EEPORT or THE SECRETARY OF AGRICTTLTTJRE, 63 



3'ears as open commons. When the first grazing fees were established 

 in 1906 they were designedly low, representing approximately the 

 cost of administration rather than the intrinsic value of the forage 

 consumed. A revision of the grazing fees initiated in 1916 and 

 ultimately completed in 1919 increased the charges materially to a 

 point more nearly approaching the commercial value of the forage 

 after making liberal deductions for the past uncertainty of tenure 

 and the cost of compliance with the regulation of the Forest Service. 



An extended investigation of the value of western range lands 

 upon which to base a readjustment of the fees charged for national 

 foi-est grazing permits was initiated in 1921. One of its purposes was 

 to get away from the flat, or blanket, fees charged and to value the 

 individual grazing allotments or districts in accordance with their 

 accessibility, the quality of their forage, their water resources, and 

 other factors obviously affecting their worth to the stockgrower. 

 This is an adjustment necessary as a matter of equity between the 

 different grazing permittees. Another purpose of the reappraisal is 

 to ascertain the actual value of the forage in the national forests as 

 determined largely by comparison with the rates paid for com- 

 parable range lands in private ownership in the same localities. 

 With the data collected as a basis, the department is now in consulta- 

 tion with the various groups of stockmen who use the national 

 forests, trying to work out a new schedule of grazing fees which 

 shall represent a fair and reasonable appraisal of the individual 

 allotments, having always in mind the economic status of the live- 

 stock industry and the effect of the policies and restrictions enforced 

 by the Government. Owing to the present upset conditions in the 

 livestock industry, no change in grazing fees will be made for the 

 present. 



In stabilizing the use of the national forest ranges under the bene- 

 ficial 10-year permits, it is essential that the relations of the holders 

 of these privileges with the Government be established upon a sound 

 and unquestionable business footing. The forage in the national for- 

 ests is a commercial resource, exactly as their timber is a conmier- 

 cial resource. The utilization of this resource by a well-established 

 industry no more justifies obtaining it at something less than its 

 actual worth than the lumber industry would be justified in obtain- 



