NEW OUTBREAKS

Senator DwORSHAK. You say there are new outbreaks. In which areas are they occurring?

Mr. KERR. Right around the old investations. There is and has been for a number of years infestations in the Wyoming, in the Big Horn Basin.

Senator DwORSHAK. Keep them out of South Dakota.

Mr. KERR. We are trying to do that. We have them over the other side of the mountains so far. Along the Union Pacific Railroad in southern Wyoming. In eastern Utah and a small area in western Colorado.

Senator DwORSHAK. Are they going westward into Oregon?

Mr. KERR. They have not gone westward for some reason or other very effectively.

There is a small infestation in southern Oregon and one in extreme eastern California.

Senator DWORSHAK. Northern Nevada is pretty well infested.

Mr. KERR. Yes. Along every highway one of the sources of infestation is carrying of seed in construction equipment used on highway construction. We find that happening quite regularly.

Senator DwORSHAK. You do feel in the older areas of infestation you are making some progress?

Mr. KERR. Yes.

Senator DwORSHAK. And you are trying to meet the new outbreaks so that you can hold this weed program under such control that it will not get out of hand?

Mr. KERR. Yes.

Senator DwORSHAK. The halogeton is very devastating to livestock and has caused the death of thousands of head of sheep and livestock. You are doing everything you can to combat that? Mr. KERR. Yes, sir.

COOPERATION FROM STATE GOVERNMENTS

Senator DwORSHAK. Are you getting fairly good cooperation from the State governments in the area affected?

Mr. KERR. Very good cooperation from State governments and also from the stockmen. Their cooperation consists of contributions to seeding programs. They have been excellent.

Senator DwORSHAK. You are using seeding generally in this program?

Mr. KERR. As our main means of attack.

Senator DwORSHAK. That squeezes out the halogeton and prevents its spread?

Mr. KERR. Yes, sir.

Senator DWORSHAK. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.

INITIATION OF LAND INVENTORY

Chairman HAYDEN. The initiation of a land inventory is indicated. What is the total expected cost and how much money will you use for this purpose during the coming fiscal year?

Mr. LANDSTROM. Senator, the land inventory is part of President Kennedy's message. Instructions were given to the Department of

the Interior to have this made. We have not as yet been able to develop our plans to the point where we can precisely forecast the cost of that program. I will ask Mr. Beirne.

Mr. BEIRNE. The inventory is tied in overall with our field examination of pending applications. We have provided for 1962 $2,853, 000 for it.

Mr. LANDSTROM. The plan thus far that we have developed is that we would divide the lands that we have administration of into about 500 geographic units. We plan to complete a detailed inventory of at least a million acres in the year ahead. It is my personal view, without having gone into this thoroughly, that this is going to have to be a rather long extended program of the inventory. I think we will first make a fairly reconnaissance type generalized inventory in order to base our program in the next year or two. But the detail inventory will come over the years.

COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES

Chairman HAYDEN. What is the planned cooperation with other agencies of the Federal Government?

Mr. LANDSTROM. We would contact the other Federal agencies, I am sure, and notable would be the Soil Conservation Service, which is charged with watershed research and studies. We would cooperate closer with the Forest Service, the Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, et cetera.

LAND APPRAISALS

Chairman HAYDEN. Your statement mentioned land appraisals and that the Bureau's standards for the preparation and review of appraisals is rising. Would you outline and explain these changes?

Mr. LANDSTROM. There has been some feeling that as the value of the public lands is rising, which it certainly is, every year, with the rising land values of the country, that we must give adequate attention to the validity and integrity of our appraisal work to make sure that the Government is fully paid when these lands are leased or sold. We have been at this now for several years. We think we have a better qualified corps of appraisers. Now our aim is to get them all fully accredited so we know what we are doing when it comes to land appraisal.

PELLET-SEEDING PROGRAM

Chairman HAYDEN. As of last year $50,000 was provided for a pellet-seeding program by means of a contract between you and the University of Arizona. What is the status of the project at this time?

Mr. LANDSTROM. That project has been pretty well completed but I would rather have Mr. Kerr explain to you in detail how that stands. Mr. KERR. The sites were selected and the surface treatment all completed in that general vicinity in Arizona. The actual completion of the work has been prevented because we didn't get any moisture. They are hoping-I talked to the boys at the university the other day-that May and June are likely to be favorable.

Chairman HAYDEN. They do have rain sometime.
Mr. KERR. Yes, sir.

RANGE IMPROVEMENT BUDGET

Chairman HAYDEN. We will see how it comes out.

I will include in the record the statements and justification of the range improvement budget request which is to provide about $917,000. (The information referred to follows:)

Need for increase. This estimate in the amount of $917,000 is an increase of $53,930 over 1961, and reflects an anticipated increase in grazing fee receipts. This is an annual indefinite appropriation derived from grazing fee receipts in accordance with sections 3 and 10 of the Taylor Grazing Act (48 Stat. 1269), as amended. Included also, are receipts from Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act lands transferred from the Department of Agriculture by Executive Order 10787, dated November 6, 1958.

Plan of work.-Approximately 178 million acres of public grazing lands plus over 2 million acres of Bankhead-Jones lands will require range improvements to preserve the forage resources. Twenty-five percent of grazing fee receipts from both public lands and Bankhead-Jones lands are designated as a range improvement fund which are applied to improvements on the range. Receipts in fiscal year 1962 are estimated at $3,900,000 which includes the sum of $350,000 from Bankhead-Jones lands.

STATUS OF PROGRAM

This is a continuing program for maintenance, construction, and purchase of range improvements as an aid in obtaining conservation and use of the forage resources on the public lands, by such measures as drift and boundary fences, development of stock watering places and reseeding. The appropriation is distributed as follows:

Expenses, Public Land Administration Act
Estimated appropriation (current indefinite), 1961-.
Estimate, 1962.

JUSTIFICATION

$800, 000

Public Law 86-649, approved July 14, 1960, permanently appropriated certain moneys to the Secretary of the Interior. Timber purchasers or permittees provide bond or deposit to assure fulfillment of contracts. Users of roads under jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management may make deposits for maintenance purposes. Moneys received in forfeiture of such bonds or for road maintenance are available for necessary forest improvement, protection, and rehabilitation, and for road maintenance. Moneys collected on Oregon and California grant lands are available for those lands only and amounts in excess of the cost of doing the work are transferred to miscellaneous receipts (74 Stat. 507-8). No amount is shown for 1962 as this appropriation is being considered as a permanent indefinite appropriation in 1962.

PURCHASE OF AUTOMOBILES AND AIRCRAFT

Chairman HAYDEN. This year the Bureau of Land Management desires to purchase 17 new automobiles for replacement and 2 new aircraft, only 1 for replacement. I will place that justification in the record.

(The justification referred to follows:)

Passenger motor vehicles

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS

Authorization is requested for purchase of 17 passenger vehicles for replacement only. All of the vehicles to be replaced will have met the standards as to age or mileage.

These vehicles are for use by field personnel in the administration of public grazing lands, forest management and fire suppression in widely scattered areas, by field examiners and surveyors in the performance of investigations and surveys, and by supervisory personnel.

One station wagon is included in the request. It will be used principally by cadastral engineers where the job requirements involve extensive driving and the hauling of personnel, scientific instruments, and field equipment.

Authorization also is requested for the purchase of two aircraft, one of which will be a replacement and one additional to the fleet.

Aircraft are used by the Bureau only in Alaska. They are necessary in fire patrol and for transporting smokejumpers and firefighters. The enlarged program for fire protection in Alaska requires an additional airplane.

Deletion of the last proviso is proposed as it is no longer necessary in view of section 103(a) of the act of July 14, 1960 (Public Law 86-649), which reads in part as follows:

"The Secretary of the Interior may accept contributions or donations of money, services, and property, real, personal, or mixed, for the improvement, management, use, and protection of the public lands and their resources under his jurisdiction including the acquisition of rights-of-way for such purposes. He may accept contributions for cadastral surveying performed on federally controlled or intermingled lands. * *

Chairman HAYDEN. You need that equipment?

Mr. LANDSTROM. Yes, sir; we certainly do.

Chairman HAYDEN. If there is nothing further, we thank you for your appearance.

MORATORIUM ON LAND APPLICATIONS

Senator DwORSHAK. I have just one final question, Mr. Chairman. Mr. Landstrom, what is the current status of that moratorium on