are so scattered in the budget for 1962, it is difficult to gain a comprehensive understanding of the program. The primary administering officer of a program of this importance should have direct access to the departmental secretary. He also should be available directly to committees of the Congress. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for the opportunity of presenting these views. Mr. BLATNIK. Thank you, Mr. Clapper, and your organization, for the splendid work you have done in this very important field and for your support of this legislation. Mr. CLAPPER. Thank you. Mr. BLATNIK. Mr. Michael Nadel of the Wilderness Society, Washington, D.C. Mr. Nadel, we welcome you again to this committee with pleasure, and to you, too, we express our thanks for cooperating and yielding your time to accommodate the rather large list of witnesses we had this morning. STATEMENT OF MICHAEL NADEL, ASSISTANT EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, THE WILDERNESS SOCIETY, WASHINGTON, D.C. Mr. NADEL. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I welcome the opportunity of presenting this brief statement in support of the measure before you, which would provide for "a more effective program of water pollution control." My name is Michael Nadel. I am assistant executive secretary of the Wilderness Society, a national, not-for-profit conservation organization, with members in all 50 States. Our headquarters are here in Washington, D.C., at 2144 P Street NW. Mr. Chairman, it is still possible, where wilderness has been preserved, to find water in its refreshing and uncommitted purity. There we knew the balm of enjoying it in its crystalline essence, in all its discovered vitality, in its stimulus to the palate and body, and to the esthetic instinct. When there was much more wilderness, in our early history, we hacked out our villages, as indeed it seemed necessary; expanded into cities; and eventually we multiplied the violations of natural environment. This seemed inevitable and proper planning and controls should have seemed inevitable, too. A concomitant of our tremendous expansion, present and foreseeable, makes planning for wholesome water on a national basis both desirable and logical. Our rivers are running sewers indeed. Our rapidly expanding communities and regions are unable or unwilling to face the cost, in effort or dollars, to reverse the tide of water pollution. One community adds to the burden of another downstream. The downstream community succumbs to acquiescence in its bath of filth, and in its turn passes some of it on. Communities which are immersed in the backwaters of pollution and contamination, encourage stresses and strains that fray our social and cultural structure. The natural swimming hole disappears. Quality fishing dies. The uplifting beauty of clean streams, lakes, and shores is tarnished. A drink of water becomes a chlorine cocktail. Economic values fade. Our culture is debased. Every town and city board, every industry, and every citizen, knows this. We teach children about this-at least in conservation education theory. Yet responsible groups have not taken adequate advantage of opportunities that would help to alleviate, in a measurable way, this blight of civilization. The Nation faces a moral imperative to stem the contamination, and to stamp it out, because not all communities can, or will, face up to the challenge. In our judgment, H.R. 4036 is designed to catch the conscience of the Nation, and to implement this by a program of desirable procedures and necessary aid for corrective action. In your synopsis of your bill, Mr. Blatnik, as reported in the proceedings of the 1960 National Conference on Water Pollution, you noted that it calls for greater Federal research, expanded Federal enforcement jurisdiction, stepped-up Federal aid to communities for the construction of water-treatment plants, extended Federal grants-in-aid for State pollution control activities, and establishment of an independent agency in the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to handle Federal water pollution programs and activities. We believe that this imaginative proposal measures off the lines to a goal of better social, cultural, and economic health. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I am privileged to say that the Committee of One Hundred on the Federal City has asked to join the Wilderness Society in support of H.R. 4036, and wishes to go on record to this effect. I appreciate the opportunity you have afforded for expressing these views. Mr. BLATNIK. Thank you very much, Mr. Nadel. Our last witness is Mr. Robert M. Paul, executive secretary of the Sport Fishing Institute, Washington, D.C. Mr. Paul has had considerable experience in the field of water utilization and conservation in addition to his service with the Sport Fishing Institute. We welcome you here and we do, too, appreciate your yielding your time and standing by patiently for many, many hours to accommodate a long list of wit nesses. STATEMENT OF ROBERT M. PAUL, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, SPORT FISHING INSTITUTE Mr. PAUL. Mr. Chairman, I can truthfully say it was a pleasure. I do not know of any testimony I would rather hear than the testimony before the committee favoring the passage of this bill and promoting a national water pollution control program. Mr. Chairman, I am Robert M. Paul, executive secretary, Sport Fishing Institute, Washington, D.C. The Sport Fishing Institute is a private, nonprofit scientific and educational fish conservation organization staffed by professional conservationists. It draws its chief financial support from a broad representation of manufacturers in the outdoor recreational industries dependent directly or indirectly upon the sport fishery resource. Our membership includes 170 manufacturers of fishing tackle, outboard boats, motors, sporting goods, and chemical metal, paper, and petroleum products that are used in some way by the 28 million or more Americans who look regularly to sport fishing for their chief It means of outdoor recreation. Our sole objective is a simple one. is to help improve sport fishing to the fullest extent possible through encouraging rapid development and application of sound fish conservation practices. Or, as often phrased, our objective is "to help shorten the time between bites" for the average angler. As you might surmise from earlier testimony in previous years, supporting a strengthened national water pollution control program, the Sport Fishing Institute reiterates its position and urges early passage of H.R. 4036. There is no question that maintenance of water quality is a truly national problem, and the recent report of the Senate Select Committee on National Water Resources makes this abundantly clear. We do not propose, in the interest of time, to repeat the testimony of "other witnesses supporting this bill, but wish to state that we are in substantial agreement with their views as expressed. The technical provisions of the bill are well known and the bill is widely supported by conservation organizations. The justification for the strengthening of the national water pollution control program is almost painfully obvious in our opinion. The Sport Fishing Institute represents a rather different segment of the supporters of this legislation in that we can speak for a number of manufacturers who have given a great deal of study to water pollution problems. As a result, our board of directors over 3 years ago went on record by unanimous resolution in favor of strengthening the Federal water pollution control program. Their experience, and we believe the experience of other industrial groups who need clean water, clearly showed the Federal grant program had been an effective stimulant to the construction of proper sewage-treatment facilities, particularly in the smaller communities in recreation areas. The policy adopted by the board of directors of the Sport Fishing Institute urged Congress to expedite to the fullest extent the Federal grant-in-aid program to assist municipalities. In addition, they strongly urged an expanded water pollution control research program. The judgment of the members of the Sport Fishing Institute was adequately confirmed 3 years later at the National Water Pollution Conference last December. We wish to emphasize particularly the need for the features of H.R. 4036 that will promote further research in all phases of water pollution control. The desperate need for research on water quality standards cannot be questioned seriously. The best estimates available indicate that present research effort in this area alone should be increased about tenfold if we are to have reasonable hopes of coping with the increasingly complex pollution problems of the future. Along with the need to supply an abundance of clean water for both industrial and domestic consumption, it is vitally important for the future of fishing and other forms of water-oriented outdoor recreation. In many respects, water pollution control is no longer primarily a problem of protecting domestic water supplies for traditional uses. In the future it may well become even more important to protect the public health benefits derived from healthy outdoor recreation. Research into the effects of pollution on fish and wildlife needs to be speeded up in order to cope with the many new pollution problems caused by insecticides and other new synthetic materials, and by in creasing volumes of heated coolant water discharged from steamgenerating and a wide variety of other manufacturing plants. Public interest in the Federal water pollution control program has centered on the grant program in the past. This is certainly important, but we hope that your committee continues to stress the other aspects of H.R. 4036 as well, particularly the enforcement and research phases. We appreciate the opportunity of appearing before your committee. As I said in my statement, today I represent a group of manufacturers in a very broad sense who are extremely concerned about clean water. In previous years we have expressed our interest in this bill, and I think it is somewhat of a tribute to the group I worked with that over 3 years ago they passed a resolution favoring the strengthening of the water pollution control program. Their study showed conclusively the grant program has been a very effective stimulant to the treatment plant construction, particularly in small rural areas and recreational areas where protection of streams is important from the standpoint of protecting fish, wildlife, and recreation. I think it is very gratifying to all of us to see that the judgment of this group, and I might say your committee, was certainly more than amply justified by the National Conference on Water Pollution last December. We should like particularly to emphasize the need for research in this field. The report of the National Conference on Water Pollution is an excellent justification for intensifying the national research effort in all phases of water pollution control activity. I think that the report points out at least a fivefold or sixfold increase in water pollution control effort is badly needed, and certainly justified. Another point is we do not want you to think everyone is concerned only with the protection of the water supply. An earlier witness pointed out that the future of water-oriented recreation is intimately involved with a proper supply of clean water. In many respects water pollution control is no longer primarily a problem of protecting the domestic supply of water for traditional uses. In effect it will be more important in the future to protect public health benefits derived. I thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. Mr. BLATNIK. Mr. Paul, I have one question. You mentioned you are representing 170 manufacturers of fishing tackle, outboard boats, motors, sporting goods, and so forth. Mr. PAUL. Yes. Mr. BLATNIK. You mentioned 28 million or more Americans are looking regularly to sport fishing for their chief means of outdoor recreation. That is a considerable portion of our population. Can you give us an idea of the rapid increase? Can you give us an idea, going back 10 years ago, how the sale of motorboats and station wagons and all that increased? Can you give us some indication of the rapid upswing? Mr. PAUL. Yes, Mr. Chairman. I think one way to think about it is that the rate of increase of fishermen is probably twice the rate of increase in the population as a whole. We feel the number of fishermen has climbed consistently. Figures are available, and there will be better figures available late this year when the national economic 68206-61-20 survey of fishing and hunting is completed by the Census Bureau. For the first time it will give us some very good idea of who the fishermen are and how much they spend. We are confident this survey, repeating one made 5 years ago, will show an upward trend continuing. The black spot on the horizon to some extent is the recent survey, which I suspect was probably put in the testimony before the committee, and certainly was mentioned at the conference in December, that showed that the areas where we needed outdoor recreation most, and where it is being adversely affected, are the areas around the cities, where pollution is playing a very important part in reducing the number of fishermen and opportunities for using boats and other water recreation. From the industry standpoint, boating, of course, has been a tremendous boon. The number of boats and motors is increasing very rapidly, and I would be more than happy to supply some definite economic figures on it too. I do not have it at my fingertips at this point. Mr. GRAY. I might amplify that. I have the national wildlife refuge, the Crab Orchard Refuge, in my district. It is one of the largest in the country. Ten years ago our annual visitation was 300,000 people. Last year by count we had 1,550,000 people, which means we have had a 300-percent increase over the past 10 years. I think you can see the amount of fishermen in this type of spot, and certainly the need for cleaning up our streams is evident. Mr. PAUL. I am glad you mentioned that, Mr. Gray. The rate of increase you have seen at Crab Orchard has been very high, but it has been virtually duplicated on many Corps of Engineers reservoirs. Mr. GRAY. I am sure it has. Mr. PAUL. And national forests and national parks. Mr. GRAY. I am sure it has. Mr. BLATNIK. If there are no further questions, thank you very much, Mr. Paul. Are there any further witnesses? We have a few communications, wires and letters from organizations expressing their attitude on this legislation, and without reading them off individually if there is no objection the Chair will ask that they be inserted in the record at this point. Without objection it is so orderd. (The communications are as follows:) SUPERVISORS INTER-COUNTY COMMITTEE, Committee on Public Works of the House of Representatives, Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, it has come to our attention that your committee is conducting hearings relative to a legislative proposal (H.R. 4036), which would provide through amendment of the Federal Water Pollution Control Act, a more effective and comprehensive water pollution control program. The Supervisors Inter-County Community, a voluntary association of the Michigan counties of Macomb, Monroe, Oakland, St. Clair, Washtenaw, and Wayne considers vital the establishment of such a water-pollution-control program which would be possible if favorable consideration were given to Congressman John A. Blatnik's bill, H.R. 4036. As executive secretary of the Supervisors Inter-County Committee, I would like to submit for the record the following resolution adopted by the legislative committee of the Supervisors Inter-County Committee. |