214 WESTERN GRAZING GROUNDS AND FOREST RANGES 



the range wherever they find it. This was also done 

 by cattlemen who purchased herds of steers in the 

 Southwest, shipped them to some point, unloaded and 

 turned them out on the mountain ranges, although well 

 aware of the fact that they were already stocked by 

 resident owners to almost their full capacity. Under 

 such conditions the ranges were ruined and the local 

 owners and settlers practically driven from the range. 



Tramp Sheepman in California. In California in the 

 southern Sierras the attempts of the tramp sheepmen to 

 dominate the range resulted in such an intense senti- 

 ment against them that the Government was forced 

 absolutely to prohibit all sheep grazing upon areas 

 which had hitherto supported an immense number of 

 sheep. There is no doubt that a large number of sheep 

 could safely be grazed today on those ranges without 

 injury either to the watershed, the timber, or the set- 

 tlers. In fact, their presence in keeping down the chap- 

 paral growth, especially the snow bush (which since 

 sheep have been kept out has spread at a tremendous 

 rate, forming dense, almost impossible jungles), is a 

 decided benefit to the ranges. But the general public is 

 so strongly against it, owing to the drastic lessons of 

 the past, that the mere suggestion of such action would 

 undoubtedly arouse a very determined opposition to it. 



Changing from Cattle to Sheep. The question of men 

 changing from one class of stock to another (as cat- 

 tlemen selling their cattle and replacing them with 

 sheep) is one which can not always be allowed on the 

 National Forests. One of the chief reasons for this is 

 the protecting of the watershed and the timber. An- 

 other factor is public sentiment. Where the region is 

 one which has always been used for a cattle-raising 



