182 



ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Last spring the Forest Service, in cooperation with the National 

 Park Service, made a recount of the northern herd of elk in the 

 Yellowstone Park in order to verify former counts. This herd in 

 reality comprises three distinct units, known as the Gardiner, Galla- 

 tin, and Madison herds. The result showed 17,422 in the Gardiner 

 herd, 1,G70 in the G<ilhitin herd, and 253 in the Madison herd, making 

 a total of 19,345 elk; a smaller number than former counts. The 

 heavy losses which occurred from the severe weather conditions 

 during the winter of 1916-17 undoubtedly account for a large por- 

 tion of the decrease. This, with the number killed by hunters legally 

 and the number shipped from this herd by the Federal Government 

 and the State for transplanting purposes, explains at least a part of 

 the discrepancy. 



The number of elk remaining in this herd is still sufficient, if 

 properly protected from poachers and cared for during severe win- 

 ters, to restock the area completely and to provide a supply for 

 transplanting. 



USE OF THE FORESTS FOR WATER-POWER DEVELOPMENT. 



The net total of power permits in force increased by 31, but the 

 average power capacity of all projects under permit decreased, 

 largely through the elimination of two large projects on which con- 

 struction work was not begun, and of the Hetch Hetchy project of 

 the city of San Francisco, which by a special act of Congress has 

 received an easement making a permit unnecessary. Of the increase 

 in the number of permits 21 took place in the class which covers 

 transmission lines only. 



Permits are classified according to the character of the works 

 covered. Permits for transmission lines only are designated trans- 

 mission-line permits, while those wliich cover reservoirs, conduits, 

 or power houses, with or without transmission lines, are designated 

 power project permits. Table 11 shows the amount of development 

 authorized under both classes. 



Table 10.— Applications for poicer permits. 



