166 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



in the rush of each stockman to get to these feeding 

 grounds early and ahead of any of his competitors, 

 serious damage had resulted from trampling out the 

 grasses and plants. This was not to be wondered at be- 

 cause in the absence of any authoritative system of con- 

 trol, about the only way in which a stockman could secure 

 and hold these early ranges was by getting his stock to 

 them first and grazing off the forage before some one else 

 did so. Without restriction of any kind there was of 

 course also a number of stock on many of the ranges 

 which was greatly in excess of the carrying capacity of 

 the lands and the forage grasses and plants were being 

 destroyed by overgrazing. Exercise of the authority con- 

 ferred upon the Secretary in charge of the Forests to 

 issue and enforce rules and regulations governing the 

 use of the lands 

 included with- 

 in the National 

 Forests was all 

 that was need- 

 ed to correct 

 those evils and 

 bring about an 

 improve ment 

 on these ranges 

 included with- 

 in the For- 

 ests. 



The applica- 

 tion of the very 

 first principles 

 of r e g u 1 ated 

 grazing, which 

 are to fix the 

 number of 

 stock that may 

 be grazed upon 

 a given area 

 and to deter- 

 mine when the stock shall enter and leave it, brought 

 about a saving of fully 30 per cent of the forage be- 

 cause this proportion had been wasted by lack of sys- 

 tem and control. Where the ranges were overcrowded 

 it was clear that unless this condition could be relieved 

 by transfer of stock to other ranges which were not be- 

 ing fully used, it would be necessary to reduce the num- 

 ber of stock. To do this often required the construction 

 of trails and bridges, and the stockmen willingly co- 

 operated with the Forest officers in doing the necessary 

 work. By this means not only were many reductions 

 obviated but the stockmen were encouraged to extend 

 the work and open up other new ranges so that a larger 

 number of stock might be grazed upon the Forest ranges. 

 The area available for grazing was also extended in 

 localities where the range was unused because of the 

 absence of stock watering facilities by clearing out seeps 

 and springs and piping the water into troughs, by the 

 construction of storage reservoirs, by building trails 

 into watered canyons, and often by piping the water for 





3& 



many miles out into the dry portions of the range. The 

 water development work has not stopped at opening 

 ranges which had been unused before but has been the 

 means of improving conditions on many of the used 

 ranges by lessening the distances which stock had to 

 travel to reach water, in this way making it possible to 

 produce not only more, but better and heavier stock upon 

 the same range. 



The profits of a business often depend upon the possi- 

 bility of stopping the leaks. In raising cattle and horses 

 upon the public range many of the leaks were due to the 

 lack of any authority under which the fences needed 

 for control of the stock might be constructed; in fact, 

 fencing of the public grazing lands was prohibited by 

 law. This problem was solved on the lands included 



within the Na- 

 tional Forests, 

 through the au- 

 thority of the 

 Sec retary of 

 Agriculture to 

 protect and 

 regulate the use 

 of the lands 

 and not only 

 have many 

 hundred miles 

 of drift and di- 

 vision fences 

 been built, but 

 a very large 

 number of pas- 

 tures have been 

 constructed for 

 use in gather- 

 ing beef steers, 

 handling grad- 

 ed stock, hold- 

 i n g saddle 

 horses, and furnishing nearby range for milch and work 

 animals. Some of this work has been done by the 

 stockmen entirely at their own expense, some in co- 

 operation with the Forest Service, and some by the 

 Forest Service alone. This means that the losses from 

 straying and theft have been reduced, the calf crops and 

 brandings increased, and the grade of stock improved. 

 It means also that the losses from poisonous plants have 

 been reduced through fencing the poison areas. The 

 result is that on the National Forest range the leaks 

 which were due to lack of legal authority and control 

 have been stopped and the stockmen are raising more 

 and better cattle and horses. A good proof of the 

 quality of this stock is that at all of the big Western 

 stock shows, the users of the National Forests have been 

 awarded more than their proportionate share of the 

 prizes for range stock ; often not only securing the first 

 prizes but also the highest market price for their stock. 

 The increase in number of stock is shown by the fact 

 that from 692,124 head of cattle and horses and 1,514,330 





AT HOME IN THE MOUNTAINS 



Not only more, but better and heavier stock may be produced through improved range conditions by 

 lessening distances to water for stock and other means of range development. 



