FOREST SERVICE. 247 



Government funds were available for this purpose, but stockmen did 

 considerable grubbing of forest ranges at their own expense. The 

 Government should undertake a large number of projects, in the 

 interest of increased grazing receipts and decreased fire hazard, on 

 areas now ungrazed. Eradication of water hemlock by grubbing 

 was tried out on several areas in the Northwest with fair success and 

 saving of live stock. Grubbing of loco in the Southwest gave only 

 indifferent results. The original stand was usually eradicated, but 

 the plants are prolific seeders and seeds appear to lie dormant for one 

 or more years, so that reinfestations occur with the recurrence of 

 favorable growing conditions. 



Valuable data were collected on watering places on various ranges 

 in the Southwest. The object was to obtain a basis for a water- 

 development policy. Efficient watering is one of the major problems 

 of range use in the desert regions. This was especially manifest dur- 

 ing the drought in the Southwest the past year, when many stock died 

 because of the long distances they had to travel to water when they 

 were in poor condition and feed was short. Severe depletion of the 

 range around watering places also took place. 



Studies were started on the Tonto Forest in Arizona and on the 

 Dixie-Sevier Forest in Utah to work out the proper management for 

 browse range. The studies have shown that the degree of grazing 

 necessary to secure full use of the browse is detrimental to the her- 

 baceous vegetation and increases erosion. 



A study to determine the best grazing management for the vast 

 areas of lo^ged-over lands west of the Cascades in the Northwest was 

 started. Its object is to formulate a grazing practice which will 

 insure for logged-over lands in that region adequate reforestation, 

 reduction of fire hazard, and profitable returns from grazing. It is 

 believed that another stand of timber and a reduction of the fire 

 hazard can be obtained, together with cash returns to help pay 

 carrv'iug charges, provided use for grazing and for timber production 

 are properly harmonized. 



INFORMATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL ACTIVITIES. 



Increased attention was given by forest officers to methods of 

 securing the cooperation of the pubUc in fire control, and particularly 

 in fire prevention through the exercise of habitual care in the woods. 

 The reduction of fire loss and expenditures for protection is a prob- 

 lem affecting human conduct. Passive approval by the public of 

 the idea of protecting forests against fire is far from being enough. 

 Carelessness with fire is primarily a matter of personal habits, and to 

 change the habits of a large number of people so that they will not 

 merely agree that fires are undesirable, but actually govern their 

 conduct in accordance with a conviction of a public duty in the 

 matter is not an easy or simple task. In the language of the street, 

 it is the task of "selling" forest protection to the American public. 



In so far as the local public in and about the national forests is 

 concerned, to a very large measure this task has already been accom- 

 plished. The extent to which a sense of personal responsibility in 

 the use of fire in the open has taken hold of communities in these regions 

 is really surprising. It is partly the result of appreciation of the 

 actual Tt^enefits of the forests as contributors to individual and local 



25684— AGB 1923 17 



