EFFECT OF GRAZING ON WESTERN YELLOW PINE. 29 



DRIVEWAYS. 



The driving of the sheep in fairly compact bands to and from their 

 allotments in spring and fall can hardly be avoided, but in many 

 cases great damage to the forest can be prevented by careful location 

 of driveways in places least subject to damage. Areas without small 

 reproduction, untimbered areas where danger of erosion is not serious, 

 sites which are too poor to produce merchantable tiniber in a reason- 

 able rotation, such as dry, rocky ridges with little soil, are examples 

 of such places. Although usually impracticable from the adminis- 

 trative standpoint, it may sometimes be possible to reduce consider- 

 ably the amount of injury by changing the location of such drive- 

 ways from year to year, by limiting the number of bands of sheep 

 which may use the same one, by limiting the time each band may 

 spend on the trail, and by making the trail wide enough to supply 

 feed for all the stock which use it. 



It will very often be possible to locate the driveways so that they will 

 be an advantage to the forest. Such areas make excellent fire breaks 

 for stopping light surface fires and for use in back-firing and fighting 

 severer fires. When it is possible, they should be located near places 

 of great fire danger. For instance, closely grazed strips along roads, 

 trails, railroads, or around camping places, sawmills, and the like, 

 will be of considerable value in preventing the spread of incipient 

 fires from such places. In such cases due regard should of course be 

 had for the rights of other users; for instance, sheep should not be 

 allowed to graze on camp grounds or so close to them as to make 

 conditions unpleasant for campers, nor should feed necessary for 

 pack and saddle animals be eaten off near camping places, nor should 

 areas much frequented by travelers and tourists be grazed in such a 

 way as to impair their scenic beauty. Similar trails along the edges 

 of burns, reproduction areas, or slashings will be of much value in 

 fire control. Such strips should, of course, be fed clean every year, 

 and the more closely they are grazed the better. 



Sheep should be supplied with all the salt they want, at least every 

 five or six days, so that they will not trail around hunting for it. 

 They should be salted in a different place each time, and the salt 

 should be so well distributed that they will not bunch up closely and 

 cause serious injury to the forage cover and forest reproduction by 

 trampling. Bed grounds are good places to supply the salt; for if 

 the stock spend part of their time there eating salt, they will have 

 less time to graze or browse conifers. 



