RANGE PRESERVATION AND EROSION CONTROL. 27 



servers stated that the storm was uniform over the areas under pro 

 tection in the Forest and on the adjoining grazed area. The small 

 amount of run-off that occurred on the protected lands was clear 

 and the streams were little more than normal in size; the flow from 

 the unprotected and heavily grazed, areas tore out bridges and roads 

 and was laden with bowlders, mud, and debris. As a result of the 

 inspection, the committee requested that the areas from which the 

 floods originated be made a part of the Manti Forest and thai graz- 

 ing be discontinued until the vegetative cover could be restored. 



From the above data and general observations there can be no 

 doubt that the moderate grazing of sheep on the relatively sparsely 

 vegetated range upon which the topography, climate, and soil are 

 favorable to erosion and upon which erosion is at least in the incipient 

 stage, will appreciably increase both the run-off and erosion. This 

 increase for a given area will vary according to the closeness with 

 which the lands are grazed and the particular methods of handling 

 the stock. It is evident that once the vegetative cover has been 

 broken up and the soil laid bare, grazing tends to promote rather 

 than to retard run-off and erosion. 



PREVENTIVE AND REMEDIAL MEASURES. 

 MAINTENANCE OR RESTORATION OF THE VEGETATIVE COVER. 



The need for maintaining the vegetative cover at all times in order 

 to prevent destructive floods and erosion, and the importance of 

 placing the- live-stock industry on a substantial, permanent basis, 

 both so far as concerns the range forage crop and the marketing of 

 the farm products through live stock, has been shown. It remains 

 now to show how and to what extent the vegetation may be utilized 

 by live stock year after year without serious destruction of the vege- 

 tative cover. The maintenance of a maximum cover of vegetation 

 and continuance of grazing are naturally antagonistic at best, and 

 unless certain recognized principles of range and live-stock manage- 

 ment are put into practice there is danger of impairing the ground 

 cover. 



AVOIDANCE OF OYEKGRAZING. 



The first precaution is to- avoid overgrazing, which can best be 

 accomplished by accurately estimating and then adjusting the number 

 of live stock a range unit or allotment will safely carry. Excessive 

 grazing will first show itself in the weakened condition or disappear- 

 ance of the choicest and most palatable forage plants. This is usually 

 accompanied by the appearance of incipient gullies, followed by 

 erosion of varying seriousness. If the carrying capacity of the lands 

 is promptly adjusted so that there is ample feed for the stock through- 

 out the season, the vegetative cover, provided the lands and stock 

 are otherwise properly managed, should be maintained indefinitely. 



