208 



Sierra Club Bulletin. 



A unique experiment was begun last 

 Goat-Grazing ^^^^^^ Lassen National Forest to 



XPERIMENTS. determine whether goats could success- 



fully subdue chaparral areas, with a view to reforesting them by 

 planting or natural processes. 



Throughout the national forests of California there are large 

 areas of land formerly timbered which have been repeatedly 

 burned over and which are now densely covered with brush or 

 chaparral. A contract was entered into with a local owner of 

 Angora goats, in which he agreed to control the grazing of the 

 animals on certain chaparral areas within the Lassen Forest in 

 a manner prescribed by the Forest Service, in return for which 

 free grazing was allowed by the Forest Service. 



Trails were cut across the chaparral tracts, and the goats herded 

 along these trails, from which they would feed in either direction. 

 The goats nibbled the bark of the manzanita and other chaparral 

 species, in time completely girdling them. The experiment must 

 be carried over a term of years to determine the full results, but 

 from the observations made this season, it is confidently expected 

 that in two or three years chaparral areas may be completely 

 subdued in this manner. This would pave the way for natural 

 reforestration or planting. 



A school for forest rangers was held at 

 Ranger School. Springs during the months of Sep- 



tember and October, one ranger from each of the seventeen 

 national forests in the State being present, for the purpose of 

 teaching the rangers every phase of the work which they might 

 be called upon to perform. 



About four weeks were devoted to instructions in the form of 

 field demonstrations and lectures by representatives from the 

 district office at San Francisco and Washington, D. C., who are 

 in charge of the various lines of forest work. 



The rangers attending showed great interest in the school, and 

 it is felt that they got a great deal of good out of it, and the 

 knowledge which they have thus gained will fit them for much 

 more effective work along all lines. 



It is planned to hold these field schools annually, and thus 

 eventually fully instruct most of the permanent rangers on the 

 forests in all phases of their work. 



