stock was being driven over national-forest lands to unreserved public 

 lands or to lands in private ownership. The stock which to a greater 

 or less extent is dependent upon the national forests, and is affected 

 by their administration, reaches a grand total of almost 20,000,000 

 head each year. 



The national forests have been established primarily for the 

 protection and production of timber, and the protection of the drain- 

 age basins constituting the principal sources of water supply. The 

 utilization of the forage resources must necessarily be subordinated 

 to the accomplishment of these principal and more vital purposes. 

 Before the establishment of the national forests the lands included 

 were parts of the unreserved public domain, and as such in many 

 localities had been subjected for years to every form of overgrazing, 

 misuse, and depletion attendant upon the unrestricted use of the 

 public lands. One of the most complex problems connected with the 

 administration of the national forests was that of devising a plan of 

 management by which the forest cover and the watersheds could be 

 adequately protected, and all of the lands be restored to a normal 

 condition of forage productivity, without large permanent reductions 

 in the number of stock grazed, or irreparable hardship upon the 

 settlers and stock-growers who were dependent upon the forest 

 ranges for the maintenance of their homes. 



With the assistance and co-operation of the stockmen, a system 

 of range management has been built up under which a vegetative 

 cover of valuable forage plants is rapidly extending over the denuded 

 lands and displacing worthless weeds. The grazing capacity of the 

 forests is increasing with each year. As shown by the Forester's 

 annual report, there were increases of over 50,000 cattle, 3,800 horses, 

 96,000 sheep, and 6,000 goats last year on an area which was decreased 

 346,000 acres by eliminations. Damage to tree growth has diminished 

 to a marked extent, and it is increasingly apparent that properly 

 regulated grazing not only reduces the fire hazard by removing vast 

 quantities of inflammable material, but, by the removal of competing 

 vegetation and the exposure of the type of soil essential to the germi- 

 nation of tree seeds, aids appreciably in the extension of the forest 

 cover. This means that our efforts have been worth while, and shows 

 what can be accomplished by earnest co-operative work. 



In bringing about this change, one of the first things which made 

 themselves apparent was the need of fences to properly control the 

 grazing of cattle and horses. One of the greatest drawbacks to the 

 range-cattle business had been the loss from straying, and the large 



