share of receipts, that is, 25 percent of total receipts, to be devoted to the development of the Oregon & California grant lands there in Oregon. Furthermore, the Oregon and California counties wish to broaden the use of these receipts to include development of other Federal lands in those counties. Now it is anticipated that $9.2 million will become available from this source in 1962 to provide for construction and maintenance of access roads, reforestation and recreational facilities on the Oregon and California grant lands and other Federal lands in those counties. Chairman HAYDEN. The justification for $9,200,000 for the Oregon and California grant lands will be placed in the record. (The justification referred to follows:) Under this title, 25 percent of the gross receipts from sales of timber and other products on the revested Oregon & California Railroad grant lands is appropriated, bringing together under one appropriation all reimbursable charges against the Oregon & California land-grant fund. It provides for the construction, acquisition, operation and maintenance of access roads and improvements and for reforestation on the revested Oregon & California Railroad grant lands and on other Federal lands in the Oregon and California land-grant counties of Oregon. Existing legislation provides that the O. & C. counties shall receive, in lieu of tax payments, up to 75 percent of the gross revenues from these lands. The O. & C. counties have recommended that one-third of the amount due from receipts, or 25 percent of the total gross receipts, be appropriated for access road construction and maintenance, reforestation, and improvements and be reimbursed to the Treasury from funds otherwise payable to them. 1. Construction and acquisition, $7,850,000 This estimate is for construction of access roads on the Oregon and California Railroad grant lands. It represents a decrease of $2,980,268 from the amount available for fiscal year 1961. It covers reconnaissance and surveys of potential routes to O. & C. timber, negotiation, survey, appraisal, and acquisition of easements, rights-of-way, and roads and improvement or construction of roads across lands on or adjacent to O. & C. lands (including 462,697 acres of O. & C. lands administered by the Forest Service pursuant to Public Law 426). More than 7,000 separate parcels of O. & C. land are intermingled with or in the vicinity of approximately 10 million acres of lands in other ownership (mostly private). To fully implement the timber cutting plan it is imperative that remotely located old growth, decadent stands be depleted in the initial part of the cutting sequence. Failure to build adequate access roads into these inaccessible areas forces the cutting of more thrifty rotation-age material. In some instances delicately balanced cutting plans can be seriously disrupted and reserved cuttings, being retained to provide firebreaks and supplemental seed sources, are cut prematurely because undeveloped drainages cannot be penetrated. A total of 166 separate easements need to be acquired for planned road construction. Approximately 40 miles of existing roads should be purchased. The scheduling of sales of old growth and slavage timber hinges on adequate area development of new road construction and existing road aequisition. In recent years the large increases in allowable cuts have brought presently accessible areas under heavy pressure. The proposed construction and acquisition program for 1962 will provide access to critical drainage areas containing more decadent materials which should be removed first in a sound forestry management program. At the end of fiscal year 1960, 271 miles of main-line access roads had been completed, 28 miles were under construction, and projects for an additional 157 miles were being processed. This estimate provides for grading 88 miles, surfacing of 55 miles, construction of necessary bridges, and production of rock for road surfacing. The Bureau's timber inventory program has made it possible to increase the annual sustained yield allowance cut from 534.5 million board feet in 1954 to 874.2 million board feet in 1959. Additional salvage and similar timber not chargeable to the sustained yield base makes it possible to offer approximately 1 billion board feet for sale in fiscal year 1962. An adequate system of access roads is essential to the offering of the full allowable cut each year. Recently completed access roads have permitted movement of O. & C. timber to communities and industries which might otherwise have suffered acute economic distress. Because of these roads competitive interest has been extended and has provided bidding opportunities for prospective purchasers who heretofore have been unable to bid for the timber. These roads also provide ready access to the O. & C. and other lands for fire protection, recreation, and other uses, including transportation of privately owned timber. When privately owned timber is transported over these roads, road-use fees are collected. Details of the program are given in the following tables: Status of appropriation, fiscal years 1951 through 1960 Unobligated balance as of June 30, 1960, brought forward.... 4th quarter 1960 receipts warranted in July 1960.. $3,752, 268 2,446, 000 7,078, 000 10, 830, 268 Less estimated 4th quarter 1961 receipts warranted in July 1961 -2,446,000 Estimated authorization, fiscal year 1961.. Available for 1961 program... Utilization: Bureau of Land Management: Total, Bureau of Land Management...- - Bureau of Public Roads: Surveys... Construction: BLM lands.. Forest Service lands... Total, construction... Total, Bureau of Public Roads_-_ 440, 268 1, 772, 000 2,212, 268 548, 000 7, 170, 000 900, 000 8, 070, 000 8, 618, 000 Total, 1961 program.... 10, 830, 268 Detail of construction, 1961 program Bureau of Land Management lands: Work in progress and pending authorized projects. - Burnt Mountain, sec. B, surfacing 12.1 miles CB (Coos) Camp Creek, surfacing, 13.3 miles CB (Douglas). Canton Creek, sec. C, grading, 7 miles R (Douglas). S. F. Smith River, grading, 10 miles R (Douglas) - Bridges... Culverts (11).. Rock production (stockpile and surfacing) Total, Bureau of Land Management lands.. Forest Service lands. Total, 1961 construction program............ Estimated 4th quarter receipts warranted in July 1961. $2, 446, 000 7, 850, 000 Less estimated 4th quarter 1962 receipts warranted in July 1962--2, 446, 000 Bureau of Land Management lands: Canton Creek, sec. B, 9.3 miles surfacing. $150,000 540, 000 380, 000 300, 000 225,000 250,000 150, 000 250,000 75, 000 185, 000 275,000 100, 000 75,000 200, 000 North Fork Coquille River, 10.4 miles, grading North Fork Coquille River Ridge, 4.3 miles, grading.. Main Fork Bear Creek, 2.3 miles, grading Middle Creek, sec. C, 3 miles, grading.. Little Camp Creek, 2.2 miles, grading- N. E. Rock Creek. 6.5 miles, grading Days Creek, 7 miles, grading--- Bridges, culverts, and roadside cleanup.. Total, BLM lands. Forest Service lands__ Total, 1962 construction program_. 2. Reforestation and improvements, $1,050,000 310, 000 200, 000 77,000 200,000 90, 000 560, 000 140, 000 240,000 63, 500 194, 500 5, 230, 000 800, 000 6, 030, 000 (a) Reforestation.-The estimate of $700,000 is an increase of $100,000. The O. & C. counties have recommended the use of this amount for reforestation in fiscal year 1962. There is an estimated backlog of approximately 74,000 acres of O. & C. lands in need of reforestation. Approximately 15,000 of these acres plus approximately half of the current cutting acreage must be reforested each year in order to eliminate the backlog by the planned deadline of 1965. The 1962 program provides for the reforestation of 17,150 acres plus the purchase of seeds and seedlings for an estimated 5,000 acres to be reforested under the terms of timber sale contracts. The fiscal year 1961 and 1962 programs for planting and seeding will reduce the backlog by almost 20,000 acres, as shown below: Reforestation needed, July 1, 1960.. Add from 1960 cut.... Less planting and seeding 1961.. Less planting and seeding, 1962.. Remaining to be reforested Includes 7,500 acres seeded or planted by purchasers of timber sales contracts. Acres 74, 240 +12, 500 1-22, 500 +12, 500 2-22, 150 54, 590 There are 26,312 acres currently in need of site improvement work, of which 4,250 acres have been programed for this year. This treatment primarily includes snag felling and brush or grass eradication to prepare sites for tree planting or seeding. Failure to place this depleted acreage back into timber production within the prescribed period incorporated in the calculation of the allowable cut can only result in the commensurate reduction of the allowable cut. It is conservatively estimated this entails a loss of revenue of approximately $15 per acre per year or $1.1 million total per year. The reforestation program for fiscal year 1962 follows: Less amount provided for Forest Development, O. & C., under "Management of lands and resources". Total program, this appropriation___ 800, 000 -100,000 700, 000 (b) Recreation facilities.-The estimate of $350,000 is an increase of $278,000. The O. & C. counties have recommended the use of this amount for recreational facilities in fiscal year 1962. One hundred thousand dollars is programed for facilities to be developed by the Bureau, while $250,000 is programed for facilities to be developed by the Forest Service on lands in the O. & Č. counties that are administered by that agency. Construction of public recreational facilities, including provision of necessary access thereto, in the O. & C. area of Oregon began in 1961 fiscal year as an entirely new program. The O. & C. counties have agreed to finance this construction from a portion of their share of the O. & C. receipts. The public demand for recreational facilities in western Oregon has mushroomed dramatically in the last 2 years. The BLM timber access roads have opened many areas highly suitable for recreational use. Currently, recreational use of many scenic spots adjacent to the access roads is unregulated. Hazards both to the resource and to public welfare already are recognized that can be minimized or eliminated with development of needed facilities. The National Park Service will act as a consultant in planning these projects. 3. Operation and maintenance, $300,000 This estimate provides for maintenance of constructed and acquired access roads and recreation facilities. The increase of $50,000 over the amount available in fiscal year 1961 is necessary because of increases in the mileage of roads requiring maintenance and development of additional recreation facilities. The mileage of constructed and acquired roads requiring maintenance through use of appropriated funds has risen from 732 miles in fiscal year 1960 to 948 miles in fiscal year 1961, an increase of approximately 30 percent. The increase in funds 6880661 |