212 JOURNAL OF FORESTRY 



years had been ravaged and ravished by the herds of the western 

 stockmen. Its once splendid forage cover was ahnost gone, and erosion 

 was tearing from the denuded mountain sides miUions of tons of 

 fertile soil, leaving only bare rocks and ruined meadows. On these 

 areas millions of cattle, sheep, and other domestic animals were graz- 

 ing where, when, and how they pleased. For many years the stockmen 

 had used the public lands without let or hindrance. They felt it was 

 theirs to use as they wished. They talked of "rights" obf^ined by such 

 use and scofifed at any scheme of Government control over these lands 

 even while they reluctantly admitted that unless some form of control 

 were exercised the very existence of their business was threatened. 

 Thus from the very inception of his work Mr. Potter faced a hostile 

 and aggressive lot of stockmen who sought by every possible means 

 to prevent the accomplishment of his plans for handling the situation. 



Nowhere in the whole world had any government undertaken to in- 

 stitute a system of management of live stock using purely grazing 

 grounds on even a small scale, let alone on lands aggregating more than 

 150 million acres and these consisting mostly of rough timbered moun- 

 tain ranges, many of them unexplored, unmapped, and inaccessible. 

 But under such conditions Mr. Potter seemed to gather strength and 

 confidence rather than discouragement. Without precedent or guide 

 of any kind he gradually evolved and carefully built up a scheme of 

 controlled grazing suitable to such large scale operations. His infinite 

 patience and never failing good nature disarmed most of the bitterest 

 opponents of the scheme. His genius for organization drew to him a 

 body of workers who shared his enthusiasm for the work and carried 

 out his plans with zeal, loyalty, and tact. 



Keenly alive to the need for co-operation with the stockmen, he 

 promptly gave them a share of the responsibility of management, as 

 fair a share as was possible and still retain in the hands of the Forest 

 officers the final decisions as to principles and details of operation. It 

 was not long before the tide changed and the stockmen, won over by 

 his absolute honesty of purpose and good judgment, began to realize 

 that in his hands their interests were safe and that the future of the 

 livestock industry would improve rather than be injured by friendly 

 co-operation in handling the grazing on the National Forests. 



One of Mr. Potter's most successful acts was the fight to establish 

 the right of the Federal Government to maintain its rules and regula- 

 tions as against State laws. From the very first he held to the belief 



