THE GRASS LANDS 175 



the act. No gracing permits for range rights are issued for stock 

 beyond the number an owner can provide for during the season 

 when the public range is closed. In some cases a rancher is per' 

 mitted to graze a certain number of animals in a certain area. 

 In others, all the applicants who are accepted are permitted as 

 a group to graze so many animals in that district. In both cases, 

 the permits may run for ten years or less. Independent local 

 ranchers are given first preference over other livestock owners. 

 Unlike the Forest Service grazing rules, the Taylor Act does 

 not allot the land to ranchers on the basis of need. To get a 

 grazing permit from the Division of Grazing the important 

 requirement is that the applicant be a capable, well-established 

 rancher who has enough stock, land and water of his own to 

 care for his herd when the government range land is closed. 



The Division of Grazing charges a fee for the privilege of 

 using the land it controls. This fee has been set at 5 cents per 

 head of cattle or horses per month and 1 cent per head of 

 sheep or goats per month. Later, when the range has been 

 sufficiently improved, this fee will be raised. The purpose of 

 this fee is to charge the ranchers a fair price for the benefits 

 they receive from the range. Twenty 'five per cent of the amount 

 received from these fees may be appropriated by Congress to 

 pay the costs of drilling wells, building fences, and restoring 

 grass to the land. Fifty per cent of the fees collected are returned 

 to the states in which they are collected, the money thus given 

 to be spent for the benefit of the counties where the ranchers 

 paid the fees. This means that the grazing districts provide reve' 

 nue to counties which would otherwise be hard pressed to find 

 money for schools and roads. The remaining money stays in the 

 federal treasury. 



From the point of view of government, it is of the highest 

 importance to know who has the power. In a democracy, the 

 electorate is supposed to have this power. In the case of the 

 range, Congress decided that the Secretary of the Interior, an 



