SURVEYS OF FOREST RESERVES. 123 



sundry civil appropriation act authorizing the Secretary of the Interior 

 to make all necessary regulations for the government of the forest 

 reserves.^ 



In a series of regulations governing the forest reserves, issued from 

 the General Land Office under date of June 30, 1897, the following pro- 

 visions are made: 



The pasturing of live stock on the public lands in forest reservations will not be 

 interfered with so long as it appears that injury is not being done to the forest 

 growth and the rights of others are not thereby jeopardized. The pasturing of sheep 

 is, however, prohibited in all forest reservations, except those in the Slates of Oregon 

 and Washington, for the reason that sheep grazing has been found injurious to the 

 forest cover, and therefore of serious consequence in regions where the rainfall is 

 limited. The exception in favor of the States of Oregon and Washington is made 

 because the continuous moisture and abundant rainfall of the Cascade and Pacific 

 Coast ranges make rapid renewal of herbage and undergrowth possible. Owners of 

 sheep are required to make application to the Commissioner of the General Land 

 Office for permission to pasture, stating the number of sheep and the location on the 

 reserves where it is desired to graze. Permission will be refused or revoked when- 

 ever it shall appear that sheep are pastured on parts of the reserve specially liable 

 to injury, or upon and in the vicinity of the Bull Run Reserve, Crater Lake, Mount 

 Hood, Mount Rainier, or other well-known places of public resort or reservoir sup- 

 ply. Permission will also cease upon proof of neglect as to the care of fires made by 

 herders, or of the violation by them of any of the forest-reserve reguljations.^ 



These regulations, however, were issued so late in the season that 

 the provision regarding permits was ineffective for the summer of 1897, 

 as those who pastured ou the reserve had already entered it before the 

 regulations had been issued. 



FACTS BROU&HT OUT BY THE INVESTIGATION. 



OHAKAGTER OF THE PERSONS BNGA&ED IN THE BUSINESS. 



All the sheep owners in eastern Oregon appear to be American citi- 

 zens, at least upon inquiry I could learn of none who are aliens. Some 

 of the owners, as with our farming population in all parts of the coun- 

 try, are of foreign birth, but have become naturalized. In earlier years, 

 too, some of the herders were French or Portuguese. Many of the 

 owners are prominent, influential citizens of the highest character. 



A popular impression prevails that the sheep herders of Oregon, like 

 those of some other parts of the United States, represent a low class 

 of humanity. This impression as applied to the majority of sheep herd- 

 ers ten years ago was perhaps correct. At the present time, however, 

 many exceedingly bright and wholesome young men have undertaken 

 sheep herding in default of opportunities for more desirable work, and 

 as a whole they probably average as well in character as the men 

 engaged in other branches of agricultural industry. 



COST OF MAINTAINING A BAND OF SHEEP. 



Under present conditions a sheep owner with one or two bauds can 

 seldom conduct his business profitably if he follows a nomadic life, and 

 in general it is a prerequisite of success that an owner shall have for 

 winter headquarters a permanent and commodious, properly fenced 

 ranch, provided with a house, one or more hay barns, and several sub- 

 stantial corrals. It must have enough arable land to grow the hay nec- 



' See a review of the subject in a letter from Hon. Biuger Hermann, Commissioner 

 of the General Land OiBce, to the Secretary of the Interior, published in the Port- 

 land Oregonian for May 23, 1897. 



