FOREST SERVICE. 225 



or commercial value of the forage, and stockmen have been unable 

 to know what the fee might be year after year for a definite period. 

 Further, the present fees do not sufficiently recognize differences in 

 the relative value of the individual range units, due to their character 

 and location. 



As a necessary step to stabilization and permanency in the live- 

 stock enterprises dependent upon the forests, a careful appraisal of 

 all ranges is now under way and will be completed in 1923. This 

 appraisal is based upon the quality and quantity of the forage; the 

 amount and distribution of water; the character of the topography 

 as it influences the management of stock or increases the probability 

 of loss; the accessibility of the range to transportation, markets, and 

 ranches or adjoining grazing land; the extent to which the range is 

 improved with fences, corrals, pastures, roads, trails, and bridges; 

 and the need for other improvements necessary to its fullest use. 

 Data are also being collected and analyzed on the losses of live stock 

 due to poisonous plants, predatory animals, straying, and other 

 causes, and on operating expenses and the effect of national forest 

 restrictions. All the information thus gathered with regard to con- 

 ditions on the national forest ranges will be compared with similar 

 information for private lands of known value, and the fee adjusted 

 accordingly. 



When the work is completed, and beginning with the grazing season 

 of 1924, permits will be issued to fully qualified owners for not less 

 than a five-year period. Such permits will authorize the grazing of 

 not less than a stated number of live stock, which will be approxi- 

 mated to the number now permitted under established preferences 

 and will be nonreducible during the period except for violation of the 

 terms of the permit or in emergencies for the protection of the range. 

 The primary purpose of such an arrangement is to stabilize the use 

 of national forests by all classes of grazing permittees. 



To stabilize further the use of national forest ranges and secure 

 increased production of forage crops, permits will be predicated upon 

 reasonable qualifications as to ownership of ranch property adequate 

 to insure efficient live-stock production under local conditions. 



NEED OF RANGE IMPROVEMENTS. , 



Efficient administration of the national forest ranges is seriously 

 hampered by the lack of range improvements essential to proper, full, 

 and permanent use. Approximately $3,500,000 has been mvested 

 on national forest ranges by stockmen. This investment has made 

 possible larger use of the resource, and larger receipts in grazing fees. 

 While the construction of such improvements by stockmen has 

 produced excellent results, the system is not altogether desirable 

 from either the stockman's or the Government's standpoint. Im- 

 provements located on Government land under special-use permits do 

 not justify large private investments. Further, the value to the 

 stockman of these investments is considerably diminished by the 

 fact that he may be required to make room for small owners desiring 

 to share the use of the range. Under existing law there is no way by 

 which, if this happens, reimbursement to the stockman who con- 

 structed the improvements can be made. The benefits, however, 

 both to the stockmen and to the Government secured from these 



