Show from the new york tribune wild horses by the thousands are overrunning the government national forests of nevada and neighboring states aid and the authorities in washington are besieged with petitions from stockmen stoc kmen and farmers begging them to put a stop to tho the nuisance A recent dispatch from reno conveyed the intelligence that there are ard fifteen thousand of the untamed beasts upon the Toiya bc coquina and monitor Alo forest reserves in lan L andor county alone and that orders have been received by the th e forest rangers 11 to begin a systematic war of extermination upon them this dis I 1 patch although twisted as to facts does not exaggerate the number of ot of horses now supposed 0 be roaming at at largo in the districts mentioned As a matter of probable truth there are arc a good many more than fifteen thousand wild horses in nevada and the neighboring states and every herd is a pest to the owners of vc vegetation e tation and domestic stock the part of reno telegram which Is not true is that relating to the orders sent from washington neither the forest rangers nor any other amplo employees ees of the government have been told to destro destroy 3 the horses and unless they do receive such orders they will confine their energies to fencing crops from the trespassing tres passing animals or rounding them thein up when they appear and threaten damage to the range indeed if halt half the stories brought to the capital are true all the rangers in uncle sams service would have little chance of destroying ill the big herds that are roami roaming n over the western states within the last few years they have increased to such an extent that in many localities they them are classed as varin varmints var mints ints with wolves wildcats and grizzlies grizzlier grizz lies and every mans rifle ride is turned against them no fence is strong enough to stop these horses and when they appear in force they have even been known to knock down and kill cows and calv esAf ter each visitation si from a herd the ranchman Is lively to mourn the tha loss of his domestic horses and it requires only a few days association with their new companions for the best broken animals to become as wild as their nomadic comrades A study of the wild horse problem brings to light many interesting facts about the animals the legislature of nevada it seems passed a law many years ago specifically allowing hunters to shoot wild horses and to sell their hides for what they could get in open market market the law opened the way to a new an and ad unusual industry and many men found the killing of wild horses very profitable besides the work was exciting and gave the business the added zest of sport As time went on and the business of killing these outlaws as the wild horses were often termed on the ranges assumed greater and g greater proportions stockmen stoc kmen found that the professional hunters we gerein were rein in many cases abusing their rights and were killing branded and shod horses this put an end to the business for on complaint of the stockmen stoc kmen the nevada legislature promptly repealed tho the law it is estimated that animals were killed during the time that the law was in force this figure gave the basis tor for last weeks story the report however had good basis of tact fact tor for the wild horse question has groa drovin n to be as serious in the last few years as it was when the nevada legislature was vas forced to enact the old law the united states forest service has not given orders for the killing of a single horse because it has no right to do so the forest officers of the nevada national forests realize liow how bad con conditions dillons are and will do anything to assist the stock men to put down the nuisance any one who finally discovers an effective method to settle this problem will have done ri a great service for the stockmen stoc kmen of aery state west of the missouri river As an old and experienced stockman now in the employ of uncle sarp sam said of this wild horse problem theoretically it seems a very simple matter to handle but practically it is quite the reverse rege rage on the range ran ge of many of the national forests the supervisors have been at their wits ends tor for several severa era years trying to devise a method to meet the difficulty apparel apparently antly an entirely satisfactory method can not be found because of the inadequate laws now enforced in the different states under the circumstances cum stances the following fol lovIng plan has been recommended to meet the conditions in the national forests if the presence of the horses is seriously damaging the national forest range and public sentiment favors such action the supervisor may up on petition ot of a majority of the per of a grazing district allow the horses to be gathered and disposed of according to the state or territorial laws la in such cases the forest service will upon recommendation from the supervisor operate cooperate co in the construction of corrals or fences for tho the purpose of capturing the horses forest officers may drive inper witted horses from the forests at any time but it the owners of the horses are known and ownership acknowledged the owner should be allowed to adjust the matter by paying the gnit grazing zing fee jf if lie he refuses to apply for the permit then a tres trespass pasi charge should be brought against him and the case conducted according to instruction unbranded horses may be handled according to the state laws but forest officers cannot be allowed to gather such horses for foi the purpose ot of using or selling them nor can call tiey they be allowed to collect any remuneration ne from any person tor for corral ing unclaimed horses the policy ot of the forest service will be therefore to operate cooperate co with the stockmen stoc kmen of the state or territorial authorities when they take the initiative in disposing of wild horses in the national forests but the present laws and regulations ions do not admit of independent action by the forest service the wild horse problem Is only one ot of the many which stockmen stoc kmen men have to contend with which the government 1 is trying in one way or another to solve on the ranges of the national forests predatory aili animals malo such as wolves coyotes mountain lions and wildcats do thousand of dollars worth of damage to stock each year in all parts of the country on some ranges forest officers have to contend with rustlers who sometimes succeed in stealing the great part ot of the stock which the predatory animals do not kill poisonous plants are another nuisance which give the stockmen stoc kmen considerable trouble in many parts of the country uncle sam has always shown a disposition to operate cooperate co with the stock men in combating these nuisances in fact lie he is doing better than merely meeting the stockmen stoc kmen halt half way in the work on many of the national forest ranges for the last year rangers and guards have been assigned to the work of hunting and trapp trapping ilig with the sole aim of killing oft off the animals that prey upon stock the work has met with marked success and hundreds of wolves and coyotes have succumbed to the bullets and the poison of the hunters each animal killed means a 1 decided saving to the sheep industry for it is estimated estima tad that one wolf averages about 1000 damage each year forest officers aro are operating cooperating co with the stock associations to stop the stealing of livestock and run the rustlers out of the country the war on poisonous plants has been carried on for more than a year by the forest service in operation cooperation co with the bureau of plant industry and while the anve investigations have just been begun it is already seen that their growth can be checked in many states it if it Is possible to check the wild horse nuisance is as easily as the other troubles which have bothered the stock interests both the stockmen stoc kmen and forest officers will find the western ranges rid of another serious drawback which helps to letard progress in the business busine qs |