cluding the provisions of this bill, and the funds for those programs already authorized, will be provided for in a supplemental appropriation bill to be presented to the Congress once this bill is passed. The Appalachian programs not included in this act, but which will be funded by supplemental appropriations bills, are as follows:

The first of the major areas obviously is an acceleration of the essential work being done by the Corps of Engineers and the Department of Agriculture Soil Conservation Service. We anticipate that the President's budget will contain funds to allow the corps and the Soil Conservation Service to step up the development of the watersheds of Appalachia. That development includes flood control, industrial and residential water supply, and recreational use.

In the timber development and land stabilization field, there are programs already authorized which simply require that more funds be spent in the Appalachian region. One of the most important of these is the research in new ways to harvest timber, and even more important, new ways to put timber to a better end use. We hope to see a substantial increase in the research which is being done through the Department of Agriculture.

Secondly, we hope that the marginal lands of Appalachia, those that have been strip mined or have been clear cut leaving little chance for normal timber growth, can be added to the national forests of the area. We hope to improve the timber cut in the national forests by the construction of more forest roads. This, of course, needs only a supplemental appropriation.

We hope also that the Farmers Home Administration loan program can be increased to provide for better land treatment, and also, where it seems feasible, for the farmer to better utilize that pasture by an increase in his livestock.

In the mining field, which is so important to a number of the coal States of Appalachia, we hope to supplement existing programs for extinguishing burning refuse piles and controlling acid mine drainage, as well as provide a substantial increase in the funds which can be used to better explore the geological and mineral resources of this region.

I know that the committee will ask this question, and I am in no position to speak for what the President's budget will ultimately contain, but I would say that we have asked the Budget Bureau to include approximately $50 million in the supplemental appropriation bill which will be above and beyond the authorizations contained in S. 3.

The provisions of this bill and the appropriation followup contain a sound program for economic development of the Nation's largest and most clearly defined region of deprivation. The method of operation of this program reflected in the proposals of the Commission has evolved from a history of successful State-Federal relationships over a period of several years.

The neglect which has determined the present condition of Appalachia cannot be allowed to continue, and the requests for action to help Appalachia come not only from the people of the region, not only from the Governors, but also from business and industry in the Nation which obviously can see Appalachia as a potential market and as a potential source of raw material.

This legislation seeks to provide for Appalachia not the means of support, but more important, the tools of development. To that end are dedicated the efforts of the Federal Government, the State governments, the local communities, individual and private business and industry, all working in responsible cooperation. Through its approval of this bill, this committee can once again contribute to the promise of a brighter future for the 16 million people of the region. I will now begin my prepared statement:

The economic problems of Appalachia have been of deep concern to both President Johnson and President Kennedy. President Johnson has assigned the highest priority to the economic development of Appalachia out of his concern for the deprivation which has settled over large portions of the region. In April of last year, President Johnson visited several of the Appalachian States and witnessed directly the hardships endured by all too many Appalachian people.

While meeting with the Governors of the Appalachian States in Huntington, W. Va., the President pledged the full support of his administration to improving the economic conditions of Appalachia, a pledge that he has held to unswervingly. Immediately following the Huntington meeting, President Johnson sent to Congress legislation very similar to the bill under discussion today. In October, he created the Federal Development Planning Committee for Appalachia in order that the Appalachian States and the Federal Government could continue their joint efforts without interruption.

The program contained in Senate bill 3 clearly represents the President's strong dedication to the people of Appalachia and his desire that they, with all their countrymen, share in the realities of the Great Society.

Almost 2 years ago, President Kennedy established the President's Appalachian Regional Commission out of his conviction that the economic ills of Appalachia demanded the special attention of government at all levels.

He appointed as Chairman of that Commission the Under Secretary of Commerce, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Jr. In that capacity, Mr. Roosevelt labored long and hard, bringing together all the best ideas of the Appalachian States and a dozen Federal agencies into the report which preceded this legislation.

This committee has likewise made a substantial and valuable contribution to the body of knowledge that now exists about the problems and the needs of the Appalachian region. Last summer, after conducting hearings and collecting a variety of testimony on S. 2782, the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1964, the Senate Public Works Committee made this comment in its report on that bill:

Such legislation is a vital necessity in order to launch a broad-scale attack on the problems of the Appalachian region.

Such legislation is long overdue; though it is by no means too late to bring Appalachia into a condition of economic parity with other regions of America. The achievement of such a goal will be to the ultimate enrichment of all America.

Four months have elapsed since the Senate passed the Appalachian Regional Development Act of 1964, yet the need for an accelerated pace of economic development in Appalachia is just as evident today as it was last year.

Senate bill 3, introduced by Senator Randolph and many of his colleagues, is predicated upon the same needs and objectives as was its

predecessor in the 88th Congress. It continues to recognize the overriding necessity to produce a more rapid rate of economic growth in the Appalachian region.

There have been few changes in the Appalachian Act. The most important changes concern the working relations between State and Federal Governments in the operation of the Appalachian Regional Commission.

Later in this statement I shall discuss the most significant differences between Senate bill 3 and the bill which this committee considered last summer.

Regional economic development in Appalachia requires a full utilization of the area's resources, both human and physical. The Appalachian Act identifies four major development areas where joint Federal-State action can provide a sound regional economic base. These are: access to, from, and within the region; water resource exploitation including flood control; better use of the natural resources and a concerted effort to upgrade the region's human resources.

HIGHWAYS

The first of these developmental needs, better access for the region, is provided for by section 201 of the bill, the Appalachian development highway system. Lying between two great population centers of the Nation, the Midwest and the eastern seaboard, Appalachia represents a potential market and a source of raw materials, as well as a major recreational area for these enormous concentrations of population. Yet none of this potential will be realized until the isolation of the region has been overcome, and the Appalachian Mountain barrier can only be eliminated by a modern highway network.

Highway construction in most sections of Appalachia is expensive. For example, in West Virginia and Kentucky, the east-west roads which cut directly through the mountains will cost more than a million dollars per mile for a high type two-lane primary road. This can be contrasted to an average cost of between $300,000 and $500,000 for such a road on flat terrain. This bill recommends that the Appalachian highway program be constructed with moneys from the general fund, for to dip into the highway trust fund would discriminate against the other 39 States. The Appalachian States have put a disproportionate amount of their highway funds into the Appalachian portions of their States. This general fund investment will enable them to build the highway system which is the key to future economic growth.

The only change that has been made in this section of the bill has been an increase in the mileage of local access roads, from 500 miles to a total of 1,000 miles. The development highway system remains the same, 2,350 miles, and the Federal share of the entire program remains at $840 million. The additional access road mileage will link even more areas having development potential with the development system itself and with the interstate highways that cross the region.

The Appalachian Regional Commission will, as previously understood, recommend the basic corridors through which the development highways will pass. But before the Commission makes such a recommendation, it must have obtained the recommendations of each State highway department. Once the Commission's recommendations have

been submitted, the present system of cooperation between the Secretary of Commerce and the State highway departments will take over, as in the case of every other federally supported roadbuilding program.

WATER RESOURCES

The proper management of Appalachia's water resources is the purpose of section 206 of this bill which authorizes the Army Corps of Engineers to conduct a comprehensive water resource survey for the region and prepare a comprehensive plan for water resource development. Your committee and its staff are really the source of this section. When you suggested its inclusion in the Appalachian bill last year, its good sense demanded immediate agreement. Appalachia's water resources, fed by a steady and abundant annual rainfall, are one of the region's most precious assets.

With sufficient control and management, this resource can provide the essential base for industrial, residential, commercial, and recreational development. Without adequate control, a combination of flooding, drought, and polluted water will further retard the Appalachian effort to achieve greater economic growth.

The water resource survey authorized by section 206 will be conducted by the Army Engineers in cooperation with the Appalachian Regional Commission, and all appropriate Federal and State agencies. The procedures for comprehensive water resource planning as set forth in S. 3 are similar to the procedures used for comprehensive river basin studies throughout the country, including some that have been completed or are now underway in the Appalachian region. Such work has already been done or is in process in several Appalachian River basins, including the Delaware, upper Ohio, Susquehanna, and Potomac. The timely completion of studies now in progress and the initiation of studies in additional river basins will help insure the fullest use of the region's water resource potential.

PHYSICAL RESOURCES

Sections 203, 204, and 205 of this bill deal directly with the most prominent and valuable physical resources of Appalachia. As crucial as they are to economic development, better highways and controlled water cannot by themselves produce the desired results unless considerable attention is also devoted to improving these natural resources.

LAND STABILIZATION

Land improvement and erosion control are made possible by section 203 which attempts to correct the neglect and misuse of much of Appalachia's land. The hilly topography of the Appalachian region has long been a deterrent to the successful farming of vegetables or grains in any large quantity. The Appalachian terrain has also discouraged the mechanization on the region's farms that would be necessary for profitable farming operations. Over the years the steeply sloped Appalachian farms have remained largely unproductive and have undergone severe erosion which has only helped to clog the region's streams. The principal emphasis of this program is to prevent further erosion

on as much land as possible out of a total of 8.6 million acres of land requiring erosion control. This can be done by establishing an adequate vegetative covering on some of the land or by turning it into pasture land capable of supporting economical livestock operations. Section 203 will provide to eligible farms, grants covering the cost of 80 percent of the improvement of up to 25 acres of land which either has no protective covering or which needs improvement in order to make it economically feasible for livestock production.

This legislation authorizes $8.5 million for each of the fiscal years 1966 and 1967 for this program, to be administered by the Agricultural Stabilization and Conservation Service which already operates similar grant programs for conservation practices. The program of grants would be carried out through the State and county committees in a manner similar to the existing programs. Specifically, the funds would be used for land preparation, seed and seeding costs, fertilizer and lime costs, and in some cases brush removal, pond construction and fencing costs. This program at the same rate of investment could by 1971 improve 3.3 million acres.

TIMBER

Section 204 provides for the establishment of timber development organizations in Appalachia in order to improve the potentially valuable timber resources of the region. Appalachia hardwoods are famous throughout the Nation and comprise 80 percent of both forest area and timber volume in the region. Timber growth in Appalachia has fallen far short of its potential, and much of the growth that has taken place has been low in quality. Because over 70 percent of the region's total forest acreage is in small private stands, sound timber management practices have not been applied to substantial portions of Appalachian timberland.

The primary responsibility for promoting the concept of timber improvement through timber development organizations will rest with the U.S. Forest Service, working with State foresters, although the implementation is designed to be carried out under private auspices. Briefly, a timber development organization will be the joining together in a nonprofit corporate or cooperative structure various sized tracts so as to establish a single management unit that will protect and restore the timberland to full productivity and guarantee a return to the landowner either in the future or on an annual or periodic basis. Through such cooperative efforts, landowners ideally will achieve maximum management and harvesting advantages.

Timber development organizations should concentrate on providing technical assistance on the lands within the organization, such as the establishment of better tree cutting and timber practices. But in order to accomplish this goal, the timber development organization is permitted to seek the physical consolidation of landholdings important to the maximum management of the designated land. This may also include the purchase of tax-delinquent lands and property of nonresident owners wanting to dispose of their holdings. There is no intention, nor is there authority in the bill, for the acquisition of land under eminent domain.

In the initial period, emphasis should be placed on demonstration timber development organizations and research assistance and on marketing assistance for research products.