Grazing Resources and their Util- 

 ization on the Wallowa Na- 

 tional Forest 



E. H. STEFFEN, '13 

 U. S. Forest Service 



It had always been the custom for settlers to graze their 

 stock on the vacant public lands near the settlement without 

 supervision or restraint, and it naturally followed that when 

 National Forests were created and the areas closed to cer- 

 tain classes of stock and the grazing of all stock restricted, 

 much opposition arose. Prior to 1897, all National Forests 

 were closed to sheep grazing, on the supposition that this 

 class of stock was injurious to the forest cover. This was 

 true to a certain extent, but the damage in most cases was 

 due to the method of handling the stock. In 1897, the for- 

 ests in Oregon and Washington, and later the other National 

 Forests, were opened to sheep, and since the advent of the 

 regulated use of forage, there has been very little material 

 damage to the forest cover, and the almost depleted ranges 

 are gradually returning to their normal vegetative cover. 



It is true that we must have trees and lumber, but we must 

 also be fed and clothed, and the meat and wool producing 

 powers of the forage on the National Forest lands is too great 

 to be lost sight of. According to the Forester's report there 

 are at present some 7,280,000 sheep and goats, and 1,725,000 

 cattle and horses and their additional increase, which range 

 on the National Forests. Grazing should, therefore, not be 

 considered as an accident to National Forest administration, 

 but as a legitimate aid in capitalizing an enormous forage 

 resource, and an important adjunct in the proper control of 

 fires. 



Up to the present time, the utilization of the grazing re- 

 sources has been the major activity on the Wallowa National 

 Forest. While there are some fairly large bodies of good tim- 

 ber here, there has heretofore been no call for it except a 



