10 MISC. PUBLICATION 9 9, U. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



forests each year under the regulations permitting the granting of 

 this material free of charge, within limits, to local residents. 



During the year 1929 more than 30.000.000 feet of such material 

 was taken from the national forests of Utah under free use. In addi- 

 tion to this, thousands of feet of insect-infested, diseased, and stunted 

 trees are given away annually under free use, so as to improve 

 conditions for the better growth of the remaining stand. 



MINING 



All mineral deposits within the national forests are subject to loca- 

 tion and development under exactly the same conditions as are the 

 deposits found outside the forests. Prospecting is permissible any- 

 where within the forests. However, claims must be initiated in good 

 faith and can not be located for the purpose of acquiring the timber, 

 for town sites, or water-power sites, or for monopolizing the water 

 supply on stock ranges. Legitimate mining operations are welcome 

 and encouraged. 



Eighty-nine per cent of all mining claims, within the national for- 

 ests of the intermountain region, covered by applications for patent 

 since 1906, in which final action has been taken, have been recom- 

 mended for patent by the Forest Service. The other 11 per cent were 

 protested and all but approximately 1 per cent were relinquished or 

 canceled by the General Land Office, as a result of the protest. 



In Utah no case since 1915 has been protested by the Forest Serv- 

 ice which was not relinquished by the claimant or canceled by the 

 General Land Office. 



Timber needed in developing prospects may be secured without 

 charge and the Forest Service gives the mining man what help it 

 can in other ways. 



GRAZING USE 



In Utah the grazing of livestock constitutes one of the most impor- 

 tant uses of the national forests. (See illustrations on pages 3 and 4.) 

 Each year nearly a quarter of a million cattle and horses, and a 

 million sheep are driven to the national forests for summer pasture. 

 The livestock business in Utah is conducted principally by small 

 owners, many of whom own stock of high quality. More farmers 

 and ranchers hold grazing permits on the national forests in Utah 

 than in any other State. Approximately 7,000 permittees graze a 

 part or all of their stock during the summer season on these national- 

 forest ranges. In no other part of the United States is the demand 

 for forest range so intensive as it is here, and nowhere is there 

 greater need to provide for the fullest possible use of the forage by 

 livestock and at the same time to conserve the watershed values of 

 the mountain slopes. In the valleys below the forests lie the irrigated 

 lands, the basis of the key industry of Utah. The farmers are abso- 

 lutely dependent upon an ample and regular supply of water, without 

 which farming would be seriously handicapped. Xo abuse of the 

 watersheds can be allowed which would impair the purity of the 

 water needed for domestic use, or which would reduce the forage 



