RANGE MANAGEMENT ON THE NATIONAL FORESTS. 71 



Vital portions of many important watersheds are untimberecl or 

 sparsely timbered. The maintenance of stability and regularity in 

 stream flow under such conditions is dependent upon the maintenance 

 of an herbaceous and shrubb}^ cover and a surface soil which will be 

 effective in preventing erosion and unwarranted run-off. Mainte- 

 nance of an effective vegetative cover is imperative. No halfway 

 measures will do, and it is unwise to allow deterioration at all, as 

 erosion and soil depletion may start and be difficult to control. Over- 

 grazing and too early grazing must be avoided. Deferred and rota- 

 tion grazing should be applied, and stock should be properly dis- 

 tributed throughout the grazing period. These subjects have been 

 fully discussed in preceding chapters. 



The topography, the soil, and the character of the storms may be 

 such that stability in stream- flow can be maintained only by complete 

 protection of the herbaceous cover and surface soil. Fortunately, the 

 areas where complete protection against grazing is necessary are 

 small and few in number as compared with the whole. However, 

 they are usually distributed throughout larger areas of range in such 

 a way that the only means of getting complete protection by control 

 of the stock is to fence the small area or exclude stock from the 

 larger unit involved. 



Total exclusion of stock from a watershed might be recommended 

 as a means of protecting vital parts of that watershed. This pro- 

 cedure could hardly be considered a solution, however, because in 

 practice stock would be excluded from a large area which has been 

 used for grazing for a number of years, probably only after condi- 

 tions had become so bad that total protection from grazing would 

 not, in itself, remedy the condition. A practical solution must stop 

 the breaking down of the cover when the break begins and where it 

 begins. " The idea that injury resulting in marked erosion and rush 

 of water from a small part of a watershed is warranted, in view of 

 the great value of grazing on the complete watershed, is dangerous. 

 IVhere such a condition is thought to exist a solution must be found 

 which will give the necessary protection. Fencing of the critical 

 area may be warranted rather than complete exclusion of grazing 

 from the watershed as a whole. The cost of fencing as compared 

 with the total value of the forage crop lost by exclusion of stock will 

 be the basis for decision. 



PROTECTION OF GAME. 



Full discussion of the subject of game protection is not within the 

 scope of this bulletin. The aim here is to make clear that protection 

 and development of the wild life of the Forest must go hand in hand 

 with the development and management of the range resources for 

 use by domestic stock. In the first chapter, discussing the classifi- 



