Mr. Chairman, the Sport Fishing Institute appreciates this opportunity to appear before your committee to endorse H.R. 2775, introduced by Congressman Clem Miller, of California. This bill would authorize acquisition of lands for recreation at the Point Reyes seashore area north of San Francisco metropolis. I am personally familiar with this area, and can attest to its rugged seaside beauty. Vital coastal angling access for the public is needed, and particularly adjacent to this populous area. I know of no finer lands along California's 1,200 miles of coastline to match this for a choice in establishment of a national seashore. Its counterpart on the east coast, the Cape Cod National Seashore, makes it a twin to the efforts of the conservationists to maintain open angling and hunting lands to the general public for their enjoyment. We respectfully urge that your committee take favorable action on this bill. We also request that this statement be made a part of the record of hearings. Hon. J. T. RUTHERFORD, House of Representatives, INVERNESS IMPROVEMENT ASSOCIATION, Inverness, Marin County, Calif., July 21, 1961. DEAR MR. RUTHERFORD: At its annual meeting on July 8, 1961, our membership reaffirmed its stand in favor of the acquisition of 53,000 acres of the Point Reyes Peninsula for a national seashore, as proposed by the National Park Service. A request before the Marin County Planning Commission for two new tracts (subdivisions) at Drakes Bay has been temporarily blocked on technicalities. All evidence points to an acceleration in the development of more medium to high density residential tracts in the seashore area under study by your committee. We feel that if all 53,000 acres are not actually purchased the remainder must be controlled in such a manner as to assure their continued existence in the undeveloped state. Anything short of this will prove ineffectual in reserving this area for all of our citizens. There can be no question but that the Congress now faces its last opportunity to preserve the grandeur of the Point Reyes Peninsula by establishment of a national seashore. We urgently request a favorable and timely recommendation on bill H.R. 2775 by your committee. Sincerely yours, DONALD M. PATTERSON, Jr., President. BERKELEY, CALIF., March 31, 1961. Congressman J. T. RUTHERFORD, Chairman, Subcommittee on National Parks, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. RUTHERFORD: Senator Engle has informed me that your subcommittee held a hearing on March 24 on H.R. 2775, the Point Reyes National Seashore bill. If you receive this in time I would like to have the following statement included as part of the testimony. I believe that establishment of the Point Reyes National Seashore is vital to the present and future welfare of the people of the United States. The rapidly rising population of this country will require an increasingly greater amount of recreational area. As a scientist I believe that science and technology can produce virtually anything man wishes, with the exception of the natural beauty of our earth. If this beauty is not preserved it will be lost irrevocably, and the Point Reyes area is at this moment in the process of being destroyed by real estate developers. There is plenty of land available elsewhere for suburban real estate development, but there is only one seashore and one Point Reyes. I urge the committee to recommend H.R. 2775 for urgent and immediate enactment into law. Very truly yours, THORNTON SARGENT III, Ph. D., Biophysicist, University of California, Berkeley. RESOLUTION OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, WEST MARIN UNION ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DISTRICT, POINT REYES STATION, CALIF. Whereas the proposed Point Reyes National Seashore Recreation Area would remove approximately $820,000 from the assessed value of the West Marin Union School District, this sum being about 20 percent of the total assessed value of the district, and Whereas the taxpayers of the West Marin Union School District already pay a tax of $1.82 per $100 of assessed value for elementary school education alone, and Whereas 230 elementary schoolchildren are enrolled in our 2 schools, and Whereas it will take time, beyond all question, for the so-called "peripheral development" to increase in value enough to offset the value of the land included in the proposed national recreational area, and Whereas a tax increase of $0.48 per $100 of assessed value would be necessary to raise the amount of money on which we are now operating, which would be an unnecessary hardship on the taxpapers of the district: Therefore be it Resolved, That, should the proposed Point Reyes National Seashore Recreation Area become a reality, the board of trustees of the West Marin Union School District believes the Federal Government should reimburse the district for tax money lost to the district through the action of the Federal Government in establishing Point Reyes National Seashore Recreation Area. Adopted this 10th day of April 1961. GORDON J. PLATTES, M.D., JOHN D. GRAY, TOBIAS GIACOMINI, GUS KOVATS, Members of the Board of Trustees, West Marin Union School District. A true copy: GEORGE STRATTON, District Superintendent, Secretary to the Board. CHAIRMAN, COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AFFAIRS, Washington, D.C. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DEAR SIR: The purpose of this note is to request—indeed, to urge upon you— that the National Seashore Area at Point Reyes, Calif., should be authorized with the full 53,000 acres which most of the proponents favor. It is almost 35 years since I came to this area after a childhood and youth in Texas and 5 years in New York City. During those 35 years, I have seen opportunity after opportunity to establish recreation areas sacrificed for what appear to me to have been extremely poor reasons. The population growth in this area has been so tremendous, and promises to continue to be so, that it seems to me it would be most literally a crime not to preserve the Point Reyes area. One other reason I feel so strongly about this is that partly because of the generous sabbatical leave system of this university, I have spent about 3 years in Europe since 1925. I think I know a high percentage of the really outstandingly beautiful mountain and coast areas of Europe. Point Reyes belongs in the category of one of the most beautiful I have ever had the privilege to see. Its close proximity to a population concentration makes it particularly important to preserve it. With thanks for your consideration of my views on this matter, I am, Most sincerely yours, CHARLES A. GULICK, Professor of Economics. INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES EIGHTY-SEVENTH CONGRESS FIRST SESSION ON H.R. 7149, H.R. 7475, H.R. 7486, and H.R. 7489 BILLS TO PROVIDE FOR CONTINUITY AND SUPPORT OF STUDY, AUGUST 24 AND 25, 1961 Serial No. 11 Printed for the use of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS WAYNE N. ASPINALL, Colorado, Chairman LEO W. O'BRIEN, New York ROY A. TAYLOR, North Carolina HAROLD T. JOHNSON, California ARNOLD OLSEN, Montana HUGH L. CAREY, New York RICHARD (DICK) ICHORD, Missouri JOHN P. SAYLOR, Pennsylvania J. ERNEST WHARTON, New York J. EDGAR CHENOWETH, Colorado JOHN KYL, Iowa WILLIAM HENRY HARRISON, Wyoming EDWIN R. DURNO, Oregon PETER H. DOMINICK, Colorado HJALMAR C. NYGAARD, North Dakota A. FERNÓS-ISERN (Resident Commissioner), Puerto Rico SUBCOMMITTEE ON TERRITORIAL AND INSULAR AFFAIRS LEO W. O'BRIEN, New York, Chairman NITED STATES OF AMERICA CONTENTS Statement of Dr. Albert P. Crary, chief scientist, Antarctic programs, National Science Foundation, accompanied by George R. Toney, Deputy Head, Office of Antarctic Programs, National Science Foundation, and William J. Hoff, General Counsel, National Science Foundation Page 18 George H. Owen, Foreign Service officer, special assistant for Antarctica, Department of State.. 37 Morton Pomeranz, international__ activities assistant, Technical 44 Hon. John P. Saylor, a Representative in Congress from the State of 66 Adm. David M. Tyree, USN, U.S. Antarctic projects officer 52 11 III |