner Front cover: Service flag of the Bureau of Biological Survey. This flag was carried in a parade down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C., by Hartley H. T. Jackson after World War I. The stars indicate the number of personnel that served in WWI; the gold stars are for those that did not return. Courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Biological Survey files (hereafter USGS-PWRC, Biological Survey files). SPECIAL PublicationS Museum of Texas Tech University Number 64 United States Biological Survey: A Compendium of its History, Personalities, Impacts, and Conflicts Edited by David J. Schmidly, William E. Tydeman, and Alfred L. Gardner Layout and Design: Lisa Bradley Cover Design: Photograph courtesy of U.S. Geological Survey, Patuxent Wildlife Research Center, Biological Survey files Production Editor: Lisa Bradley Copyright 2016, Museum of Texas Tech University This publication is available free of charge in PDF format from the website of the natural Sciences Research Laboratory, Museum of Texas Tech University (nsrl.ttu.edu). The authors and the Museum of Texas Tech University hereby grant permission to interested parties to download or print this publication for personal or educational (not for profit) use. Re-publication of any part of this paper in other works is not permitted without prior written permission of the Museum of Texas Tech University. This book was set in Times new Roman and printed on acid-free paper that meets the guidelines for per- manence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Printed: 21 January 2016 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Special Publications of the Museum of Texas Tech University, number 64 Series Editor: Robert D. Bradley United States Biological Survey: A Compendium of its History, Personalities, Impacts, and Conflicts David J. Schmidly, William E. Tydeman, and Alfred L. Gardner (editors) ISSn 0149-1768 ISBn 1-929330-28-6 ISBn13 978-1-929330-28-7 Museum of Texas Tech University Lubbock, TX 79409-3191 USA (806)742-2442 CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS ALFRED L. GARDNER DAVID J. SCHMIDLY Research Wildlife Biologist Research Professor USGS-Patuxent Wildlife Research Center Department of Biology and National Museum of Natural History Museum of Southwestern Biology Washington, DC 20560-0111 University of New Mexico [email protected] Albuquerque, New Mexico 87131-0001 [email protected] XAVIER LÓPEZ-MEDELLÍN KEIR B. STERLING Research Professor Centro de Investigación en Biodiversidad y Retired Independent Historian Conservación Former Affiliations, Pace University and U.S. Army Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos 7104 Wheeler Road Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa 62209 Richmond, Virginia 27229 Cuernacaca, Morelos, México [email protected] [email protected] WILLIAM E. TYDEMAN RODRIGO A. MEDELLÍN LEGORRETA Archivist Senior Professor of Ecology Southwest Collection Instituto de Ecologia, UNAM Texas Tech University Ap. Postal 70-275 Lubbock, Texas 79409-1041 04510 Ciudad Universitaria, D. F., México [email protected] [email protected] MICHAEL J. ROBINSON Conservation Advocate Center for Biological Diversity P.O. Box 1727 Silver City, New Mexico 88062 [email protected] DEDICATION This volume is dedicated to our friend and col- national Fish and Wildlife Laboratory in 1973, and league, Dr. Clyde Jones, who passed away on 6 April administratively merged with the Denver Wildlife 2015 at the age of 80. Clyde’s professional career in- Research Center in 1980. The forerunner of the Bird cluded service with the United States Fish and Wildlife and Mammal Laboratories was the Section of Wildlife Service (1970–1982) and three universities (University Surveys established in the U.S. Biological Survey in of new Mexico, Tulane University, and Texas Tech 1936 under the direction of Hartley H. T. Jackson. University). His career spanned over seven decades Clyde had known Jackson who, in turn, was personally and produced numerous contributions about the natural acquainted with many of the old naturalists discussed history of mammals and fishes in the southwestern in this publication. Also, Clyde served as Director of United States and Mexico. He also served in various the Denver Wildlife Research Center (1979–1982), administrative assignments with the Fish and Wildlife where many of the controversial predator and rodent Service as well as at Texas Tech University. His life control programs started by the Biological Survey were story has been eloquently told by himself in an earlier later administered. publication that he helped edit about the lives and careers of significant American mammalogists (see Waldo McAtee, whom spent five decades work- “You Have to Catch Them First,” pp. 185–199 in Go- ing for the Biological Survey and is prominently ing Afield, Museum of Texas Tech University, 2005). mentioned in this volume, said this about the death of valued colleagues: “Merely to recall all of these A few weeks before his death, two of us departed comrades is enough to break one’s heart, and (Schmidly and Tydeman) visited him in the hospital in no cry of woe, however deep, can assuage the feeling Lubbock. We took with us a first draft of this volume of their loss” (see Terres 1963). We can think of no and asked if he would review it and provide comments. better words to express our feelings about our friend Because of his deteriorating health, he was unable to and colleague, Dr. Clyde Jones. complete this task, but he explained to us the connec- tion between his career and the content of our work. David J. Schmidly From 1972 to 1979, Clyde served as Director of the William E. Tydeman Bird and Mammal Laboratories, which became the Alfred L. Gardner TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface v David J. Schmidly and William E. Tydeman The United States Biological Survey: A Brief History 1885–1940 1 Alfred L. Gardner C. Hart Merriam: Pioneering Mammalogist 15 Keir B. Sterling Vernon Bailey (1864–1942): Chief Field Naturalist of the Biological Survey 25 David J. Schmidly Merriam’s Men: The Federal Agents of the Biological Survey (1885–1910) 55 David J. Schmidly The Influence of E. W. Nelson and E. A. Goldman on Mexican Mammalogy 87 Xavier López-Medellín and Rodrigo A. Medellín Legorreta Eradicating Predators and Rodents: The Biological Survey Offends Scientists 105 to Serve the Livestock Industry Michael J. Robinson The Legacy of the United States Biological Survey: A Summary 115 David J. Schmidly and William E. Tydeman Literature Cited 119 iii PREFACE David J. Schmidly and William E. Tydeman This volume is about both history and the men This created an unusual intimacy between settled and who made it regarding the growth of natural history natural areas producing what has been termed an “inner and mammalogy at the end of the 19th and beginning frontier” (see Kohler 2006 for a thorough discussion). of the 20th centuries. It is told through the lens of the United States Biological Survey (hereafter the USBS This caught the attention of the American public, or Biological Survey), the precursor of what today is and interest in natural history spiked throughout the the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. country. Hunting and natural history collecting became popular. The inner frontier became a landscape for The USBS was started more than 125 years ago, nature goers and nature-going, as well as for scientists when on 3 March 1885, Congress appropriated $5,000 and collectors. As the railroads pushed even deeper for the purpose of studying economic ornithology, into remote areas of north America, naturalists were emphasizing the interrelations of birds and agriculture.
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