THE RENTAL OF NATIONAL FOREST RANGE LANDS
The forage crop on the National Forests is for the use of the sheep and cattle of the western stockmen and it is procured by means of grazing permits which are issued and charged for upon a per capita basis. The primary objects of the administration of government grazing lands are: the protection and conservative use of all National Forest land adapted to grazing; the permanent good of the live stock industry through the proper care and use of grazing lands; and the protection of the settler and home builder against unfair competition in the use of the range.
Importance of the Live Stock Industry. The grazing business, more than any other feature of National Forest management, is immensely practical, because it is immediately concerned with human interests. This industry furnishes not only meat, but leather, wool, and many by-products.
That the National Forests play a big part in the maintenance of this industry there can be little doubt, for it has been estimated recently that 30 per cent. of the sheep and 20 per cent. of the cattle of the far Western States are grazed in the National Forests. The Forests contain by far the largest part of the summer range lands in the far Western States and hence are of paramount importance. The winter grazing lands in the West are so much greater in area than the summer lands, that for this reason also National Forest range lands are in great demand.
Permits Issued in 1917. During the fiscal year 1917 more than 31,000 permits to graze cattle, hogs, or horses, and over 5,500 permits to graze sheep or goats were issued. These permits provided for 2,054,384 cattle, 7,586,034 sheep, about 100,000 horses, about 50,000 goats, and about 3,000 hogs. The total receipts for 1917 were over $1,500,000. The gross receipts to the owners of the stock probably exceeded $50,000,000 and the capital invested in the stock no doubt amounted to over $200,000,000.
An idea of the growth of the grazing business may be gotten from the Forest Service statistics for the fiscal years 1908 and 1917. The increase in the number of permits and the volume of the business is due primarily to a better administration and better regulation of grazing interests and more specifically to the increase in the carrying capacity of government lands by wise and restricted use. Between these two fiscal years there was no appreciable increase in the total area of the Forests which would account for the increased business. In 1908 there were issued 19,845 permits for 1,382,221 cattle, horses and hogs; in 1917 there were issued 31,136 permits for 2,054,384 animals. In 1908 there were issued 4,282 permits for 7,087,111 sheep and goats; in 1917 5,502 permits were issued for 7,586,034 sheep and goats. The number of cattle and horses grazed has increased therefore by 50 per cent. and the number of sheep and goats by 7 per cent. The total receipts have increased from $962,829.40 in 1908 to $1,549,794.76 in 1917.
Kinds of Range, Grazing Seasons, and Methods of Handling Stock. For the proper understanding of the grazing business on the National Forests it is necessary to know something about the different kinds of range, the length of grazing seasons, and the methods of handling different classes of stock. Sheep and goat range differs materially from cattle and horse range and the proper distribution of stock over a National Forest cannot be effected unless this difference is recognized. Sheep and goat range usually consists of low shrubs or brush and is known collectively as "browse"; cattle and horses subsist mainly upon grass, flowering plants and herbs. Sheep feel more at home on high mountain slopes, while cattle and horses range usually on the lower slopes and in the valleys, and especially in the broad meadows, around lakes and along streams. Sheep are more apt to find feed in the forests, that is under the trees; cattle prefer the open; they usually avoid the forest, preferring to keep out on the open meadows and grassy slopes.
Naturally some ranges have feed at some seasons of the year and other ranges at other seasons. Some of the National Forests in California extend from an elevation of a few hundred feet in the foothills of the great valleys to an elevation of more than 10,000 feet at the crest of the Sierra Nevada Mountains. The lower foothills afford excellent feed soon after the beginning of the fall rains in November and, due to the very mild winter which this region enjoys, there is excellent feed in February and March. This is known as winter range. The medium high slopes of the mountains have a later growing season and the sheep and cattle reach there about June and stay until August or September. Still higher up the forage matures later and the grazing season extends from August until November. At these elevations the snowbanks usually lie until July and the growing season is very short, for the new snow usually buries the vegetation about the first of November. Thus stockmen have what they call "winter range," "summer range," and "fall range," depending upon what seasons of the year the forage crop can be utilized. The National Forests on the whole contain very little winter range, hence stockmen must move their stock in the fall to private lands at lower elevations either where the climate is considerably warmer or where there is very little snowfall. A large part of the western winter grazing lands are in regions of light snowfall, such as at the lower elevations in Utah, Nevada, Wyoming, and Colorado. Here the stock feeds on dry grass. Stockmen who cannot get winter range lands must feed their stock at ranches.
The characteristic habits of sheep and cattle require that they be handled differently on the range. Sheep are herded in bands while cattle are handled in scattered groups. The new and approved method of handling sheep called the "burro system" calls for a burro with the sheep to pack the herder's blankets and provisions. The herder camps where night overtakes him. The herder and his band keep moving over the allotted range from one camp to another until he has covered the whole range. After leaving his last camp he is ready to begin all over again, since the feed near the camp where he began has had two to three weeks' time to grow a new crop. Cattle usually run loose singly or in groups on their allotted range. Usually a range rider is camped on the range to keep the cattle from straying to other ranges. He salts the cattle to keep them on their own range, takes care of cattle that have gotten sick, and takes care of the stock in other ways.
Grazing Districts and Grazing Units. The Secretary of Agriculture not only has the authority to regulate grazing and prescribe the schedule of grazing fees to be charged but he also regulates the number and class of stock which are allowed to graze on each National Forest annually.
The ranges within the National Forests are used by the kind of stock for which they are best adapted except when this would not be consistent with the welfare of local residents or the proper protection of the Forests. For convenience in administration Forests are divided into grazing districts. A typical Forest is divided into from 4 to 6 districts which may be natural grazing units, natural administrative units (coinciding with the Ranger districts), or parts of the Forest used by different classes of stock or parts of the Forest having different lengths of grazing seasons. Each grazing district is also subdivided into smaller divisions, units, or allotments. These are usually natural divisions defined by topographic boundaries, such as ridges, mountains, streams, etc., or more or less artificial divisions determined by the class of stock which uses them. For example, cattle and horses ordinarily graze in the valleys along the streams, while sheep and goats graze the crests of ridges and the slopes of mountains and will cross none but shallow streams. Each range division or unit is usually given a well-known local name, such as "Duck Lake Unit" or "Clover Valley Unit." One or more stockmen may be allotted to such a unit, depending upon the size of the unit and the number of animals it can feed. If only one stockman uses it, it becomes an individual allotment. Usually a sheep owner with several large bands of sheep is allotted one large unit adapted to sheep grazing, while a large unit adapted to cattle and horses may be allotted to one large cattle owner or to two or more smaller owners. The manner in which sheep and goats are handled makes individual allotments both practicable and desirable.
The boundaries of range allotments are usually well defined. In the case of sheep they are marked with cloth posters. In most Forests range allotments are fairly well settled. Each stockman gets with his permit each spring a small map showing his own range and the surrounding ranges.
Who Are Entitled to Grazing Privileges. The Secretary of Agriculture has the authority to permit, regulate, or prohibit grazing on the National Forests. Under his direction the Forest Service allows the use of the forage crop as fully as the proper care and protection of the National Forests and the water supply permit. The grazing use of the National Forest lands is therefore only a personal and non-transferable privilege. This privilege is a temporary one, allowable under the law only when it does not interfere with the purposes for which the National Forests were created. It is non-transferable because it is based upon the possession of certain qualifications peculiar to the permittee. To understand these qualifications it is necessary to briefly look into the history of the grazing of live stock on the western grazing lands.
Figure 73. Counting sheep as they leave the corral. Sheep and cattle are pastured on National Forests at so many cents per head, hence they must be counted before they enter in the spring. Wasatch National Forest, Utah.
Figure 74. Logging National Forest timber. Santa Fe National Forest, New Mexico.
By long use of the public lands of the United States for grazing purposes, long before the National Forests were created, stock owners have been allowed to graze their stock upon such lands under certain conditions of occupancy, residence, and ownership of improved lands and water rights. This use, continuing through a long period of years, has, in the absence of congressional legislation, been commonly accepted in many communities, even receiving the recognition of certain of the courts. It was allowed under "unwritten law," as it were, only by the passive consent of the United States, but by force of the presidential proclamation creating National Forests, such passive consent ceased, being superseded by definite regulations by the Secretary of Agriculture prescribed under the authority of Congress. Therefore grazing stock on the Forests, as it was done before the Forests were created, is trespass against the United States. Due to the fact that local stockmen have used certain public ranges year after year by the passive consent of the United States, these stockmen are recognized in these localities as having preference rights or equities in the use of range lands. These equities form the basis upon which grazing privileges are allowed.
Grazing permits are issued only to persons entitled to share in the use of the range within the National Forests by reason of their fulfilling certain conditions or requirements. Prior use and occupancy of National Forest lands for grazing purposes is the first and foremost requirement. Local residence and ownership of improved ranch property within or near the Forest and dependence upon government range are also conditions that may entitle a stockman to grazing privileges. The Forest Service also recognizes those stockmen who have acquired by purchase or inheritance stock grazed upon National Forest lands under permit and improved ranch property used in connection with the stock, provided circumstances warrant the renewal of the permit issued to the former owner. The regular use of a range during its open season for several successive years before the creation of the National Forest and under grazing permit thereafter is what is meant by "prior use" or "regular occupancy." The longer the period or use the greater the preference right. No one can acquire this right to the use of National Forest range, nor can it be bought or sold, but stockmen may acquire a preference in the allotment of grazing privileges. This preference right does not entitle him to continued use of a certain part of a Forest, but only to preference over other applicants less entitled to consideration in the use of the ranges open to the class of stock which he wishes to graze. Certain stockmen may be given preference in ranges secured by prior use and occupancy supplemented by heavy investments in improved property and water rights.
Citizens of the United States are given preference in the use of the National Forests, but persons who are not citizens may be allowed grazing permits provided they are bona fide residents and owners of improved ranch property either within or adjacent to a National Forest. Regular occupants of the range who own and reside upon improved ranch property in or near National Forests are given first consideration, but will be limited to a number which will not exclude regular occupants who reside or whose stock are wintered at a greater distance from the National Forests. With this provision applicants for grazing permits are given preference in the following order:
Class A. Persons owning and residing upon improved ranch property within or near a National Forest who are dependent upon National Forests for range and who do not own more than a limited number of stock (known as the protective limit).
Class B. Regular users of National Forests range who do not own improved ranch property within or near a National Forest, and persons owning such ranch property but who own numbers of stock in excess of the established limit.
Class C. Persons who are not regular users of the National Forest range and who do not own improved ranch property within or near a National Forest. Such persons are not granted permits upon Forests which are fully occupied by classes A and B. Classes B and C are not allowed to increase the number of stock grazed under permit except by the purchase of other permitted stock.
From this classification it is very evident that the small local stockmen who own approximately from 30 to 300 head of cattle and from 500 to 2,000 head of sheep and who own and reside upon the ranches near the Forests are given the preference in the allotment of grazing privileges.
Grazing Permits. Various kinds of grazing permits are required each year on the National Forests. These are known as ordinary grazing permits, on-and-off permits, private land permits, and crossing permits.
All persons must secure permits before grazing any stock on a National Forest except for the few head in actual use by prospectors, campers, ranchers, stockmen, and travelers who use saddle, pack and work animals, and milch cows in connection with permitted operations on the National Forests. Under these conditions 10 head are allowed to graze without permit.
Persons owning stock which regularly graze on ranges partially included within a National Forest, or upon range which includes private land may be granted permits for such portions of their stock as the circumstances appear to justify. This regulation provides for cases where only a part of a natural range unit is National Forest land, and where the economical use of the entire unit can be secured only by the utilization of the Forest land in connection with the other land. The regulation contemplates a movement of the stock governed by natural conditions, between the Forest range and the adjoining outside range, or between Forest land and intermingled private land. This is called an on-and-off permit.
Permits on account of private lands are issued to persons who own, or who have leased from the owners, unfenced lands within any National Forest which are so situated and of such a character that they may be used by other permitted stock to an extent rendering the exchange advantageous to the Government. The permits allow the permittees to graze upon National Forest land, free of charge, the number of stock which the private lands will support, by waiving the right to the exclusive use of the private land and allowing it to remain open to other stock grazed on National Forest land under permit.
The regular grazing permit carries with it the privilege of driving the permitted stock over National Forest lands to and from the allotted ranges at the beginning and end of the grazing season and from the range to the most accessible shearing, dipping, and shipping points during the term of the permit. But crossing permits are necessary for crossing stock over National Forest lands to points beyond the National Forest, for crossing stock to private lands within a National Forest, or for crossing stock to reach dipping vats or railroad shipping points. Rangers sometimes are detailed to accompany the stock and see that there is no delay or trespassing. No charge is made for crossing permits, but it is absolutely necessary that persons crossing stock comply with the regulations governing the National Forests and with the quarantine regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture and the state authorities.
Grazing Fees. The full grazing fee is charged on all animals under 6 months of age which are not the natural increase of stock upon which the fees are paid. Animals under 6 months which are the natural increase of permitted stock are not charged for. A reasonable fee is charged for grazing all kinds of live stock on National Forests. The rates are based upon the yearlong rate for cattle, which is from 60 cents to $1.50 per head, depending upon conditions on the Forest. The yearlong rates for horses are 25 per cent. more and the yearlong rate for swine 25 per cent. less than the rate for cattle. The rate for sheep is 25 per cent. of the yearlong rate for cattle. The rates for all kinds of stock for periods shorter than yearlong are computed in proportion to the length of the season during which the stock use National Forest lands. All grazing fees are payable in advance.
When notice of the grazing allowance, periods, and rates for the year has been received by the Supervisor he gives public notice of a date on or before which all applications for grazing must be presented to him. These public notices are posted in conspicuous places, usually in the post offices. Applications for grazing permits are submitted on blank forms furnished by the Supervisor. As soon as an applicant for a grazing permit is notified by the Supervisor that his application has been approved, he must remit the amount due for grazing fees to the District Fiscal Agent and upon receipt of notice by the Supervisor that payment has been made a permit is issued allowing the stock to enter the Forest and remain during the period specified. All grazing fees are payable in advance and the stock is not allowed to enter the National Forest unless payment has been made.
Stock Associations. The thirty or more grazing regulations effective on the National Forests are for the primary purpose of making the National Forest range lands as useful as possible to the people consistent with their protection and perpetuation. It is clearly impossible to meet the wishes and needs of each individual user, but it is often entirely possible to meet the wishes of the majority of users if made known through an organization. The organization of stock associations is encouraged by the Forest Service and the opinions and wishes of their advisory boards are recognized when they represent general rather than individual or personal interests. It is often possible through these organizations to construct range improvements such as corrals, drift fences, roads, trails, and sources of water supply for the common good of the members of the organization and paid for by them.
Protective and Maximum Limits. In order to secure an equitable distribution of grazing privileges, the District Forester establishes protective limits covering the number of stock for which the permits of Class A owners will be exempt from reduction in the renewal of their permits. Permits for numbers in excess of the protective limits will be subject to necessary reductions and will not be subject to increase in number except through purchase of stock or ranches of other permittees.
Figure 75. Sheep grazing on the Montezuma National Forest at the foot of Mt. Wilson, Colorado. Over 7,500,000 sheep and goats grazed on the National Forests during the fiscal year 1917.
Figure 76. Grazing cattle on a National Forest in Colorado. Permits were issued during 1917 to graze over 2,000,000 cattle, horses, and swine on the National Forests.
Protective limits are established to protect permittees from reduction in the number of stock which they are allowed to graze under permit below a point where the business becomes too small to be handled at a profit or to contribute its proper share toward the maintenance of a home. The average number of stock which a settler must graze in order to utilize the products of his farm and derive a reasonable profit is determined upon each Forest or, if necessary, upon each grazing district thereof, and serves as the basis for the protective limit. Protective limits have been established for various Forests running from 25 to 300 head of cattle and from 500 to 2,000 head of sheep and goats.
Increases above the protective limit are allowed only to purchasers of stock and ranches of permit holders and any such increase must not exceed the maximum limit. Class A permittees owning a less number of stock than the protective limit are allowed to increase their number gradually. Whenever it is found necessary to reduce the number of stock allowed in any National Forest, Class C stock is excluded before the other classes are reduced. The reduction on a sliding scale is then applied to Class B owners. Class A owners are exempt from reduction. When new stock owners are allowed the use of National Forest range upon a Forest already fully stocked, reductions in the number of permitted stock of Class B and C owners is made in order to make room for the new man. Thus it is seen that the matter of protective limits is actually a protection to the small stock owner; he is protected from the monopoly of the range by big corporations.
When necessary to prevent monopoly of the range by large stock owners, the District Forester establishes maximum limits in the number of stock for which a permit may be issued to any one person, firm or corporation.
Prohibition of Grazing. It often becomes necessary to prohibit all grazing on an area within a National Forest or at least to materially reduce the amount of stock which is allowed to graze on a given area. Sheep may be excluded from a timber-sale area for a certain number of years after cutting or until the reproduction has become well established. Where planting operations are being carried on it is usually necessary to exclude all classes of stock. If investigations show that grazing is responsible for the lack of reproduction over a considerable area, the area or a portion of it may be withdrawn from range use until young growth has become established again. The watersheds of streams supplying water for irrigation, municipal or domestic purposes may be closed to grazing of any or all kinds of domestic stock when necessary to prevent erosion and floods or diminution in water supply. Camping grounds required for the accommodation of the public may be closed to the grazing of permitted stock. Limited areas which are the natural breeding or feeding grounds of game animals or birds may be closed to grazing. Areas within National Forests infested seriously by poisonous plants may be closed to grazing.
Protection of Grazing Interests. The protection of National Forest grazing interests is secured by the prevention of overgrazing, by the prevention of damage to roads, trails, or water sources, by the proper bedding of sheep and goats, by the proper disposition of carcasses, by salting the stock and by the proper observation of the national and state live stock and quarantine laws.
When an owner, who has a permit, is ready to drive in his stock upon the National Forest he must notify the nearest Forest officer concerning the number to be driven in. If called upon to do so he must provide for having his stock counted before entering a National Forest. Each permittee must repair all damage to roads or trails caused by the presence of his stock. Sheep and goats are not allowed to be bedded more than three nights in succession in the same place (except during the lambing season) and must not be bedded within 300 yards of any running or living spring. The carcasses of all animals which die on the National Forests from contagious or infectious diseases must be burned and are not permitted to lie in the close vicinity of water. In order to facilitate the handling of stock and prevent their straying off their range, they must be salted at regular intervals and at regular places.
In order to facilitate the moving of stock by stockmen from their home ranches to their grazing allotments and to minimize the damage of grazing animals to the Forests, stock driveways are established over regular routes of travel.