JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact support@jstor.org.. Allen Press and Society for Range Management are collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of Range Management. (Formerly in charge of Wildlife Management, Pacific Northwest Region, Forest Service, Portland, Oregon)'SINCE the science of game management was first thought of, it has been known that the principal factor in keeping game populations is food. Cover and water are essentials also, but both can be provided much more easily than game food. With deer and elk, winter food is the immediate problem, and the importance of browse has been fully recognized by every administrator of big game in the West. It has been considered a staple food in the diet of both deer and elk, especially during the winter months. Now browse appears to be definitely on the decline and the question arises, what will happen to the game if the browse disappears? The discussion in this paper will deal with browse conditions in eastern Washington and eastern Oregon.With its wide spread in elevation, temperature, and rainfall, the area considered covers nearly all the mammalian life zones and includes the characteristic forage zones of each. Elevation varies from 200 feet along the Columbia River to over 14,000 feet on the highest Cascade Mountain peak. Temperatures vary from -50? to + 114?F., and the precipitation ranges from an average of 7 inches to 40 inches per annum. Much of the moisture falls as snow, but the Cascade Mountains intercept considerable rain during the summer months.This area is not a browse country when 1 Mr. Mitchell retired after nearly forty years in the Forest Service, and is,now employed as Representative, Education and Information Division, Washington State Department of Game, Seattle, Washington.