Gunnison news-champion., 1920-06-04
The New Market
+. 5. FITZsINWONS. Proprietor.
~ir, WEN HOLD ANIMAL
MEETING. ELECT OFFICERS
Io0r:ngrd from Flr.t ragcJ

''or.nlnd from Flrst Pagr)
..-.. 'p -4mmArIz. briefly the posi-
t.. af I'll, forest S.rslr. on ,hl.
matter "a expressed b. Col. Gree
rs and my self 10 you thss morning.
The fees for grazing permits
s...' auaay Established by the SEC
u'aIJ of Agriculture IN 1918. after
AN exhaustive Iny"stIgatfOu and .g-
tended araungs, a. rcpTe-.u u'Ing tho
ari4a. alur 0f the pa-curagr under
H." rs.'uCtI0n- and conditions I'M
I"-.G b. tho Forrest Service with a
'-"a 20 making the rangr lnrrraz-
ng.y productive The S,rrciar. uf
Agriculture then u-,lou,.d ,hr
Forrest Srr.I Irr 90 l--.r I-rm.t- fur
nv. g"ar p"uuds IU CASE 1h,rr the
d.. " national fore. ranyrs aus
saH IcH'Iy s"ttIrd -D that nights
o. Craze stated quantities uf stock
for h''.y"ar p"rlDd- u.IH properly
b." authorized FIlr.y,ar prints
haven fact. been issued Tor approx
.ma''.. tp per rrn, ~ The zt0ck
L-InE 'N. nutruuA. forests These
perm Iru.id' among other things
t"r iI.r schedule nf grazing fees
iE"d by n" Secretary Of AgriCul-
iar" IN l3lH. " hIe the permits are
nnC"s-aIly q matter Of Federal
Law, rev ucubi" IN the discretion of
'h" S"Cr"tar! Of Agriculture, it
Wa understood that the schedule Of
grazing fees fixed in 1918 would ap-
p'y duung the life of these permits
m 20 !ar aa the matter lay in the
discretion OF the department OF
Agriculture.
- I- my conviction. therefore,
tina, IN" good faith Of the Depart
m"nt Of Agriculture is committed
10 maintaining the existing grazing
fees during the life Of the present
is"--"ar permits. Il Is true that
the greatly inflated values during
the last two years, combined with
n" effects Of serious droughths in
some Ol the Western States, have
for the time being made the present
commercial value of national forest
paSturagc greater than the existing
scale Of grazing fees Wholly
aside from the question of the pre-
mancnce Of the present scale of
values or as to the wisdom Of the
United States Government taking
advantage of the situation in a
purely commercial spirit, | am con-
vinccd that the public gain through
the encouragement given by con-
scrvative fees to the development of
agricultural land in the vicinity of
the forests to the increased pro
duCtiOn of hay, and to the increase
IN the production Of live stock much
more than offsets any financial loss
IN the grazing fees themselves. |
am satisfied that the present fees
should remain in effect until the
close of the season of 1923, when.
following a thorough appraisal of
the value of national range under
the conditions then existing. the
grazing fees should be predetermined
and established on q basis which
represents the actual value of the
privileges obtained.
The foregoing was the position
We undertook to present at the
After the general hearings, it was
my understanding that the COM
mIttec desired TO insert some Ian
guage in the bill directing an in
crease in the fees. Accordingly |
undertook to cooperate with the
subcommittee in drafting language
that would meet their desires. This
action on my part did not, however,
mean an advocacy to take action
that failed to recognize the good
faith of the department in the mat
ter of the fve-year permits al
ready issued
"lf, however, the Congress does
not approve the department policy,
| feel that any provision in the ap