Page images
PDF
EPUB

FOREST SERVICE ADMINISTRATION

FRIDAY, JULY 19, 1957

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SUBCOMMITTEE ON FORESTS OF THE COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE, Washington, D. C.

The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a. m., in room 1310, New House Office Building, Hon. George M. Grant (chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.

Present: Representatives Grant, Johnson, Matthews, Burns, McIntire, Dixon, and Teague (California).

Also present: Representatives Jones, Watts, Hagen, and Jennings. Mabel C. Downey, clerk; John Heimburger, counsel.

Mr. GRANT. Let us come to order.

We have for discussion this morning H. R. 7953, which is a bill by Mr. Cooley, to facilitate and simplify the work of the Forest Service, and for other purposes.

(H. R. 7953 is as follows:)

(H. R. 7953, 85th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To facilitate and simplify the work of the Forest Service, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That the Act of March 4, 1913, as amended (16 U. S. C. 502), is hereby amended by substituting for the last proviso of subsection (c) the following: "And provided further, That except for fire fighting emergencies no reimbursement herein authorized shall be made in an amount in excess of $50 to persons who were employees of the Forest Service prior to the time the equipment was obtained or $2,500 in any other case, unless the equipment was made available under a written agreement, contract, or lease," and by changing the designation of that subsection from (c) to (d) and inserting a new subsection (c) as follows:

"(c) To contract with public and private agencies, corporations, firms, associations, or individuals to train, provide forage, care, and housing for, and to work pack stock owned and held in reserve by the Forest Service for fire emergency purposes and as all or part of the consideration therefor to permit such contractors to use the stock for their own purposes during the periods of nonuse by the Forest Service."

SEC. 2. Funds available to the Forest Service may be used in amounts not exceeding $100 in any single claim, for reimbursing employees of the Forest Service for loss of or damage to clothing and other personal effects resulting from fires, floods, or other casualties at or near the place in which such property is temporarily stored during services of the employees in connection with such casualties.

SEC. 3. Funds available to the Forest Service may be used, in accordance with regulations prescribed by the Secretary of Agriculture (hereinafter referred to in this Act as Secretary) for expenses of transporting automobiles of employees of that Service between points in Alaska in connection with transfers of official stations of such employees to meet the needs of the Service.

SEC. 4. Section 202 of the Act of September 21, 1944 (16 U. S. C. 554b), is hereby amended to read as follows: "Appropriations for the Forest Service shall be available for medical supplies and services and other assistance necessary for

the immediate relief of artisans, laborers, and other employees engaged in any hazardous work under the Forest Service, and for expenses of notifying employees of the death or serious illness of close relatives and, in such cases where no public transportation is available, for transporting the employees to a point where public transportation is available."

SEC. 5. The Secretary is authorized, subject to such conditions as he may prescribe, to transfer, without reimbursement or at such prices and upon such terms as he may impose, to States and political subdivisions or agencies thereof fire lookout towers and other structures or improvements used by the Forest Service for fire prevention or suppression purposes, and the land used in connection therewith if such land is outside national forest boundaries, when they are no longer needed by the Forest Service for such purposes but are of value to the State or political subdivision or agency thereof in its fire protection system: Provided, That if any property so transferred is not put to use for the purpose for which it was transferred within two years from the date of transfer, or if, within fifteen years from the date of transfer, any such property should cease to be used for the purpose for which it was transferred for a period of two years, title thereto shall revert to and immediately revest in the United States.

SEC. 6. Section 10 of the Act of April 24, 1950 (64 Stat. 82), is hereby amended to read as follows: "Notwithstanding the provisions of section 7 of the Act of August 23, 1912, as amended (31 U. S. C. 679), appropriations for the protection and management of the national forests and other lands administered by the Forest Service shall be available to pay for telephone service installed in residences of employees and of persons cooperating with the Forest Service who reside within or near such lands when such installation is determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to be needed in protecting such lands: Provided, That in addition to the monthly local service charge the Government may pay only such tolls or other charges as are required strictly for the public business."

SEC. 7. Any moneys received by the United States with respect to lands under the administration of the Forest Service (1) as a result of the forfeiture of a bond or deposit by a permittee or timber purchaser for failure to complete performance of improvement, protection, or rehabilitation work required under the permit or timber sale contract or (2) as a result of a judgment, compromise, or settlement of any claim, involving present or potential damage to lands or improvements, shall be covered into the Treasury and are hereby appropriated and made available until expended to cover the cost to the United States of any improvement, protection, or rehabilitation work on lands under the administration of the Forest Service rendered necessary by the action which led to the forfeiture, judgment, compromise, or settlement: Provided, That any portion of the moneys so received in excess of the amount expended in performing the work necessitated by the action which led to their receipt shall be transferred to miscellaneous receipts. SEC. 8. The Secretary may require the users of roads or trails on national forest and other lands under the administrative control of the Forest Service to deposit such sums as the Secretary estimates to be necessary to cover the cost of maintenance made necessary by their use thereof. Such deposits shall be covered into the Treasury and are hereby appropriated and made available, until expended as the Secretary may direct, to cover road and trail maintenance on such lands.

SEC. 9. The proviso in the Act of May 11, 1922, making appropriations for the Department of Agriculture for the fiscal year ending June 30, 1923, under the item "General expenses, Forest Service", limiting the expenditure of funds for publication (42 Stat. 507, 521; 16 U. S. C. 556) is hereby amended by substituting for the phrase "And provided further," the phrase "Provided further" and adding a further proviso so that the limiting provisions shall read "Provided further, That hereafter no part of any funds appropriated for the Forest Service shall be paid or used for the purpose of paying for, in whole or in part, the preparation or publication of any newspaper or magazine article, but this shall not prevent the giving out to all persons, without discrimination, including newspapers and magazine writers and publishers, of any facts or official information of value to the public: And provided further, That this prohibition shall not apply to scientific or technical articles prepared for or published in scientific publications."

SEC. 10. Section 5 of the Act of March 3, 1925, as amended (16 U. S. C. 555), is hereby further amended by changing the amount in the last proviso to $50,000. Mr. GRANT. I believe that Mr. Crafts is the first witness here, but I do not believe he has come in as yet.

I see Mr. Nelson here. Mr. Nelson would like to make a statement at this time.

Mrs. DOWNEY (the clerk). I want to explain to the committee that Mr. Nelson, for his organization, made a request to be heard at this meeting, but through oversight that notification was not given to him, and he did not have time to prepare a statement; but he is going to speak orally, and with your permission to file a statement for the record.

Mr. GRANT. Without objection that will be granted.
We are glad to hear from you, Mr. Nelson.

STATEMENT OF A. Z. NELSON, REPRESENTING NATIONAL LUMBER MANUFACTURERS ASSOCIATION, WASHINGTON, D. C.

Mr. NELSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen, my name is A. Z. Nelson, I work for the National Lumber Manufacturers Association, at Washington, D. C.

The association I represent has within its overall membership the largest part of the lumber production of the United States, and we have a great interest in matters which deal with our national forests, its commercial resources, and mineral resources located therein.

As has been stated we did not learn of this hearing on this bill H. R. 7953 until about 45 minutes ago, when we picked up the information in the Congressional Record. We were not notified, as we had asked to be, concerning this hearing, and, as a consequence of that, I am not prepared at this time to present to the committee a formal statement.

However, we do wish to inform the committee that our association and the lumber industry which it represents has serious reservations with regard to sections 7 and 8 of this bill.

Section 7 would authorize the use of moneys received from forfeiture of bonds or deposits by the purchasers or permittees for forestimprovement protection and rehabilitation work made necessary by it, that led to the forfeiture.

Section 8 of this bill would authorize the Secretary to require the user of a road or trial in the national forests or other lands under administration by the Forest Service to deposit sufficient money for satisfactory maintenance, and make such deposits available to cover such maintenance costs.

The 90 million acres of national-forest lands which are classified as commercial timberland are of tremendous importance to the lumber industry. Some 95 percent of its receipts from the national forests, receipts accounted for by purchases of timber by the forest-products industry, and these 2 sections, section 7 and particularly section 8 relate to the activities of the Forest Service in the disposal of timber to our industry.

We have transmitted copies of this bill to a good many persons concerned with the matters in our industry, and we have not yet received in return full and adequate comment on these two sections.

I want to express strong reservations on these sections, and particularly section 8, and, Mr. Chairman, with your permission we would like to present to this committee very soon amendatory language relating to these two sections, and possibly also other sections, to certain features.

I would like permission, therefore, Mr. Chairman, to revise and to extend my remarks when this information is ready in the near future.

« PreviousContinue »