INCREASING PRODUCTION WITHOUT ACCELERATING EROSION 239 
in the winter. A few native gramas (Bouteloua spp.) and muhlen- 
bergias (Muhlenbergia spp.) and other species have given con- 
siderable promise but have not been so widely used as the intro- 
duced species (6, 14). 
Through use of adapted introduced grasses, range reseeding has 
often increased forage production ten- to twentyfold. With the 
realization that the great advance in knowledge and widespread 
use of reseeding on arid lands in the United States is largely the 
result of research during the last 20 years, considerable optimism 
is justified. 
Better Management of Shrub and Woodland Areas 
Shrubs and trees make up the cover on large areas of the south- 
western United States. Even the true desert is not really treeless 
but contains here and there scattered along the drainages and 
rocky slopes dwarf trees and treelike plants such as yuccas (Yucca 
spp.), paloverdes (Cercidium spp.) and cacti. On foothills and 
mesas are broad zones of orchardlike woodlands of pinyons 
(Pinus edulis Engelm.), junipers (Funiperus spp.) and evergreen 
oaks (Quercus spp.) often intermingled with chaparral made up of 
shrubby species such as manzanitas (4rctostaphy/los spp.), sumacs 
(Rhus spp.), shrub live oaks (Quercus spp.), and ceanothuses 
(Ceanothus spp.). 
Although the desert trees and shrubs furnished food, medicines, 
fiber, fuel, and other necessities to the early inhabitants, they are 
of little economic use now. The development of uses for these 
unique plants would increase productivity of the desert lands with 
little risk of increasing erosion. Very likely the increased returns 
would make it possible to provide greater protection from floods 
and erosion. 
A similar opportunity to find or develop merchantable products 
is present in the chaparral and woodland types. The present think- 
ing is that portions of these types should be replaced with grasses 
wherever soil and slope conditions make tree removal and grass 
establishment practical. Present research is concerned mostly 
with methods of killing or removing chaparral and woodland 
species. Markets for the woody material removed are needed to 
