10 MISC. PUBLICATION 247, TJ. S. DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE 



This is indicated by the fact that the Drought Relief Committee 

 found it necessary to purchase but few of the livestock which grazed 

 upon those ranges. But subnormal moisture had its effect upon them, 

 nevertheless. And the term-permit system initiated in 1925 as a 

 means of helping to stabilize the livestock industry, was a contributing 

 factor. For under these first 10-year grazing permits, numbers of 

 stock could not, in some cases, be reduced sufficiently — or quickly 

 enough — successfully to meet changes in range conditions induced 

 by the widespread, subnormal precipitation that culminated in 1934. 

 As a result some national-forest ranges, built up prior to 1925 through 

 use under the more flexible annual permits, now need rebuilding. 



To accomplish this means, temporarily, fewer stock; a partial rest 

 for the ranges. Term grazing permits — all of which expired with 

 the 1934 season — were not, therefore, renewed in 1935; instead, 

 grazing permits were issued on an annual basis. This made possible 

 many important protective reductions, by means of which the num- 

 bers of stock were readjusted to the carrying capacities of certain 

 ranges. And by means of cuts applied to permits covering stock 

 greater in numbers than the protective limits, range was provided for 

 more small owners who, though really dependent on national-forest 

 forage, were unable to obtain it while the previous 10-year permits 

 were in effect. Ten-year grazing permits were authorized again in 

 1936. They are, however, subject to adjustments for further dis- 

 tribution of grazing privileges and for range protection. 



ACQUISITION OF FOREST LANDS BY PUBLIC AGENCIES 



Important as is the relation between our forests and our agricultural 

 pattern, the impact of forestry on the country's social and economic 

 structure is much wider than upon agriculture alone. The everyday 

 work of the Forest Service has a real and definite meaning which 

 extends beyond the farmer. Acquisition by public agencies of part 

 of the forest lands now in private ownership is an illustration of this. 



Four-fifths of the approximately 495,000,000 acres of commercial 

 timberland in the United States, or 396,000,000 acres, are now in 

 private ownership. These are the most valuable and productive of 

 all forest lands. From them have come 98 percent of all the lumber 

 and timber produced. And since they have been "mined", they are 

 the lands which have suffered most. Ownership of these lands is 

 not stable. In fact, available data indicate a national, long-time 

 tax delinquency of at least 50,000,000 acres. This threatens the 

 economic stability of farming, manufacturing, and local government. 

 And until these denuded lands again produce forest crops, they can 

 neither adequately protect important watersheds (pi. 3) nor help the 

 stranded communities which once depended upon them for a liveli- 

 hood. 



Recognizing this situation, Congress in 1911 passed what is popu- 

 larly known as the Weeks law. It provides for Federal acquisition 

 of forest lands for the protection of the headwaters of navigable 

 streams, subject to approval by the National Forest Reservation 

 Commission. In 1924, by the terms of the Clarke-McNary law, the 

 original authority was broadened to include purchase of land for 

 timber production as well as for stream-flow protection. Acquisition 



