Show PUBLIC DOMAIN CONTROL PLANS ARE SUGGESTED Utah Expert Declares Forest Service Should Handle Operations Special to The Standard Examiner LOGAN Utah Oct 22 Dr Dr George Stewart head of the tue de department de- de department department of agronomy at the Utah Agricultural college and agronomist for the tise Utah experiment station stal n. n Is opposing to passing the public domain Into the private ownership of stock stock- stockmen stockmen men largely because large tracts are arc tributary to single water holes or orsome orsome orsome some path of accessibility He Is also opposed to leasing the public domain to private stockmen because the practice has not proven to be successful In the United States and because It Is necessary that control be administered over large units Impossible under private leasing The college expert expressed the opinion that this subject Is one of the tise most vital problems affecting the tue entire western agricultural situation He Ste offers ten objections td the very ry common suggestion that the public domain should be controlled by bythe bythe bythe the states in which It Is h located and In doing so he comes to the conclusion that the United States Forest orest Service should have control of the public lands He lIe points out OBJECTIONS OUTLINED First that First that under state sta control there would be ten or twelve separ separ- separate separate separate ate heads Instead of one Second that Second that separate states could not work out a satisfactory cor cor- correlation correlation correlation relation between summer ranges and winter ranges because they are fre fre- frequently frequently In different states and In some cases hundreds of or miles apart The forest set service could meet this situation Third ThIrd that state boundary lines very frequently do not define geo geo- geographical geographical geographical graphical units unite Fourth Fourth that that Interstate water rater sheds such as lIS the Colorado river rl drain drain- drainage drainage drainage age areas will ill be materially In Influenced In- In Influenced by the control of grazing which will prevent pre erosion and the silting of the reservoirs when they the are constructed Under state slate control Utah for example might graze In such a fashion as to cause heavy surface erosion er lon and a. a nery a very sery rapid I filling of an expensive reservoir Only federal control could eliminate this difficulty I Fifth that Fifth that the United States forest service has a well trained staff U of men with 25 5 sears jears ears ex experIence ex cx- cx Separate state slate control would lose almost entirely the value of or orthis this training Why should the state slate repeat the same mistakes and some others that were made In the trie be beginning be- be beginnIng beginning ginning of the federal control of the national forests Sixth that Sixth that Civil sen service Ice system Is not operative In the separate states State supervisors would In most cases be politically appointed and this would Inevitably create an un un- undesirable undesirable Undesirable desirable situation Seventh Seventh that if U these lands were turned over oser to the separate states It Is quite possible that their value would be dissipated In such a way that the separate states would not scenic accrue any benefit bend It This has been generally true of other state re resources re- re resources sources There are exceptions to this statement but they merely accentuate the difficulties L AID ID CITED Eighth that Eighth that millions of dollars of federal money come each year ear to western states to be expended on roads and In reclamation work ork The TIse I money Is largely expended In pro pro- proportion proportion proportion portion to the area orea of public land We could no longer expect this help from the national treasury If U I Ithe the lands were turned over to the states Ninth that Ninth that Information acquired In one state through experience or research could be readily moved In Into Into into to another state If U the United States forest sen ten service Ice were In control but It might conceivably take years ears If If the states states' were In control I MEANS l LARGER MEASURE SURE Tenth Tenth that that Income to the state would be bp much larger If the lands were handled by the forest service rather than by the states Utah could at the most expect an Income I of about from crazing grazing permits on the public domain This Is figured on Ott the bc per cow unit three or four sheep are arc considered about the equal to one cow unit The United States forest service could use us their central officers supervisors and experienced rangers to handle our ou 24 2 million acres of grazing lands without additional cost since these men are already employed on the national forests They would require about 48 ad additional ad- ad additional additional guards and arid some traveling I expenses which would permit the forest service to administer these I lands for only about fifty per cent centor of or the th estimated Income of If the state assumed control paying no attention to the lack of experience the tise entire Income would be used There would be neither Income Income- in lieu of taxation which the federal government can provide from the unused half halt of the fees nor any funds for research which could bs ba provided pro under fed foo- federal oral eral era 1 control It If congress were to ap ap- appoint appoInt ap- ap appoint point some federal agency other than the forest sen service ice to control these lands that would still leave unsolved ed most of the difficulties mentioned except that the public domain could of course be adminis adminIS- administered adminIStered administered as one unit |