U.S. Forest Service Grazing and Rangelands: A History

The early luxury of free forage on unclaimed western public domain allowed the building of fortunes in cattle and sheep and offered opportunities to successive waves of settlement. But the western public lands could not last. The range became overgrazed, overstocked, overcrowded. Animals were lost, much range was irreversible damaged, and even violence occurred as cowmen, sheepmen, and settlers competed for the best forage.

Congress intervened by designating the U.S. Forest Service as the pioneer grazing control agency. The Forest Service's controls represent not only attempts to protect a resource but also a social experiment designed to prevent the monopolization of rangelands by large outfits and to encourage small enterprises.

The Forest Service has become the undisputed leader in bringing order, rationality, and economic use to the range resources under government supervision. The problems and continuing challenges of the task emerge in these pages.

Author: William D. Rowley
Publisher: Texas A&M University Press
Published: 12/01/1985
Pages: 300
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.07lbs
Size: 9.05h x 6.06w x 0.74d
ISBN13: 9781585440832
ISBN10: 1585440833
BISAC Categories:
- History | United States | 19th Century
- History | United States | 20th Century
- Nature | Environmental Conservation & Protection | General