6 1 that would have a direct and adverse effect on the values 2 for which such river was established, as determined by the 3 Secretary, or request appropriations to begin construction 4 of any such project, whether heretofore or hereafter author5 ized, without advising the Secretary in writing of its intention 6 so to do at least sixty days in advance, and without specifi7 cally reporting to the Congress in writing at the time it makes 8 its recommendation or request in what respect construction 9 of such project would be in conflict with the purposes of this 10 Act and would affect the national river and the values to be 11 protected by it under this Act. 12 SEC. 5. The Secretary shall administer, protect, and 13 develop the Buffalo National River in accordance with the 14 provisions of the Act of August 25, 1916 (39 Stat. 535; 16 15 U.S.C. 1 et seq.), as amended and supplemented; except 16 that any other statutory authority available to the Secretary 17 for the conservation and management of natural resources 18 may be utilized to the extent he finds such authority will 19 further the purposes of this Act. 20 SEC. 6. There are authorized to be appropriated such 21 sums as may be necessary to carry out the provisions of this 22 Act, not to exceed, however, $12,102,000 (April 1971 7 1 prices) for development of the area plus or minus such 2 amounts, if any, as may be justified by ordinary fluctuations 3 in construction costs as indicated by engineering cost indices 4 applicable to the types of construction involved herein. Passed the Senate May 21, 1971. Attest: FRANCIS R. VALEO, Secretary. Hon. WAYNE N. ASPINALL, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of Representatives, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: You have requested the views of this Department on H.R. 8382 and H.R. 9119, identical bills "To provide for the establishment of the Buffalo National River in the State of Arkansas, and for other purposes." We recommend enactment of S. 7, as passed by the Senate May 21, 1971, in lieu of H.R. 8382 and H.R. 9119. H.R. 8382 and H.R. 9119 are identical bills authorizing the establishment and administration (by the Secretary of the Interior) of the Buffalo National River, in the State of Arkansas. The bills authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Buffalo National River on not more than 95,730 acres in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. The national river will include a segment of the Buffalo River, which will be preserved as a free-flowing stream, and adjacent land areas on both sides of the river containing unique scenic and scientific features. The significance of the Buffalo River is not due to any single attribute of the river which, taken alone, ranks above that for any other river in the United States. Rather, its significance is due to a splendid combination of favorable qualities. Massive bluffs and deeply entrenched valleys give the Buffalo the most spectacular setting of any stream in the Ozark region, and enable it to be classed among the most outstandingly scenic of the free-flowing streams in the eastern United States. With little residential or commercial development on its banks. and with no municipal or industrial pollution, the Buffalo River is unspoiled. It provides a unique opportunity for preservation since its headwaters lie within the Ozark National Forest. The House bills differ from S. 7, as passed by the Senate, in three major substantive respects: 1. In allowing owners of improved property acquired by the Secretary for the national river to retain the use and occupancy thereof for agricultural or noncommercial residential purposes, the House bills apply to permanent dwellings the construction of which was begun before January 1, 1971. S. 7 applies to such dwellings for which construction was begun before January 1, 1967. 2. The House bills direct the Secretary to make payments to the involved counties for 5 years to alleviate their real estate tax losses resulting from Federal property acquisitions for the national river. No similar provision is in the Senate-passed bill. 3. H.R. 8382 and H.R. 9119 imposes an appropriations authorization ceiling of $16,115.000 for land acquisition and $12.102.000 for development of the area. S. 7 has no ceiling for land acquisition and describes the identical ceiling for development in terms of construction cost indices of April 1971. With respect to the first difference, the retained rights of owners of improved property acquired by the Secretary are generally related to the beginning of the year in which the involved legislation was first introduced. In this case, legislation was first introduced concerning a Buffalo National River on January 30. 1967 (S. 704 of the 90th Congress). Use of the 1971 year date contained in H.R. 8382 and H.R. 9119 would therefore unduly benefit persons constructing dwellings after January 1967 with knowledge and anticipation of their possible acquisition by the Secretary. With respect to the second difference, the Department noted its general opposition to such payments in lieu of taxes in its report of March 5, 1970, on H.R. 10246 of the 91st Congress, a bill concerning the establishment of the Buffalo National River. Generally this Department does not favor such payments on the ground that the stimulating effect of expanding tourist business will offset or surpass any immediate loss of real estate tax revenues to the local government. We believe that the question of whether interim payments to cover the immediate tax loss are justified depends upon the amount of the tax loss in relation to the total revenues received by the local government, and the ability of the local government to absorb such loss. We are not aware of any justification for such payments in this case. With respect to the third difference, while the land acquisition ceiling contained in H.R. 8382 and H.R. 9119 conforms to the estimate made by this Department based on April 20, 1971, prices, the development ceiling makes no allowance for ordinary fluctuations in construction costs. It seems highly probable that other higher priority urban oriented areas may well get the preponderance of National Park Service development dollars for the next few years. As a consequence, any escalation of labor and material cost during this period will make the development cost ceiling in the House bills inadequate. We, therefore, prefer the appropriations authorization ceiling imposed by section 6 of S. 7. Enclosed is a man-year and cost data statement. For these reasons, therefore, this Department recommends enactment of S. 7 as referred to your Committee May 24, 1971. The Office of Management and Budget has advised that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely yours, W. T. PECORA, Under Secretary of the Interior. Enclosure. U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, NATIONAL PARK SERVICE-PROPOSED BUFFALO NATIONAL RIVER [Estimated man-years of civilian employment and expenditures for the 1st 5 years of proposed new or expanded programs] DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Washington, D.C. October 28, 1971. Hon. WAYNE N. ASPINALL, Chairman, Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, House of Representatives. DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: As you asked, here is our report on H.R. 8382 and H.R. 9119, identical bills "To provide for the establishment of the Buffalo National River in the State of Arkansas, and for other purposes." The Department of Agriculture recommends enactment of legislation to establish the Buffalo National River. H.R. 8382 and H.R. 9119 are bills which would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to establish the Buffalo National River of not more than 95,730 acres in the Ozark Mountains of northwest Arkansas. Also pending before your Committee is a similar bill, S. 7, which has been passed by the Senate. We understand that the Department of the Interior prefers enactment of S. 7 in lieu of H.R. 8382 and H.R. 9119. The proposed national river would include a segment of the Buffalo River, which would be preserved as a free-flowing stream, and adjacent land areas on both sides of the river containing unique scenic and scientific features. The boundaries of the proposed national river would be as generally depicted on the drawing entitled "Proposed Buffalo National River" numbered NR-BUF7103 dated December 1967. The area would be administered generally in accordance with the provisions of the Act of August 25, 1916, as amended and supplemented. The bills would authorize the Secretary of the Interior to acquire by donation, purchase with donated or appropriated funds, or exchange, lands and waters or interests therein within the national river boundaries, and outside of such boundaries in order to avoid the payment of severance costs. Lands owned by the State of Arkansas or its political subdivisions may be acquired only by donation. With concurrence of the agency having custody. Federal property within the boundaries of the national river could be transferred without consideration to the administrative jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior. The Secretary would be authorized and directed to make certain payments to counties for 5 years to alleviate tax losses as a result of acquisition of property. The bills would permit hunting and fishing in accordance with applicable Federal and State laws. They would prohibit the Federal Power Commission from authorizing on the Buffalo National River the construction of any dam. water conduit, reservoir, powerhouse, transmission line, or other project works under the Federal Power Act. They would also direct that no department or agency of the United States shall assist or recommend any water resource project that would have a direct and adverse effect on the values for which the river was established. The boundaries of the Buffalo National River would include approximately 2.220 acres of lands within the Ozark National Forest which are administered by the Forest Service of this Department. II.R. 8382, H.R. 9119, and S. 7 all involve the same National Forest lands. Most of this acreage includes high quality recreation lands along the Buffalo River which we acquired in recent years as they became available, with Land and Water Conservation Fund monies. We have discussed with the National Park Service the relationship of these lands to the proposed national river. We have agreed that should the Buffalo National River be established, we would have no objection to the transfer of these lands to the Department of the Interior for national river purposes. Except for the inclusion of the small acreage of National Forest lands, the proposed Buffalo National River would not directly affect the responsibilities of this Department. The Office of Management and Budget advises that there is no objection to the presentation of this report from the standpoint of the Administration's program. Sincerely, J. PHIL CAMPBELL, Mr. TAYLOR. Our first witness is a gentleman from Arkansas and the sponsor of H.R. 8382, our colleague, the Honorable John Paul Hammerschmidt. |