Bailey - California, North Dakota, September - December 1907

The struggle between environmental stewardship and economic expansion is not a new concern. At the end of the 19th century, the United States Bureau of Biological Survey sought to build a comprehensive survey of North America to better inform the choices being made across the country by farmers, ranchers and industrialists alike. In his personal field journal from the fall of 1907, chief naturalist Vernon Bailey notes, "The development of this immense valley of rich agricultural land is going to bring up a lot of problems in useful and injurious species of mammals to be destroyed or protected. A little bulletin on the species, their habits, etc for these valleys would be timely now." Join our digital volunteers in transcribing Bailey's daily record of this expedition.