IMPROVEMENT IN RANGE CONDITIONS 



113 



MOVING A CAMP OF GRAZING EXAMINERS IN ACCESSIBLE AREAS. 



important af all has enabled the stock- 

 men to successfully raise higher grade 

 stock and to get larger calf crops. The 

 construction of fences has also been an 

 important factor in preventing the 

 spread of disease and reducing the losses 

 from poisonous plants. 



Early in the administration of the 

 Forests it was found that pastures were 

 needed for holding stock which was 

 being gathered for transfer to other 

 ranges or for shipment to market and 

 provision was made to meet this need. 

 The pasture privilege was afterwafd 

 extended to include pastures for saddle 

 horses and pure bred or graded stock 

 and to give settlers a way of holding a 

 limited amount of winter range adjacent 

 to their ranches. This regulation has 

 been taken advantage of very generally 

 and the large number of pastures which 

 have been built under it show in another 

 way the advantages of a proper con- 

 trol in the use of the range. 



DEVELOPMENT OF WATER FACILITIES 



Next to grass the most important 

 need of livestock is water. It was 

 found that mush could be done in the 

 way of improving the stock watering 

 facilities on the National Forests and 

 right in the beginning we started clean- 

 ing out the seeps and springs, piping 



the water into troughs, building reser- 

 voirs and doing whatever else might 

 help to increase or secure a better use 

 of the water supply. During 1912 a 

 report was secured from each Forest, 

 covering the water development work 

 done since the Forests were put under 

 administration. The figures secured 

 show 676 water-development projects 

 to the close of 1912. Of these, 173 were 

 developed exclusively by the Forest 

 Service, and as many more in coopera- 

 tion with permittees; and 320 solely 

 by the stockmen. 



Complete figures are not available as 

 to the new acreage of range brought 

 into -utilization by this water develop- 

 ment. In Arizona and New Mexico 

 alone, however, 65,000 acres of new 

 range have been made available by 

 water projects developed by the Forest 

 Service in cooperation with the stock- 

 men, and 420,000 acres made available 

 by projects developed by permittees a 

 total of 485,000 acres of new range by 

 water development in these two States 

 alone. A great deal of water develop- 

 ment done by the Forest Service has 

 been to secure better management of 

 range already in use, which accounts for 

 the small acreage 'of new range brought 

 into use by water development. While 

 the acreage developed by the stockmen 



