71 



The end result of this study was a recommendation 

 to the Secretary of Agriculture for a substantial in 

 crease in fees to make them more nearly commensurate with 

 the true value of the forage. Secretary Jardine then 

 asked D;;,n Casement, a Colorado stockman but not a 

 permittee, to review the proposal. Casement recommended 

 further adjustments, generally downward, which the 

 Secretary approved. Thus the final schedule resulted 

 in an increase, but left the fees still far short of 

 what the stockmen were paying for comparable non-federal 

 range . 



Individual or local group hostility toward reductions 

 for protection of the range sometimes became very bitter. 

 For example, overgrazing was found to be ruining the 

 watershed above the little community of Mt. Pleasant, 

 Utah. Reductions proposed by the Forest Service were 

 bitterly fought, despite the community interest in its 

 watershed. It was recognized that the small operators 

 in this area would be hurt by any reduction in the 

 already small permits, but the continuing damage to 

 the watershed left the Forest Service no choice. As 

 I recall it, this was one of the places where local feeling 

 became so bitter that the ranger and his family were 

 ostracized. 



