VALUE OF GRAZING MANAGEMENT ON THE CARIBOU NATIONAL FOREST 



537 



growth against fire; and against excessive browsing; 

 protection of range animals against poisonous plants 

 and predatory animals; protection of the soil by avoid- 

 ing excessive or very early grazing, and of the forage 

 plants by proper rotation and deferred grazing. 



RANGE CATTLE ON GRAZING LANDS 



The types of range cattle showing dfTerent breeds and condition of each 

 the Caribou National Forest grazing lands. 



In order to decide on the best methods to be 

 employed for securing each of the foregoing improve- 

 ments it was necessary to spend much time and 

 money and employ considerable scientific and techni- 

 cal assistance. Also the experience and knowledge 

 of the practical stockmen had to be drawn upon in no 

 small degree. 



In attempting to solve the problem of greater for- 

 age production certain studies were undertaken. One 

 great fact was admitted by all, namely: that the range 

 was gradually deteriorating both in the number of 

 varieties of range plants and in the number of indi- 

 vidual plants of the better varieties. First a careful 

 grazing reconnaissance was made. This gave the 

 topography, the types of plants, the per cent of ground- 

 cover, the number of forage acres, etc. Then certain 

 plots known as quadrats were carefully selected on 

 which intensive studies of the plants were made. All 

 the plants were named and carefully located on charts 

 before the area was grazed ; some of these were 

 fenced and not grazed at all ; others were grazed as 

 the rest of the range ; and others were grazed after 

 the seed had fallen. These plots were carefully charted 

 each year both as to the number of plants and the 

 number of species. Also large numbers of range ani- 

 mals have been weighed repeatedly and careful records 

 kept relative to their condition and that of the range. 

 As a result certain fundamental facts have been very 

 definitely determined, of which the following are the 

 most important: that continuous and close grazing 

 before the seeds fall causes a diminution not only in 

 the number of individual plants, but also in the num- 



as seen on 



ber of species of the more palatable and highly nutri- 

 tious forage plants ; that grazing in the early spring 

 when the ground is soft is very injurious to the range, 

 especially on hillsides and in marshy meadows where 

 many plants and seeds are thrust down into the mud 

 to perish, while others are stunted or de- 

 stroyed because such ground dries out much 

 worse later in the year than ground not so 

 "cut up" by the feet of the grazing animals. 

 It has thus been found that the amount of 

 forage can be considerably increased by a 

 close study of the actual conditions and the 

 causes producing them. 



It has been found that the class of forage 

 [)lants gradually becomes poorer if the plants 

 are not given an opportunity to mature and 

 drop seeds at least every third year. There- 

 fore it is now planned to defer grazing on 

 each area as often as practicable until after 

 the seeds have fallen. As a result of this 

 practice the class of range plants has been 

 steadily improving as anyone who has been 

 at all familiar with former conditions may 

 at once observe. 



A closer utilization of the range both as 

 j: to forage and water has in many places been 

 brought about by studying the palatability of various 

 plants for the diti'erent kinds of stock and for each 

 kind of stock at various periods of the grazing season. 

 For instance, the so-called green dock {IVcyetliia am- 

 plc.vcaulis) is greedil)' eaten by sheep if grazed about 

 the time of flowering, but only sparingly later in the 

 season ; it and many other plants can be utilized much 

 closer by being grazed at the proper time. Again, 

 many parts of the range have been much more closely 

 utilized by developing watering places in such a man- 

 ner that the stock is not compelled to travel as great 

 distances for water as formerly. A single spring dug 

 out and piped into a series of watering troughs may 

 be the means of utilizing from 2,000 to 5,000 acres of 

 good range which has heretofore been useless for 

 want of this water-development work. It is gratifying 

 to see that many acres formerly of no worth have be- 

 come highly productive by this means. 



Much improvement has also been made in the 

 methods of handling stock on the range, the close 

 method of herding sheep has now been practically 

 abandoned, and where considerable areas were former- 

 ly rendered useless for one or more years as a result 

 of continuous bedding in one place, the range now 

 remains uninjured by the new method practiced of 

 shifting the bedding grounds after one or two nights 

 spent at once place. Shifting the salting places is 

 another method for saving the forage from excessive 

 tramping and cropping, thus greatly protecting the 

 more palatable and highly nutritious species. Also it 

 has been found that closer utilization of the range can 

 be secured by ranging both sheep and cattle on some 



