The Winslow mail., 1921-01-21
STOCK GRAZING LIMITS
In the Sitsgreave Re-
serve for 1921.

| $4,000 head of sheep and $500 head
] OF cattle and horses and 400 swine
Is fixed by the Secretary of Agricul-
ture as the number to be allowed to
Craze on the Sitgreaves Forest dur
ing 1921. While the Secretary of Ag-
rlculture fixes the number of stock
allowed to be grazed upon the vari-
Gus forests their distribution on the
forest is fixed by the Forester, dis
trlct Foresters issuing instructions
as to the details of administration.
Speaking of the Annual Allowance
Letter just received and the instruc-
t1ons given therein, Supervisor Hoyt
observes few changes affecting the
plans for the coming year. While
the forest has been administered
heretofore as three grazing districts
some of them divided into community
allotments, this years plan divides
the forest into four grazing districts.
the Park and Pinedale Community
Allotments comprising the new
unit Some little reduction in the
total number of stock grazed is i'm
peratlve for the protection of what
remains of the vast 1919 crop of
young pine seedlings. Careful OBJ
seryatlon has shown that about SO
per cent of the seedlings that ger
inmate die Of natural causes within
the first year or two of their germi-
nation Considering the fact that
fire is sure death to these seedlings
for the first several years of their
existence and that they are of a ma
ture so delicate that foot tread of
a sheep may destroy them the Forest
management plans must take into
consideration the protection of the
comparatively small percentage of
seedlings that survive.
If one reads the law. under author
ity OF which National Forests are es-
tablished, he will find that the pur-
pose back of the National Forest
creation and administration is to
improve and protect the Forests, to
secure favorable conditions of water
flow, and furnish a continuous supply
of timber for the use and necessities
of citizens of the United States In
all administrative plans, therefore,
1t will be seen that Forest officers
must be bound by the stated purpose
of the law and have in mind that
grazing on the National Forests is
a permissible use only to the extent
that it does not interfere with the
main purpose of their creation This,
Mr.. Hoyt explains, is VIII at times the
number of stock on the forest or GER
tain areas of the forest must be re-
duced in number
In addition to observations made
by local Forest Officers the forests
are visited frequently by men who
make special study of tree. growth,
the nature and extent of damage, and
their recommendations have to be
considered in administrative plans
The timber sale to the Apache Lum-
ber Company means the cutting in
the next few years of many million
feet of timber and unlike the old
policy that has prevailed in some of
the older logging sections of the
country where the only thought has
been to convert the existing stand of
timber into lumber as soon as pos
sible, the governments policy on this
vast sale area will endeavor to secure
the removal of the mature timber
with the least possible damage to the
remaining trees and the seedlings
that germinate during the rather in
frequent favorable years.
The reductions. however, are but
a small percentage of the total
authorization for the forest and will
be apportioned among the various
permittees on a sliding scale basis,
the larger owners having to stand
the heavier percentage of cut.
The District Forester's instructions
based upon inspections by local
Forest Officers and visiting Forest
Inspectors calls attention to the need
of improved methods of handling
stock on the range to get the best re-
suits, suggesting particularly the
need of cooperation among stock
men, particularly in the matter of
developing water on the range and
in the sailing of their stock and their
protection from poisonous plants,
diseases and predatory animals.