HERDS AND HUMANS 155 



feed than has so far been left for visitors' pack and saddle stock. This may 

 involve changes in grazing allotments, or it may be necessary to defer regular 

 grazing until after the recreational season. 



In contrast to these relatively small areas, there are a few rather large 

 areas suitable for grazing on which recreational use is so great and so 

 obviously the pre-eminent land use that grazing of domestic livestock must 

 be entirely excluded. On the Pike National Forest in Colorado, for 

 instance, the forests near Colorado Springs are frequented by so many 

 vacationists that the people alone tend to wear out the grass by "milling 

 around" over the lower slopes of Pikes Peak. And on Los Padres National 

 Forest near Los Angeles, so much land is needed for concentrated forest 

 recreational use that, over large areas, livestock is not grazed. 



There are other large areas of "back country" from which small groups 

 of enthusiastic recreationists sometimes insist that absolutely all grazing of 

 domestic livestock be excluded, although the number of forest visitors 

 affected is small. The objections of these small groups are centered not so 

 much in the physical damage that might be done by livestock, but more 

 in a strong and very sincere feeling that the primitive qualities of the na- 

 tional forests are destroyed by the mere presence of sheep and cattle even 

 though the animals may be miles away and unseen. It would seem, however, 

 that with the complete absence of livestock from nearly 100,000 acres of 

 concentrated recreational use, from 6,000,000 out of 14,000,000 acres of 

 wilderness, and from more than 85,000,000 additional acres, it is not neces- 

 sary to jeopardize an important industry by entirely excluding grazing from 

 the less than half of the national forest area which remains. 



In the past undesirably heavy concentrations of livestock near routes of 

 recreational travel have resulted from salting cattle near roads and trails. 

 This was unobjectionable in the days before the people began to use the 

 national forests in large numbers. For the most part it has now been elimi- 

 nated by establishing salting grounds elsewhere. 



The bedding of sheep night after night in one place leaves unsightly 

 scars on the landscape, and depletes the nearby range. And the bedding of 

 sheep near campgrounds interferes with the fullest enjoyment of camper 

 guests. These difficulties were anticipated years ago, and on the national 



