vegetation helps hold the snow which upon melting goes into the soil rather 

 than being blown away, making a better water yield year aroiuid. In short, 

 water quality from the watershed is vastly improved by proper treatment. 



Now there is another group of uses of the range called aesthetic or 

 scenic values and this is the area that includes all those uses of the range 

 that are hard to define in another category. This is a varied category. 



This is what I consider to be an aesthetic view. A photographer would 

 consider this to be an aesthetic scene. 



A hiker, hunter or tourist would find this view pleasing and again the 

 moTontain climber fits into this category. Try climbing a mountain with a 

 beer can in your mouth! Also, this category includes just plain recreation. 



When we ponder the future of Montana's Rangelands we definitely need two 

 things on those rangelands. We need domestic livestock and we need a good 

 range plan. 



Remember, ranchers are suspicious of government agencies. ^ wife says 

 he doesn't look like he is suspicious but at least he is tired, or perhaps 



better stated, Montana ranchers are tired of government agencies. The 



tenure on federal land should be guaranteed. 



Let's untie the hands of the BLM and let their range personnel get back 

 out on the range to do the work that they want to do and needs doing, and 

 that is to manage the range and improve it. Often times the range unit is 

 arranged in such a way that private, state and federal lands are all includ- 

 ed in some or all pastures of a system. There should be a method whereby 

 a private landowner could retain some voice in the management of these lands 

 he owns rather than the government calling the shots; even though in some 

 cases the government may be a minority landowner. If he builds or needs to 

 build fences, water developments or other improvements, he should have title 

 to what he contributes to the land. State land has this feature whereby a 

 leasee is compensated by the new user for the improvements he has constructed 

 should he lose the lease to that land. Coordination and cooperation between 

 the federal and state land agencies should be maintained and further improved. 

 This is an area where I think we have taken a giant step backwards in the 

 last ten years. Not so much because of the federal land agencies themselves, 

 but outside pressures under the heading of "Environmental Concern." These 



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