COUNTING STOCK. (Beg. G-22.) 



Counting corrals should be constructed at convenient points to 

 facilitate compliance with this Regulation and an actual count will 

 be made wherever possible, without serious interference with the 

 proper handling of the stock. Slight discrepancies may be permitted 

 from the number covered by permit when an exact count is impos- 

 sible. When it is, a very slight excess in a large permit may be over- 

 looked or a supplemental application for the excess required. When 

 the excess is so great as to warrant the assumption than an attempt is 

 being made to avoid payment of fees, the excess number may be 

 denied entrance to the Forest. A report on stock counted (Form 

 874-18) will be sent to the Supervisor as soon as practicable. 



Where the local Forest officers are in possession of reliable informa- 

 tion that the number of stock being brought in by a permittee is not 

 in excess of his permit number, counting may be dispensed with, 

 especially if it involves a material expense to the Service. 



Sheep can be easily counted where there is a corral or where a 

 countin shee wi n g can he readily constructed, and therefore 

 should be counted each season as they enter the For- 

 est or shortly afterwards. 



Ordinarily an excess of 10 head per thousand may be ignored. If 

 the range is heavily stocked any greater excess should be removed 

 from the herd before it is allowed to enter. If the range is not heavily 

 stocked, the excess number may be allowed to remain in the herd if 

 the owner will immediately apply for a supplemental permit for the 

 whole excess. 



Where cattle or horses are driven to Forest ranges from the feed 

 lots or winter ranges, a count may be made at points 

 ?f entry designated by the Forest officers. In many 

 instances, however, the stock is either running loose 

 or turned loose in the spring and naturally drifts onto the National 

 Forest ranges. Where yearlong ranges are included the stock may 

 never leave the Forest and seldom be rounded up. 



In such cases the number of cattle or horses being grazed upon a 

 National Forest range may be approximately determined in several 

 ways. Stock may be counted in the feed lots where winter feeding is 

 the rule, a count may be secured in a round-up, or close estimates may 

 be made on the basis of range counts, branding tallies, or sales. 



Counting in the feed lots can be done at a tune when it will interfere 

 _. . . little with a ranger's duties. The results are fairly 



x eea lot counts. TP ,, , 1*1 TJ. 



accurate. If the number for which application is 

 submitted is less than the number in the possession of the applicant 

 at the time the count was made he may be required on entering the 

 Forest to show what disposition has been made of the balance. An 

 applicant who refuses to allow his stock to be counted in a feed lot 

 may be required to arrange for a count before entering the Forest or 

 to round-up at any time thereafter if the Supervisor has reason 

 to believe that the number being grazed is in excess of the permitted 

 number. 



63 



