GRAZING RESOURCES AND THEIR UTILIZATION 51 



The grazing plan for this Forest for the coming year rec- 

 ommends that 19,000 cattle and horses, 105,000 sheep and 

 100 swine be allowed to utilize the ranges on this Forest, 

 which in itself is an indication of its forage resources. 



The range as a whole may be roughly divided as follows: 



Summer, cattle and mutual, (includes spring and 



fall sheep range . . . 380,000 A. 



Summer sheep range 320,000 A. 



Winter cattle range , .150,000 A. 



Winter sheep range and lambing grounds 160,000 A. 



The northern portion of the Forest, comprising about 13 

 townships, is mainly a plateau area, from which the drainage 

 flows southerly into the Wallowa valley, or northerly into 

 the Snake River. This plateau area has been only slightly 

 dissected by erosion, and only a few deep and prominent can- 

 yons are to be found in this region, and these do not grow 

 deep until they near the northern boundary of the Forest. 

 It is on this area that the accessible merchantable timber is 

 to be found. 



To the east and south of this plateau area lies Snake River 

 and its tributary canyons. This area is geologically similar 

 to the northern plateau, but is more deeply dissected, and 

 while some fairly large flats occur in the region, it as a whole 

 consists of long narrow ridges and deep canyons, with nar- 

 row valley floors. From Snake River the walls of the can- 

 yon rise more or less precipitously to a height of from 5000 

 feet to 7100 feet above sea level. Numerous bench areas are 

 to be found in the canyons, parts of which are suitable for 

 agriculture. This deeply dissected plateau area leads up to 

 the Wallowa mountains which are very rugged and large 

 areas are barren or at best support but a scanty plant growth. 



Roughly, the Forest lies in the shape of a horseshoe sur- 

 rounding the Wallowa valley and the rolling hills to the 

 east of it, to which the major portion of the settlement of 

 this region is confined. 



The summer cattle and mutual ranges, parts of which are 

 used as spring and fall sheep ranges, are confined to the 

 more accessible timbered northern plateau area, and the larger 

 of the flats in the more deeply dissected region lying to the 



