A NATIONAL PLAN FOR AMERICAN FORESTRY 545 



a per head or per acre basis, although the latter method is likely to 

 encourage abuse of the range for immediate gain, unless the proper 

 stipulations as to number of stock and seasons are incorporated in the 

 lease. The grazing fee may be established either from competitive 

 bidding or from an appraisal of the individual range unit which recog- 

 nizes the priority of the established user. The fee based on appraisal, 

 when fixed on a reasonable basis over a period of years, undoubtedly 

 tends toward stability of range use, but experience has shown that it 

 is subject to pressure for reduction. 



The competitive-bid basis produces a larger cash return to the land- 

 owner and seems largely to eliminate the grounds for agitation for fee 

 reduction, but requires very careful supervision to avoid the tendency 

 to overgraze the range in an effort to pay out on the higher fee at the 

 expense of future range productivity. It also tends to work against 

 continuing use of a range unit by the same stockman and thereby 

 lessens his interest in sustained range productivity. 



NATIONAL FORESTS 



The aim of the administrative policy of the Department of Agricul- 

 ture in handling the 64 million acres of forest ranges within the western 

 national forests is to obtain as fully beneficial use of the various re- 

 sources of the land as is consistent with their permanent conservation. 

 This concept, which lays stress on land management and on the use 

 and perpetuation of the resources in place of reservation for the future, 

 came in 1905 with the transfer of the then " forest reserves" from the 

 Department of the Interior. Consistent with conservation and use of 

 the timber, watershed, wild life, and other resources, the aim of the 

 range policy on the national forests is (1) to build up the forage re- 

 source and its productivity through the development and introduction 

 of the best possible methods of management, and (2) to promote a 

 stable and prosperous use of these resources by permanent settlers on 

 or adjacent to the national forests and dependent upon the use of 

 forest ranges for satisfactory development of their own lands and 

 livestock businesses. 



No actual rights accrue to the stockmen using national forests, 

 although they hold preferences for the use of range for certain num- 

 bers of livestock. These preferences have come to have considerable 

 stability and, subject to the approval of the Forest Service, may be 

 transferred upon the sale of ranches or livestock or both. 



Grazing privileges within the national forests are not sold at com- 

 petitive bid as is the common practice in disposal of timber. The 

 range feed is disposed of on the basis of a reasonable fee determined 

 after careful consideration of the forage available, accessibility, and 

 other phases of use. In 1931 the average fee for cattle was 14.5 

 cents per head per month and the average fee for sheep was 4.5 cents 

 per head per month. In 1932, because of the emergency conditions 

 created by the 1931 drought followed by a severe winter, the fees 

 were reduced by 50 percent by grant of the Secretary of Agriculture 

 and the President. 



Range management plans have been prepared for national-forest 

 units. They are based upon the principles of forest-range manage- 

 ment already outlined, and are administered so as to carry out the 

 national-forest objectives. 



