his ranch, this would cut the whole thing right off, as far as his breeding program.

So it would have to be his position that he would have to either sell out and relocate, but there couldn't be anything in between because of the very nature of this type of business.

Mr. TAYLOR. You can find out from the Park Service whether or not they plan any public use facilities in the immediate area.

Mr. ALLEN. They have, right down below this, but since these are proposed, I would like their comment about wildlife, and who's going to take care of the wildlife. You know, they can change their mind and I don't know what's going to happen. We're concerned about this. I don't mean to cast aspersions on them, but it's the same thing as controlling the fish and game in Arkansas. They're going to have the final say-so, and they can change their mind as to how this affects this property.

As an example, one of the valuable mares was killed by a deer hunter, and this occurred only last year.

Mr. TAYLOR. Now, we will have to go to the House floor in just a minute.

Can you finish in about 2 more minutes? I'm anxious to hear the property owners, just as much as the conservationists. Now, you are the first property owner representative, and for that reason, we have given you a fair amount of time.

Mr. ALLEN. I appreciate your time and your consideration. I only want to wind up with one thing, and this is a personal story, but I think it's important.

Mr. Yarborough, on yearly basis, picks up, cleans up the trash, the cans from the river, et cetera, and he has never objected to this and never posted his land.

My family and I camped on the Buffalo River this last summer in August, and as I was leaving for Washington, my 10-year-old said, "Well, where are you going?" And I said, "I'm going to Washington.' He says, "What about?" and I said, "We're going up to talk about the Buffalo River, that it may become a national park".

My son, and I'll have to admit I did not prompt him, came up with the statement which I thought was apropos for this committee to hear: "Good night, Dad, don't let them do that because if they do, they'll fill that river full of beer cans."

And I will not go into a long dissertation on the problems that the Park Department is having with parks, but I think this is something that the committee should consider because this property is in a beautiful State under private ownership at the present time.

Thank you for your time.

Mr. TAYLOR. Those who are desiring that we make it a national river want to continue to keep it beautiful, and some of them think that it will be better preserved in the hands of the Government than privately. This is something of debate.

May I ask you just a few quick questions? How many ranches do you say Mr. Yarborough owns?

Mr. ALLEN. Well, this is four ranches in four States-Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas.

Mr. TAYLOR. All part of one operation?

Mr. ALLEN. The cattle operation is interrelated, all tied together.

Mr. TAYLOR. And he owns 5 miles along the Buffalo River?

Mr. ALLEN. Yes, sir; and his more exotic breeding takes place on the Arkansas property. The breeds are being upbreeded into the purebred area right here.

Mr. TAYLOR. And if this legislation is enacted and the property is included, would the owner be willing to subject his property to a scenic easement to assure its continual pastoral use?

Mr. ALLEN. Well, there would be no way that he could continue his present purebred horse operation, subject to a scenic easement, because of the influx of people with purebred horses. The veterinarian has advised him of this and it is a problem in a purebred.

This is a purebred operation and it's taken him 10 years to build it up, and with a scenic easement, it would cease at that point. As I said, this is a large commercial development.

Just taking into consideration the Arabian horse market that's involved, these horses are sold, sight unseen, by phone; unborn foals are sold over the telephone. This is an attribute to the State park and the Buffalo River. People come in from all over the United States just to see this Arabian horse operation on the Buffalo River, which is part of the attraction.

Mr. TAYLOR. How far back from the river's banks are the main buildings of your breeding operation?

Mr. ALLEN. The breeding operation is about 250 feet of contoured river bank, and the grass goes right to the water's edge.

There's no pollution problem in this area. A sanitation disposal system is in effect. A settling basin, 150 by 50 by 12 feet deep is installed, and there is no pollution that goes into the stream from this particular operation.

Mr. TAYLOR. Do you suggest any particular amendments to the bill, assuming that it were to pass?

Mr. ALLEN. Yes, I do. I don't know how to phrase them. I haven't given them that much thought, but No. 1, the 1971 cutoff date would be a necessity.

No. 2: Not subjecting an owner, where it is unfeasible for the continuation of his commercial venture, to be subjected to an easement where it would be unfeasible.

And I think those are the maior points.

And No. 3: Congressman Hammerschmidt is located very close to this ranch and is a friend of Mr. Yarborough and we have had a nice visit with him, but until we explained this to him, he didn't realize the nature of the commercial development in this area, and I feel that possibly the bill should be looked at in the light of people that do have commercial developments in that area because I feel it's just been sort of overlooked.

Everybody assumes that this one person per mile means it's very sparsely populated-well, it is, but this is an exception that, I think, should be taken care of because if the bill were passed as it is presently stated now, in order to do justice and have equity for Mr. Yarborough in this ranch operation, we would probably have to ask, whether we would receive it or not, for special legislation covering this specific piece of property.

Mr. TAYLOR. You made one remark in your general presentation which might be somewhat confusing. Now, you said that you advised

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Mr. Yarborough not to build any buildings because he might have to give them away.

Now, the 1967 date doesn't affect a person being paid for the improvements on his property. He's got to be paid for the improvements and the market value at the time of taking.

Certainly the fact that people start talking about taking this area wouldn't mean that a man who'd make improvements wouldn't be paid. The date only affects his right to maintain use and occupancy.

Mr. ALLEN. The 35 years would be retroactive to 1967?

Mr. TAYLOR. That cutoff date triggers the right to retain possession. Mr. ALLEN. We would have no objection, then, to either date as long as the improvements that presently exist would be treated fairly and a fair market value would be paid for them.

Mr. TAYLOR. In any event, the Government has to pay the fair market value.

Mr. ALLEN. Just so that includes the present improvements.

Mr. TAYLOR. Even if it's constructed after the law is passed it must be paid for. That's one thing that's costing the taxpayers because many times speculators go in and make improvements that the Government has to buy. We have to fight that as best we can.

Mr. ALLEN. I know you understand that this is a project that has been 20 years in the making, and when he bought this valley and found it, he had to find it by an airplane, and he built the first roads into this area. There weren't even roads there.

Mr. TAYLOR. I'm sure Mr. Yarborough has a fine operation and I would like to see it, and if you have any additional specific amendments concerning the bill, submit them to me or the counsel for the committee or maybe to your Congressman, and we'll consider them. Mr. ALLEN. Thank you.

Mr. TAYLOR. The subcommittee will stand in recess until 2 this afternoon. Now, I can't tell you that we will meet very long this afternoon because the schedule on the House floor may make it impossible, but we will endeavor to resume at 2.

(Whereupon, at 12:35 p.m., the subcommittee recessed to reconvene at 2 p.m., the same day.)

AFTERNOON SESSION

Mr. TAYLOR. The subcommittee will come to order.

Neil Compton, president of the Ozark Society.

Your entire statement will be placed in the record, so you can sum it up:

(The document referred to follows:)

STATEMENT OF DR. NEIL COMPTON, PRESIDENT OF THE OZARK SOCIETY

My name is Neil Compton. I am a doctor of medicine practicing in my home town of Bentonville, Arkansas in which state I have resided since the time of my birth and from whose schools and university I graduated with my present professional qualifications.

I am at the present time and have been since its founding in May 1962 the president of the Ozark Society. This organization is a conservation organization whose principal interest lies in the Ozark-Ouachita uplands and the adjacent regions surrounding it. The Ozark Society was founded because of the need for better recognition of the recreational and aesthetic values of the Ozark uplands and for a means to defend their integrity against the rapidly advancing technology of this age we live in. Our group was originally founded because of the crisis arising on the Buffalo River in the late 1950s at which time its

obliteration had been proposed by a large federal agency by a series of high dams.

In order to better understand all factors in this controversy we have established a permanent program for outloor activities which affords great pleasure to our membership inasmuch as we see and study first hand the scenic beauty of the country in which we are so vitally interested. Having understood its problems so well we have been able to defend it successfully against the proposal for what we believe to have been needless flood control and power projects. It is not necessary to repeat here the details of this now latent controversy. As an alternative it was suggested that the Buffalo River be included in the National Park Service System as a National River to be maintained in perpetuity for the enjoyment and pleasure of this and all suceeding generations. I am sorry to say that having achieved a reprive from drawdown reservoirs we are now faced with the fact that the Buffalo River and its countryside are being destroyed rapidly in a piecemeal fashion by various other human activities.

The first of these comes under the heading of agricultural development. We are now witnessing the relentless advance of cattle ranching which has invaded this area from such states as Texas, Oklahoma and Kansas. In order to accomplish this it has been necessary for the well financed individuals undertaking it to bulldoze away all surface features that interfere. This includes the natural native forest and as much irregular topography as is possible. As a result of this through extensive areas of the Ozarks today the landscape is now as bare as Kansas or western Oklahoma. Bulldozing has been carried out upon unbelievably steep slopes with the result that the natural soil which was once part of the forest floor has washed away with the first few heavy rains and descended into the river below filling its channel and degrading the quality of its waters. This practice is aggravated by the fact that income tax deductions are allowed for such activities and in many cases people of means whose principle income lies in sources other than farming have entered this activity in order to escape the internal revenue service. We realize that this is not the time or place to correct this inequity but it is the time and place to declare the Buffalo River a National River and thus remove it and its immediate shoreline from further abuse of this sort. In connection with the mechanical assault by the bulldozer and giant earth mover we have witnessed recently the application of chemical warfare to the Buffalo River Country and the Ozarks in general. This has come in the form of brush killing spray or 245T. During the last few months we have listened to agonized outcrys about the use of such chemicals in warfare and not one word has been said about its more extensive use in the lovely hills and valleys of our Ozark country. Heavy damage has recently resulted along the upper Buffalo and many of the valleys close by. An investigation would reveal that commercial operators now exist in that area who fly helicopters up and down the valleys to disperse 245T creating a scene of incredible and unbelievable desolation. The local landowners unfortunately have been encouraged in this by certain agencies in the Department of Agriculture. The purposes of this practice are reported to be desire to kill the hardwood timber in the area in order to provide better grazing for cattle or in some instances to kill the hardwood in order to convert the forest to pine. We believe that these ideas are open to serious question and again urge that the Buffalo River and its immediate area be excluded from such hasty and ill conceived use of a newfound chemical by the passage of protective legislation such as proposed in House Bill 8283 and 9119.

Also being stimulated by an agency of the Department of Agriculture is the practice of channelizing streams. This simply means that large earth moving equipment such as bulldozers, draglines and other devices are used to completely denude and level the river banks of streams in question. The purpose of this is reportedly to be to obtain the rapid runoff of water during the rainy seasons. This again we believe to be a poorly conceived unproven practice. We certainly do know that it is completely destructive as far as the beauty and integrity of streams such as the Buffalo is concerned. We are sorry today that too many miles of the best part of the Buffalo have been channelized at the present time and we sincerely hope that the passage of legislation now under consideration will prevent further such demolition.

Another broad phase of human activity resulting in severe damage to areas such as the Buffalo River comes under the heading of commercialism. Here we find active all sorts of developers and speculators eager to make a fast dollar out of what has now come to be a popular and attractive part of the Ozark hills. In a very short time amusement park developments have sprung up with all the trappings and embellishments of Coney Island.

Amusement park disturbances are only a small part of the overall picture of ill-advised human activity in this as yet remote and beautiful area. Recently I have seen the appearance of hunting and sportsmens clubs, homes for wayward boys, resettlement villages of various sizes, individual dwellings, roadside caterers among which are the ubiquituous filling stations, hamburger stands, curio shops and roadside zoos. Then there efforts to create towns and municipalities on the Buffalo River. Recent planners have sought to incorporate almost unpopulated sections of the river valley into towns which of course will have a heavy degrading effect upon the natural scene.

Another ancient abuse that has been accelerated in late years has been the removal of the native forest. Logging operations have increased and will continue to denude this area until positive steps are taken to stop it.

Serious damage have resulted to some parts of the Buffalo River valley due to massive relocation of once very picturesque mountain roads. Modern construction and new requirements in reference to grade of such highways has resulted in scars that will remain forever a part of the landscape. In addition in order to obtain fill for road building large strippits were excavated on parts of the river resulting in mud and silt contamination of the remaining part of the stream. In the years during which I have been identified as a conservationist involved in an effort to salvage some of the remaining natural beauty of my part of the country my position has been questioned by a few as to why a physician should be involved in such matters. Some believe that I should be concerned with human physiology, pathology and the treatment of various ailments and not with the problems of the world in general in which I live. First I would like to say that I am not alone. Many doctors of medicine have been involved in this very subject and will continue to be as long as our profession exists. It should be mentioned that the president of one of our most influential conservation clubs, not only in the United States but in the World, the Sierra Club for many years was Doctor Edgar Wayburn, a doctor of medicine. I believe that all of us engaged in the treatment of human illness are aware of the fact that body, mind and emotions are all entertwined in such a way that they cannot be separated. Almost all human afflictions are definitely effected by tension, anxiety and frustration which factors become increasingly a part of our daily lives as technology and artificial existence become compounded. Thus more and more we yearn to seek out the undisturbed, remote and beautiful places away from the crowds of people, the unending miles of pavement and heavy traffic and the hurly-burly of urban living which has practically engulfed us all. Along the Buffalo River in its canyons and on its gravel bars we may still seek spiritual, emotional and physical reconstitution and here those of us who know it seek to turn from the stress of our daily lives. The need for such places for all of us has been most eloquently stated by the doctors of America speaking as a group and I would like to call your attention to a statement appearing in the October 8th issue of Life Magazine in the form of an advertisement by the American Medical Association.

In it they say:

"We are doctors of medicine. Naturally, we care about the health of your body.

But we care, too, about the health of the body of land you live on. America's body is not well. Its condition is critical. Suddenly the words "ecology" and "pollution" are in the air. People seem worried. But we hope their worry isn't just another passing fad.

A sick environment can make people sick. It can undo everything a doctor works for.

In fact, disease induced by the environment now costs us $38 billion a year. That bill will go up. If we don't nurse our environment back to health. How to do the job? We at the American Medical Association worry about it. But we want everyone to worry. Because everyone is going to have to help get the job done.

There's no use our trying to keep people well in a dead land."

STATEMENT OF DR. NEIL COMPTON, PRESIDENT, OZARK SOCIETY

Dr. COMPTON. Chairman Taylor, honorable members of the Subcommittee on Parks and Recreation, I would like to state that my name is Neil Compton. I am a doctor of medicine practicing in my hometown of Bentonville, Ark., in which State I have resided since