338 



FORESTRY AND IRRIGATION 



ame 



At the conclusion of Dr. Pardee's 

 talk Governor Deneen of Illinois, took 

 the chair, President Roosevelt retiring. 



A paper prepared by H. A. Jastro, 

 of Bakersfield, Cal., president of the 

 American National Live Stock Asso- 

 ciation, was read by Mr. William C. 

 Barnes, Mr. Jastro having been taken 

 suddenly ill and being unable to de- 

 liver the address himself. 



Mr. Jastro's paper was confined in 

 the main to grazing and stock rais- 

 ing conditions in New Mexico, Ari- 

 zona, and California. In that region, 

 it was stated, there are at present over 

 8,000,000 head of sheep, nearly 3,000,- 

 000 head of cattle, and about 700,000 

 head of horses and mules, the gross 

 estimated value of which is over $100,- 

 000,000. This live stock is supported 

 almost wholly upon the the open graz- 

 ing lands in the region mentioned, the 

 grazing area being about 135,000,000 

 acres. This range, it was stated, is 

 fast being destroyed by unwise and 

 indiscriminate use and abuse. The 

 only exception to this statement that 

 can be noted is on the lands which 

 bave been withdrawn for purposes of 

 forest protection, and on such lands a 

 wise and efficient system of manage- 

 ment is rapidly and almost miracu- 

 lously restoring former splendid graz- 

 ing conditions. 



Mr. Jastro's paper referred to the 

 stories of range wars and feuds that 

 are said to have existed between cattle 

 and sheep men from the beginning of 

 grazing on the open range ; and refer- 

 ence was also made to the disastrous 

 conditions that have come about 

 through over-grazing and over-stock- 

 ing the range, resulting in the tramp- 

 ling out and practical extinction of 

 many of the native forage plants. 



Referring to conditions governing 

 water supplies, it was stated that it is 

 beyond contradiction that forested 

 slopes surrounding the head waters of 

 streams exert a tremendous influence 

 in equalizing stream flow throughout 

 the year, and thus provide ample irri- 

 gation waters during the summer 

 months. The extension of forest re- 



serves, and an intelligent conservation 

 of wooded, brushy slopes, has already 

 saved thousands of dollars to the 

 stockmen and the irrigation farmers 

 of the arid and semi-arid regions, he 

 said, and the good results that can be 

 attained by methods such as are fol- 

 lowed by the Forest Service and the 

 Reclamation Service can only be meas- 

 ured by the extent of the new work 

 which these Services are enabled to 

 complete. 



Mr. Jastro's paper closed with the 

 statement that the entire situation in 

 the arid regions can, at present, best 

 be dealt with by the General Govern- 

 ment, and, referring again to grazing 

 conditions, the statement was made 

 that unless a just and equitable law is 

 promptly passed, authorizing Federal 

 protection and control of the public 

 grazing lands, the native grasses will 

 soon be completely trampled out 

 through over-stocking, and hence the 

 beneficial use of such lands by stock- 

 men for grazing purposes will be very 

 materially curtailed. 



Hon. Joseph W. Folk, Governor of 

 Missouri, then addressed the Confer- 

 ence, making the initial suggestion 

 that resulted in the inauguration of 

 the movement to form a permanent 

 organization of the Governors. 



Governor Folk declared that the 

 Conference would be world-wide in 

 its influence. He said that at no time 

 in the Nation's history would it have 

 been possible for so many Governors 

 to meet together. Prior to the Civil 

 War, he said, transportation facilities 

 were inadequate; and after the war 

 the sectional feeling for so long a time 

 was such as to make a meeting of this 

 kind impossible. "But now," he said, 

 "we have met here together as mem- 

 bers of one large family. In looking 

 at the map, I have been impressed 

 with the fact that the states of this 

 Union are, after all, closely connected 

 by blood and in interest. Tennessee, 

 my native state, is largely made up of 

 people from North Carolina and Vir- 

 ginia; Alissouri. my adopted state, 

 composed largely of Kentuckians, 



