GRAZING, EASTERN SLOPE.
The most important question touching the reserve at this time regards the pasturage of sheep. During the past summer about 190,000 sheep were grazed within the reserve, two-thirds of which occupied ranges on the eastern slope. The careful investigation of Mr. Coville, botanist of the Department of Agriculture, the study by Mr. Henry S. Graves under my direction in 1896, and other trustworthy evidence leave no room to doubt that the pasturage of sheep on any area constitutes, so long as it lasts, a prohibitory tax on the reproduction of the forest.
It can not be questioned that sheep grazing in this reserve owes its existence directly to forest fires. Without such fires the openings where the sheep feed would never have been made, nor, after they were made, would many of them have been kept so free from trees. It is almost equally certain that sheep herders in the past have been in the habit of setting fires, although the evidence at hand goes to show that of late years this practice has been largely discontinued. Grazing in fresh burns is apt to be followed by the discoloration and cheapening of the wool.
Sheep do not feed on the leaves or seedlings of coniferous trees, except in the way of desultory nibbling or when at the point of starvation. The harm which they do is of another character altogether. The seedlings of conifers are small and very susceptible to injury during their early life. When a band of sheep passes over an area on which such seedlings grow the trampling of the sharp hoofs not only cuts and bruises the young trees, but it also exposes their roots, and so leads directly to their destruction. On dry slopes, where reproduction is difficult at best, the passage of a band of sheep makes it simply impossible until a new crop of seedlings can replace those which have been destroyed. It is in this way, and not at all by injury to the old trees (an alleged fact frequently contradicted by sheep men), that sheep hurt the forest.
In so far as sheep tend to destroy or prevent a dense forest cover, they injure the water supply, and that they have done both to some extent, at least indirectly, is evident. The effect of their action is not believed , however, to have been seriously felt hitherto. In this connection it may be well to add that actual observations at Fort Klamath and Government Camp, quoted by Mr. Coville, indicate that snow lasts about six weeks longer in the forest than in the open.
It is believed that the reproduction of considerable parts of the eastern slope may be postponed with safety to the forest, and that in consequence sheep herding may there be permitted under suitable restrictions. The importance of this industry to the three counties where the sheep are chiefly owned (Wasco, Crook, and Sherman) is so great that its sudden prohibition within the reserve would work great hardships. Under the circumstances, the wiser course appears to be to permit the pasturage of definite numbers of sheep on definite ranges for the present, and in a tentative spirit, throwing the burden of the prevention of the forest fires upon the sheep owners, and in general following the course advocated by Mr. Coville and summarized in Part II of this report. It should not be forgotten that overgrazing will lead to the extension of the ranges by means of fire. For a more extended treatment of this subject, reference is made to Mr. Coville’s admirable report, in the conclusions of which I fully concur.
