1 Mainly State, private, railroad grant, county, and other prior Federal withdrawals. PIERCE ACT LEASES Regulations promulgated during the fiscal year made the Pierce Act effective in all grazing districts. The leasing program under this act will serve a multiple purpose: (1) It enables the Secretary of the Interior to place large areas of non-Federal grazing lands under proper use and administration without added cost to the owners or to the Government. (2) It promotes conservation of such lands under regulation of the Taylor Grazing Act. (3) It enables the Grazing Service to make uniform plans for watershed protection, erosion control, and other conservation activities on lands of interspersed ownership. (4) It promises to increase revenues to States from school lands in the 10 Western States. Stockmen themselves operating under Federal license will pay grazing fees for the use of such lands. One lease for 125,000 acres of county tax-delinquent land in Oregon is already in operation. Active steps are now being taken to perfect leases of this nature in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming. Preliminary estimates indicate that there are at lease 20,000,000 acres of State, county, railroad, and individually owned land in grazing districts subject to the provisions of the Pierce Act. LAND CLASSIFICATION To protect the public interest and at the same time to afford individuals full exercise of their rights under applicable land laws, rigid standards of classification are maintained in the Grazing Service for proper disposal and management of public lands. That the full force of the Stockraising Homestead Act has spent itself is indicated by the fact that during the year only 810 acres of land was designated under that act in 4 States, increasing the outstanding area in 21 states to 102,446,620 acres. The pendulum has swung toward applications for special uses, for exchange, for rightsof-way, and for water conservation and use through appropriate classification. At the beginning of the fiscal year there were 505 cases pending under sections 7, 8, 14, and 15 of the Taylor Act. During the year 492 cases were received, making a total of 997 cases to be acted upon. Of this number 650 cases were disposed of by appropriate action, leaving 347 cases pending at the close of the fiscal year. On the other hand, there were only 43 water cases and no special-use applications pending at the beginning of the year. During the year 513 projects and applications of this nature were received of which 191 were pending action at the close of the fiscal year. During the year 1,240 acres in 6 States were included in water reserves and 1,210 acres in 4 States were excluded from such reserves, increasing the gross public water reserve area in 12 States to 513,686 acres. COOPERATION With expanded scope the Grazing Service cooperated with agencies, groups, associations, individuals, States, and counties interested directly and indirectly in problems affecting the western range areas. Railroads and other large landowners aided materially in promoting proper use of land and resources. Licensees and permittees cooperated in a mutual crusade for better range, clearer streams on the watersheds, a healthier livestock industry, and better living conditions in the Federal range territory. Through all these efforts many complications were avoided, proper management was expedited, and real progress made toward accomplishing the objectives of the Taylor Grazing Act. Government agency participation included action programs in specific areas, agreements for future action, and correlation of policies for the general benefit of the dependent population and the resources involved. Cooperative agreements were entered into with the Bureau of Reclamation, the National Park Service, the War and Navy Departments affecting public lands in grazing districts. Agreements with other agencies such as the Soil Conservation Service, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Forest Service were continued. Policy programs for expeditious handling of land problems under applicable law were coordinated in the General Land Office. The Bureau of Ento mology helped on the eradication of destructive insects, the Forest Service contributed on developing fire-protection facilities and in training fire-fighting crews. Assistance was received from the Bureau of Plant Industry in the eradication of poisonous plants from the Federal ranges. States agencies and district advisory boards contributed immeasurably to perfecting the mechanics of administration in the varied localities. The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Army in all corps areas were instrumental in the success of the C. C. C. camp program, enabling the Grazing Service to render a wide range of useful services to the public as well as to conduct successfully a well-rounded range-improvement program in the districts. State colleges assisted in the study of specific problems in widely scattered areas, and in many States these institutions cooperated with the Grazing Service and the Bureau of Agricultural Economics in the analysis of economic problems as they relate to range management. The 28 cooperative grazing associations in Montana operating under agreements with the Secretary of the Interior were active in fostering unified management and control of intermingled Federal and nonFederal lands in grazing districts in that State. Cooperation was strengthened by the Montana Grass Conservation Act of 1939, which created the Montana Grass Conservation Commission, authorized to cooperate with the Secretary of the Interior in accordance with provisions of the Taylor Grazing Act. COOPERATION WITH THE SOUTHERN PACIFIC LAND CO. The Grazing Service entered into a cooperative agreement with the Southern Pacific Land Co. for the administration and proper use of all the unleased lands of that company situated in the State of Utah, amounting to approximately 220,000 acres. This agreement proved mutually advantageous to the Service and to the established livestock operators in the district. An agreement was negotiated with the same company, providing for an exchange of use on "checkerboard" areas in the State of Nevada. This agreement affects approximately 2,000,000 acres of company land and an equal area of public land and enables the Grazing Service to block areas of grazing lands into suitable administrative units beneficial to licensees and to the Service. COOPERATION WITH THE BUREAU OF RECLAMATION A cooperative agreement was entered into with the Bureau of Reclamation whereby undeveloped lands withdrawn for reclamation purposes are to be administered for grazing and made revenue-produc ing pending the time that Bureau irrigates the lands or needs them in connection with necessary structures or reservoirs. Under this agreement an additional area of approximately 10,000,000 acres within the boundaries of grazing districts may be administered for grazing pur poses. COOPERATION WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Under certain conditions grazing lands in park reservations may be utilized for livestock. To meet these conditions and to assist in proper utilization of the lands the Grazing Service and the National Park Service entered into an agreement which enabled field representatives of the two services to work out local problems of this nature. Progress was made in Arizona and Colorado where certain park or monument withdrawals embrace large areas of usable grazing land. COOPERATION WITH OFFICE OF INDIAN AFFAIRS Cooperative agreements with the Office of Indian Affairs provide for administration by the Grazing Service of certain Indian withdrawal lands pending legislation effecting their final disposal. Under such arrangement, the Chaco District (New Mexico No. 7) was established during the fiscal year. Satisfactory progress in conservation, development, and orderly use of this 3,500,000-acre area resulted from the first year's operation of this district. This is an outstanding example of cooperative work for the benefit of the dependent population. Large areas of Indian lands in Utah and Arizona were placed under protection and beneficial use through separate agreements with the Office of Indian Affairs. COOPERATION WITH BUREAU OF BIOLOGICAL SURVEY Activities in cooperation with the Bureau of Biological Survey which on July 1, was combind with Bureau of Fisheries to form the Fish and Wildlife Service, United States Department of the Interior, brought fruitful results during the year. That Bureau furnished technical advice and leadership on rodent and predatory animal control, wildlife inventories and joint management of game ranges in Grazing districts. RANGE MANAGEMENT Encouraging progress was made during the past year in the development of sound range-management practices on the Federal range. Correction of former unsatisfactory and unwise practices coupled with the development of proper use practices featured the program in many areas. Priorities having been determined and the rights of most applicants established under the law, problems of range management were given added attention. The number of range users was increased by 1,267 and the total livestock grazed increased 898,322 over that of the preceding year. Part of this increase is due to additional areas being placed under administration. Certain prior withdrawals were lifted or placed under grazing administration through agreements. Such areas were then placed under controlled use. More accurate information on the actual use of all ranges became available. While the number of users and of licensed livestock increased there were also many adjustments made resulting in reduction of numbers on overgrazed areas. Proper seasonal use in many areas made room for more livestock. Sudden changes in customs and practices that have grown up over a long period of years are both impracticable and undesirable. Opportunity must be given the livestock operators to make financial and other adjustments on a practicable basis. The support that is being given to the Grazing Service by the stockmen themselves in the development of sound range-measurement practices is indicative of their "acceptance of this principle. Wise counsel and assistance received from the district advisory boards contributed immeasurably to the furtherance of the range-management program. The following tabulation provides the statistical detail of range use of the Federal ranges during the past year: Dependent property surveys.-The work on dependent property surveys continued during the year as an essential part of the program. Property surveys are needed to determine the extent to which applicants are entitled to share in the use of the range. A great deal of factual information has been gathered to expedite final apportionment of range privileges. These data are used also in |