Use of state forest land by seasonally migratory yak herds has been an increasing source of conflict between the yak-owning Byashi people and the locally resident Kimtori people in north-west Nepal. Describing the fraught recent history of the conflict, this paper commented that although legislation in Nepal allows for transfer of the control of state forest land to local user groups, devolution was not an appropriate solution in this instance. The scope for co-operation between the Byashi and Kimtori was limited by fundamental differences in their languages, wealth and values placed on the forest land