As of March 1 of this year, there were the following wilderness-type areas on the national forests:

The apparent loss of about 400,000 acres in wilderness use of the national forests between 1939 and the present was due to the transfer in 1941 of 432,000 acres of national-forest wilderness area to the King's Canyon National Park by the Congress. Prior to 1939, 206,000 acres of the Olympic primitive area were also transferred by Congress to the Olympic National Park.

The wilderness, wild, primitive, and roadless areas of the national forests include some of the most remote and scenic areas of the Nation. They have unique and special values which have long been recognized by wilderness enthusiasts, and would be recognized by the Congress if the proposed bills were enacted.

But these areas also pose special problems. They are unavailable for mass recreational use, the need for which on the national forests has been growing at a remarkable pace and will continue to grow. The wilderness-type areas on the national forests receive relatively limited use and are available only to those who have sufficient time, money, and physical capacity. The average family which wishes to go to the national forests in the family car for picnicking or a weekend of camping does not have access to those superlative areas. cause of their inaccessibility and lack of roads, wilderness areas are difficult to protect from fire, insects, and disease. If forest pests are not controlled, wilderness areas may serve as sources of infection to surrounding nationalforest timber. The wilderness areas themselves include valuable timber, forage, water, wildlife, and mineral resources.

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Wilderness advocates fear gradual encroachment and attrition of these areas in the future as the population of the country continues to grow, especially in the West, and the economic need for the resources now included in wilderness areas increases manyfold. But this encroachment has not happened in the national forests up to the present time. The figures cited above show essentially the same area in wilderness-type use now as nearly 20 years ago. There has been steadfast-continuity of wilderness policy and administration in the national forests for many years.

S. 1176 would tend to freeze the status quo with respect to present wildernesstype areas. It would curb the authority of the executive branch by permitting secretarial decisions with respect to wilderness-area boundaries to be overridden by resolution of either House. The bill would establish a National Wilderness Preservation Council which would have no real powers, but which would impose added recordkeeping, paperwork, and expense upon the landadministering agencies. The Secretary of Agriculture would be required to transmit his recommendations for wilderness-area changes through the Council to the Congress. He could not recommend directly to the Congress. The Council also would probably serve as a focal point to bring pressure upon the Congress and the executive agencies.

use.

By tending to freeze the status quo of existing wilderness-type areas the bill would strike at the heart of the multiple-use policy of national-forest administration. The bill would give a degree of congressional protection to wilderness use of the national forests which is not now enjoyed by any other It would tend to hamper free and effective application of administrative judgment which now determines, and should continue to determine, the use or combination of uses to which a particular national-forest area is put. This balancing of conflicting demands, and the weighing of one use priority against another is the key to workable multiple-use management.

The pending bill would prohibit by statute numerous uses in wilderness areas. Other uses would be prohibited subject to certain exceptions. Still other uses would be classed as nonconforming with a directive to the administering agency

to terminate those uses when this can be done with equity to the user, or with his agreement. The Department does not agree with the statutory use prohibitions in the pending bill, and proposes a different use classification in its recommended substitute bill.

It is for the above reasons that the Department does not favor the pending bill. Nevertheless, wilderness is a proper use of the national forests and will continue to be. We believe that legislation would be desirable which would give statutory recognition to wilderness use, would define wilderness areas, would specify procedures for their establishment and modification, and would clarify the uses which could be permitted. We see no need for establishment of a National Wilderness Preservation System, nor a National Wilderness Preservation Council. We object to provisions in the pending bill that decisions of the Secretary with respect to additions, modifications, or eliminations of wilderness areas may be overridden by resolution of either House.

Consequently, we have prepared a substitute bill which we recommend for the committee's consideration. This draft bill would apply only to the national forests. We have not attempted to prepare legislation covering lands not administered by this Department. The recommended bill would

1. Declare it to be the policy of Congress to (a) administer national forests for multiple use and sustained yield, (b) establish an adequate system of wilderness areas, and (c) provide for their protection and the dissemination of information about their use.

2. Direct the Secretary of Agriculture to administer the national forests on a multiple-use basis in order to produce a sustained yield of products and services including the establishment and maintenance of wilderness areas. 3. Define wilderness, include national-forest wilderness and wild areas as wilderness under the act, and direct the Secretary of Agriculture to designate presently classified primitive areas within 10 years as to whether they are predominantly of wilderness value. The bill would also provide that primitive areas not established as wilderness within 15 years of the date of the act would cease to be classified as primitive.

4. Place the authority to establish or abolish wilderness areas with the President, but provide that the Secretary of Agriculture could modify boundaries if the Secretary by such action did not change the total area of the wilderness by more than one-fourth of its original area. Also, would provide that any proposed addition which includes a power or reclamation withdrawal must be approved by the President.

5. Direct the Secretary, prior to the establishment of, or change in, wilderness areas, to obtain the views of other affected Federal agencies, to give public notice, and to hold a public hearing if such is requested.

6. Prohibit resorts, hotels, restaurants, stores, summer homes, organization camps, hunting and fishing lodges, and similar facilities within a wilderness area.

7. Prohibit or limit other facilities or uses in accordance with secretarial regulation provided that mining, permanent roads, commercial timber cutting except to control pest infestations, and reservoirs which require road construction, would be prohibited unless the President affirmatively authorized them.

8. Change the names of the Superior roadless areas in the Superior National Forest in Minnesota to the boundary waters canoe area and direct the Secretary to manage them for the general purpose of maintaining the primitive character of the areas, particularly the lakes, streams, and portages. Any modification of the boundary waters canoe area would be accomplished in the same manner as for wilderness areas.

9. Declare the provisions of the proposed act to be within and supplemental to the basic purposes for which the national forests were established. The Bureau of the Budget advises that while there is no objection to the submission of this report, that Office recognizes that the Congress may not wish to deal with the problems of preservation of national wilderness assets except in a general and uniform statute applicable to all affected agencies.

Sincerely yours,

E. L. PETERSON, Assistant Secretary.

A BILL To provide for the establishment of wilderness areas on national forest lands, the regulation by the Secretary of Agriculture of their use, and for other purposes

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That this Act shall apply to existing and hereafter acquired national forest lands and may be cited as the National Forest Wilderness Act.

SEC. 2. The Congress recognizes that an increasing population, accompanied by expending settlement, increased demand for natural resources, and growing mechanization, is destined to occupy and modify most areas within the United States, its Territories, and possessions except those that are set apart for preservation and protection in their natural condition. Such preservation of areas which are predominantly valuable for wilderness is recognized as a desirable policy of the Government of the United States of America which will promote the health, welfare, and happiness of its citizens of present and future generations. Accordingly, it is declared to be the policy of Congress (1) to administer the national forests with the general objectives of multiple use and sustained yield, (2) to establish an adequate system of areas predominantly valuable for wilderness to serve the recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, and conservation needs of the people, and (3) to provide for the protection of such areas and for the gathering and dissemination of information regarding their use and enjoyment as wilderness. Pursuant to this policy the Congress gives sanction to the continued preservation as wilderness of such areas Federally owned or controlled that are within national forests.

SEC. 3. In order to carry out this policy the Secretary of Agriculture is directed to administer the national forests on a multiple-use basis so that the resources thereof will be used and developed to produce a sustained yield of products and services, including the establishment and maintenance of wilderness areas, for the benefit of all the people of this and future generations.

SEC. 4. A wilderness, in contrast with those areas where man and his own works dominate the landscape, is hereby recognized as an area where generally the earth and its community of life are not disturbed by man. For the purpose of this Act the term "wilderness" shall include those areas of national forest lands retaining their natural primeval environment and influence, which through their nature are predominantly valuable to serve the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservational, and historical use and enjoyment by the people in such manner as wilderness, and which as hereinafter provided shall be established as, or included within, wilderness. Areas now classified by regulations of the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter called Secretary) as wilderness or wild areas are included as wilderness under this Act. The Secretary is authorized and directed to review and within 10 years to designate the presently classified primitive areas or portions thereof within the national forests that are predominantly of wilderness value. Primitive areas not established as wilderness within 5 years of the date on which they are designated as predominantly of wilderness value shall cease to be classified as primitive. SEC. 5. (a) The President of the United States is authorized, as he deems advisable in furtherance of the policy stated in Section 2, to establish wilderness by proclamation or Executive order and in such manner to abolish wildernesses when they are no longer predominantly valuable as such. Modification of wildernesses in furtherance of such policy may be made by the Secretary through adjustments of the boundaries thereof or by additions thereto or eliminations therefrom: Provided, That the total area of a wilderness shall not in such manner be changed by more than one-fourth of its original area : Provided further, That where a proposed addition includes an existing power or reclamation withdrawal it shall not be effective until approved by the President.

(b) Prior to the establishment, modification, or elimination of any wilderness the Secretary shall (1) obtain from the heads of other affected Federal agencies their view with respect thereto, (2) give notice of such proposed action for not less than 90 days (a) by publication in one or more newspapers of general circulation, as he may deem necessary, in the State or Territory wherein the affected land lies or (b) by policy posting notice thereof at the County seat of each county in which the affected land lies, and (3) if there is demand for a public hearing, cause such a hearing to be held and a full report thereon to be made to the

Secretary who shall consider such report, and, when Presidential action is required shall submit the report with his recommendations to the President.

SEC. 6. The preservation of wilderness shall be the paramount purpose of this Act. Resorts, hotels, restaurants, stores, summer homes, organization camps, hunting and fishing lodges, and similar facilities within a wilderness shall be prohibited. Other facilities or uses within a wilderness shall be prohibited or limited in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary: Provided, That prospecting, mining, except on existing valid mining claims, the construction of permanent roads, commercial timber cutting except to control insect and disease infestations, and the establishment or maintenance of reservoirs within a wilderness are prohibited unless the President, upon his determination that such use in the specific area will better serve the interests of the United States than will its denial, shall authorize such use.

SEC. 7. The areas heretofore known as the Superior Roadless Areas in the Superior National Forest, Minnesota, shall hereafter be known as the Voyageurs Canoe Area and shall be managed in accordance with regulations issued by the Secretary in conformity with the general purpose of maintaining, without unnecessary restrictions on other uses including that of timber, the primitive character of the area, particularly in the vicinity of lakes, streams, and portages: Provided, That such regulations shall not conflict with the provisions of the Act of July 10, 1930 (46 Stat. 1020), as amended and supplemented, or any other Acts applicable to any portion of such area. Modifications of such area shall be accomplished in the same manner as provided in Section 5 with respect to wildernesses.

SEC. 8. The Secretary is authorized to issue regulations for the administration of, and shall administer, wildernesses in accordance with the purposes of this Act; and such purposes are hereby declared to be within and supplemental to but not in interference with the purposes for which national forests are established as set forth in the Act of June 4, 1899 (Section 1, 30 Stat. 34, 35; 16 U.S. C. 475, 551).

STATEMENT OF RICHARD E. MCARDLE, CHIEF, FOREST SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, ON S. 1176, BEFORE SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS, SENATE COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS, 85TH CONGRESS, 18T SESSION, JUNE 19, 1957

Mr. Chairman and committee members, I welcome this opportunity to state the views of the Department of Agriculture on S. 1176, a bill to establish a National Wilderness Preservation System and for other wilderness purposes.

The Department is fully aware of the interest and support given this measure. It also is aware of the opposition to the bill. Because of the potential impacts of the bill on the national forests administered by the Department of Agriculture and the precedents that might be set with regard to future multiple-use administration of the national forests, the Department has given more than ordinary study and care to the development of its position.

As the formal report of the Department states, we are sympathetic to the general objectives of the bill, but do not recommend its enactment. Instead it is recommended that Congress consider a draft bill submitted by the Department in connection with its report to the committee.

The views of Agriculture on the pending bill are limited to its impact on the national forests because these are the only lands to be affected by the bill that are under Agriculture's jurisdiction. Likewise the draft bill offered by the Department would affect only the national forests.

This statement will cover four main points:

1. It is important to summarize the Department's interpretation of what S. 1176 would do to the national forests because such interpretation is the basis for departmental position. It is a long and complex bill. For this reason some supporters may not fully understand the specifics of the proposed legislation and may be basing support for it on their general sympathy with the wilderness concept.

2. A listing of the main reasons why the Department does not favor S. 1176: The proponents of the measure, both in and out of Congress, should have explained to them the specific reasons for the Department's objection.

3. A summary of the Department's record of wilderness area establishment and management: This is important in order to avoid any possible impression that, by opposing the proposed legislation, the Department is not sympathetic to wilderness areas. The record demonstrates the opposite to be true. The record also demonstrates a continuity of policy over 3 decades which should give assurance to those who question the objectives and firmness of the admin

istrators of the national forests.

Some problems created by wilderness areas also should be brought to the committee's attention.

4. A summary of the Department's draft bill recommended to the Congress for its consideration and why it is proposed. This draft bill is not offered as a gesture. It contains language which would be of material aid to the Department in administering the national forests, would go far in meeting wilderness preservation objectives, and would definitely be a major advance in the field of conservation legislation.

MAIN PROVISIONS OF S. 1176

Without attempting to summarize all of the provisions of the pending bill, the five main provisions with respect to national forests are:

1. It would establish a national wilderness preservation system, blanket into that system all existing wilderness, wild, and roadless areas in the national forests, and direct that priimtive areas be reported to a newly created National Wilderness Preservation Council with appropriate boundary modifications by January 1, 1966, for inclusion in the wilderness system. The bill would also declare a congressional policy to secure the dedication, and protection, of a system of wilderness areas.

2. Proposed change in any national-forest area to be included in, or excluded from, the National Wilderness Preservation System would have to be submitted to the Congress through a newly created National Wilderness Preservation Council and would become effective only if neither House of Congress passed a resolution opposing the proposed changes within 120 calendar days. The net result of this proposal is that a single House of Congress could overrule action of the Secretary of Agriculture.

3. Acquisition of private lands within national-forest areas included in the national wilderness preservation system would be authorized.

4. Certain uses would be wholly prohibited by statute. Others would be prohibited, or permitted only within certain limitations. Still others would be classed as nonconforming. Those prohibited by statute would include lumbering, prospecting, and mining, including the removal of oil and gas deposits, and water-management practices involving diversion, impoundment, storage, or the manipulation of plant cover. Limited uses would include roads which would be prohibited except for the minimum needed for administration of the area. Likewise motor vehicles, other mechanical transport, delivery of persons or supplies, structures, and installations would be prohibited if in excess of the minimum needed to administer the area. Nonconforming uses would include grazing by domestic livestock other than pack animals, and the use of motorboats and aircraft. The Secretary would be directed to terminate such nonconforming uses when this could be accomplished through agreement with, or with equity to, the users.

5. The bill would create a National Wilderness Preservation Council consisting of certain specified agency heads and six citizens to be appointed by the President. The Council would have no administrative responsibilities but would act as a repository for information, sponsor and coordinate surveys of wilderness needs, advise with governmental officials, report annually to the Congress, and transmit to the Congress proposed changes in wilderness boundaries. In the latter respect, the Council would be interposed between the executive departments and the Congress.

REASONS FOR DEPARTMENTAL OBJECTION

S. 1176 would tend to freeze the status quo with respect to present wildernesstype areas. The bill would do this by (a) including existing national-forest wilderness, wild, and roadless areas in the national wilderness preservation system, and (b) permitting a single House of Congress to override secretarial judgment as to subsequent modifications or eliminations of such areas. Furthermore, the House of Congress which disagreed with the Secretary's recommendation could by resolution override the wishes of the other House if it were in accord with the Secretary's judgment.

The bill would establish a National Wilderness Preservation Council which would have no real powers but would impose added recordkeeping, paperwork, and expense upon the Department of Agriculture and other executive landadministering agencies.

The Secretary would be prohibited from transmitting recommendations for administrative changes in wilderness areas directly to the Congress. He would

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