, 1899-11-30
SARATOGA, CARBON COUNTY, WYOMING NOVEMBER 30 1890

cover this by using the phrase
live stock or by saying that "all
Industries should be treated alike
That would be applicable if ex-
p%erience had not proven that as
tie Year Book says. 1T was thor
oughly well established that in
the past, that forest fires have fol-
lowed sheep ranging in timbered
regions; that by far the greater
part of such ranging would be i'm
possible except for the clearings
made by fire and that whether it
was to the interest of the owner or
not, the sheepherders carelessly or
by Intention have frequently set
fire to the forest"
These words are pregnant with
meaning and baleful warning and
should be carefully weighed and
thought over by every ranchman.
To illustrate by coming down to
a few months ago; the residents of
this valley will remember the for
est fire on North Spring creek.
in talking with one of the men
who helped fight that fire, 1 ask
ed him how it started. He re-
piled: 'There was a bunch of
sheep driven through that partic-
ular timber an hour or two before
we saw the smoke from the fire.
They were owned, 1 think, by Mr..
Blank" | answered: Mr.. Blank
would have nothing to do with
such a crime-he is not that kind
of man. mo, l don't think he
would any more than you do, but
those ID sheepherders of his
are Just the men to do it."
| have said before and repeat
now that the irresponsible Mexican
sheepherder is the greatest danger
by far that N forests have.
These objections do not apply
to any other kind of live stock. as
is well known. furthermore, sheep
eat vegetation, bushes and the teu-
der shoots of young trees a foot
or so in height and which other
live stock do not touch unless
driven to it by starvation, and as
in this country the other live stock
leave the timber with the first
SHOWS for the ranches and lower
flats, they are not driven to do it.
Again the thousands of head of
sheep driven in a compact mass,
one behind another, fifty or
a hundred deep, tramp out with
their sharp hoofs vegetation which
if merely stepped on once by a
heavier animal would spring back
again practically nninjured.
The aim of the Department Of
the Interior under this admins
tration has been to establish for
est reserves only for the actual
protection of the timber in the in
terest of the resident population.
With this aim they have institut-
ed patrols for protection of the
timber against fire, have limited
or altogether stopped the depreda-
tions of railroad contractors and
others engaged in wholesale des-
truction of the timber, while to
quote Senator Warren's words the
late Secretary aimed "to provide
with lumber every settler, every
miner and every mill man ,chO
~as supplying the necessities
Cfthe couthry.'
The amount of good the De
partment is doing is only limited
by the money hat has been ar-
p%ropriated for the work. On ac-
count Of the niggardliness of the
appropriation for the past year
work has had to be suspended Oh
all the Western reserves for lack
of funds, In this connection a
paragraph in the Rawlins Repub-
lican Of Nov. Sth copied from the
Sun-Leader, is interesting to u.s.:
The Rock Springs Lumber Co.,
has purchased 5000 acres Of gov.
erument timber lands on the head
of Green river, With additional
soldiers homestead scrip and it is
said that extensive purchases are
about to be made of government