Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1903-09-23

In the mountain ranges which are used
for summer grazing the result of over
stocking has not only been injurious to
the stockman, but, in many places, has
seriously damaged the interests depend
cnt upon the water supply Of the coun-
try The ground has been trampled
and the vegetation destroyed TO such
an extent that its power of absorbing
the moisture from the snow and rain.
which falls upon 1t, IL impaired, and
much of the water which would other
wise soak into the ground and preserve
the regular flow Of the springs and
streams Is lost In floods which run off
mt a time when the water cannot be
utilized, and the people find themselves
left with scarcity of water In their
bitches later in the season when IL Is
most needed. In this connection must
not neglect to say that oyerstocking
the ranges is not by any means entire
~ 70 blame for this condition.
.LESsENED WATER CAPACITY.
The destruction of the forests by ex-
cessve cutting of timber and by fire
has also denuded many OF the noun
tain slopes and lessened their water
storing capacity. To improve this con-
ditior, every precaution must he taken
&c prevent forest fires andAto properly
regulate the cutting OF timber and the
grazing OF livestock.
Since the earliest settlement of
Utah the people have depended largely
upon the raising of livestock as a
means or support, and as the state has
grown and developed, the live stock in
dustry has continued to hold its place
among the most important industries.
IRRIGATION PRODUCTS.
A large portion Of the products of the
irrigated lands are utilized and mar
keted through the medium OF feeding
live stock. Cattle and sheep which
are pastured In the mountains during
the summer are driven to the fields i'm
the fall after the crops have been har-
vested and there fed during the winter
In addition to the regular feeding, a
large amount of rough Forage is utilized
which would Otherwise be wasted, in
fact, without this means OF using the
products of the lands many of the set
tiers would find II hard to make their
farms profitable.
USELESS FOR HOMES.
There is also vast area of land
within the state which cannot be used
by settlers for homes or farming, either
on account OF lack OF sufficient water
supply for its irrigation, or on account
OF It's rough character, but which pro-
duces an annual crop OF forage which
can only be harvested by pasturing live
stock Much of this land Is located In
sections where water tx very scarce ex-
cept during the winter season. and can
only be used as winter range II is
therefore necessary that In order to uti-
He the forage upon this land there
must be an adjoining range where the
stock can BE- p2stured during the sum
mer.
GRAZING REGULATIONS.
As forest reserves are created. which
include within their limits portions of
these summer ranges, The manner In
winch grazing is to be regulated at once
becomes Of interest TO the ftockman.
Within the morntein ranges are many
areas os grazing lands which the stock
men have acquired title to through To-
cations under the different land laws
or purchase from the state, or which
they control through the leasing Of
state lands In some cases these lauds
ere fenced, and where not fenced are
closely watched 20 prevent the trcspass
OF stock not belonging there. As "A
usual thing the condition Of these lands
IL much better than that of the vacant
pubic lands outside which arc froc TO
be used by any che vino chooses, show
ms that the first and most important
step for the improvement Of the graz
ing lands 10 TO get them Under control.
as the eheop aro hcrdcd and the cat
tie usually turned loose, the former
have q great advantage over the letter
IN the use Of the free range. and as
feed becomes scarce, there Is natural
tendency on tn part of the sheep
men TO crowd the cattle out. The
lack OF proper regulation I'm the
use of the range has been the cause OF
serious conflict between the different
interests, In many cases resulting IN
loss of life and property
II the number OF sheen 10 be driven 20
the mountains is In excess OF the num-
Der there Is sufficient feed for, every
stoekman who contemplates the use of
any certain summer range strives TO
set there ahead of any Of his competl.
tors. This often results In the sheep