Page:What to do for Uncle Sam; a first book of citizenship (IA whattodoforuncle00bail).pdf/170

166 that you can see leading to it. A narrow path goes up, but one could easily lose it, and there are bears on the way, the farmers tell you. That speck on the peak of the mountain is a fire tower. A state forester stays in it during the summer, shut away from the life of the world, watching for forest fires. He has a wireless apparatus to call help if he needs it, but it is an even more lonely life than that of the light-house keeper.

When Uncle Sam began to preserve his trees, he found that the forest streams and the fish were in need of help, too. Fish that were too small were being caught. Certain kinds of fish were dying out entirely because their streams were being used for water power, and they had no place to lay their eggs and hatch their young. To save our fish, seasons, called closed seasons, have been set apart when no fish may be caught in certain waters. They must be left quiet, and free 1o breed. Fish hatcheries have been made in some states where the egos are cared for in special tanks, and the young fish are raised to be sent to the streams or the sea when they are old enough.

This work of the Government in preserving our American forests and fish is a very important one, indeed. The men who do it have to be almost as strong and well as our soldiers. And the work