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the  line  above  which  it  is  not  practical  to  graze  cattle  at  a 
profit  and  below  which  it  is  possible  to  herd,  control  and 
manage  cattle  in  a civilized  way.  At  that  point  the  force  of 
public  opinion,  expressed  in  law  written  or  unwritten,  should 
step  in.  Fences  should  be  made  at  the  nearest  accessible 
points,  where  the  distance  to  be  fenced  is  shortest ; where  nat- 
ural barriers  help  to  make  it  inexpensive ; where  the  fences 
can  be  built  for  the  least  cost  of  getting  the  material  on  to 
the  ground.  Every  cattle  ranch  owner  can  tell  just  where  the 
cattle  can  be  controlled,  and  at  which  point  they  become  un- 
manageable, half  wild  and,  if  properly  figured  out,  unprofit- 
able. At  that  line  a fence  should  be  built  and  the  land  beyond 
devoted  to  forestry.  As  it  is  the  cattle  only  feed  on  a small 
part  of  this  rough  wild  region.  The  forest  clings  tenaceously 
and  will  revive  immediately  on  being  protected.  The  seeds 
are  still  in  the  ground,  all  they  need  is  a chance  to  grow. 
The  experience  of  any  practical  cattle  man  is  that  the  in- 
come to  the  various  land  holders,  from  the  wild  and  semi- 
wild cattle,  beyond  the  proposed  fence  line  is  a minus  quantity. 
It  is  too  small  to  be  figured  out,  or  it  is  less  than  the  value 
of  the  forest  as  forest,  and  the  water  derived  from  the  forest 
would  be.  The  cattle  within  this  proposed  fence  line  are  only 
a small  fraction  of  the  total  cattle  of  the  country.  On  some 
forests  of  vast  economical  importance  there  is  no  pretence 
even  that  the  cattle  are  a profit  to  the  owners. 
SUGGESTIONS  FOR  POLICY. 
The  government  should  formulate  and  announce  a policy 
along  these  lines.  The  first  thing  is  to  stop  the  waste  of  forest 
growth  now  going  on  upon  the  government  leased  lands. 
Where  it  is  too  expensive  for  the  lessee  to  fence  without  being 
crippled,  let  the  government  take  back  its  lease,  but  on  the 
part  involved  only.  Where  the  fencing  would  really  be  a gain 
to  the  ranching  interests  on  the  balance  of  the  leased  land  or 
on  the  contiguous  private  lands,  force  the  lessee  to  fence  at 
his  own  expense  at  the  point  of  least  expense  and  greatest 
public  good.  Thus  preventing  loss  through  more  tame  cattle 
going  wild. 
All  that  is  embodied  in  the  provisions  of  the  government 
leases  against  “waste  and  bad  husbandry,”  should  be  enforced. 
All  it  needs  is  a cool  and  determined,  unbiased  official  to  carry 
it  out.  The  official  must  have  public  opinion  back  of  him, 
however,  and  that  public  opinion  must  be  forcibly  expressed. 
Otherwise  the  official  will  be  thwarted  by  the  financial  power 
of  most  of  the  lessees  of  large  government  tracts. 
Where  private  forest  lands  are  naturally  an  integral  part 
of  adjacent  and  larger  government  lands,  or  where  a small 
piece  of  private  land  juts  into  a larger  government  land  the 
