Los Angeles herald., 1908-04-19

the national forest upon the watersheds
of streams used for irrigation, l nave
the honor to inform you that the al
lowances of stock upon the different
national forests for the season of 1908
have already been made, and in many
cases meetings of the stockmen have
already been held and range allotments
agreed upon. Therefore it would great
ly unsettle he sheep business and
cause much just criticism If reduc-
ton in the number of sheep already
officially determined should be made
for the season now about to open.
"In making the allowances for this
and for preceding seasons careful con-
sideration has been given by the forest
service to the protection of the water
sheds of streams used for irrigation,
and as fast as was consistent with fair
notice to stock owners reductions IN
the number of stock have been made
wherever they appeared essential to
stop damage from overgrazing.
Service a Guardian
"The forest service is necessarily the
guardian of the interests of both the
irrigator and the sheepman and must
be careful to give one as square a deal
as it gives the other, neither more nor
less, keeping the greatest good to the
greatest number always in plain sight.
without doubt further restrictions
must be made in certain localities, and
shall be very glad to have the forest
service, If agreeable to you, In CO.
operation with the reclamation service,
make a thorough investigation of this
matter during the coming summer. In
this way we can determine what reduc-
tion, If any, in the number of sheep is
necessary to stop damage to the water
shed of any streams used for irrigation.
h dnd 11xyt 10 nf
Investigations in making the grazing
allowances for next year.
'I recognize the primary Importance
of irrigation to the west and the duty
of protecting it fully and fairly. AT
the same time I want to call your at
tention to the relation of the sheep in
dustry to the general welfare of the
western people. The facts warrant a
very careful consideration of the ques-
tions presented by you. In the past
few years the policies of the present
national administration have resulted
in an enormous increase In the number
of sheep in the United States, as well
as in almost doubling their per capita
value and the value of the wool
product.
Proposes New Measures
at would be most unfortunate if
after thus giving an industry care and
strictive measures except when such
measures are clearly necessary for the
proper protection of other and larger
agricultural interests.
1.-The forage upon vast areas of desert
range can be utilized only by winter
pasturing of sheep which are grazed
within the national forests during the
summer. In such cases no use of the
summer range means loss of the winter
range ALSO The market for the pro-
ducts of agricultural lands in many
localities is largely dependent upon
sheep feeding during the winter. 1t is
therefore evident that the interests OF
many irrigators, as well as those Of al
most all western sheep men. are in
volved in this question.
"It has been suggested that were
sheep excluded from all national forest
ranges their places would be taken by
| the cattle of nearby settlers. This
would be true in some localities, but
there are large areas of grazing lands
within the national forests that could
not be used to advantage for cattle
grazing on account OF distances from