14 RANGE MANAGEMENT IN THE STATE OF WASHINGTON. 



are going to seed will in all probability be the only satisfactory 

 method of restoration. This will not be at all difficult, for, owing to 

 the scarcity of water and to the too great heat, the cattle and sheep 

 are taken to the higher altitudes during the summer months. In this 

 way the native vegetation will have a chance to make a good growth 

 and go to seed each season without interference from the stock. 

 Through this method the pasture will not only yield a crop of seed on 

 which future improvements will be based, but the. plants which have 

 been grazed to a point very near that of extermination will be given 

 a chance to regain their former vigor. 



At the present time nearly all the perennial grasses have been 

 destroyed. There are, however, enough of these remaining (having 

 been protected by growing in clumps of sagebrush where stock could 

 not reach them) to furnish a crop of seed, if given a chance, although 

 this crop may be very light for the first year or two. In addition to 

 these there are numerous annual grasses and weeds that make excel- 

 lent feed which, if given an opportunity, will in time become quite 

 abundant. There are also numerous perennial shrubs, such as white 

 sage (Eurotia lanata), bitter brush {Purshia tridentatd), hop sage 

 (Grayia spinosa), and greasewood (Sarcobatus vermiculatus) — each 

 having its characteristic locality — which yield a considerable amount 

 of browse, and which will furnish seed for new plants. 



The only time of year when special care will need to be exercised in 

 the grazing of these pastures will be in the spring months, when the 

 young plants begin to grow. If the land be too heavily grazed at 

 that period the young plants will be entirely killed out. This trouble 

 can, however, be easily remedied by dividing the grazing area into 

 two or three pastures, and by grazing off that portion of the land 

 which is to be allowed to restore itself during the winter and exclud- 

 ing the stock during the time the young plants are getting a start. 

 The next year another field can be given a like chance, and so on, 

 alternately. In this manner it would be only a few years — probably 

 not more than seven or eight; — before the so-called desert areas would 

 be restored to their original carrying capacity before overgrazing 

 took place. Meantime the stockman would have full use of his land, 

 and would be able gradually to increase the number of stock grazing 

 on it, provided he judiciously confined the aggregate of his stock to 

 the limit of the carrying capacity of his range. 



As an example of this, the writer has on several occasions observed 

 with interest an area a few miles west of Sunny side. In the early 

 part of 1900 this land belonged to the open range. It was fenced 

 during that season, and has since that time been used to some extent 

 as a pasture. While this field has not been handled in an ideal man- 

 ner, nevertheless the native perennial grasses, such as sand-grass or 

 needle grass (Stipa comata), Indian millet (Eriocoma cuspidata) , and 



