The grazing of mountain forests by domestic aninnals is a common feature of Swiss agriculture. At present, some tvvelve percent of Swiss mountain forests are grazed, mainly by cattle. Most of the wood pastures used by Swiss farmers are composed of wooded areas, open areas and half-open areas. The practice of forest grazing in the Alpine valley Dischma in the Swiss canton of Grisons was studied by direct observations of cattle and by interviewing the farmers. The grazing regimes of seven sub-alpine wood pastures traditionally stocked with cattle were described. The ranges vvere grazed in three different ways: temporary, continuously, and successively. The Alpine wood pastures are managed quite individually, and the grazing reginne varies between years depending on the weather conditions and other circumstances, e. g. plant development. There are differences in the site conditions of the ranges, such as aspect, slope, altitude, and forest density. Furthermore, the ranges are grazed by different cattle categories, during different grazing periods, and at different stocking rates. The variety of factors characterising a specific wood pasture range not only complicates the research on forest grazing but will also nnake it difficult to control the compliance with potential restrictions. In studies an wood pastures it is essential to record all the specific conditions of a range and the characteristics of the grazing practice. As a basis for the development of guidelines for the management of subalpine wood pastures, both comparative field studies and experiments should be carried out. Thus, correlations found in the field studies can be verified under control led conditions.