2 BULLETIN 1001, U. S. DEPARTMENT OE AGRICULTURE. 



appropriate is due to the fact that under existing laws the land could 

 not be obtained in areas of proper size for efficient operation. There 

 is little question as to the accuracy of this generalization, and it is 

 basic to all of the conclusions that will be presented in this bulletin. 



From the very beginning of the use of the arid grazing lands, the 

 fact that our existing land laws were but poorly adapted to them has 

 been pointed out, 2 but, so far, although attempts have been made 

 to pass land laws that will fit the special conditions of the region, it 

 is believed that the problem is not yet solved. The grazing industry 

 which has grown up under these handicaps has now reached a stage 

 in its development at which normal growth must cease and retro- 

 gression may be expected to occur if some legislation adapted to its 

 needs be not passed. 3 



Because an increase in the total production of meat animals and 

 their by-products is not only highly desirable but easily possible on 

 these arid grazing lands under an improved system of management, 

 it becomes important that the factors that enter into the problem 

 be carefully stated. 



Basic to a much needed general improvement in range manage- 

 ment is legal right of some kind to definitive control of the land by 

 the user, which must carry with it the right to subdivide the range 

 lands with fences. The existing Federal land laws operate in such 

 a manner as to make an open range system compulsory, though this 

 result is purely incidental rather than the intent of the lawmakers. 

 These laws were designed to suit other and entirely different condi- 

 tions. 



Enactment of the proper kind of legislation has been prevented 

 hitherto, at least in part, by two sorts of public opinion, either or 

 both of which may be changed by a better understanding of the 

 entire problem. These opinions are held by two different groups 

 of people — the general public of the thickly populated humid region 

 and the stockmen of the western grazing region. The great majority 

 of our people have little knowledge of or interest in the problem (in 

 spite of the fact that they are intimately concerned), and, because 

 of their environment, have no standards by which to judge the 

 merits of this particular case. On account of the sad experiences 

 of previous generations, they are afraid to permit individuals to 

 have legal control of large areas of land. Yet the productivity of 

 the lands under consideration is so small that the users must have 

 control of very large areas in order successfully to carry on the only 

 kind of agricultural industry the land will sustain. Stockmen, 

 though vitally concerned, have been slow to give a vigorous expression 



2 Powell, J. W., Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States. House Ex. Doc. 73, 

 45th Cong., 2d sess., 1878. 



8 This is as important to the consumer of meat as it is to the producer of range stock, though the former 

 may not be aware of it. 



