156 FOREST OUTINGS 



forests administrative efforts have for years been directed toward eliminat- 

 ing them. Approved range-management practices prevent the bedding of 

 sheep near campgrounds and picnic areas, and Forest Service bedding rules 

 are intended to preserve vegetation by prohibiting the use of the same bed 

 ground for more than 3 nights. Bedding out — bedding wherever night 

 overtakes the herd — is a common practice which results in only a 1 -night 

 use of each bed ground. 



Overuse of range by livestock not only interferes with full enjoyment by 

 forest visitors and detracts from the natural attractiveness of forest land- 

 scape, but also damages the soil and forage. The practice of the Forest 

 Service, therefore, is to make such adjustments as are necessary to bring use 

 of ranges into balance with forage production. Since World War times, 

 when many forest ranges were stocked beyond capacity in the interests of 

 maximum meat production, reductions in numbers of stock on national- 

 forest ranges total 839,000 cattle and 2,854,000 sheep, or 371/2 percent of 

 the cattle and 33 , /2 percent of the sheep previously allowed on national- 

 forest ranges. Since some of these ranges are still overstocked, further 

 reductions are necessary. 



Tamed vs. Wildlife . . . The Forest Service policy is to so restrict grazing 

 by domestic livestock that enough forage will be left for reasonable numbers 

 of wildlife, and especially for such big-game animals as deer and elk. But 

 certain practical difficulties stand in the way. Winter range is a controlling 

 factor in big-game populations. Many national forests contain no areas 

 suitable for winter range, or very few. Many winter ranges of former years 

 have been absorbed in agricultural developments. Big-game animals which 

 use summer range in the higher portions of the Cascades, the Sierras, and 

 the Rocky Mountains, for example, are forced by deep snow to seek low- 

 lying winter ranges outside the national forests. The forage on these lower 

 ranges is often privately owned and fully utilized by livestock. 



Other difficulties include State game laws which do not permit removal 

 of game in excess of the feed supply; public sentiment unfavorable to the 

 extension of hunting seasons to serve that purpose; or failure of hunters to 

 do so in open seasons. Any one of these may allow big-game herds to in- 



