168 UNITED STATES FOREST POLICY 



of a proper forest reserve policy to attempt to settle range contro- 

 versies." 



Not all western men were lined up in opposition. Some of them 

 voted for the bill, but, as Dixon of Montana explained, it was not 

 because the bill was exactly what they wanted, but because they 

 thought "half a loaf was better than no bread." 



In spite of all opposition, Lacey's bill finally became law, and soon 

 afterward Congress provided funds to meet the expense of restoring 

 agricultural lands to the public domain." 



GRAZING IN THE FOREST RESERVES 



In the forest reserve problem, grazing always played about as 

 important a part as forestry, and for this reason must receive care- 

 ful consideration. When the reserves were opened to mining in 189T, 

 piiners ceased to have a constant grievance, but the same act that 

 gave the miners access to the reserves gave the Secretary of the 

 Interior the right to shut stockmen out. 



Cattle and horses were not shut out from any of the reserves, the 

 only requirements for the pasturage of such animals being an agree- 

 ment by the applicant that he would comply with the rules and regu- 

 lations of the Secretary of the Interior. In 1900, however, the regula- 

 tions were amended so as to require applications for the privilege of 

 grazing all kinds of livestock in the reserves. This new ruling per- 

 mitted some regulation of the number of cattle and horses, but the 

 matter seldom involved serious difficulty, since the number of animals 

 authorized was often considerably in excess of the number for which 

 permits were sought. Since sheep were shut out of some of the reserves, 

 the cattlemen in some regions had good reason to be friendly to the 

 reservation policy.^ 



Sheep grazing proved a knotty problem. Soon after the act of 1897 

 was passed, regulations were issued prohibiting the pasturing of sheep 

 in all the reserves except those in Oregon and Washington. It was 

 claimed that sheep injured the forest cover, particularly in regions 



^Cong. Rec, Apr. 17, 1906, 5396: Stat. 34, 233; Stat. 34, 724. For later difficul- 

 ties concerning the elimination of agricultural lands from the forest reserves see 

 Cross References, pp. 255-260. 



^ Report, Land Office, 1900, 390: Report, Sec. of Int., 1903, 323. 



