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PROGRAM OF FOREST LAND MANAGEMENT

MAY 6, 1935.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. DoxEY, from the Committee on Agriculture, submitted the

following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 6914]

The Committee on Agriculture, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 6914) to authorize cooperation with the several States for the purpose of stimulating the acquisition, development, and proper administration and management of State forests and coordinating Federal and State activities in carrying out a national program of forest-land management, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report thereon with a recommendation that it do pass.

STATEMENT

H. R. 6914 has the approval of the American Forestry Association, and a great many of the State foresters appeared before the subcommittee and testified in behalf of this proposed legislation.

Mr. F. A. Silcox, Chief of the Forest Service, Department of Agriculture, also appeared before the subcommittee and made a very comprehensive statement on the bill, thoroughly approved it, and endorsed in principle the plan set forth therein.

The purpose of the bill is to extend the forestry program through a cooperative set-up of the Federal Government and the States, to stabilize the State forestry departments, and to aid and stimulate the States that have not yet been able to build up their State forestry systems.

The bill provides for the acquisition, development, and management of State forests through the coordinated efforts of the Federal and State agencies. The bill is designed to safeguard the rights of the States as well as those of the Federal Government.

Under the bill, the States may acquire forest units under a longtime payment system which will pay back to the Federal Government the amount of money it spent for the lands.

H. Repts., 74-1, vol. 2-40

The selection of the forest areas is made by the State forest authorities and recommended to the Federal Forest Service which will go over the matter and then submit it to the National Forest Reservation Commission for final approval, which will authorize the purchase of the State forest unit as is now done with regard to the purchase of national forest units. The States do not have to match the money in The Federal Government purchases the land outright and pays all expenses incident to the purchase. Then the purchased forest area is turned over to the State forest organizations by cooperative agreements signed by the Secretary of Agriculture and the proper State officials. The land thereafter is under the direct management of the State forest service with cooperative technical assistance and supervision from the Federal Government.

The Federal Government continues to own the land until the States buy the land back out of the resources derived from the land under the management of the States. In other words, it is a resale on the installment plan. The States are given an opportunity through this long-range program of securing these lands ultimately as State forests by being aided at this time by the Federal Government purchasing the lands and turning them over to the States to administer, the future cost of administering, developing, and managing to be paid by the States.

However, section 2 (k) of the bill provides that when tax-delinquent lands are acquired by the State and the Federal Government is relieved of the land-acquisition problem, the Government may aid the State by contributing annually out of any funds made available under this act not more than one-half the cost of administering, developing, and managing such forest lands, along the same line as the Government now contributes toward forest-fire protection throughout the country.

Under this bill a number of small areas may be set up so that participation in the forestry program will be distributed over the State. These widely scattered small areas within the State will act as demonstration areas, show how timberland should be managed and developed, and will serve as a laboratory station from which private owners may obtain valuable knowledge.

Under this bill, many small unproductive areas in a State can be made productive and a foundation be laid for permanent stability of communities through permanent forests.

There are adequate safeguards set up in this bill so that the State forest units will be properly managed. With State management of the lands and State income out of the lands, the States will gain in resources as well as in forestry knowledge.

Further, forest lands owned by the State may be used for the establishment of Civilian Conservation Corps camps for practically any kind of work of public interest.

The bill is as follows:

[H. R. 6914, 74th Cong., 1st sess.]

A BILL To authorize cooperation with the several States for the purpose of stimulating the acquisition development, and proper administration and management of State forests and coordinating Federal and State activities in carrying out a national program of forest-land management, and for other purposes Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, That for the purpose of stimulating the acquisition, development, and proper administration and management of State forests and of insuring coordinated effort by Federal and State agencies in carrying out a

comprehensive national program of forest-land management, the Secretary of Agriculture is hereby authorized to enter into cooperative agreements with appropriate officials of any State or States for acquiring in the name of the United States, by purchase or otherwise, such forest lands within the cooperating State as in his judgment the State is adequately prepared to administer, develop, and manage as State forests in accordance with the provisions of this Act and with such other terms not inconsistent therewith as he shall prescribe, such acquisition to include the mapping, examination, appraisal, and surveying of such lands and the doing of all things necessary to perfect title thereto in the United States: Provided, That, since it is the declared policy of Congress to maintain and, where it is in the national interest to extend the national-forest system, nothing herein shall be construed to modify, limit, or change in any manner whatsoever the future ownership and administration by the United States of existing national forests and related facilities, or hereafter to restrict or prevent their extension through the acquisition by purchase or otherwise of additional lands for any national-forest purpose: Provided further, That this Act shall not be construed to limit or repeal any legislation authorizing land exchanges by the Federal Government, and private lands acquired by exchange within the limits of any area subject to a cooperative agreement of the character herein authorized shall hereafter be subject to the provisions of this Act.

SEC. 2. No cooperative agreement shall be entered into or continued in force under the authority of this Act or any land acquired hereunder turned over to the cooperating State for administration, development, and management unless the State concerned, as a consideration for the benefits extended to it thereunder, complies in a manner satisfactory to the Secretary of Agriculture with the following conditions and requirements which shall constitute a part of every such agreement:

(a) In order to reduce the need for public expenditures in the acquisition of lands which may be brought into public ownership through the enforcement of appropriate tax delinquency laws, and, by bringing about the handling of such lands upon a sound social and economic basis, to terminate a system of indeterminate and unsound ownership injurious to the private and public interest alike, no additional lands shall be acquired within any State by the United States under this Act after June 30, 1942, unless the State concerned has prior thereto provided by law for the reversion of title to the State or a political unit thereof of taxdelinquent lands and for blocking into State or other public forests the areas which are more suitable for public than private ownership, and which in the public interest should be devoted primarily to the production of timber crops and/or the maintenance of forests for watershed protection, and for the enforcement of such law: Provided, That in the administration of this Act prior to June 30, 1942, preference will be given to States applying for cooperation hereunder which provide by law for such reversion of title under tax delinquency laws.

(b) In order to insure a stable and efficient organization for the development and administration of the lands acquired under this Act, the State shall provide for the employment of a State forester, who shall be a professionally trained forester of recognized standing, and of a State forest organization in which the personnel is technically qualified and employed, advanced, and retained upon the basis of merit. In the administration of this Act preference will be given to those States which have provided by law for such employment on a merit basis. (c) The Secretary of Agriculture and the appropriate authorities of each cooperating State shall work out a mutually satisfactory plan defining forest areas within the State which can be most effectively and economically administered by said State, which plan shall constitute a part of the cooperative agreement between the United States and the State concerned: Provided, That nothing herein shall be held to prevent the Secretary of Agriculture from later agreeing with the proper State authorities to desirable modifications in such plan.

(d) No payment of Federal funds shall be made for land selected for purchase by the United States under this Act until such proposed purchase has been submitted to and approved by the National Forest Reservation Commission created by section 4 of the Act approved March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 961; U. S. C., title 16, sec. 513).

(e) Subject to the approval of the National Forest Reservation Commission, the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to pay out of any available money appropriated for carrying out the purposes of this Act any State, county, and/or town taxes, exclusive of penalties, due or accrued on any forest lands acquired by the United States under donations from the owners thereof and which lands are to be included in a State or other public forest pursuant to this Act.

(f) The State shall prepare such standards of forest administration, development, and management as are necessary to insure maximum feasible utility for timber production and watershed protection, and are acceptable to the Secretary of Agriculture and shall apply the same to lands acquired and placed under the jurisdiction of the State pursuant to this Act.

(g) That with the exception of such Federal expenditures as may be made for unemployment relief, the State shall pay without assistance from the Federal Government the entire future cost of administering, developing, and managing all forest lands acquired and over which it has been given jurisdiction under this Act.

(h) During the period any cooperative agreement made under this Act remains in force, one-half of the gross proceeds from all lands covered by said agreement and to which the United States holds title shall be paid by the State to the United States and covered into the Treasury. All such payments shall be credited to the purchase price the State is to pay the United States for said land, such purchase price to be an amount equal to the total sum expended by the United States in acquiring said lands. Upon payments of the full purchase price, either as herein provided or otherwise, title to said lands shall be transferred from the Federal Government to the State, and the Secretary of Agriculture is authorized to take such action and incur such expenditures as may be necessary to effectuate such transfer.

(i) Upon the request of the State concerned, any agreement made pursuant to this Act may be terminated by the Secretary of Agriculture. The Secretary of Agriculture may on his own motion terminate any such agreement for any violation of its terms and/or the provisions of this Act. If such an agreement is terminated, the Federal-owned lands affected by it shall thereafter be held and administered as are national forest lands acquired by the United States under the Act of March 1, 1911 (36 Stat. 961), as amended; but the United States shall reimburse the State for so much of the State funds as have been expended in the administration, development, and management of the lands involved as the Secretary of Agriculture may decide to be fair and equitable.

(j) The State shall furnish the Secretary of Agriculture with such annual, periodic, or special reports as he may require respecting the State's operations under its agreement with him.

(k) When a State or political unit thereof acquires under tax delinquency laws title to forest lands without cost to the United States and which lands are included within a State or other public forest, the Secretary of Agriculture, on behalf of the Federal Government, may contribute annually out of any funds made available under this Act not to exceed one-half the cost of administering, developing, and managing said lands.

SEC. 3. For the purposes of this Act, there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, not to exceed $20,000,000.

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EXTENDING THE TIME DURING WHICH CERTAIN DOMESTIC ANIMALS WHICH HAVE CROSSED THE BOUNDARY LINE MAY BE RETURNED DUTY FREE

MAY 7, 1935.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the state of the Union and ordered to be printed

Mr. DOUGHTON, from the Committee on Ways and Means, submitted the following

REPORT

[To accompany H. R. 6143]

The Committee on Ways and Means, having had under consideration H. R. 6143, extending the time during which certain domestic animals which have crossed the boundary line may be returned duty free, report the same back to the House favorably with the recommendation that it be passed with the following amendments:

In line 10, after the comma following the word "animals", insert the words "whether or not accompanying the parent animals."

In line 11 strike out the word "heretofore" and the words "Or" and "hereafter" in line 12.

These amendments are in accordance with the suggestions contained in the letters of the Secretary of the Treasury, which are attached hereto and made a part of this report.

GENERAL STATEMENT

Provision is made by the Tariff Act of 1930 for the return duty free of domestic animals which have crossed the boundary line into foreign countries within a period of 8 months from the time such animals strayed or were driven across the boundary.

The recent severe and prolonged drought throughout the Southwest has necessitated the taking to Mexico of large numbers of cattle and sheep for temporary pasturage purposes and the time specified by the act and the regulations has proven too short to give the relief sought by the owners by taking their stock to Mexico. The purpose of the bill under consideration is to permit the return duty free at any time before June 30, 1936.

Your committee is advised that there were approximately 42,000 head of cattle moved into Mexico last year from western Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona, and that most of the ranges from which these cattle were moved are still in the drought and dust-ridden areas.

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