The Coconino sun., 1921-09-30

valuable summer ranges for sheep ir
 Arizona arc in the national forests
 which, with some exceptions, sheer
 owners are permitted to use for graz
 ing purposes from May until Novem.
 Der. Pasturage for 2,000 head on
 five national forests is thus afforded
 The remaining 500,000 head owned
 by whites within the state range on
 privately owned, leased or unappro-
 priated public lands. Each user ot
 the national forests is given an allot-
 men upon which he may run limited
 number of sheep. This number is
 kept down where, in the opinion of
 forest service officials, there is no dan
 ger of overgrazing the range or in-
 turing the forest growth. It is more
 often reduced than increased. In fact
 there has been no increase worthy of
 mention in the number of sheep per
 mitted on the national forests in Ari-
 zona in the past eight years.
 Beginning in 1920 the forest service
 had planned to exclude sheep from the
 cut-over areas near Flagstaff for
 twenty or thirty years, in order to
 give the young pines an opportunity to reach that state of growth where
 sheep could do them no injury. As this cut-over area is miles in extent, many thousands of sheep would have been deprived of ranges that they have used since time immemorial. The years of labor and thousands of dol lars that the sheep owners have ex- epnded in improvements on these ranges will have all gone for naught when these plans have been put into operation, as they will be this year.
 Among leading wool growers the impression is gaining ground that sheep will ultimately be excluded from the national forests altogether. It will be accomplished after the man. ner in which the cat ate the grand stone-a little at time. The gradual increase in the charge for grazing; the exclusion of sheep from certain forests or parts of forests under one pretext or another; the fixing of ar bitrary rules and regulations govern ing the handling of sheep on the na- tional forests that are difficult to com ply with and discouraging to the user of the forests, would seem to indicate this intention on the part of the gov 
 The driveways or trails across the national forests over which the fiocks travel to and from their summer and winter ranges are also being gradual |y closed against sheep. It is propos- ed to reduce the number of sheep us- ing the Heber-Reno driveway from 65, 900 to 50,000 head. A similar and even greater reduction is in view for the mudtanks and government gap These restrictions in the use of the highly important driveways and trails are about as fatal to the sheep industry as similar limitations would be to community that is de- nied the use of its prominent road ways or streets. It is simply death by slow strangulation.
 Assisting considerably in reducing the extent of the range lands is the coming of the "nestor"-"the man with the hoe" Content with the small vouchsafed him under the various land laws, he is rushing into places where angels would fear to tread. In the national forests, on the unappropriated public domain he is prompting lands that only cata- clysm of nature could render arabic. Until driven out by unfavorable cli matic conditions, or until he has dis posed of his unproductive acres to some rangeman for grazing purposes, ne is to be seen eking out scanty livelihood; the while looking upon the ,attlemen and sheepmen with envy md hatred. With land sufficient only 70 support a few head of live stock, md lacking the initiative and re- to make use of the ad- joining grazing lands, the "nestors" Ire Tn many cases an economic and I iocial nuisance, shiftless and indig- mt lot, who find it easier to settle town in a new country than to settle ID in an old one. In the northern part If the state we find them squatting on ands valuable only for summer pas ure, where stock cannot be graZed in winter. In the southern part of the tate we find them taking up valuable winter grazing lands where stock can lot be pastured in the summer. These | ands, in either case, are useful only | VI BldLibS pui poSSS; anu dNdpISu to | he use of itinerant herds that can be | railed back and forth, in accordance | with climatic requirements.
 Another factor tending to decrease he carrying capacity of the ranges s the rapid spread of poisonous 'lants, such as loco, larkspur, milk weed and others. In many sections | f late the loco is increasing so rap- 1ly that the lands have been aban- oned for sheep grazing. Much in- ury to the ranges has resulted in late | ears from the Russian thistle, the ocklebur and other unpalatable weedy | 'rowths that have been increasing | apidly. Rodent pests, such as prairie ogs and jack rabits, are contributing n no small way to the devastation of | dnges. Since they are no longer kept | n check by their natural enemies-the obo wolves and coyotes, which have cen killed off in large numbers hey are increasing rapidly. Hundreds f thousands of acres of prairie dog owns are to be found in all sections | f the state, every acre of which is enuded of it's most valuable grasses. work in the extermination of | l n