2. How many head of livestock graze on national forests? 



During the calendar year 1947 slightly more than 1,161,000 

 head of cattle and horses and 3,402,000 head of sheep and goats 

 grazed under paid permit. The natural increase of these animals, 

 i. e., calves, colts, lambs, and kids which entered the national 

 forests before they were 6 months of age, or were born upon the 

 range, were allowed to graze with these permitted livestock with- 

 out additional charge. In addition, 84,000 head of livestock, 

 primarily milk cows and work horses owned and used for domestic 

 purposes by local ranchers, were grazed without charge. All 

 together, about 9,000,000 domestic animals, including the natural 

 increase, grazed for some period on national-forest ranges in 1947. 



3. Who owns the livestock which graze on national-forest 

 ranges? 



The domestic animals grazing on national forests are almost 

 entirely owned by farmers and stockmen who live within or near 

 national forests and who own ranch property the use of which is 

 complemented by the grazing of the livestock for part or all of 

 the year on national-forest range lands. In 1947 there were 

 18,494 holders of paid permits for grazing cattle, 3,248 for sheep, 

 and 56 for swine. Approximately 6,760 other grazing permits 

 were issued without charge to stockmen and farmers who did not 

 hold paid permits. 



In addition, 1,314 crossing permits were issued for 125,400 

 cattle and 1,217,600 sheep to use established driveways across 

 national-forest land in order to move from ranches to outlying 

 ranges or to market. 



4. What is a national-forest grazing preference? 



A grazing preference is a priority over other applicants for 

 grazing a specified number of livestock on a specified allotment 

 or unit of national-forest range, granted to an owner of ranch 

 property and range livestock. It may be acquired by ( 1 ) prior 

 use of the land for grazing before its inclusion in a national forest; 

 (2) inheritance of a permittee's livestock or ranch or both; (3) 

 purchase of a permittee's livestock or ranch or both accompanied 

 by a waiver of the preference held by the seller; (4) renewal of 

 permit formerly held by a copartnership or corporation to indi- 

 viduals or pooling of preferences; and (5) if surplus range is 

 available, regular use of forest range under temporary permit for 

 five consecutive years and ownership of commensurate ranch 



