Department to settle these small and infrequent claims without the necessity of private relief legislation.

Section 3: This section would authorize the use of funds available to the Forest Service to cover costs of transporting employees' automobiles between points in Alaska in connection with transfer of official stations. Transportation of personally owned automobiles at Government expense is now prohibited by section 209 of the Economy Act of June 30, 1932.

Although there are roads in the immediate vicinity of most Alaska towns in which Forest Service personnel are located, there are no connecting roads between most of these communities. Thus the employee cannot drive his personal car to his new station and collect mileage from the Government as he can in the continental United States.

Transportation normally is by water and when an employee is transferred from one point to another, his property must be moved by commercial or Government-owned boat. If his automobile is moved by commercial boat, the employee must stand the cost. It is not permissible for his car to be moved by Government boat.

Because the employee's household goods are frequently moved by Government-owned boat, little additional expense would be involved in transporting the employee's automobile along with the household goods.

In some cases both household goods and the employee's automobile are moved by commercial boat with the employee paying the cost of transporting his car. Such moves are infrequent and seldom involve large costs.

Section 4: The nature of work in the national forests necessitates the employment of men in remote areas far removed from the communication, transportation, and medical facilities ordinarily available to the public generally.

The Forest Service is presently authorized by the act of September 21, 1944, to furnish medical supplies and services and other assistance necessary for the immediate relief of such employees in the event of injury in such remote locations. There is no existing authority, however, for the use of Forest Service funds to notify employees while engaged in these remote areas of the death or serious illness of close relatives, and to transport them to a point where public transportation is available. The proposed amendment would provide this authority.

There are large areas of national forest in the West without public transportation and communication in which employees frequently are required to be absent for from several days to several weeks at a time. Provision should be made for prompt notification and transportation to public facilities in the event of death or serious illness in their family. The need for this authority is infrequent and the aggregate cost will be small, but in an individual case the cost may be considerable. Recently, it was necessary to remove an employee by chartered helicopter, the cost of which had to be borne by personal funds.

Section 5: This section would authorize the Secretary to transfer to States and political subdivisions or agencies thereof fire-lookout towers and other improvements for fire control when no longer needed by the Forest Service for such purposes but which are of value to the States in fire-protection systems operated by them.

The land used in connection with such improvements could also be transferred if located outside national-forest boundaries. The transfers could be made without reimbursement or at such prices and upon such terms as the Secretary determined. Title to the transferred property would revert to, and immediately revest in, the United States if within 2 years from the date of transfer it were not put to the use for which it was transferred, or if within 15 years from the date of transfer it ceased to be used for such purposes for a period of 2 years. The Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949 does not contain provisions authorizing transfers such as are contemplated under this section.

The Forest Service is relinquishing to the States or subdivisions thereof fire-protection work on about 81⁄2 million acres of forest lands formerly protected under cooperative arrangement by the Forest Service.

It would be in the public interest to transfer fire-lookout towers, telephone lines, and other fire-control improvements to the agencies undertaking fire protection of these lands, subject to the reversionary provisions.

Section 6: This section would broaden existing Forest Service authority to pay for telephones for official use in private residences. Present authority to do this is contained in section 10 of the act of April 24, 1950, but is limited to residences of seasonal employees and of persons cooperating with the Forest Service who reside within or near the national forests when such installation is needed in protecting the national forests. Phone service is often needed in connection with night and weekend calls for fire emergencies and other protection duties of year-round employees, who may reside in small communities, settlements, or outlying stations and who have little personal need for the telephone service and would otherwise not install the service at personal expense. Frequently only extensions from nearby offices to residences would be involved.

All this would do would be to broaden the authority from what we now have as to seasonal employees by extending it to year-round employees.

The proposed amendment also would extend the authority to all lands administered by the Forest Service and thus to the landutilization areas administered under title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act.

Similar authority was recently granted the Secretary of the Army by Public Law 103, 84th Congress, approved June 28, 1955, to install and pay for telephone service in private residences in connection with the operation of locks and dams for navigation, flood control, and related uses.

Section 7: With respect to lands under the administration of the Forest Service, this section would make available until expended moneys received by the United States from (1) forfeiture of deposits or bonds by permittee or timber purchaser because of failure to complete or perform the improvement, protection, or rehabilitation work required by the contracts or permits, or (2) a judgment, compromise, or settlement of any claim involving damage to lands or improvements. In either case, the Forest Service would be enabled to use the moneys collected to cover the cost to the United States of the improvement, protection, or rehabilitation work made necessary by the action which led to the collection.

Examples under the first category involve cases where timber-sale purchasers fail to comply with the terms of their contracts such as failure to clean up campsites, or to take required measures to control

erosion.

Strip mining is another example when the permittee fails to restore the site to productivity. In such cases the user forfeits the deposit given to guarantee performance, or collection may be made from his surety. An example of the second category is where an individual's negligence has caused a fire which does serious damage to young timber or range, and also creates an erosion and flood-control problem.

This section would permit the Forest Service to use the money collected to perform the work. At the present time collections are deposited into the Treasury and are not available.

Any moneys received in excess of amount expended to perform the necessary work would be transferred to miscellaneous receipts.

Section 8: This section would authorize the Department to require timber-sale purchasers and other users of roads and trails on lands administered by the Forest Service to deposit funds for use by the Forest Service to cover the cost of the road or trail maintenance necessitated by their operations.

Timber purchasers and users of other resources from the national forests and other lands administered by the Forest Service now may be required by the terms of their contracts or permits to maintain, as necessitated by their use, roads and trails which are used by them in the conduct of their operations. The same requirements may be made of other commercial users of roads and trails on such lands.

The latter include those who, in the utilization of mineral resources, timber, or other products on intermingled or adjacent private lands use Forest Service roads and trails.

The act of April 24, 1950, permits the Forest Service to perform such maintenance work at the expense of these interested parties, when they so desire, through the use of deposits made by them for such

purpose.

The users cannot be required, however, to make the deposits. This legislation would provide authority for such requirements. It would thus enable the Secretary to provide a more satisfactory means of accomplishing the necessary maintenance in those cases where the Forest Service, through its personnel, experience, and equipment can more economically, promptly, and satisfactorily perform the work.

One illustration of the need for this section is where a particular road is being used by several haulers. Rather than have each of the haulers perform separately portions of the maintenance, this would enable the Secretary to require the several users to make maintenance deposits so that the Forest Service can do the maintenance as a complete job.

Section 9: Under the act of May 11, 1922, as interpreted by the Comptroller General in a decision of July 28, 1955, the Forest Service is prohibited from using its appropriations to pay either all or part of the cost of publication of its research findings in nongovernmental scientific journals.

The amendment proposed in this section would remove such prohibition and provide the Forest Service with the same authority now had by all other agencies of the Department of Agriculture.

Publication of certain highly technical research findings in nongovernmental scientific journals is often the most effective and

cheapest means of reaching the limited professional groups for which the information is primarily intended.

Because of such advantages to be gained by dissemination of Forest Service technical and scientific information through publication in nongovernmental journals, the Forest Service should, along with other agencies of the Department, be permitted to utilize its funds to cover the costs whenever appropriate.

Section 10: This section would provide for an increase of the present limitation on the total amount available for purchase of administrative sites from $25,000 to $50,000 per year.

The present site limitation was established by the act of April 24, 1950. Since that time land prices have steadily increased. The annual report of the Federal Housing Administration shows that the cost of dwelling sites increased approximately 43 percent between 1949 and 1954.

Steadily increasing workloads on ranger districts require the creation of some 35 new districts annually. Some of these will result in the need for additional headquarters where the only available site is on privately owned land.

Intensified use of the national forests and increased research will necessitate the construction of more dwellings, storage buildings, offices, bunkhouses, and so forth. Adequate housing is one of the urgent needs in order to recruit and hold professional employees who can maintain Forest Service standards and effectively serve the public. Much of the work of the Forest Service is headquartered in small towns in order that employees may be in close touch with nationalforest users, and provided with school, medical, church, and shopping facilities. Private rentals are not available in many of these locations and sites must be purchased.

The present limitation on the total amount that can be expended on administrative sites of $25,000 per fiscal year will seriously limit the program that can be undertaken with the $4 million appropriated for that purpose in fiscal year 1958.

An increase to $50,000 would enable the program to proceed in an orderly manner so that the higher priority needs could be met. Present urgent needs for site purchases for buildings scheduled for construction in fiscal year 1958 would fully utilize the $50,000 authorization. The need for this additional authorization therefore is urgent. That completes my statement, Mr. Chairman. We appreciate the committee's giving consideration to this bill.

(The changes in existing law referred to are as follows:)

CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW

Changes made by the bill are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets; proposed new legislation is italicized; existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman):

ACT OF MARCH 4, 1913, AS AMENDED (16 U. S. C. 502)

SEC. 1. [(c) To reimburse owners for loss, damage, or destruction of horses, vehicles, and other equipment obtained by the Forest Service for the use of that service from employees or other private owners: Provided, That payments or reimbursements herein authorized may be made from the applicable appropriations for the Forest Service: And provided further, That except for fire-fighting emergencies no reimbursement herein authorized shall be made in an amount in excess of $50 in any case unless supported by a written contract of hire or lease.] (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.

[c] (d) To reimburse owners for loss, damage, or destruction of horses, vehicles, and other equipment obtained by the Forest Service for the use of that service from employees or other private owners: Provided, That payments or reimbursements herein authorized may be made from the applicable appropriations for the Forest Service: [And provided further, That except for fire-fighting emergencies no reimbursement herein authorized shall be made in an amount in excess of $50 in any case unless supported by a written contract of hire or lease.] 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 $2500 in any other case, unless the equipment was made available under a written agreement, contract or lease.

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 employee 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.

SECTION 202 OF THE ACT OF SEPTEMBER 21, 1944 (16 U. S. C. 554B) SEC. 4. 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.

SECTION 10 OF THE ACT OF APRIL 24, 1950 (16 U. S. C. 580f)

SEC. 6. 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 [seasonal] employees and of persons cooperating with the Forest Service who reside within or near [the national forests] such lands when such installation is determined by the Secretary of Agriculture to be needed in protecting [the national forests] 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,