FUNDS FOR MINERAL LEASING ON OUTER CONTINENtal Shelf Chairman HAYDEN. This indicates that $70 million will be released from the $312 million impounded for the mineral leasing of the Outer Continental Shelf. When is it expected that the balance of this fund will be released? Mr. LANDSTROM. Mr. Chairman, may I first say I appreciate being here this morning. I have a few of my staff with me. Mr. Beirne will answer your question. Mr. BEIRNE. Mr. Chairman, there is a session set up next week with representatives of the State of Louisiana and the Attorney General's Office at which we expect the $76 million will be agreed to. The balance is a matter of agreeing on the coastline. If that cannot be resolved at this stage, it will have to be resolved in the Supreme Court. The matter is still pending there. Mr. LANDSTROM. Mr. Chairman, we do have a prepared statement which I would appreciate the opportunity to briefly review for you. JUSTIFICATIONS AND PREPARED STATEMENT Chairman HAYDEN. You may include it entirely in the record and brief it if you would. But first I will place in the record the justifications for the budget estimate for "Management of lands and resources" in the amount of $33 million, an increase of $4,629,000 over the 1961 appropriation. (The information referred to follows:) BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT MANAGEMENT OF LANDS AND RESOURCES HIGHLIGHT STATEMENT The programs financed under this appropriation have as their purpose the management, protection, use, and the transfer of title, under appropriate land laws, of the public domain so that these lands and resources may contribute their full potential to the economy of the Nation. The Bureau of Land Management administers 477 million acres of public lands in the 11 Western States and Alaska, including the forest, forage, and mineral resources. It is the Bureau's objective to administer these resources under the concept of balanced use and conserve them for the benefit of the Nation as a whole, while at the same time making them available within proper conservation limits to the public and industry. Fiscal year 1960 was a year of continued progress in the prosecution of the Bureau's programs. Some of the accomplishments were: 1. One billion board feet of timber were sold for the first time from the Oregon and California grant lands. 2. Lands and minerals adjudication case closings were 47 percent greater than in 1959. The rate of increase in case closings slightly exceeded the 45percent increase in new and reactivated cases which resulted primarily from simultaneous filings. 3. The range adjudication program within grazing districts was completed in Arizona and New Mexico. 4. Projected survey protraction diagrams of all unsurveyed areas of Arizona were completed. In Alaska 80 percent of the unsurveyed areas are covered by protraction diagrams. This represents approximately all presently identified requirements. 5. Receipts for the Bureau reached an all-time high, $371 million, an increase of $234 million over the previous year. The receipts included $229 million from the Outer Continental Shelf." The current fiscal year to date is notable for the most critical fire season in the Bureau's history and for the emergency fire rehabilitation work, made possible by the $1,425,000 supplemental appropriation. Major strides are being made in cadastral surveys required by the Alaska land selection program. As the result of the enactment on September 2, 1960, of Public Law 86-705, the issuance of noncompetitive oil and gas leases was suspended pending issuance of new regulations. Until finalization of the regulations, leases now are being processed under an interim rule. Another factor affecting the Bureau's programs during 1961 is the absorption of 24 percent of the total cost of the pay raise applicable to its operating appropriation. The budget for fiscal year 1962 includes increases in the programs of the Bureau funded from this appropriation. A comparison of the 1961 and 1962 total programs appears below: The amounts shown above for fiscal years 1961 and 1962 are exclusive of supplemental appropriations for fire suppression costs which will be proposed during each year as required. Increasing public interest in the resources and in the lease and transfer of title of the public lands is lending added importance to current programs for their management, development, and protection. The demand for oil and gas leases, small tracts, recreation sites, and lands for other purposes is expected to increase even over the present. There is immediate need for a general inventory to provide data upon which basic land tenure decisions can be intelligently reached, an essential first step in the development of a more intensive and effective resource management program. The selection of Federal lands by the State of Alaska is resulting in a growing workload for adjudication, field examination, and cadastral surveys. The demand for timber from public lands is expected to increase, requiring added effort in forest management to provide access, supervise sales, control trespass, and conduct reforestation. Improved management of these resources, including expanded sales of timber from public domain lands, is urgently needed. Such sales will be conducted, where practicable, in cooperation with the Small Business Administration. Acceleration of the inventory of forage resources and determination of proper earrying capacity of the range is necessary to insure effective management of the range at its full potential. Programs for conservation of soil and moisture and for control of noxious and poisonous weeds also are essential to protection and development of the range and must be expanded. The Bureau faces two challenges that cut across all its programs: (1) The Bureau must further improve and expand its facilities to protect the resources of the public lands; and (2) the Bureau must develop appropriate means for integrating recreational uses of the public lands, increasingly demanded by the public, with the other need of balanced use conservation. The combination of growing public demand and the needs of sound resource management requires the increases in all Bureau programs as contained in the 1962 budget. The Bureau of Land Management is a producer of substantial revenue to the U.S. Treasury and States and counties. Receipts for 1962 are estimated at $279 million, of which $58 million will be paid to States and counties in which the public lands are located. Thus, receipts continue to be several times the amount of investment in the resource management and development programs conducted by the Bureau. Appropriation 1960. Management of lands and resources Supplemental appropriation 1960. Second supplemental appropriation 1960_. Total appropriation 1960-- Transfer to "Construction", Bureau of Land Management.--- Total available 1960....... Appropriation 1961. Second supplemental appropriation 1961.. Total appropriation 1961-- Adjustment for increased pay costs: Pay cost supplemental... Total amount available 1961... Summary of increases and decreases, 1962 Pay costs: To provide for increased pay costs on full-year basis____ Management of grazing lands: To provide for acceleration of re- Cadastral surveys: To provide for additional surveys, resurveys, and A reduction of $1,425,000 related to nonrecurring emergency fire rehabilitation work appropriated for in 1961- To provide soil and moisture treatment of additional public Maintenance of physical facilities: To provide for increased costs in General administration: To provide for replacement of accounting Net change, 1962__ Budget estimate, 1962.. +221, 000 +4, 629, 000 33, 000, 000 The estimate of $5,650,000 is an increase of $238,000 consisting of— (1) An increase of $133,000 to bring increased pay costs to a full-year basis. (2) An increase of $105,000 to provide for the closing of an estimated 10,000 additional cases over the 1961 estimate and cover, in part, the additional costs of noncasework which continues to increase in volume each year. Need for increase. The upward trend in volume of casework in our land offices is expected to continue in fiscal year 1962. The promulgation of the new simultaneous filing regulations have materially changed our previous estimates of new and closed mineral cases. This is shown by the marked increase in the adjudication caseload from 1960 to 1961 and substantial increases in revenue from filing fees. With the amount of the increase requested in this estimate, we anticipate the closing of 10,000 additional cases in fiscal year 1962 and a reduction in the backlog of unclosed cases by the end of 1962 to 84,000 from an estimated 87,000 unclosed at the end of fiscal year 1961. The moratorium on certain types of lands cases, which will extend from February 1961 to September 1962, will result in a reduction in incoming lands cases during 1961-62. It is estimated that by the end of fiscal year 1962, the cases pending will represent a pipeline or current adjudication program. The status of land and minerals adjudication case workioad is summarized below: Plan of work. This function includes adjudication, status record notation, acreage controls and maintenance of records. In addition, the dissemination of general information to the public takes from 20 to 40 percent of the total manmonths available to our land offices. (b) Field examination and classification The estimate of $2,853,000 is an increase of $620,000 consisting of— (1) An increase of $4,000 to bring increased pay costs to a full-year basis: (2) An increase of $616,000 to provide the increased quality of work necessary as higher value public lands requiring more complex land tenure decisions become involved in Bureau actions, initiate a comprehensive inventory of the public lands, which will be basic to the development of a plan of balanced usage. Need for increase.—A general inventory is needed to provide data upon which basic land tenure decisions can be intelligently reached. This sort of study has never been done and is an essential first step in the development of a more intensive and effective resource management program. In addition, it is urgently needed to identify lands proper for non-Federal ownership and necessary to the urban and surburban expansion of western communities. The general quality of both lands and minerals classification activity must be improved. For instance, areas having substantial public recreational potential already have been discovered by the recreational inventory scheduled for completion by the end of fiscal year 1961. Detailed study and accurate classification action will be needed to properly protect these areas and provide for their development. This does not involve casework unless applications from the public already are on hand. The expanding influence of urban development in vacant public domain areas is making land appraisal increasingly complex. In addition, Bureau standards for the preparation and review of appraisals are rising. Consequently, appraisals will require greater effort at increased expense. More mineral field examination and classification work will be required than was anticipated in determining the validity of mineral claims in connection with the land selection program by the State of Alaska. Preliminary examination has disclosed that there are many times the number of locations than was anticipated. Areas of intense land conflict in other States likewise will result in increased minerals examination work. The following table indicates the status of the field examination and classification caseload: Plan of work.—It is proposed in fiscal year 1962 to continue to improve our present classification and investigation methods of operation and to collect and assemble more basic field data so as to enable us to efficiently classify lands, either under application, or upon Bureau motion. The increased funds requested for field operations will be used in part to increase the size and competency of appraisal and land classification staff. In the conduct of work, highest priority will be assigned to the closing of the older cases while at the same time achieving a current caseload status. A substantial portion of the increased funds will be devoted to examining, classifying, and making necessary tenure arrangements on lands having a substantial recreational potential to permit increased public utilization of our public lands for recreation purposes. In connection with the inventory, efforts will be directed to identify and delineate approximately 500 geographic units upon which the land inventory will be based to begin general studies of these units, and to make an initial analysis of units where land tenure problems are most severe and the largest number of pending land applications exists. As a result, complete land tenure planning and land classification action is anticipated for at least 200,000 acres of intensive use areas and 1 million acres of extensive use areas. This action will lead toward (1) identification and designation of acreages for balanced use and development under permanent BLM administration; (2) exchanges of land in an effort to improve |