The Glenwood post., 1912-01-27
CHANGE OF FRONT
ON FORESTRY
Stockmen Change Their Minds
and Now Oppose EIimina.
ton They Once Favored
NOTIFY WASHINGTON

1t is remarkable the way a senti-
mcnt or theory takes possession of a
community or district only to be al
most completely repudated in short
time. Human nature is very tickle and
vacillating, often going from one ex-
treme to another.
1t often happens that in certain COM
munities certain views are adopted, the
people appearing very positive as 10
the correctness of their views on Ger
tain questions only to find out later
that they were mistaken, with the re-
suit that they face about ana soopt
views exactly opposite to those thcy
first entertained.
AS proof of this statement witness
the complete change which has come
over the people of western Colorado
and especially the stockmen, in rela-
tion to federal forestry regulations.
But Il few years ago the farmers and
stockmen of this western slope coun-
try were worked up to great frenzy
concerning the regulation by the GOV
ernment of the forest reserves.
Stockmen were made to believe that
the government had menaced their
business while the farmers and others
We're taught to believe that the gov
ernment, by the elimination of large
areas of lands not heavily timberei,
was injuring the country and especially
and specifically the charge was made
that the policy of the government op-
Grated to keep out settlers who, by
. reason of these regulations and restric-
tions, were now going to Canada i'll
great numbers.
Now the stockmen and others are
finding out that to eliminate lands IN
discriminatory from the forest reserves
would as rule not be to the benefit
of the parties who might settle on
such lands, but on the contrary would
operate as a hindrance and detrimena
to such settler and would also operate
to the very serious detriment of the
stockmen.
SO great has been the change of
sentiment among the stockmen that
many ane now finding out that to act
upon their former advice would be to
greatly damage their business and they
are now very positively repudiating
their former views upon the subject
No better proof or example of this
can be found than in the White River
forest where few years ago the
ranchmen were very bitterly opposing
the forestry system and demanding d
general elimination of the forestry
lands. Now they are convinced that
to grant their former requests would
very seriously retard the development
of that section and they are asking
that their requests of few years ago
be denied, as witness the following
from the Moffat County Courier
There seems to be considerable op-
position among the ranchmen in the
White River national forest to the open
ing of large amount of non-forested
land that was included in the reserve
years ago. At the time there was con
siderable objection to putting this land
in the reserve. Tha. was during the
Pinchot regime. Now, under the new
management, the sentiment is exactly
turned around. The ranchmen prefer
the reserve restrictions to the open,
free-for-all range. 1t was simply a
matter of administration which has
been settled in favor of the people by
the Taft government. The new ellml-
nation extends along the north side ii
the reserve in Routt and Moffat coun-
ties and includes land in ranges Sc to
90. The opening of this land has not
yet been made, but probably will be
this spring unless numerous requests
prevail upon the government to retain
it within the reserve. Under the new
regulations it is not necessary that
this land should be withdrawn from
the reserve in order to open it to set
tlement, as any land within reserve
is open to settlement when it is mora
valuable for farming purposes than for
timber, the only difference between
the reserve and the open land being
that a little more red tape must be un-
wound in securing homestead in the
reserve. The fact that the land de-
scribed is covered with quaken asp