LAND ACQUISITION Mr. KIRWAN. $10,400,000 is requested for land acquisition. We will insert in the record the item from the House Document, the justifications, and the general statement. (The matter referred to follows:) DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR "NATIONAL PARK SERVICE "CONSTRUCTION "For an additional amount for 'Construction,' for acquisition of lands, intercst therein, improvements, and related personal property, including not to exceed $15,000 for travel and transportation of persons, $10,400,000, to remain available until expended." The budget anticipated the enactment of the land and water conservation fund legislation in time to use that fund to finance the 1965 land acquisition program of the National Park Service. The delay in final action on the bill, the probability of a January 1, 1965, effective date and the anticipated date on which an appropriation might become available to implement the legislation all seem to preclude use of the fund as a source of financing in 1965. This proposed supplemental appropriation will finance the highest priority items on the National Park Service's land acquisition program for 1965. PURPOSE AND NEED FOR SUPPLEMENTAL FUNDS The amount of $10,400,000 is needed to provide for a high priority land acquisition program, including lands in Cape Cod and Padre Island National Seashores, lands opposite Mount Vernon, and inholdings in various park areas. Funds for the 1965 fiscal year land acquisition program were anticipated to be included in a supplemental estimate of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation after the pending land and water conservation fund legislation was enacted. As the date of enactment is uncertain, it is necessary to obtain 1965 funding without delay to prevent serious impairment of the acquisition program. ACQUISITION OF LANDS PROGRAM The 1965 fiscal year budget did not provide an item for land acquisition as had been the case in prior years. Instead it proposed that the item be included in a 1965 fiscal year supplemental estimate of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation after the pending land and water conservation fund legislation was enacted. A special appropriation for land acquisition for Point Reyes National Seashore, Calif., was requested as a 1964 supplemental item and was provided by Congress by addition to the 1965 appropriation bill. There is no appropriation bill pending to provide funds with which to continue this high priority program of park and recreatonal area land acquistion. The delay in taking final action on the land and water conservation fund bill and its probable effective date when enacted make it imperative that supplemental funds be provided at the earliest practicable date to enable the Service to continue acquisitions in 1965 for the Cape Cod National Seashore, Mass., and Padre Island National Seashore, Tex., certain inholdings in various park areas, and land in Maryland opposite Mount Vernon. Substantially all of the existing funds have been earmarked for specific high-priority land acquisitions at Point Reyes, Cape Cod, and Padre Island National Seashores; leaving only a small balance for acquisitions in other park areas and for operating expenses of the existing land acquisition staff. Although the House Appropriations Committee has approved within available funds the retention of the 39 existing land acquisition positions involved in carrying out this program, adequate funds to pay their salaries and expenses are not available. Such services are indispensable to carrying the land acquisition work forward. The proposed 1965 fiscal year land acquisition is as follows: Cape Cod National Seashore, Mass_. Padre Island National Seashore, Tex- National Capital Parks (land in Maryland opposite Mount Vernon) __ Total____ $3,000, 000 3,500,000 544, 493 3, 355, 507 10, 400, 000 Need for funds.—Privately owned and State owned lands within the authorized areas of the National Park Systems constitute a major problem in the management, protection, maintenance, operation, and development of the individual areas in which they lie. Of the total of approximately 26,700,000 authorized acres in the system, about 645,000 were privately or State owned as of October 1, 1963, including the Cape Cod, Point Reyes, and Padre Island National Seashores. Until the most essential of these lands are acquired by the Federal Government, some of the consequences which must be endured are: 1. Private development and operation of facilities within the parks and monuments over which there is no public control but which owe their profitmaking capacity to park visitors. 2. Cutting of timber with consequent scars and impairment of park scenery. 3. Operation of undesirable establishments or activities. 5. Conduct of land-scarring mining operations and, after the cessation of mining, the existence of mining debris and of deteriorating structures. 6. Costly delays in needed developments or greater expense because of the necessity of "going around" private lands or establishing public developments in less desirable locations. 7. Construction of commercial and other structures on lands whose acquisition thereafter becomes more expensive. 8. Adverse impact of wildlife and habitat ecology. As new areas are authorized for establishment from year to year and as boundaries of existing areas are enlarged the land acquisition fund requirement increases. The funds requested are needed for the land acquisition items, as follows: Cape Cod National Seashore, Mass., $3 million Public Law 87-126, approved August 7, 1961, authorized the establishment of this national seashore area and the appropriation of not to exceed $16 million for land acquisition. The amount of $2,250,000 was provided in a 1962 fiscal year supplemental appropriation to start the land acquisition program; $4 million was provided in the 1963 appropriation; and $1,300,000 in 1964, including $1 million, which was reprogramed from Minute Man National Historical Park, Mass., to continue the program, making a total of $7,550,000 made available to date. The amount of $3 million requested in the estimate is needed to maintain an orderly land acquisition program for this area in 1965. Padre Island National Seashore, Tex., $3,500,000 The establishment of this seashore area was authorized by Public Law 87-712, approved September 28, 1962, which also authorized the appropriation of not to exceed $5 million for land acquisition purposes. The amount of $1.5 million was provided in the 1964 appropriation. Appraisals, surveys, and title evidence have been obtained. Preliminary contracts have been made with owners. Negotiations for large holdings are about to commence. The amount of $3.5 million, the balance of the authorization, requested in this estimate is needed at once to acquire these large holdings. National Capital parks, $544,493 Public Law 87-362, approved October 4, 1961, authorized the appropriation of $937,600 for the preservation and protection of certain lands in Prince Georges and Charles Counties, Md., opposite Mount Vernon, by the acquisition of lands and scenic easements in order to preserve as nearly as possible the view from George Washington's home in the condition existing during his lifetime and to prevent further intrustion. The sum of $213,000 was appropriated in the 1963 fiscal year for this purpose; $180,107 was provided by reprograming available funds as approved by both the House and Senate Subcommittees on Appropriations; leaving unappropriated $544,493 of the legislative authorization. Some of the lands in question have been donated to the Federal Government and a key tract of land has now been acquired. The remaining lands should be acquired without delay. The expanding population of the Washington metropolitan area is continually creating threats of adverse uses of the territory surrounding and across the river from Mount Vernon, such as intensive urban developments and the construction of a sewer line which would dump effluent, raw and untreated, into the nearby Potomac River. These threats have been warded off so far, but pressures continue to build up. The sum of $544,493 is required to meet the objective of the authorizing legislation in 1965. Inholdings in various park areas, $3,355,507 The value of privately and State owned lands within the authorized boundaries of the parks after 1964 (not including the three items discussed in the foregoing) is now estimated at $92 million. This includes a substantial amount of private land lying within new areas and the extended boundaries of other areas as re defined by the Congress. The amounts appropriated in recent years for land acquisition have aided in alleviating a number of complex problems in connection with preserving lands from exploitation, providing needed lands for development and restoration purposes, rounding out areas for management, protection, and interpretive purposes, etc. The rate of progress, however, in acquiring these lands has not been rapid enough. The Service still has a long way to go. With the passage of time. the cost to the Government of acquiring the lands is proving to be greater and greater. The amount of $3,355,507 requested for the acquisition of inholdings in various park areas in 1965 would be applied for the most part to purchasing the highest priority lands which are urgently required for construction and development purposes. The balance will be applied to lands required for restoration and to lands imminently threatened by nonconforming uses and despoliation. The following is a listing of the parks containing inholdings of highest priority (exclusive of those discussed elsewhere in this estimate) in which it is contemplated now that land acqusition will be undertaken in 1965: Badlands National Monument, S. Dak__. Big Bend National Park, Tex---. Big Hole National Battlefield, Mont.... Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument, Colo___ Blue Ridge Parkway, Va.-N.C__ Cape Hatteras National Seashore, N.C. Capitol Reef National Monument, Utah. $46,000 4,000 20,000 3,810 24, 000 162, 000 35,000 1, 800 20, 000 8,000 115, 000 95, 000 Capulin Mountain National Monument, N. Mex.. Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, Fla. Chalmette National Historical Park, La__. Glacier National Park, Mont Grand Portage National Monument, Minn. Grand Teton National Park, Wyo‒‒‒‒ Great Sand Dunes National Monument, Colo-- Great Smoky Mountains National Park, N.C.-Tenn____ Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt National Historic Site, N.Y. 40, 000 178, 850 885 55, 100 61,500 15,000 144, 000 9, 400 155, 000 43,000 200,000 200,000 12, 500 Sequoia National Park, Calif__ Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park, N. Dak....... Virgin Islands National Park, V.I.......... Yosemite National Park, Calif.......... Zion National Park, Utah---- Total_____ 23, 240 94, 000 5,000 8, 500 250,000 72,000 22,000 146, 000 35, 320 17,000 262, 200 48, 200 2,500 250,000 275, 300 194, 402 3,355, 507 The foregoing amounts, totaling $10.4 million, include funds for land acquisition expenses, such as salaries and general expenses of the land acquisition staffs, appraisals, title evidence, surveys, etc., and are needed to finance a realistic land acquisition program in fiscal year 1965. STATEMENT OF DONALD E. LEE OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, the supplemental estimate of the National Park Service now under consideration is to provide needed funds for continuing through fiscal year 1965 our land acquisition program having the objective of obtaining those lands most urgently needed for development and management of the authorized park lands. The land acquisition program is a continuing one essential to alleviating a number of complex problems, including the prevention of exploitation, and rounding out areas for park management, protection, and interpretive and development purposes. We are requesting the appropriation of supplemental 1965 funds for this program since our regular 1965 fiscal year budget did not provide an item for land acquisition as had been the case in prior years. Instead it proposed that the item would be included in a 1965 fiscal year supplemental estimate of the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation after the pending land and water conservation fund bill was enacted. As the proposed bill has not had final action and as its probable effective date will not be earlier than January of 1965, it is imperative that these supplemental funds be provided before that time to enable the Service to continue its basic land acquisition program during the year. The amount of $3 million is requested for Cape Cod National Seashore, Mass. This sum would bring the total available through 1965 to $10,550,000, leaving a balance of $5,450,000 unappropriated of the $16 million authorized by Public Law 87-126. This appropriation is needed to continue the excellent progress made to date in acquiring lands there, almost entirely by purchase agreements with owners. Another $3.5 million is requested for land acquisition at Padre Island National Seashore, Tex. Establishment of this seashore area was authorized by Public Law 87-712, which also authorized the appropriation of not to exceed $5 million for land acquisition purposes; $1.5 million of this authorization was provided in the 1964 appropriations. Appraisals, surveys, and title evidence have been obtained; preliminary contracts have been made with owners and negotiations for large holdings are about to commence. The balance of the authorization, $3.5 million requested in this estimate, is needed at once to acquire these large holdings. We are also requesting $544,493, the remainder of the $937,600 authorized by Public Law 87-362, for the acquisition, preservation, and protection of certain lands in Maryland, opposite Mount Vernon, by the acquisition of lands and scenic easements in order to preserve as nearly as possible the view from George Washington's home in the condition existing during his lifetime and to prevent further intrusion. The expanding population of the Washington metropolitan area is continually creating threats of adverse uses in the territory intended by the Congress to be protected. Pressures continue to build up although the threats have 36-723-64-pt. 1—17 |