2 BULLETIN 1001, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
appropriate is due to the fact that under existing laws the land could 
"not be obtained in areas of proper size for efficient operation. There 
is little question as to the accuracy of this generalization, and it is 
basic to all of the conclusions that will be presented in this bulletin. 
From the very beginning of the use of the arid grazing lands, the 
fact that our existing land laws were but poorly adapted to them has 
been pointed out, 2 but, so far, although attempts have been made 
to pass land laws that will fit the special conditions of the region, it 
is believed that the problem is not yet solyed. The grazing industry 
which has grown up under these handicaps has now reached a stage 
in its development at which normal growth must cease and retro- 
gression may be expected to occur if some legislation adapted to its 
needs be not passed. 3 
Because an increase in the total production of meat animals and 
their by-products is not only highly desirable but easily possible on 
these arid grazing lands under an improyed system of management, 
it becomes important that the factors that enter into the problem 
be carefully stated. 
Basic to a much needed general improvement in range manage- 
ment is legal right of some kind to definitive control of the land by 
the user, which must carry with it the right to subdivide the range 
lands with fences. The existing Federal land laws operate in such 
a manner as to make an open range system compulsory, though this 
result is purely incidental rather than the intent of the lawmakers. 
These laws were designed to suit other, and entirely different condi- 
tions. 
Enactment of the proper kind of legislation has been prevented 
hitherto, at least in part, by two sorts of public opinion, either or 
both of which may be changed by a better understanding of the 
entire problem. These opinions are held by two different groups 
of people — the general public of the thickly populated humid region 
and the stockmen of the western grazing region. The great majority 
of our people have little knowledge of or interest in the problem (in 
spite of the fact that they are intimately concerned), and, because 
of their environment, have no standards by which to judge the 
merits of this particular case. On account of the sad experiences 
of previous generations, they are afraid to permit individuals to 
have legal control of large areas of land. Yet the productivity of 
the lands under consideration is so small that the users must have 
control of very large areas in order successfully to carry on the only 
kind of agricultural industry the land will sustain. Stockmen, 
though vitally concerned, have been slow to give a vigorous expression 
3 Powell, J. W., Report on the Lands of the Arid Region of the United States. House Ex. Doc. 73, 
45th Cong., 2d sess., 1878. 
8 This is as important to the consumer of meat as it is to the producer of range stock, though the former 
may not he aware of it. 
