400 ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



USE OP PRIVATE LANDS. 



Owners or lessees of private grazing lands within National Forests 

 may either retain the exclusive use of such lands, taking out a free 

 crossing permit if the stock is to bo grazed on Forest land en route 

 ami, if the })rivate land is unfenced, so handling the stock that it will 

 not encroach upon Forest lands, or waive the right of exclusive use 

 and secure in return a free permit for the number of stock which the 

 private lands will support under the regulations of the Secretary. 

 This enables the owners or lessees of j)rivate lands to completely 

 utilize their holdings at least cost, while other permittees are not 

 forced to keep their stock- from trespassing upon the patented lands, 

 which in a number of States necessitates the payment of damages to 

 the owner of the land. Of such permits 1,31G were issued, covering 

 54,4C5 cattle and horses and 375,214 sheep and goats, in exchange 

 -for the right to graze 2,158,010 acres of land. This was an increase 

 in the number of permits of 13.7 per cent, in cattle and horses of 4.25 

 per cent, in sheep and goats of 27 per cent, and in acreage of 42.7 

 per cent. 



The cooperative agreement with the Atchison, Topeka and Santa 

 Fe Railroad Compan}^ was continued. Under this agreement ])ay 

 permits for three-fourths of the number of stock which the railroad 

 lands within the Zuni National Forest will support are issued by the 

 Forest Service, to cover the pro rata cost of administration of the 

 railroad lands. The remaining one-fourth represents the railroad 

 companj^'s net quota and is covered by special permits issued upon 

 certilicates from the land commissioner of the company. Forty 

 such permits allowed the grazing of 262 cattle and horses and 6,762 

 sheep and goats. 



Upon the Palouse district of the Coeur d'iVlene National Forest 

 the administration of the Forest lands was seriously complicated by 

 the fact that 94,000 acres of state and private land was distributed 

 throughout the district. An agreement was accordingly entered 

 into with the Northern Idaho Forestry Association, representing the 

 State and private o^\'ners, under which 14 permits were issued cover- 

 ing 277 head of cattle and horses and 11,782 head of sheep. _ 



The Weyerhaeuser Land Company and the Northern Pacific Rail- 

 road Company cooperate informally with the Forest Service by leasing 

 their lands in the Fremont and Wenatchee National Forests to per- 

 sons, preferably Forest Service permittees, who will waive the right 

 of exclusive use in exchange for free grazing permits under Regula- 

 tion 65. 



PROTECTION AGAINST DISEASE. 



The efforts to free the National Forests from all forms of com- 

 municable disease injurious to live stock have been extremely suc- 

 cessful. This has been mainly due to the energetic and effective 

 assistance of the Bureau of Animal Industry, which in cooperation 

 w^ith the Service has steadily reduced the area of Forest land upon 

 which such diseases are prevalent. The National Forests are now, 

 except in a few isolated instances, free from all forms of stock dis- 

 ease, but they can be kept so only by active cooperation with the 



