The Coconino sun., 1917-01-26
TUSAYAN CATTLE GROWERS PROTEST
 RAISE IN FEES ID SECRETARY HOUSTON
The Following Open Letter From the Tusayan Cattle Growers Association Has Been Mailed to Every
 Senator and Congressman From Grazing States


 est bidder for the right to cut and sell timber has no established business upon the Forest at the time he makes his bid; while the stockman who has an established business upon the For est, and who is dependant upon secur- ing the use of the range for the suc- cessful maintenance of that business, might be forced to bid more, much more, than the privilege to graze his stock is worth in order to protect his investment, which would practically amount to confscation of his property were he not successful in obtaining the same. Third, the bidder for the right to cut and sell timber bids upon something that has already matured- something that he can see, measure, and estimate his probable profit upon; while, upon the other hand, stock man would be compelled to bid upon something that may or may not mate terialize-something that depends up- on the sun and rain to produce for him after he has been compelled to pay his money for the same, and which has varying degrees of value. Therefore, the disposal of timber and grazing privileges by competitive bid ding are not in any way comparable. It is admitted that the grazing capa- city of the forests is limited, and that the number of stock that can be pro- vided for is far less than the number of stock seeking grazing privileges. But is this not equally true of all other privileges the government has at it's disposal for the utilization of its resources?
 AS to the argument that stockmen who are permittees upon National Forest have an undue financial ad- vantage over other stockmen who must lease of buy lands upon which to graze their stock, we submit that stockmen possessing grazing privil- eges upon National Forests do not possess any further advantages over other stockmen than privileges earned by them and granted by the Forest Service on account of the investment in and the ownership of ranch proper ty, the prior use and development of the range, or by acquiring such privil- eges through the purchase of stock from former permittees. The transfer of such rights, privileges, or prefer ences through the Forest Service with restrictions from one committee to an- other are customary and are actually carried into effect by the Forest Ser vice itself. Purchasers of stock upon permits, therefore, always pay not on- ly for the stock, but also for the pri- vileges which they will secure through the sanction of the Forest Service on account of the purchase of the stock. The money spent by the permittees in the development of the ranges is, for the most part, spent upon Forest lands and usually upon the demand of the Forest Service, and such improve ments made by the permittee belong to the Forest Service, and not to the stockman who has spent his time and money in making them. It would, therefore, practically amount to the confscation of ranch property of the permittee and of his time and money expended in making improvements and in building up his business or of the purchase price he has paid, to charge him the same price that an outsider might be willing to pay for the grazing privilege.
 It must be remembered that in the Tusayan National Forest there is comparatively little permanent water, and that the use of the range has to very great extent been made pos sible by the development of water by the stockmen, without which such range would be comparatively useless for stock purposes; nor would the Forest Service be receiving fees for the same except for this expensive work done by the stockmen grazing under permit upon it--work which ranges in value to stockmen of from $500 to $1O,000 for each dam or re- servoir constructed. The natural lakes and water-holes as shown upon maps sometimes make it appear as though the country is naturally well watered. Whereas, as a matter of fact, these lakes and water-holes are, for the most part, merely slight de- pressions which fill only from the winter storms, last only few months in the first part of the year, and are not dependable for stock purposes. Practically none of them are fed by living springs. Most of the natural lakes have been improved at great ex- pense by the stockmen. Furthermore,