and lodgepole pine. These timber species occur in most of the 11 Western States. 4. The following is in support of the request for increased funds for forestry research nationally: Reference to Robert Cowlin's comments at the Forestry Centennial Conference, Oregon State College, February 1959: "Total annual expenditures for all types of research in the United States is about 1.3 percent of total consumers expenditures. In comparison the annual expenditures for forest research are 0.2 percent of consumers expenditures for forest products." 5. The current research center staff of six professional people and one secretary will constitute a well-trained nucleus for an expanded program at Bend, thereby capitalizing immediately upon the research investment being requested. 6. Current research has dealt mainly with managing existing timber stands based on allowable cut of 150 board feet per acre per year. Additional research is badly needed to determine how to manage new stands which are capable of doubling current production of timber stands based on allowable cut of 300 or more board feet per acre per year. 7. As well as discussing the research center with the forestry people themselves, I have had several conferences with Freeman Schultz, general manager of Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Co. in Bend, and find a great deal of interest not only shown by the Brooks-Scanlon Lumber Co. but according to Mr. Schultz by all the other major lumber concerns in this area. 8. With an adequate research center located in Bend it is my feeling that not only will an interest be shown on the part of the Central Oregon College students enrolled here but the high school students who have never had an opportunity to even visit much less participate in such a program. The amount of research done by the present center has been remarkable and it is my feeling that with adequate facilities the progress which they certainly will make is unlimited and of vital need to the whole Pacific Northwest now and in the future. 9. If I can be of further assistance please let me know. Sincerely, WALTER T. THOMPSON, City Manager. Hon. WAYNE MORSE, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, DEAR SENATOR MORSE: In accordance with a telephone request from a staff member of the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, there is enclosed a tabulation showing the acres burned each year for the last 5 years. Where both contract and force account appear this contract usually covers forest areas. You will note that the supplemental appropriation for rehabilitating burnedover areas during last year's disastrous fire season provided a very successful means for lessening deteriorative effects by erosion and wind. Of the 66,065 acres which were burned in Oregon, seeding has already been accomplished on 56,447 acres and approximately 3,300 acres are to be seeded this spring. Sincerely yours, J. P. BEIRNE, Assistant Director. DEAR SENATOR MORSE: The attached work program estimates on the national forests in Oregon confirm those given you by Mr. Cliff over the telephone in response to your telegram of April 20. The estimates for an accelerated program were developed from the "Program for the National Forests" published in May 1959. Cost data for the normal program level for fiscal years 1962 and 1963 were estimated since time was not available to get more accurate figures from our regional office in Portland. Sincerely yours, RICHARD E. MCARDLE, Chief. By A. W. GREELEY. Program for national forests in Oregon for fiscal years 1962 and 1963 1 Amounts shown in these 2 columns are in addition to the amounts in the last 2 columns-estimated normal program level. NOTE.-Above accelerated program estimates developed from those included in the "Program for the National Forests" published in May 1959. Senator WAYNE MORSE, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C.: PORTLAND, OREG., Apr. 25, 1961. Please use all your influence with the Interior and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee to restore an appropriation of $300,000 to the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis., for land acquisition and planning purposes. This item was removed by the House subcommittee. Basic information on the behavior of wood products under fire conditions is badly needed for the benefit of the entire country. The Forest Products Laboratory is the only source of information on this subject and without the above appropriation the program will be delayed for many years and in turn will result in a great loss to many people. I hope that you can arrange a personal appearance before the above subcommittee in the hope of having this appropriation restored. Thank you for your interest. J. W. BAXTER & Co. EUGENE, OREG., April 25, 1961. Senator WAYNE MORSE, Washington, D.C.: Reference our letter of February 8, 1960, please use all your influence with the Interior and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the Senate Appropriations Committee to restore appropriation of $300,000 to the Forest Products Laboratory at Madison, Wis. This item was removed by the House subcommittee. Basic information on the behavior of wood products under fire conditions is badly needed for the benefit of the entire country. The Forest Products Laboratory is the only source of information on this subject, and without the above appropriation the program will be delayed for many years. I hope that you can arrange a personal appearance before the above subcommittee in the hope of having this appropriation restored. GENERAL STATEMENT J. W. BAXTER & Co., Senator MORSE. I appreciate this courtesy, Mr. Chairman. I do not want to take the time of the committee. I have to go to Foreign Relations Committee to hear Arthur Dean. I will read just the headings of my statement and paragraph 2 and file the whole statement. It is always a pleasure for me to come before this committee to testify because in the esteemed chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee and his associates we have some of the Nation's outstanding conservationists who are deeply interested in our resource heritage. The action we take on this bill will set the tone of the Federal Government's conservation program until June 30, 1962. Congress has done an excellent job in authorizing many aspects of this program, the committee can do much to implement it. Authorization legislation expresses a hope, appropriation legislation makes it a reality. I want to take just a minute, Mr. Chairman, to read the comments I make on the Bureau of Land Management. Because they involve a caveat. HOUSE REDUCTIONS I wish to protest vigorously the reductions proposed in the President's budget by the House. On the surface, these reductions give the appearance of economy, but I fear that in the long run they will involve losses, not gains. Consider, for example, the cuts of $39,000 to "round off the estimate": $221,000 in general administrative costs, and $340,000 in pay act costs. These, totaling $600,000, spell less conservation on the ground and less vigorous and forceful administration in the Bureau. REVENUES TO TREASURY The Bureau of Land Management pays its own way and returns a handsome profit to the Treasury. We cannot argue that we save money in the activities of the Bureau by holding back development, any more than the businessman can show business progress in retrenchment. The annual report of the Bureau of Land Management for Oregon, which I shall give to the chairman, contains a great deal of valuable information. I do not ask that it be printed, but I urge it be studied. It is replete with facts demonstrating a capability that we should translate into accomplishment. 68806 61. -50 SALE OF OREGON TIMBER Of special interest is the item in the annual report to the effect that over $35 million worth of timber was sold from Bureau lands in Oregon alone. This is more income than the total budget for the management of lands and resources. The timber access road program on the O. & C. lands is financed without one cent of cost to the Treasury. It is paid for by our counties out of their share of receipts. And I respectfully say, Mr. Chairman, that in my judgment it is false economy to follow the budget cuts that have been recommended in the hearings up until this comment. I shall not take the time to read my comments on fire losses, under the heading "Fire Losses Must Be Stopped." But I want to say I am sure the committee will give our recommendation for protection of this proposed provision, very careful attention. RANGE USE CUTS I do want to say a word about this matter of range use cuts. I think the range use cuts must be reversed. Over the past several years the adjudication of the range which follows the range survey has resulted in many cuts in use. The basic philosophy of the Taylor Grazing Act was that the public interest would be served by promoting conservation and increasing the rational use of the range. SOIL AND MOISTURE FUND The item designated as "Soil and Moisture Funds" in the 1962 budget, especially after the House action, will be barely equal to the 1961 level, while there will be some advance possibly in the item "Management of Grazing Lands." In these two programs we find the key to progress. AMOUNT REQUESTED I urge a level of $7.5 million for the soil and moisture work and $5 million for management of grazing lands. These funds will constitute investments in conservation. They have strong support in my State. May I digress from the manuscript only to say this: That I am confronted with a very serious situation in the State of Oregon in regard to the protest of the grazing people. They feel it is very important that there be a very quick survey of their problems. They think they have been wronged. I need not tell the Senator from Arizona that although they are sometimes slow to anger, once angered they do not stop in their protest until they do everything they can to get some remedy. The cattlemen in my State are deeply concerned, as are the sheepmen in my State. A week does not go by that I do not have to deal with them either on the long-distance telephone or by mail. |