Mr. MELCHER. I don't think that there is any question of the validity of the point that you are making. Certainly the possibility of a river meeting the qualification of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act and being included as a wild and scenic river by an act of Congress, would revolve around it being an area of critical environmental concern. And so I think your point is very well made. We should try to determine how broad an authority we want to grant to such an agency as BLM. And I think you have stated that the authority should be pretty much along the lines as outlined in the criteria of the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act itself. And I think that is very pertinent.

I thank you very much, Mr. Painter.

This concludes the hearings this morning. The committee will stand adjourned to meet again on April 22 for a continuation of public hearings. At that time we will hear from Secretary Morton. The meeting is adjourned.

[Whereupon, at 12:10 p.m., the committee was adjourned, to reconvene on Monday, April 22, 1974, at 10 a.m.]

BLM ORGANIC ACT

MONDAY, APRIL 22, 1974

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,

SUBCOMMITTEE ON PUBLIC LANDS OF THE

COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS,

Washington, D.C.

The subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10 a.m., in room 1324, Longworth House Office Building, Hon. John Melcher (chairman), presiding.

Present: Representatives Melcher (presiding), Runnels, Hosmer, Young, Steiger, and Dellenback.

Also present: William Shafer, James Rock, Nancy Drake, and Lewis Sigler, committee staff members.

Mr. MELCHER. The subcommittee will come to order.

This morning we are meeting for further consideration of H.R.

5441.

Mr. MELCHER. We are pleased to have with us the Hon. Rogers C. B. Morton, Secretary of the Department of the Interior.

Rogers, we are particularly pleased to welcome you back to your old stamping ground here in the committee room. We are particularly pleased that you have come yourself to give the position and the support of your high office to this bill.

Mr. HOSMER. Mr. Chairman, I also would like to join in welcoming our old colleague. I should not say former friend. I think he is still our friend in the finest sense of the word, although sometimes we think we appreciate your dispute between the executive and legislative branch.

Good to have you here.

Mr. MELCHER. The gentleman from Alaska, Mr. Young.

Mr. YOUNG. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

It is a pleasure to be here again to hear testimony. I hope that the testimony here will keep in mind the State I represent, and we are aware you have been up there and you know my deep interest in the subject.

Mr. MELCHER. Rogers, we are pleased to hear you and proceed, please.

STATEMENT OF HON. ROGERS C. B. MORTON, SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR; ACCOMPANIED BY GEORGE TURCOTT AND KENNETH BROWN

Secretary MORTON. Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am delighted to be here, regardless, as an old friend and former colleague and not as a former friend and old colleague.

(1069)

It is always a pleasure for me to testify in favor of an administration proposal. I am particularly pleased to appear before you today in support of H.R. 5441, the "National Resource Lands Management Act of 1973." This bill is one of the high priority proposals in the Department's legislative program.

The national resource lands and their resources are among the Nation's greatest assets. They include mountains, rangelands, forests, and lakes. They offer spectacular scenery and almost unlimited recreational values. They are a source of water, timber, food, fuel, and other minerals.

In view of present shortages of fuels and materials, it is imperative that we plan and control the uses of the national resource lands so that we can fully benefit from their mineral resources and at the same time preserve and enjoy their other values. H.R. 5441 would help achieve this orderly and efficient use of the national resource lands.

These lands constitute 60 percent of all federally owned lands. Unlike the National Park System and the National Forest System, however, Congress has never provided a basic mission for the lands or adequate authority for effective management of the lands. The mission and authority must be gleaned from over 3,000 land laws enacted over the past 170 years. H.R. 5441 would terminate this long history of neglect.

The national resource lands were initially used as a means of stimulating development of the West through homesteading, grants to railroads, grants to States and other land disposal programs. Some of the lands were set aside for national parks, wildlife refuges, and national forests.

It is unfortunate that highly valuable resources of the public domain were not considered worthy of protection unless and until they were placed in these special categories. The only alternative has been the protective withdrawal, but still, sizable areas have been damaged by abusive or uncontrolled use of the lands. I would like to cite some examples of this abuse.

The southern California desert, the archeological sites in south central Utah, southwestern Colorado archeological sites, and ancient Indian civilizations and damage has occurred in critical watersheds in the areas used by off-road vehicles in Boise, Idaho.

In 1964, Congress enacted the Classification and Multiple Use Act which was interim legislation, pending implementation of the recommendations of the Public Land Law Review Commission Act enacted the same day.

The Classification Act called for a program of inventory and classification which has provided the basis for the Bureau of Land Management's present system of land use planning. The Commission Act stated a congressional policy that the public lands be retained and managed or disposed of in a manner to provide the maximum benefit for the general public.

Enactment of H.R. 5441 would be the most definitive and monumental action Congress has ever taken in regard to management of the national resource lands. The proposal would serve as the basic mission statement for the lands. It would provide in one statute

an orderly, systematic, planned approach to land management with guidelines, criteria and basic procedures. It would also provide the Secretary with authority to perform several diverse and specific functions related to management of the lands.

Specifically, H.R. 5441 establishes a policy of retaining the national resource lands in Federal ownership and of managing the lands so as to protect their environmental quality. The bill requires the Secretary to maintain an inventory of the lands and to develop land use plans which are coordinated with the plans of State and local government agencies.

It provides for management of the lands under principles of multiple use and sustained yield with opportunity for public participation in the development of management policies. It authorizes the sale of national resource lands and reserved mineral interests in lands for fair market value and in accordance with specified criteria.

H.R. 5441 also grants specific new administrative authorities which will allow for more economic and effective management of the lands. For example, it establishes a working capital fund. It authorizes the acquisition of lands by purchase, donation, or exchange. And, most important of all, it provides crucial enforcement authority.

The bill contains a separate title which authorizes the Secretary to grant rights-of-way for a host of purposes, including transmission facilities, powerlines, roads, trails, canals, et cetera. Finally, subject to valid existing rights, the bill would repeal many archaic and obsolete land laws.

Implementation of H.R. 5441 would not conflict with the President's proposal for a Department of Energy and Natural Resources, nor would the bill repeal or modify any law not specifically listed in the repealer sections.

For example, the bill doe snot amend the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, the Color of Title Act, the grazing provisions of the Taylor Grazing Act, the forest management and payment provisions of O. and C. and Coos Bay Acts, the mining laws, the Outer Continental Shelf Leasing Act or legislation dealing with other Federal land systems such as national forests, national wildlife refuges or national parks.

Finally, I think it is appropriate that I explain our position on proposals to create a California desert national conservation area. Generally, these proposals would direct the Secretary to prepare and implement long-range and interim plans for the management of the desert with the assistance of an advisory board representing a broad range of interests.

While we welcome a growing public interest in the protection of the desert, we view these bills as unnecessary. A departmental program similar to the ones proposed is already under way and H.R. 5441 would provide additional managerial tools necessary to strengthen the program.

The Department has long recognized that the recreational, scenic, historic, and natural resource values of the desert are vast and that the desert's proximity to major metropolitan areas makes