James T. Jardine and Mark Anderson's Bulletin No. 790 (Washington,
D.C.: Government Printing Office, August 6, 1919) has long been considered a classic
work on national forest grazing for its affirmation of the agency's utilitarian
principles, but also for its mature view of the need to regulate grazing in accord
with the needs of timber and water protections, wildlife, recreation, and the condition
of the range itself. The publication's Introduction begins as follows:
"In the administration of the National Forests the aim is
to convey to the greatest possible number the full benefit of all the resources
which the Forests contain and at the same time to perpetuate these resources by
regulating their use. Accordingly, grazing on the National Forests is regulated
with the object of using the grazing resources to the fullest extent possible consistent
with the protection, development, and use of other resources.
As the National Forests were established primarily for the protection
and development of the Forests and the protection of the watersheds, great pains
must be taken to harmonize grazing with these primary purposes. Also, as plans go
forward for the development and use of new range and for more complete utilization
of all unused areas within the ranges now in use, more and more care must be exercised
to see that the wild life of the Forests is not unduly restricted. As long as a
large portion of each Forest was unused by domestic stock the main feature of game
protection was proper regulation of hunting; but with grazing reaching out to the
pockets and corners, the problem of insuring forage and secluded spots for game
becomes more complicated. The recreational features of the National Forests, too,
are of increasing importance, and increased attention is necessary to harmonize
grazing use with recreational use."
Due to budgetary restrictions which at the time limited government
agricultural publications to 100 pages, a considerable amount of material was deleted
from the final publication. The bulletin checks in at exactly 100 pages, but managed
to include an additional 32 pages of black and white photo plates.
U.S. Forest Service Headquarters History Collection
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