STATEMENT OF E. F. REED, INSPIRATION CONSOLIDATED

COPPER CO.

Mr. REED. Mr. Chairman, Senator Murray, Senator Goldwater, this bill proposes the establishment of a national wilderness preservation system for the permanent good of the whole people, and for other purposes. No estimate of the amount of land which would be reserved is given and the fact that the areas would be closed to prospecting and mining is not definitely stated. There is a statement on page 12, lines 20, 21, and 22:

The wilderness system shall be devoted to the public purposes of recreational, scenic, scientific, educational, conservation, and historical use.

Also a statement on page 13, lines 24 and 25, page 14, lines 1 to 7: Within national forest areas included in the wilderness system the President may, within a specific area and in accordance with such regulations as he may deem desirable, authorize prospecting, mining, or the establishment or maintenance of reservoirs and water conservation works, including road construction found essential to such mining and reservoir construction, upon his determination that such use in the specific area will better serve the interests of the United States and the people thereof than will its denial.

We conclude that all other wilderness areas would be closed to mining. The State of Arizona depends on mining to a large extent for its prosperity and well-being. Mining is a business in which the assets are removed and consumed so that mining companies must always be exploring for additional reserves or their corporate lives will be

short.

The search for additional reserves becomes more difficult with each new discovery and with each new removal of land from the public domain open to mineral location. The oldtime prospectors have practically quit searching and the mining geologists are being forced to use every device and technique available to them and to search in all of the primitive and isolated areas.

This search is greatly complicated by changing status of the various land areas. The mining industry accepted and agreed with the multiple use idea as applied to mining claims. The legitimate mining ventures in no way attempt to protect those who use mining laws to acquire property for other uses.

The removal of large areas of land from the public domain subject to mineral location has yet to be proven to be for the benefit of the people of the United States. In September 1934, a large area of ground south of the San Carlos Indian Reservation was temporarily withdrawn by Executive order from all form of appropriation for the benefit of the San Carlos Indians. To date no further action has been taken on this area. Prospectors and some mining companies still explore in this area and locate claims, but we were advised such locations were illegal. On May 27, 1955, the Papago Indian Reservation was closed to the location of mining claims. No procedure was established for the issuing of prospecting permits or for leasing these lands for mining purposes. We have corresponded with Mr. Thomas S. Shiya, special representative for the Papago tribes, regarding cooperation in developing mineral resources and have not been advised of any method by which this could be done.

In these and other cases development of the areas has been retarded by withdrawing them from the public domain subject to mining locations.

A study of the areas to be established as wilderness to prove them nonmineral in character might be effective, but we are always having to adjust our ideas as to what is mineral and what is waste. There are now numerous methods of exploring for mineral deposits that were unknown in the past, and other improved methods will undoubtedly be developed in the future.

The mining geologists are improving their methods and technique and need only room to establish and maintain a healthly reserve of mineral deposits in the United States. Without room for exploration, the mining geologists will follow the prospectors and will become a legendary and unknown group in the United States. Their activities will be confined entirely to foreign countries.

Where there is room for exploration, discovery is followed by mining development which provides work for men and assists in opening primitive and backward areas, so that they may be enjoyed by more of the public. Where no mineral exists, the geologists and mining companies leave the wilderness as they found it, to be enjoyed by wilderness enthusiasts.

Thank you very much.

Senator MURRAY. Thank you very much. I will assure all witnesses that their statements will be considered.

Mr. STONG. William H. Beers of the Arizona Game Protective Association.

STATEMENT OF WILLIAM H. BEERS, PRESIDENT, ARIZONA GAME PROTECTIVE ASSOCIATION

Mr. BEERS. Mr. Chairman, Senator Goldwater, I appear at this hearing today as president of the Arizona Game Protective Association. The Arizona Game Protective Association is a conservation organization comprised of 44 affiliated clubs in 13 of the 14 counties of the State of Arizona. The Arizona Game Protective Association has been the voice of the sportsmen and conservationists of the State of Arizona since 1923, a period of 36 years. An Arizona Game Protective Association Club can be found in nearly every major community of the State of Arizona. The executive board of the Arizona Game Protective Association is comprised of the president, recording secretary, immediate past president, treasurer, a commission contact man (to maintain liaison with the Arizona Game and Fish Commission), and a vice president from each of the counties of our State. The vice president from each county is elected by the clubs within his county. Thus he is able to bring to the executive board meetings the thinking of the clubs within the county in which he resides. One of the principal reasons for our existence is to study carefully all legislation proposed on both the State and National level; and to ascertain the effects of the proposed legislation upon all of the people of our State and Nation. The Arizona Game Protective Association endorses only legislation which, after careful study, appears to provide the maximum benefits for the greatest number of people in our State and Nation. We seek no material gain. Our only reward is the knowledge that we have not

shirked our duties as citizens of the United States of America; that we have done everything within our power to make Arizona and the United States a little better place to live; and that we have done what little we can to conserve our wildlife and natural resources in order that generations to come may enjoy them.

Senate bill S. 1123, the so-called wilderness bill, is one of the measures which has received careful study by the executive committee of the Arizona Game Protective Association. Information on this bill has been circulated to all of the affiliated clubs of the organization for comment. Comments were presented to the executive board through the county vice presidents. The bill has been thoroughly discussed at executive board meetings, and has been twice endorsed by the executive board of the Arizona Game Protective Association as a bill meriting immediate passage by the Congress of the United States in order that wilderness preservation may be established as a policy of Congress; and also in order that the general public (the socalled man in the street) may have some voice in the use and management of the areas to which it holds title. Under the present system, it is possible for a Bureau Chief or other officer to abolish a wilderness area, reduce it, add to it, or change it in other ways, by merely affixing his signature to an executive order.

Much false and misleading information regarding the wilderness bill has been circulated by certain special interest groups, particularly as it applies to the State of Arizona. Here in our State no lumbering areas will be affected, mining may continue as needed in the national interest, State water laws are safeguarded, and existing grazing privileges are continued. The wilderness bill has been discussed at many hearings; and has been amended in many ways to remove certain objectionable features of the original bill. In the State of Arizona, only 11,147 square miles are affected under the wilderness bill out of a total area of 113,909 square miles. This is less than 10 percent of the entire area of the State of Arizona. No change in the present status of these lands is contemplated. Statements and articles have been circulated by the aforementioned special interest groups to the effect that hunting and fishing would be excluded entirely from the wilderness areas under the proposed legislation. Nothing could be further from the truth. The wilderness bill, in effect, would preserve for posterity certain areas where wildlife could be harvested and where wildlife would remain in its natural state in years to come. Statements have been made that the exclusion of roads would prohibit any use of these areas; yet it is a proven fact that the present wild, primitive, and wilderness areas in the State of Arizona receive a great deal of use by people who are interested in getting off the beaten trail and into areas that still remain in their natural state. The "Mogollon Rim Country" of Arizona is at present being crisscrossed by roads and highways and more are contemplated for the future. With this area constantly becoming more accessible, and with the tremendous expansion of our population here in Arizona, wildlife cannot hope to survive with its more limited habitat in future years. Certain areas must be preserved in their natural state for future generations to enjoy.

The controversy, for obvious reasons, centers around the national forest wilderness system Of the 7,132,000 acres, approximately,

in the Arizona wilderness system 1,520,082 acres are in game refuges and ranges; 3,530,000 in Indian Reservations; 1,370,500 acres are in the national parks and monuments; and only 710,673 acres are within the national forest. That is only 1 percent of the area of the State and only about 6 percent of the national forest area. But it should be remembered that it is the last 6 percent that is not now open to commercialization.

Some commercial interests have long looked upon the national forests and other public lands of our State as their own private domain to be managed and maintained for their own exclusive use. These same interests are circulating all types of misleading propaganda in all-out efforts to defeat this bill. There is ample provision in the bill for watershed protection, recreation, scientific research, and other uses of the wilderness areas that are consistent with wilderness preservation. Fishing and big game hunting are permitted in most areas, as well as pack trips, hiking, nature study, and camping. Hunting is, of course, excluded by law in national parks and on certain wildlife refuges. There are no new areas created by the bill, and in the future no areas could be added or deleted except by congressional action after public notice and public hearings when requested.

Recreation is recognized as a major industry in the State of Arizona today. In excess of $43 million was spent by hunters and fishermen in the State during the year 1956; estimates place this figure above $50 million today. What effect would a reduction of areas for recreation, camping, hunting, and fishing have upon our economy? Wilderness areas should be provided for the preservation of their recreational and esthetic value to the public. Too little thought has been given in the past to the necessity of providing areas of wilderness as habitat for the fish and game of the United States, and it is high time that the multiple use and sustained yield management policy be definitely established for some of our Federal lands. Unless wilderness values are protected at once, they will become fewer and fewer in future years. Attempts have been made to open game refuges to oil drilling; attempts have been made to build dams and secure mining and logging privileges in national parks; and many commercial interests would certainly like to log off and overgraze the few wilderness areas which remain. Further attempts to reason or compromise with these interests are apparently useless. The time for action is now, while there are still some wilderness areas left. The wilderness bill, as written, is in fact, one of the greatest conservation measures ever to be presented to the Congress. It places the control of the wilderness areas in the hands of the people through their elected representatives. This is in keeping with the democratic processes upon which our country is founded. We sincerely hope that the support of the sportsmen and conservationists who seek no material gain can overcome the opposition from the few people who seek to obtain material benefit from the use of public lands involved in the wilderness bill. These sportsmen contribute considerably to the economy through their expenditures in pursuit of recreation, often much more than the individuals or groups who seek to prevent passage of S. 1123. Surely some effort must be made to preserve some of the magnificence and splendor of our great and beautiful country

for the generations to come. Much of our land has been denuded in the name of progress by thoughtless exploitation. The time has now come to preserve a small portion for posterity. The Arizona Game Protective Association gives its unqualified endorsement to the wilderness bill S. 1123, and urges its immediate passage by the Congress of the United States.

Senator MURRAY. Thank you, Mr. Beers.

Mr. STONG. Mr. Lawrence Mehren of the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce is our next witness.

STATEMENT OF LAWRENCE MEHREN, OF THE PHOENIX, ARIZ., CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Mr. MEHREN. Mr. Chairman, Senator Murray, Senator Goldwater, the Phoenix Chamber of Commerce has an enduring interest in the future of the entire State of Arizona. Among its members are literally hundreds who have been instrumental in the dynamic growth of the State, who over many years have become intimately familiar with its every corner, and who have learned to love our frontier, with fierce pride in its beauty, its resources, its destiny. A very large proportion of these men have ties, business and personal, with many sections of the State.

This wide familiarity with all areas of Arizona has perhaps made us more acutely conscious of the need for conservation and wise management of certain of our natural resources than you might find in an eastern State. The great bulk of these resources is concentrated in the highlands-the forest and range areas of the State; the vast majority of such lands is under the ownership or control of the Federal Government, and much of them could fail under the wilderness pattern of this bill.

How the highlands are managed has a tremendous effect on Arizona's economic future. From them flows the water to support our vigorous agriculture, upon these lands graze the animals of our important livestock industries, from them comes the products of our timber industry, upon them we rely for the recreational facilities so necessary for the people of our own and other States in this age of tension and problems.

The Phoenix Chamber of Commerce has long since been wholeheartedly committed to the principle of intelligent multiple use of the natural resources of these highlands.

We submit, first, that, with our utter dependence on a meager water supply, the high watershed lands should be managed to produce the greatest possible amount of water for our population; obviously, this is not accomplished by destruction of the forest, nor on the other hand by the maintenance of large areas as tangled, choked wilderness which wastes water rather than conserving it.

We submit, second, that proper management of these forest and range lands to encourage production of grasses as forage for our domestic and wild animals amid timber stands is a sound and not a detrimental practice.

We submit, third, that proper timbering operations and thinning of dense stands permits a healthy industry and improves rather than destroys our forest areas.