Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-14
AN IMMENSE AREA
OF PUBLIC LANDS USED FOR
GRAZING PURPOSES.
Report Of the Commission Appointed
Two Years Ago by the
President.


ed by the President In 1908. has issued
report on the subject of grazing on public
lands in which 1t states that there are mil
lions of acres of the public domain in the
west that are being rapidly ruined and viii
in time become worthless for any purpose
II there is not some law passed regulating
grazing on the free range
The size of the problem involved may be
judged from the fact that there are be-
tween 3O0.0oO,000 and 40O.000.000 acres of
public grazing land. The commission ap-
pointed to study the subject consisted OF
F. II. Newell, chief OF the reclamation
service, as the irrigation work of the gov
errment is now known; Clifford Pfnchot,
chief Of the forestry service, and w. A.
Richards, commissioner of the general land
office. The commission addressed inquiries
to cattlemen in various states and studied
the conditions personally on their official
Journeys through the cattle country ana
their report Is the result of these combined
researches AS to the opinion of the stock.
men, replies were received from 1,400 of
them, SO that their view is we'll represented.
Immense Area Involved.
The report says that the area involved Is
so large that it is difficult to get satisfac-
tory figures on the acreage, some Of the
and then being unavailable during several
seasons of drought thereafter. The whole
OF the public land is theoretically open to
grazing, but practically much Of 1t has
been parceled out by agreements between
interests in various localities. Much or lt
has been Illegally fenced, and curiously
enough the fencing whether legal or not
has usually improved the quality OF the
range so that it is a question as a matter
OF public policy whether the removal OF
tho fences should be forced even when the
fencers have been convicted
The greatest conflict of interests On the
range today, as always, is between the
sheep and the cattlemen. There have been
inrumerable fights. murders ana immense
destruction of property over this dispute
and it settles down for time only 10
break out again with renewed violence.
But the sheep men are not the only ones
who overstock and Craze out the ranges
Immense tracts have been ruined for years
In some cases, forever by over grazing, ana
1t is in only few cases that reseedlnS the
ranges has proved of any value In reviv-
ing them. The stockmen agree that the
carrying capacity of the ranges Is dimin-
tshing each year and some system or gov
eminent control is necessary II the ranges
are to be saved to future generations: Ihe
situation is grave one and demands I'M
mediate consideration.
II has been proved by experiment that IT.
rigation is one of the saving measures TOT
the rapidly disappearing ranges. one acre
Of land in alfalfa will yield under irrlga,
ton as much as Is or 30 acres OF fenced
nasture In grass and fifty times as much as
omen grass range. 1t is found of value to
winterfeed cattle in many localities, ana
this practice is being adopted where there
is irrigation TO help the land.
Tramp Herds.
The greatest damage at the present time
Is charged against what are termed tran
silent" or tramp herds OF sheep. usually
bands of sheep being driven from distant
ranges to points of shipment or being
driven between summer and winter ranges,
which are often long distances apart and
sometimes located in different states. These
bands are often owned by men who have
no ranches or regular range, and who nave
no interest in the country other than TO
make an the money they can Wnlie tne u op+
even citizens of the United States, and
have no intention of becoming such, but
only wish to make stake and return TO
their native land. They just drift around
in search of good feeding grounds, and
camp wherever such areas are found, re-
CARELESS of the interests of any one else
AS the sheep are constantly under herd
they can stay Just as long as there is any
grass, and move without trouble whenever
the feed is exhausted, the result being that
the range Is kept grazed Off close ana soon
suffers from the result of overgrazing. In
some localities the range has been over
crowded and injured by this system of
grazing until it has become almost impossi-
Bile for settlers and homeseekers to find
pasture for the small herds of cattle and
horses necessary for their success in the
establishment OF a home.
The most effective way of checking the
evil results of excessive sheep grazing is
to divide the range into districts and only
allow it to be pastured under permit.
Regarding the most practical method for
the control and Improvement of public
grazing lands. 1T is generally believed that
this can be best accomplished by giving
the stockmen control of the respective
ranges they are now using, as nearly as
possible, and protecting them in its use by
such regulations as are found necessary.
The opinion as to whether this can be
done best by the establishment of districts
to be used jointly by a large number of
stockmen under permit or license system
or by the granting of permits or leases for
individual pastures Is governed very largely
by the natural range conditions of the par
ticular section of the country in which the
stoclsman resides or is pasturing his stock.