[Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1950]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

ANNUAL
REPORT
i of the Secretary of the

Oscar L. Chapman
Annual Report
of the
Secretary of the Interior
Fiscal Year Ended June go, iggo
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Oscar L. Chapman, Secretary
^ocs.
AS
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. C. - Price $1.00
Resources for Our Expanding Economy
Oscar L. Chapman, Secretary of the Interior ☆ ft ft
Production Grows With the People
T T IS FORTUNATE that when the fighting broke out in Korea on 1 June 25, 1950, the people of the United States found themselves advancing steadily along the road to increased production.
The World War II peak output of military and civilian goods and services, once viewed by some observers as an emergency economic phenomenon, has been followed by record-breaking production for peacetime living. Since the end of hostilities in 1945, the production spiral has continued swiftly upward. The period has been marked by an unequaled advance in the standard of living of the American people. In addition, our citizens have extended substantial and effective assistance to the people of other free nations who are striving to reestablish sound economic foundations.
Convincing and satisfying evidence of this achievement is reflected in our consumer goods—our houses and household conveniences, our food, our cars, our clothes—as well as in the great expansion of our industrial plant. In the year ending June 30,1950, our national output exceeded 260 billion dollars and we achieved a national income of close to 220 billion dollars. The number of people working reached 61.5 million. The pay of working men and women increased substantially. While farm income was slightly down from the peak war years, it continued to reflect a high standard of prosperity.
The steel industry, a generally accepted gage of the Nation’s eco-* nomic well-being, was operating close to 100 percent of capacity in June 1950. During the year we built about 838,000 single family houses and 216,000 multifamily dwelling units—far exceeding con-« struction records for any previous period.
In the attainment of this gigantic production, never remotely approached anywhere in the world, we have been expanding not only our industrial plant but our civic horizons. Our determination to establish and secure more abundant living for ourselves and our children is clearly reflected in the plans currently being made to push production still higher in the next 10 years.
We are coming rapidly to realize that we need accept no narrow limits for our production goals. Along with this conclusion is the
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growing conviction that the products of an expanding economy, fashioned by the collective skills of the people from their own natural resources, should be used for enriching the living of the people. We are, in fact, growing in our awareness that our greatest resource as a Nation is the people themselves and that whatever we do with our material resources must be done for the people’s welfare.
Spurred by this growing awareness, we need to take stock of the economic factors that underlie the advances we have made. It is vital that we should recognize both our weaknesses and our strengths if we are to succeed in directing the Nation toward the bold production goals we have established. It is today of exceptional importance that there be a full understanding of our capacities for maintaining abundance in peacetime and for meeting the emergency requirements of defense.
The growth in America’s economic strength could not have come about without intensive utilization of all our country’s resources—our minerals, soils, forests—our lands and waters. These resources have, up to now, met our major needs in peace and war. Nature has supported us almost without stint as we became the greatest industrial Nation in the world, the producers of almost half the world’s industrial goods. These natural resources, however, are not inexhaustible and the step-up of our industrial production has meant their systematic depletion at an increasingly rapid rate.
We need, therefore, to reappraise our resources of minerals, power, water, and land. These resources must provide the foundation for the dramatic program of economic expansion which has been called for by the President. If we are to achieve the goal of lifting our annual output of goods to the new levels demanded by our defense program and the needs of our people, we must plan our efforts carefully, in order to stretch our limited resources as far as possible.
There is abundant evidence that this appraisal of our natural resources is going forward with increased understanding by the American people of the problems they may have to face before our goals for economic expansion can reach full fruition. As the year covered by this report ended, our activities in all areas of natural resource development were being rapidly mobilized to meet the needs of our expanding economy. While these activities were directed toward harnessing our resources for maximum service to the people in peace, their bearing upon America’s security in war was also a foremost consideration.
Americans generally understand the historic importance of our natural resources in building this country’s strength. As the Nation grew, we moved into the vast interior of the continent, claiming large
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY + V tracts of public land, cutting magnificent stands of timber, planting the rich soil, and extracting the plentiful minerals from the earth. With the advent of the new industrial age and the internal combustion engine, we pumped deeply into our oil reserves, issued huge demands on industry for products of steel and aluminum, plowed ever more intensively the lands of our plains, and built new communities to care for our fast-growing population.
We were both slow and reluctant to recognize that the demands we were making on our resources were stupendous, even when considered in relation to the abundance provided by nature. We are finally coming to appreciate, however, that our resources are limited, and that the bottom of the barrel has nearly been reached in some instances.
We have too often wasted our soil by mining it without rebuilding its fertility, or by leaving it uncovered to be ravaged by wind and rain. The loss of enough soil each year to cover 2y2 million acres to a depth of 7 inches is evidence of our failure to protect the basic source of our food and fibers.
We have wasted our forests by failing to replant trees when vast areas were depleted by careless cutting, or by permitting fire and disease to wreak unchecked destruction.
We are beginning to realize the extent of the drain on minerals created by our industrial usages throughout the years. Extracted minerals are an irreplaceable resource, and it is not surprising that we should begin to experience mineral shortages as the price we are forced to pay for our past industrial achievements. Our rich iron ore is seriously depleted, and careful study and bold action are needed if new sources are to be made available for continued and expanded steel production. It is possible that the consumption of petroleum in the next decade will exceed domestic discoveries. And there are some strategic minerals which we must now obtain from other nations if our economic expansion goals are to be attained.
Our water resources are a matter of considerable concern in some areas. We have paid scant attention to water because of its great abundance. We are now aware that we have too long permitted stream pollution, and the wasted flow of waters that might be stored in reservoirs for man’s use. Many communities are now facing tremendous problems because they failed to plan for adequate local water supplies.
A realistic appraisal of our resources, in relation to the growing needs of a dynamic industrial economy, must lead to a rejection both of continued waste and the kind of conservation that consists of unsound and unnecessary hoarding. Our resources can be of value to
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us only if they are used. But we can never again afford to gorge and waste. Our remaining resources can serve most of our needs adequately, but only if we direct their devlopment and exploitation wisely.
Our program of conservation and mobilization of national resources to provide the underpinnings for continued economic expansion will demand intelligent management in a score of vital areas.
Management of our soil will entail the employment of the most modern scientific techniques in soil enrichment, protection, rebuilding, and use.
Management of our mineral resources calls for continuous geological surveys for new deposits, experimentation for more economical usage, the development of substitutes and synthetics, the devising of techniques for utilizing low-grade deposits, and continuous efforts to make foreign ores accessible.
Management of our water resources must be directed toward securing accurate and extensive knowledge of water availability everywhere in the Nation, along with comprehensive information about the water needs of our communities and farmlands. Fully effective management will look toward the necessary steps to meet water needs, whether by restoration of underground water levels, storage by diversion into reservoirs for later use, or the elimination of pollution.
Management of our public lands will carry such socially and economically important responsibilities as the preservation of watersheds by reseeding and reforestation, the careful administration of permits for stock grazing, and diligent supervision of mineral leases on the public domain.
The people of our country are recognizing the vast wealth they possess in the great river basins. For generations we watched our rivers rise and fall with the melting of the winter’s ice and the rapid runoff of rain the earth could not absorb, seeing only that this was the course of nature throughout the world’s history. These rivers today supply great new strengths to our economy and to the lives of the people. Combining imaginative boldness and high technical skill, we have begun to put our rivers to many productive uses. We are bringing water to once arid lands and to other areas where water has been insufficient. The constantly pressing problem of energy for our industrial economy and our daily living is being met increasingly by the production of hydroelectric power made possible by river control. In no area of our natural resources is efficient and careful management so urgently required as in our river-basin developments.
The Department of the Interior is directed to safeguard and to manage the vast resources which we need to maintain and expand our economy. During the last year, the Department has focused at
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY + VII
tention on programs designed to make these resources more valuable. In the current period of world tension, we must work aggressively to mobilize our resources intelligently to meet any test which may confront us. The present crisis demands that we be prepared to expand our production of minerals, raw materials, food, and energy with the same dynamic vitality that we displayed in World War II.
Minerals
Expanding population and defense needs will place a burden of peak production on our mineral industries. Production of mineral commodities to satisfy our growing demands can be met by a wise and foresighted conservation policy based upon an adequate knowledge of our mineral resources and aided by maximum productive efficiency.
What mineral resources do we possess? We still lack adequate information as to the extent and kinds of minerals in the United States. The major goal of the Geological Survey’s program of geologic and mineral resource surveys and mapping is to provide this information. The search for this essential knowledge must be carried forward with intensified zeal.
Geological and geophysical investigations must be expanded during the next 10 years. Many of our essential minerals are being consumed faster than they can be produced from our known domestic deposits. Further, the rate at which we are using up some of them is increasing in the face of a growing difficulty in discovering new deposits.
Geologic mapping, now progressing at a rate of about 1 percent of the country’s area per year, is expected to increase shortly to a rate of at least 5 percent per year. Concurrently, the Geological Survey plans to continue expansion of its program so that the search for needed minerals and fuels may be carried to greater depths and into hitherto unproductive areas.
The Department has a major responsibility in the formulation of a national minerals policy, which will have as its basic objective an adequate supply of all mineral raw materials needed to support an expanding industrial economy, a rising standard of living, and the requirements of national security.
For those raw materials in abundant reserve, special attention is being given to the development of technologies which will make them available at the lowest possible costs consistent with sound conservation procedures. For those minerals which are less abundant, on the other hand, the need is for stimulation of searches for new deposits, improved utilization technologies and development of more efficient methods. As domestic minerals decline, the review of foreign sources must be continued.
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We are developing an inventory of our mineral resources, together with necessary information and plans for their most effective utilization. Such a program will comprise three closely coordinated types of activity: (1) The examination and development of mineral deposits; (2) laboratory investigations to develop economical methods for recovery of usable products; and (3) translation of this information into programs to meet the foreseeable needs of industry.
An outstanding example of the type of planning now required is found in the problem of supply currently faced by the steel industry. Steel is the most important metal industry in terms both of its size and its influence on the well-being of the Nation. The possibility of providing a continued supply of raw materials for this industry is a matter for urgent attention. The steel industry has always been dependent on imports of manganese and chromite. During the past year, Soviet Russia, chief supplier of manganese, has sharply reduced exports to this country. The Bureau of Mines is devoting intensive efforts to a search for economical methods of extraction from low-grade domestic deposits. It is also seeking to develop a process for recovering manganese from slag deposits at the mill.
Since World War II it has become necessary to take stock of our supply of iron ores. We are rapidly using up our best ores in the Mesabi Range of the Lake Superior region. We are currently using more than 114 million tons of ore to produce about 100 million tons of steel, and peacetime expansion would be expected to raise this drain to 125 million tons of ore within a relatively short time. Accelerated expansion of the steel industry as the result of defense requirements may lead shortly to demands for 136 million tons of ore. A real gap now exists between both our immediate and future needs for iron ore and the supply that is being produced.
We should act promptly to close this gap. There are immense deposits of low-grade silicious iron ores called taconites in the Lake Superior iron region. One of the technological problems to which we must give increased attention is the economic mining and concentration of these ores and the preparation of the concentrate for use in iron blast furnaces. This is so despite the fact that the industry, now seeking to attain an annual output of taconite concentrates amounting to 13 million tons by the end of 1960 and 25 million tons by 1970, is probably devoting more research effort to this than to any other metallurgical problem.
We can also augment our supply of iron ores through increased imports which we can expect as our steel companies develop supplies from other areas. If the rich ores of Labrador are to be made readily available to the great steel centers of the Midwest, the development of
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY + IX
the St. Lawrence Seaway is needed and should not be underestimated in any appraisal of an expanding steel industry.
We have other pressing metal and minerals problems which have been accentuated by the national emergency. Development of new metals and alloys and new metallurgical processes offers bright promise for extended use of our common minerals and the conservation of those in short supply. Raw materials from which to make aluminum and magnesium are abundant and facilities for expanding production of these two useful metals must be readily available when needed. Titanium and zirconium, new metals, the ultimate uses of which can only be guessed, are already of extreme importance for specialized uses.
Fuels
As we view the prospect of a continuously expanding population, it is significant to note that our rate of consumption of mineral fuels has outstripped the rate of population growth during the first half of this century. This fact bespeaks both technological development and a rising standard of living.
Consumption of petroleum products is expected to reach 2.3 billion barrels in 1950. By the end of the next 10-year period, it may exceed 3.1 billion barrels, an increase of 38 percent over the present rate of consumption. Viewed on the basis of annual per capita consumption, the increase is even more startling—4.3 barrels in 1920; 7.6 in 1930; 10.1 in 1940; and 15.2 in 1950. The year 1960 should find us using 18 barrels of petroleum for each citizen of America—for heating, for transportation, for chemicals, and for other purposes.
This dramatic increase calls for careful scrutiny of our reserves. Except for the depression years of 1930-34, the supply of petroleum has increased yearly without significant interruption. Growth in natural gas production has been similar, and the increase since World War II has been greatly accelerated by construction of great pipelines. There is no way of knowing the quantity of these fuels ultimately to be recovered from the earth, but the estimated proved reserves of petroleum on December 31, 1949, were 28.4 billion barrels, equal to 14 times recent annual production rates. Similar reserves of natural gas amounted to 180.4 trillion cubic feet, or 29 times current yearly rates of depletion.
It is possible that the consumption of petroleum will exceed domestic discoveries during the next decade, particularly if defense needs should increase the drain greatly. Should this situation develop, there will be a period of several years in which the discrepancy between current consumption and new discoveries will be met by withdrawal
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ANNUAL REPORT, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
from reserves, increased imports from abroad, synthesis from oil shale, or a combination of these sources.
We are forging a research and development program to furnish the scientific, engineering, and economic information required for the production of synthetic liquid and gaseous fuels from our abundant reserves of oil shale and coal. In the laboratories and pilot plants of the Bureau of Mines, scientists and engineers are developing the processes for industrial use which will assure ample supplies when the need arises. We are also engaged in petroleum research designed to improve current production methods and to increase the efficient utilization of oil produced. The application of secondary recovery methods in older oil fields illustrates the finest type of conservation activity: In many instances, the injection of gas, air, or water into underground oil sands has made it possible to harvest a second crop of oil which, in some cases, equalled or exceeded the first recovery. There are even greater opportunities for improvement in primary production practices.
While the economic position of the coal industry is complex, the supply of coal continues abundant. Published estimates of coal reserves, based largely on work done a half-century or more ago, are not sufficiently accurate for current use, and investigations now in progress will be continued to supply exact information on our coal resources.
Essentially all of the growth in the total energy requirements of our economy in the past 30 years has been absorbed by petroleum and natural gas. The coal industry has expanded only in time of war or in the immediate postwar period. In spite of this trend and the current highly competitive state of fuels, the increasing energy markets of the future will probably require large supplies of coal. There are at least three recognizable channels into which coal will be directed: The continued expansion of electric power facilities, probably at the mine; synthetic oil production; and underground gasification of coal for the generation of electric power at the mine.
We intend to press the study and evaluation of the complex factors that influence production and consumption of fuels. The health of our fuel industries is essential to the Nation’s economic welfare, and from these studies and evaluations there must evolve a broad national fuel policy designed to bulwark a strong economy.
The increasingly troublesome problem of air and stream pollution in many of our communities is closely related to the continuous expansion of industries processing minerals and mineral fuels.
Expansion of industry, which will continue, means that more airborne wastes are constantly being produced and that in many com-
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY + XI munities objectionable levels of contamination are being reached for the first time. The serious results of air pollution in Donora, Pa., in 1948 brought the question of air pollution forcibly to our attention.
Discharge of wastes into streams, likewise a serious problem, increases the costs of municipal water purification, destroys recreational facilities, and, in congested mill areas, can raise water temperatures to the point where reuse becomes difficult.
Through the Bureau of Mines, we are continuing our research in waste disposal with the dual objective of conserving resources and maintaining the maximum benefits of pure air and water supplies.
It is important that the human resources in mine and industry be protected and that conditions favorable to efficient production be maintained.
Chief hazards in coal mining are in roof and coal falls and in haulage operations. The mining industry has responded favorably to the Bureau of Mines’ program of investigation, research, and service. Approximately 43 million square feet of mine roof have now been supported by the new bolting method which has decreased the accident rate appreciably. Special attention is now being given to finding means to eliminate death and injury in haulage operations.
In addition, investigations and recommendations on industrial hygiene in the mineral industries will be made to eliminate serious hazards to workers from the effects of gases, dusts, or toxic mineral compounds. The growth in these hazards requires new methods of engineering and medical control. There is strong reason to believe that continuation of health and safety programs can reduce the 1949 mineral industry fatality rate of 0.66 to 0.25 per million manhours of exposure by 1960.
Two activities closely associated with inspection and safety programs in our mines are directed toward the conservation of unused coal deposits. One of these is the current program to control fires on the public domain and on private lands which have destroyed many millions of tons of coal. The other, which aims to make available immense tonnages, is a proposed system of drainage tunnels to unwater the Pennsylvania anthracite region. It is anticipated that the studies and plans bearing on this tunnel construction will be finished within 2 or 3 years.
Water and Power
The vital need for integrated water and power development has become increasingly apparent in the postwar period. Our requirements for new land and for electric power are growing steadily in
XII + ANNUAL REPORT, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR peace. As a result of the international crisis, these requirements may increase drastically.
If our population approaches the estimated 175 million within the next decade, current land and power requirements will mount substantially. In 1950, our 150 million people were supported by the products of about 353 million acres of cultivated land, or approximately 2^4 acres per person. The ratio a few years ago was about three acres per person, and only improvements in agricultural science and in the sound use of cropland prevented a reduction in living standards as the ratio fell.
There are signs that we are nearing the ceiling to which we can push the average productivity of our presently cultivated soil. We are also warned that about 180 million acres of farm land are subject to continuing damage from erosion and soil exhaustion. Here is a challenge to our citizens as they plan the expansion of our economy in the next 10 years.
To a considerable extent, the needed new land can be found in the 17 Western States where many millions of potentially fertile acres lie unused or nearly unused as a result of irrigation problems that are too vast to be solved by unaided local units. Aware of this vital resource, Congress has directed that we undertake to reclaim this western land and develop more fully the power of western rivers. The Bureau of Reclamation has continued during the past year a record peacetime construction program designed to add many acres and many kilowatts to our national productive potential.
The amount of farm land which can be brought into production in the West is limited by the amount of water available. Total average runoff in the 17 States is estimated at about 393 million acre-feet of water a year. At present, about 75 million acre-feet are being put to use. Through careful reclamation, nearly 60 million additional acre-feet can be used yearly—about 11 million for household and industrial purposes, and the balance for irrigation.
About 21 million acres of land are now under irrigation in the Western States, but nearly 9 million of these have inadequate water supplies to permit intensive farming or to maintain a stabilized regional economy. By further resource development, these water-short acres can be provided adequate supplementary water. In addition, nearly 7 million acres of new land can be brought into production. Current experiments with rain-making and the recovery of fresh water from the sea may provide, in time, means of increasing these estimates of potential new acreage.
As great as are our needs for increased farm acreage, they are apt to be exceeded in urgency during the next 10 years by our requirements
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY + XIII for electric energy to meet the huge demands created by our industrial expansion and our rising living standards. To meet these demands, while conserving our exhaustible supplies of fuels, hydroelectric power development is a foremost priority.
In 1947, we produced about $430 worth of manufactured goods per person. Total industrial activity, transportation and other industrial services, amounted to $1,222 per person. The maintenance of such standards for even 20 million more persons in 1960 requires a 24-biilion-dollar increase in annual production—without allowance for added defense production or for expansion of living standards.
The national energy requirements to power this necessary industrial expansion in the next decade are tremendous. In the last quarter of a century we have made marked progress in enlarging our electric power plant, but at the same time the insatiable appetite of American enterprise for power has created phenomenal demands. While the capacity of the United States power plant tripled over the past 25 years and doubled between 1940 and 1948, the output of electric energy from generators has multiplied five times. As rates for electricity have gone down, the use of electricity has gone up. Per capita use more than quadrupled between 1924 and 1948.
Notwithstanding the steady expansion of generating capacity and the increase in output, the supply of electric power in the United States has barely kept up with demand. World War II caused power demands to skyrocket. Brown-outs and other stringent conservation measures were necessary in many parts of the country.
Since the war, power demands have continued their upward spiral. The economic growth of the Pacific Northwest and some other areas has been stunted by lack of sufficient low-cost energy. It is now estimated that the demand for power will have doubled again by 1960 under a growing peacetime economy. In addition, we must recognize that emergency demands are being created by our defense needs for energy to produce ships, tanks, planes, aluminum, and minerals.
Privately owned electric utilities are now in the midst of a large expansion program. They are planning substantial additions to the generating capacity of their plants within the next few years, and are looking ahead to spectacular expansion in the future.
The publicly owned segment of the electric utility industry likewise envisages substantial additions to the national power plant in the near future. In carrying out presently authorized river basin development programs, in connection with federally constructed projects for which the Department of the Interior is the marketing agency, the Federal Government plans to install in plants, now under construction, generating capacity of about 4.5 million kilowatts in hydro-
XIV + ANNUAL REPORT, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR electric facilities, and to add another 3.3 million kilowatts of capacity in the ultimate development of these same projects. Other authorized projects, on which construction has not yet started, will provide another 10 million kilowatts of capacity.
It is estimated that the rivers of the United States can be harnessed to provide nearly 77 million kilowatts of additional hydroelectric capacity, substantially more than the total capacity of our power plant today. Western streams alone can provide nearly 50 million kilowatts of capacity and generate about 270 billion kilowatt-hours a year. For the most part, these streams can generate this power through the use of the same reclamation structures that will control them for irrigation.
The fact that approximately 800 million barrels of precious and irreplaceable oil would be required each year to produce as much electricity as the United States can develop by tapping its unused hydroelectric resources dramatically underlines the importance of water power development as a conservation measure.
Our water and power developments have already paid rich dividends in the economic and social development of our country. In the Pacific Northwest, for example, the availability of low-cost power as the result of river basin developments has inspired extraordinary economic growth. Whereas the average income of the United States increased 129 percent between 1929 and 1947, the average income of the Pacific Northwest increased 202 percent.
The Bonneville Power Administration, which markets power from the Federal plants in operation at Bonneville Dam and at Grand Coulee Dam, indicates sales in the Pacific Northwest area of 13,033,-000,000 kilowatt-hours during the 1950 fiscal year. The total generation of energy by the Columbia River system was exceeded only slightly by the Tennessee Valley Authority, the largest system, public or private, in the world. The wartime and postwar growth of population and industry in the Pacific Northwest has already absorbed the entire developed power resources of the area and created a power shortage which will continue for several years. Present construction schedules to provide additions to the power supply, including all private and public projects now in progress, cannot meet the deficiency. The prospect of new and additional demands for power for defense production assures that electric power supply will remain a critical issue to both the economic development of the Pacific Northwest and the security of the Nation for some years to come.
The economic advance of the Southwest is being spurred by the activities of the Southwestern Power Administration, which is now
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY + XV
maintaining over 500 miles of high-voltage lines and in the past year marketed over 441 million kilowatt-hours of electric energy.
In the Southeast, a new regional power agency was established during the past fiscal year. The Southeastern Power Administration was created in March 1950 to market electric power generated at Army Corps of Engineers flood control projects in a 10-State area: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, South. Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia, and West Virginia.
In New England, where power generating capacity increased only 48 percent in the 1929-47 period, as compared to 77 percent for the country as a whole and 146 percent for the Pacific Northwest, income growth has lagged behind the national average.
A new record of achievement in hydroelectric power capacity and production was set on Federal reclamation projects during the 1950 fiscal year when total installed capacity reached 3,218,400 kilowatts, and nearly 20 billion kilowatt-hours of energy were generated. If generated from fuel, this output would have required about 40 million barrels of oil a year.
The total cost of 18 multipurpose projects, including the Missouri River Basin project, now being undertaken is estimated at about 6.3 billion dollars. Total gross revenue from sales of power on these projects, over the period during which repayment of costs is scheduled, will be about 7.2 billion dollars. The net return will be nearly a billion dollars. Further indication of the sound financial foundation of these resource developments is the fact that more than two-thirds of the cost of irrigation facilities is paid for by the returns from the sale of generated power, and the balance by water users.
Crops produced on Federal reclamation projects in 1949 were worth over one-half billion dollars—an average of $105 an acre. The cumulative total gross crop value since 1903 is 6.9 billion dollars, more than three times the investment in the projects to date.
The vast contribution the multipurpose development of our river resources has made to our national strength is high-lighted by many record-making achievements. The water stored in Boulder Canyon, besides watering a half-million acres for growing fruits and vegetables, is also providing power to help make Los Angeles the Nation’s first city in the manufacture of aircraft and oil field equipment, and the second in the production of rubber goods and tires. During World War II, Hoover Dam powered shipyards, airplane factories, mines, rubber factories, and the great basic magnesium plant; its capacity to contribute more power for such purposes is being increased. Water stored by Grand Coulee Dam, eventually designed
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to irrigate a new agricultural realm three-quarters the size of Delaware, is producing power which is building a new industrial empire in the Pacific Northwest. With less than half of its generators on the line during the war, Grand Coulee turned out power equivalent to the labor of a million men working 8 hours a day for 78 years. It helped make ships, planes, tanks, and the atomic bomb. Its capacity is already at least 60 percent greater than it was during the war. More that 140 million dollars has been invested in factories dependent upon Grand Coulee power—10 of them had produced over 700 million dollars’ worth of aluminum products by June 1949.
The expanding agriculture, industry, population, and income which are the natural outgrowth of river development projects are clear testimony as to their value to the regional and national economy. They are the fruits of our movement into a new frontier and a harbinger of the greater America that our citizens are building. They are a promise that the needs of coming generations can be met, and that our Nation can continue to lead the world’s people toward the kind of living that free men and women can achieve by their united efforts.
The future contribution of river basin development to the progress of our growing Nation will depend upon the decisions the people make today. At present rates of progress, about 50 years will be required to develop fully the West’s available irrigation and hydroelectric power potentialities alone. In some regions, a full century will be required.
In order to meet anticipated loads at any particular time in the future it is essential that planning and construction be initiated early enough so that these projects may be completed and be in operation when the loads materialize. It necessarily follows that our present plans for meeting the needs of 1960, for example, must be based mainly on work initiated early in the 1950’s.
The Bureau of Reclamation is in the process of developing a 7-year construction program, subject to congressional approval, of projects costing about 3.9 billion dollars—an average of about 550 million dollars per year. Part of this money would be used to complete projects already authorized and the remainder for new projects. If this program is carried out, full irrigation would be provided for about 1.8 million acres of land, or enough for 18,000 new family-size farms, and supplemental irrigation for 3.1 million acres, comprising about 53,000 farms. Land thus brought into stable production would constitute an area equal to that of the State of New Jersey.
This proposed program would add about 3.2 million kilowatts to the generating capacity of the Bureau’s plants, almost doubling pres
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY 4 XVII
ent capacity, which would reach 6.4 million kilowatts. These totals include estimates of the output of plants built by the Army Corps of Engineers, and marketed by the Bureau. Demand for Reclamation power will be outstripping even these enormous proposed increases, however. The planned increase of 3.2 million kilowatts will fall short by almost 1.5 million kilowatts of estimated peacetime needs.
Besides pushing forward as rapidly as possible in developing the water resources of the country, the Department of the Interior is moving ahead at a record pace in setting up facilities for the trunkline transmission of electricity from federally constructed plants now operating or under construction. At the same time, numerous cooperative arrangements are being made with rural electric cooperatives and other customers given preference by law to insure them power distribution at low rates.
These projects for development of our river valleys will yield continuing financial returns far into the future. They will, in fact, be reflected in an income curve rising faster during the decade of the sixties than in the fifties. To many, it is of even greater importance that herein lies our opportunity to continue to apply American ingenuity to problems that must be resolved to assure the future welfare of ourselves and our children. Our conquest of our land frontiers won us world-wide admiration. The conquest of our water frontiers will give us land, power, food, new communities, new industries, greater leisure, and a steadily mounting income. Most of all, it will bring the sure and certain realization that we still know how to work together to harness the gifts of nature for the service of man.
Land Resources
Throughout the Nation’s history, the growth in our strength has closely paralleled the availablity of land for an increasing population. Pioneering on homestead lands in the West created a rich tradition that symbolizes the conquest of vast natural resources by a strong and virile people. The Nation possessed much land; and farmers, stock-men, lumbermen, prospectors, and railroad builders spread to the Pacific with titles to acreages from the public domain.
With the growth of an industrial economy and the concentration of people in towns and cities, the free land era, when land was offered by the Government in return for the exploitation of its fertility in soil or minerals, came to an end.
Emphasis on efficient management of land resources dominates the Government’s activities on the public domain today. Those resources are the common property of the people, whether they be public lands, Indian reservations, or national parks. They have contributed to the 907639—51--------2
XX + ANNUAL REPORT, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
year ending September 1949, an increase of about 50 percent over the highest prewar year.
Althought restricted travel during the war years prevented full use of the parks, they were not idle. Many areas were used for special training of men and women in uniform. Some were utilized as hospital, rehabilitation, or rest areas. Over 8 million service men and women visited the parks.
The effective management of our parks will continue to be of utmost importance if they are to provide the benefits we expect from them. Maintenance of facilities, roads, and landscape are of primary importance. Such maintenance problems were high lighted following World War II by the conditions caused by a protracted period of material and labor shortages. It will also continue to be necessary to weigh carefully such potential threats to park lands as overgrazing, logging, or imprudent water diversion. Closely related is the problem of determining whether the national-park type of protection and management is being applied to enough of our land.
While the primary mission of the Service is “to conserve the scenery and * * * objects” in the national parks as is stated in the act of 1916 which established the Service, greater attention will be directed to the full development of the recreational resources of the areas under its supervision.
There is a growing awareness in the Service that a broad program of recreational planning must be undertaken, the need for which becomes of increasing importance as population trends continue upward.
It is inevitable that proposals will be made from time to time for certain types of resource development which, if carried out, would destroy some of the scenic or recreational assets of our park areas. The erection of a needed dam, or the diversion of water, might well undermine these values. In such cases, the issue must be weighed carefully in terms of the long-term best interests of both the Nation and the region. In the case of the Dinosaur National Monument, a decision has been made that the construction of dams at Echo Park and Split Mountain is justified and their authorization has been recommended. On the other hand, it has been decided that the waters of the Colorado River should not be diverted past Grand Canyon National Park; that flood control works should not be permitted to damage Mammoth Cave; and that the national interest does not justify flooding of 20,000 acres at Glacier National Park by a dam at Glacier View.
It is fallacious to declare that the construction of a dam will enhance the scenic or historic values of a national park or monument, and it is only in the rare case—such as Echo Park and Split Mountain—can they be justified. In these cases, it is obvious that if the
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY 4- XXI projects are authorized as recommended, extraordinary efforts and diligence will be exercised so that the pristine beauty of this area will be preserved.
Fish and Wildlife
The people of America have always enjoyed abundant resources in fish and wildlife, which have contributed to our food sources and provided unsurpassed opportunities for recreation.
Growing world populations require protein food supplies beyond the production possible from land areas. Many nations are accordingly turning to the sea to augment these supplies. Within the United States, most of the inshore fisheries have been exploited almost to full capacity, but great, untapped fishery resources remain in the sea. In order to prepare for the requirements of our rapid economic expansion we should be ready to exploit the rich food resources of the sea.
The Department’s Fish and Wildlife Service is engaged in a study of tunas and other high sea fishes over a vast area of the mid-Pacific. Prewar Japanese exploration and our own preliminary work indicate the existence of potential tuna resources in these regions comparable with those that have been so highly valuable on our west coast. The proper development of these new resources should provide substantial quantities of food and income for the people of our Nation and of the Pacific Island Territories.
The high cost of discovery, development, and expansion of great oceanic areas is well known. This factor of cost has led to continued exploitation of already discovered fishing grounds by commercial interests with only rare efforts to find new grounds. Such exploratory fishing as that undertaken in the Central Pacific has consequently become a well-recognized Government function for providing new food sources, for the development of new industry and employment, and for relieving strain on stocks of fish in known grounds. That a similar type of investigation must be carried on in many other oceanic areas is becoming rapidly clear.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has also recently undertaken exploratory fishing programs in the North Pacific, in Alaskan waters, in the North Atlantic, and in the Gulf of Mexico. Location of fishery resources, determination of seasonal abundance, improvement of efficiency in operation through testing of gear and vessel equipment— these are necessary steps in fishery investigation. Of possible revolutionary significance to future commercial fishing operations are currant experiments in fish location by sonic and electronic devices.
Exploratory fishing is of particular importance to the future development of the fisheries of Alaska which, after more than 80 years

XXII + ANNUAL REPORT, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
of commercial utilization, still form the basis of the Territory’s most important industry. Approximately 250 fishery wholesale and manufacturing establishments in Alaska employ between 25,000 and 30,000 persons and have yielded products valued at more than 100 million dollars annually in recent years.
With the doubling of Alaska’s population in the last decade, land use and industrial developments have taken place which will ultimately have an impact on the anadromous fishes of the Territory. Further development, including stream utilization for hydroelectric energy, harvesting of timber for manufacture of pulp, and clearing lands for farming—all will present serious problems in maintaining fish supply. Vigilant control will be required if fishery resources are to survive.
Tn addition to supplying food, the sea also provides fertilizers for our soil in the form of ocean plants and fish life. Many of the hundreds of fishes not suitable for human consumption can be processed for fertilizer.
Fishing in our inland and coastal waters has become the country’s greatest single outdoor sport. During 1049, nearly 15.5 million licensed fishermen enjoyed this type of recreation. Catering to the needs of anglers throughout the Nation is now an important industry.
Conservation through restocking and proper management of waters is essential if fishing is to be continued. In the case of trout waters, for example, natural reproduction and introduction of small fingerlings will no longer maintain adequate stocks. Many of our hatcheries, built before or around the turn of the century, must be modernized to produce greater numbers of legal-size trout. Programs for such modernization are under way.
Stream pollution is a major deterrent to this particular use of our water resources. With increased industrialization and growth of communities, increasing attention must be directed to sewage treatment, abatement of industrial waste disposal in streams, and more effective soil conservation practices.
One out of every seven Americans fishes or hunts, or both. During the last fiscal year, hunting licenses totaled nearly 13 million. A much greater number of persons derive esthetic enjoying from study and observation of wildlife, and from vacationing in areas enhanced by the presence of wildlife. It is important that there be clear recognition of the need for building lines of defense against destruction of our wildlife through a firmly established system of refuges and management areas.
In our efforts to maintain a constant waterfowl and wildlife population, it has become clear that there will always be competition and conflict with other economic interests. We must recognize however,
■
■ '
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY + XXIII
that our wildlife heritage, once damaged, is difficult to reclaim. Already there is great need for additional refuges along the ancestral flyways for migratory waterfowl. The problem of more nesting and feeding grounds is equally urgent.
Predators among the country’s wildlife population received continuing attention during the year. Rats and mice, among the most destructive, annually consume or contaminate about 200 million bushels of grain or the production of approximately 8 million acres. Jackrabbits and pocket gophers, existing in relatively small numbers in semiarid regions, are known to multiply tremendously when such areas are irrigated or when other farm practices increase their food supply. Current progress in the development of selective control methods, repellents, and other practices indicates that such techniques can be effectively applied to produce much greater economic and recreational benefits for our country.
In the decade ahead the intelligent conservation of our fish and wildlife resources can play an important part in assuring the kind of America we want to achieve.
Indians
In an expanding economy that calls for steadily increasing production, our Indian citizens must be counted upon to contribute their talents and energies to our national wealth. They must be helped to find their rightful place in the national social and economic structure. As our economy becomes more mechanized, the unskilled laborer is fast disappearing in manufacturing, mining, lumbering, and agriculture. The future will offer little advancement for the Indian unless his economic opportunities can be measurably broadened.
The advancing tide of our technological civilization has largely destroyed the economic foundation of the early Indian population, just as it has altered the economic pattern of an earlier America. The old Indian economic pattern cannot be restored as it once existed, and our Indians cannot be isolated from contact with the present-day world. They must be brought closer to the center of the productive process of our economy.
In the meantime, the problem of the Indians must be worked out in terms of safeguarding and developing such resources as they now have, in raising standards of health and education, and in helping to create jobs off reservations that have proved economically inadequate.
The greatest resource the Indians possess is land. An example of the way in which the present land-based economy of the Indians could be expanded is offered in the following illustrations:
XXIV + ANNUAL REPORT, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Of approximately 45 million acres of Indian grazing land, the owners are actually using about 34 million acres. If the additional 11 million acres could be brought into Indian use, livestock holdings could be increased by approximately 300,000 head of breeding cows. This stock, on the basis of 60 breeding cows per family, would provide an average annual income of $1,200 for 5,000 families.
In 1946, Indians were using 900,000 acres of the available 3,000,000 acres of cropland. Non-Indians were leasing 1,800,000 acres. The value of sales from the crops produced by Indian farmers in 1946 amounted to $7,700,000, or approximately $8.50 per acre. This acreage return could, of course, be increased by more intensive farming methods. Entirely apart from that possibility, if the same rate of return were realized by Indians on the lands in non-Indian use, their income from agricultural production could be increased by 15 million dollars. On the basis of $1,200 per family, this income would benefit 12,500 additional families.
The achievement of these goals would provide a $1,200 minimum income for 34,000 families of the 44,000 who derive some part of their income from agricultural pursuits. A total of 10,000 would remain part-time farmers or farmers operating small units.
Similarly, expanded irrigation projects would add greatly to Indian resources. The total area of Indian lands now irrigated amounts to approximately 540,000 acres. Ultimate development would place 1,285,000 acres under irrigation. If these 745,000 additional acres were divided into 60-acre parcels they would provide an improved income for 12,400 families.
More than 500 million board feet of timber is annually taken from Indian-owned forests. These forests are managed under sustained yield principles. With few exceptions, this timber is harvested by non-Indian operators. It is obvious that expanded Indian income would result if more Indian timber were milled on the reservation and if the milling process were extended to include finished products.
The situation of the Indians today is one of limited opportunity. In 1945, when non-Indian farmers were obtaining a net annual income of $2,541, Indian families received a net income of $501. Many reservations remain essentially underdeveloped. Many Indian groups find it difficult to gain a decent living from their limited land resources and must increasingly turn to industry.
Although the natural resources of the Indians contribute materially to the economy of many Indian and non-Indian communities, full employment of their resources, both physical and human, is far from being achieved. The need for development along lines other than agriculture is clear. Trades and services offer many possibilities for
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY > XXV
increasing Indian employment. If the Indian human resources are to be utilized, new income producing activities both on and off the reservations will be essential.
Indians of the United States are demonstrating the progress they can make when they are given technical aid. Properly developed programs will not only enable them to accelerate the progress they are making and contribute to our expanding economy, but also make possible eventual withdrawal of Federal supervision.
Territories
Irresponsible propaganda attacks upon the United States as an expansionist power bent on exploiting the peoples and resources of colonial areas receives its most incisive answer in the development of our Territories.
In the islands of the Caribbean and the Pacific and in Alaska there are nearly 3 million people under the United States flag. Here peoples of many races draw on the resources of our 48 States for as much or more than they contribute to American wealth. Here peoples, who already enjoy a large measure of self-government, look confidently forward to increasing self-government to the fullest extent.
The Office of Territories was created, not as a colonial office but to promote the well-being of citizens of areas not yet admitted to statehood. It is founded on the antithesis of colonialism, for its primary responsibility is to further “the economic, political, and social development of the territories of the United States.”
The Territories can be expected to contribute their full share to the expanding economy which the President has called for. That share will be proportionate to the resources of these areas, to the initiative of their citizens, and to the wise planning of government.
Many branches of the Department contribute to territorial needs through their facilities for cooperative planning and cooperative accomplishment. At the same time much of this joint effort is directed toward increasing the initiative and self-sufficiency of the citizens of the areas served.
The work of the Office of Territories contributes to territorial progress in an area where economics, politics, and social evolution are different aspects of the same growth pattern. The Office has promoted progress in all three aspects by devoting attention to assisting the Territories of Hawaii and Alaska in securing statehood. Statehood can be expected to give great impetus to economic expansion in these areas in the next decade.
XXVI 4- ANNUAL REPORT, SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
At the close of the fiscal year the Congress enacted Public Law 600, which gave to the people of Puerto Rico the right to frame their own constitution based on democratic principles. The new law received the vigorous support of the Department and its acceptance through a referendum in Puerto Rico seems certain.
In the Pacific, the people of Guam have been made citizens of the United States and will assume territorial status with a popularly elected legislature. Administrative responsibility for Federal authority is in the course of being transferred to the Department of the Interior. Developments somewhat similar are ahead for American Samoa and the Trust Territory.
All of these political changes, in the Caribbean, in the Pacific, and in Alaska, will contribute greatly to the Nation’s economic growth. America has well learned the lesson, written in the blood of her citizens, that a slave people can be neither a happy nor a productive people. This lesson is being brought to bear in the Territories, not through conflict, but through Federal encouragement of the aspirations of men and women who have been created equal in the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
Conclusion
This report has directed attention to the Nation’s problems and responsibilities in conserving and intelligently mobilizing its natural resources to meet the needs of an expanding economy. I feel strongly that this task is urgent. We need to develop our resources more fully to meet the requirements of our rapidly growing population and to attain a continuously higher standard of living for our people. We cannot afford to mark time. We must plan soundly and work aggressively to meet the demand for greatly increased production of energy, goods, and food.
We face a great danger as well as a great opportunity. If we waste our irreplaceable resources, we shall place a heavy burden upon our children and our grandchildren. On the other hand, if we soundly conserve our exhaustible resources, develop new sources of supply, and expand our use of our inexhaustible resources, such as water power, we shall have made a rich contribution to the future national welfare.
We cannot close this report without stressing the additional heavy strain which has been imposed on all of our resources by the continued international crisis. To meet the grave threat of Communist imperialism, we are putting our industrial machine into high gear.
RESOURCES FOR OUR EXPANDING ECONOMY
XXVII
The success of this defense production effort will depend first of all upon the adequacy of our natural resources. Lack of a plentiful and expanding supply of power, of minerals, or oil might defeat our cause. With so much at stake, we must make sure that we can do the job.
Secretary of the Interior.
CONTENTS
Page
Resources for our expanding economy.......................... m
Bureau of Reclamation........................................ 1
Division of Power.......................................... Ill
Bonneville Power Administration............................ 113
Southwestern Power Administration.......................... 133
Bureau of Mines............................................ 135
Geological Survey.......................................... 169
Oil and Gas Division....................................... 215
Office of Land Utilization................................. 221
Bureau of Land Management.................................. 227
Fish and Wildlife Service.................................. 267
National Park Service...................................... 303
Bureau of Indian Affairs................................... 339
Office of the Solicitor.................................... 369
Division of Territories and Island Possessions............. 375
Division of Geography...................................... 393
Division of Budget and Finance............................. 395
Division of Personnel Management........................... 397
Southeastern Power Administration.......................... 401
Interior Department Museum................................. 403
Index...................................................... 407
XXVIII
Bureau of Reclamation
Michael W. Straus, Commissioner
☆ ☆ ☆
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
The bureau of reclamation FORGED AHEAD to a new high in its construction accomplishments for development of irrigable lands and expansion of hydroelectric facilities on projects throughout 17 Western States during fiscal year 1950. Undertaking the unprecedented 387-million-dollar program, the Bureau increased the scope and speed of its operations and ended the year with an all-time record construction achievement.
Contracts in force at the beginning of the year, covering construction and construction equipment and material, totaled nearly 474 million dollars. At the end of the year they totaled 481 million dollars. During the year, 900 new construction and supply contracts were awarded totaling nearly 140 million dollars. The construction contracts alone amounted to 117 million dollars, or about 84 percent of the total awarded.
An indication of over-all accomplishment, in the biggest annual program since Bureau of Reclamation activities started in 1902, is shown by the year’s construction progress. Construction work accomplished during the year amounted to a total value of 277 million dollars, the largest annual dollar volume in Reclamation’s history.
Spotlighted examples of major project features finished in fiscal year 1950 include four dams on the Missouri River Basin project; two dams on Columbia Basin project; Tracy pumping plant and large segments of Delta-Mendota and Friant-Kern canals on Central Valley project ; and Granby Dam, which forms the main reservoir on Colorado-Big Thompson project.
Greater efficiency and stabilization of operations were effected through many progressive developments and improvements within the Bureau’s organization, including better coordination of operations between the Branch of Design and Construction and field organizations. Decisions were speeded up, standard designs used more extensively, and many internal administrative improvements made. Certain basic design methods were improved through restudy and unification and by adapting designs to commercial standards whenever practicable.
Noteworthy progress was made in specifications procedures, numerous improvements being worked out in cooperation with contractor
1
2	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
organizations. The increased number of bidders and steady reduction of bid prices was at least partly attributable to these improvements. Streamlined bidding and contract awarding procedures expedited initiation of construction, and more uniform contract administration improved field relations with contractors.
Progress in research studies and investigations was furthered during the year, resulting in findings that will lead to better and cheaper construction, improved design of water-control structures, the application of new testing techniques, better control of waterweeds, and other important developments. New studies initiated include one now underway in the Bureau’s newly established radioisotope laboratory on the application of radioactive tracer techniques in the studies of weed control and materials research.
Important contributions to national defense and to Nation-wide programs were made by the Bureau, and duplication of effort minimized, through its cooperative work with other agencies. Substantial progress was made in this work in design, research, mapping, and other fields.
The Bureau began tests for the Atomic Energy Commission in the development of heavy, dense concrete to be used in the Commission’s structures. Tests were made of concrete aggregates for the Tennessee Valley Authority. Laboratory tests were made to assist the Forest Service in eradicating beetles in national forests; coordinative seismological studies with the Coast and Geodetic Survey and National Park Service were expanded; designs and specifications were prepared for a dam to be built on the Rio Grande by the International Boundary and Water Commission; assistance was given to at least one city in developing its city water supply.
Countries world-wide also benefited from Bureau technical assistance during the fiscal year, helping to cement friendly international relations, and promote cooperative world progress. Foreign officials from some 37 different countries visited and studied Reclamation projects. Engineering trainees from 14 foreign countries studied Bureau engineering practices at its engineering offices and laboratories. First-hand engineering assistance was given by the Bureau and its technicians to a dozen or more widely scattered countries, involving many thousands of miles of travel.
All told, the Bureau of Reclamation through its multiple activities during fiscal year 1950 made notable progress toward helping to strengthen the Nation and contribute to its expanding economy. Internationalwise, it exemplified the United States Government’s efforts to aid other democratic countries in achieving full development and economic progress, pointing the way to eventual world peace.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
3
Contracts Awarded
Major contracts awarded during the year included such extensive construction as the Olympus and Pole Hill tunnels on the Colorado-Big Thompson project in Colorado, the Tecolote tunnel on the Cachuma project in California, Trenton Dam on the Missouri River Basin project in Nebraska, and the Duchesne Diversion Dam and tunnel on the Provo River project in Utah. A summary of the major contracts awarded is given in table 1.
Table 1.—Major Bureau of Reclamation contracts awarded in fiscal year 1950
Feature	Project	Amount of award
2 miles Olympus tunnel and 5 miles Pole Hill tunneL		Colorado-Big Thompson	$4,787, 874
6 miles Tecolote tunnel		 		Cachuma	4,750 455
Trenton Dam	 .. . . ... 	 		Missouri River Basin.	4, 726,557
Duchesne Diversion Dam and 6 miles Duchesne tunnel		Provo River 		4, 379, 961
21 miles Delta-Mendota canal	 ..		...	Central Valley .	4, 273,872
23 miles Friant-Kern canal	 .		do			3, 333,156
17 miles Friant-Kern canal	 .. _ __ __				do		3' 17(i’ 814
19 miles Delta-Mendota canal and Firebaugh wasteway 			do		3,067, 484
29 miles Mohawk canal and 13 miles protective dike No. 1...	Gila			2, 412^ 645
Carter Lake Reservoir	 	, .. .	_ _	Colorado-Big Thompson	2,389' 350
8 miles Delta-Mendota canal		 .. _	. 		Central Valley .	2,173' 888
Unit 7, Coachella Valley distribution system		All-American canal system	2, 070,089
	(Boulder Canyon).	
Grand Coulee Dam—river channel improvements 		Columbia Basin		1, 691, 666
Keyhole Dam	 . .. ... . 		Missouri River Basin	i; 667^ 724
16 miles East Low canal and Weber wasteway	 .	Columbia Basin		1,649, 982
10 miles South Coast conduit	..			Cachuma.. .	i; 582' 886
Wellton-Mohawk pumping plant	 _ _			Gila .	1,577, 907
Unit 2, Southern San Joaquin municipal utility district,	Central Valley		L 572; 639
Friant-Kern canal distribution system.		
10 miles Well ton-Mohawk canal				Gila		1, 556, 387
Miscellaneous electrical installations at Davis Dam		Davis Dam		i; 508i 803
Construction Progress
Acceleration of construction brought several major features on many projects to completion, some ahead of schedule. Of the four major structures—Heart Butte, Angostura, Medicine Creek, and Enders Dams—completed on Missouri River Basin project, two were finished much earlier than contracts required. Heart Butte, scheduled for completion by November 1950, was actually completed in December 1949. Medicine Creek Dam, planned for completion by November 1951, was finished in December 1949, almost 2 years earlier than required under the contract. Granby Dam and Reservoir on Colorado-Big Thompson project, and Tracy pumping plant of Central Valley project, were also completed.
A Bureau record for excavation and earth-placing operations was made at Bonny Dam, Missouri River Basin project, in November 1949 when 1,280,000 cubic yards were excavated and 1,100,000 cubic yards
4	4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
of earth filled. A high monthly record for concrete placement was set in June at Hungry Horse Dam, largest Bureau dam now under construction, when approximately 123,000 cubic yards of concrete were placed. Another record achievement was chalked up for the Bureau with the rapid reconstruction of the 1914-built tunnel No. 3 on Grand Valley project in Colorado, which collapsed March 9, 1950, as the result of a landslide. Awarded a contract March 16, the contractor rushed the work and holed through April 27, about a month ahead of schedule, thus assuring a water supply for 29,000 acres of highly developed land on the project.
Grand Coulee pumping plant was advanced to 83 percent of completion during the year, while the contract called for only 54 percent. Soap Lake siphon, Columbia Basin project, was 80 percent completed by year’s end, but only 55 percent of the contract time had elapsed. The first unit of Kortes power plant was placed in operation June 30, the first power plant on the vast Missouri River Basin project to generate power. Although severe winter conditions and other factors retarded progress on construction of Kortes Dam and the power plant, work progressed to about 85 percent of completion.
When the year ended, construction was in progress on 14 storage dams and 3 diversion dams, 11 power plants, 6 pumping plants, 20 miles of tunnels, 500 miles of main canals, and 2,200 miles of transmission lines.
Principal Features Completed
Principal features completed on Bureau of Reclamation projects this year are shown in table 2.
Table 2.—Principal features completed on Bureau of Reclamation projects in fiscal year 1950
Feature
Project
State
Heart Butte Dam-----------------i----------
Angostura Dam______________________________
Medicine Creek Dam-----------------------—
Enders Dam-------------------------------—
Railroad relocation at Boysen Dam----------
Williston-Garrison transmission line---...
O’Sullivan Dam_____________________________
South Coulee Dam---------------------------
Tracy pumping plant------------------------
Railroad relocation at Shasta Dam----------
41 miles of Friant-Kern canal—--.----------
13 miles of Delta-Mendota canal____________
Granby Dam_________________________________
Tunnels 2, 3, 4, and 5 of Horsetooth Feeder canal.
Glendive-Miles City transmission line------
Fort Peck-Williston transmission line------
Unit 6, Coachella Valley distribution system.
Missouri River Basin________
____do_____________ ____do_______________ ____do_____________ ____do_____________..._______ ____do_____________
Columbia Basin______________
____do___________________....
Central Valley______________
____do_______________________ ____do_______________________ ____do_______________________
Colorado-Big Thompson_______
____do_______________________
Fort Peck__________..____...
____do_______________________
All-American Canal system..
North Dakota.
South Dakota.
Nebraska.
Do.
Wyoming.
North Dakota.
Washington.
Do.
California.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Colorado.
Do.
Montana.
Montana-North Dakota.
California.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	5
Continuing Program
The structures tabulated in table 3 are among the major features expected to be placed under construction on Bureau of Reclamation projects during fiscal year 1951. These include nine dams, three power plants, three pumping plants, over 1,000 miles of transmission lines, 170 miles of canals, and laterals to serve over 121,000 acres of irrigable lands.
Table 3.—Major features expected to be placed under construction on Bureau of Reclamation projects in fiscal year 1951 1
Columbia Basin project:
Blue Lake pumping plant, Washington
Quincy pumping plant, Washington
Central Valley project: Folsom power plant, California
Cachuma project: Cachuma Dam, Calif.
Boulder Canyon project: Installation of three generating units in Hoover power plant, Arizona-Nevada
Gila project:
44 miles Mohawk Canal, Ariz.
Mohawk Lateral Unit to serve 36,-000 acres, Arizona
All-American Canal system: Unit 9, Coachella Valley distribution system to serve 10,000 acres, California
Paonia project: 24 miles Fire Mountain Canal, Colo.
Eden project:
20 miles Eden Canal enlargement, Wyoming
Laterals to serve 20,000 acres, Wyoming
Provo River project: Terminal Reservoir, Utah
Rio Grande project:
79 miles Socorro-A Ibuquerque transmission line, New Mexico
50 miles Bernardo-Willard transmission line, New Mexico
Missouri River Basin project:
Anchor Dam, Wyo.
Bixby Dam, S. Dak.
Missouri River Basin project—Con.
Tiber Dam, Mont.
Missouri Diversion Dam, Mont.
30 miles Angostura canal system, South Dakota
Courtland laterals to serve 16,000 acres, Nebraska
700 miles transmission lines, Transmission Division, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Colorado
Riverton project:
27 miles Muddy Ridge canal, Wyo.
Wyoming canal laterals to serve 20,000 acres, Wyoming
Muddy Ridge laterals to serve 19,-000 acres, Wyoming
Co'orado-Big Thompson project: Willow Creek Dam, Colo.
Carter Lake Dam, Colo.
Rattlesnake Dam, Colo.
Flatiron Afterbay, Colo.
Pole Hill power plant, Colo.
Flatiron pumping plant and power plant, Colorado
Willow Creek power plant, Colorado
11 miles St. Vrain supply canal, Colorado
13 miles North Poudre supply canal, Colorado
2 miles Rattlesnake Tunnel
170 miles transmission lines, Colo.
1 Subject to such changes as may be necessary to meet national defense requirements and congressional actions.
907639—51-----3
6	4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Major features of Bureau projects expected to be completed in fiscal year 1951 are listed in table 4. These structures include nine dams, four power plants, two pumping plants, 2,300 miles of transmission lines, 40 miles of canals, laterals to serve 14,000 acres, and 6 miles of aqueducts.
Table 4.—Major features on Bureau of Reclamation projects expected to be completed in fiscal year 1951 1
Feature
Project
State
Kortes Dam and power plant________________
Shadehill Dam_____________________________
Cedar Bluff Dam___________________________
Dickinson Dam_____________________________
Bonny Dam_________________________________
Superior Courtland Diversion Dam__________
885 miles transmission lines Transmission Division.
Angostura power plant_____________________
Anderson Ranch Dam and power plant________
North Coulee Dam and feeder canal_________
Tracy switchyard__________________________
228 miles Shasta-Tracy east side transmission line.
216 miles Shasta-Tracy west side transmission line.
18 miles Wellton-Mohawk canal_____________
Unit 7, Coachella Valley distribution system.. 500 miles transmission lines______________
6 miles Salt Lake aqueduct________________
Fort Sumner Diversion Dam_________________
15 miles main canal_______________________
180 miles transmission lines______________
70 miles Seminoe-Casper transmission line_
Estes and Marys Lake power plants_________
Granby pumping plant______________________
5 miles Poudre Supply canal_______________
220 miles transmission lines______________
Missouri River Basin_______
....do____ ....do____ ....do____ ....do____ ....do______________________ ....do____
____do______________________
Boise______________________
Columbia Basin_____________
Central Valley_____________
____do______________________
____do______________________
Gila_______________________
All-American Canal System...
Davis Dam__________________
Provo______________________
Fort Sumner________________
____do______________________
Fort Peck__________________
Kendrick___________________
Colorado-Big Thompson______
____do_______ ____do_______;_______ ____do_______.J
Wyoming.
South Dakota.
Kansas.
North Dakota.
Colorado.
Nebraska.
North Dakota, ming, Nebraska.
South Dakota.
Idaho.
Washington.
California.
Do.
Do.
Arizona.
California-Arizona. Arizona-Nevada. Utah.
New Mexico.
Do.
Montana.
Wyoming.
Colorado.
Do.
Do.
Do.
Wyo-
1 Subject to such changes as may be necessary to meet national defense requirements and Congressional actions.
Cost Trends
The costs of many basic materials for Bureau of Reclamation work and labor costs continued to rise during the year. Steel, lumber, copper, zinc, and other building materials rose in price as activity of the construction industry increased. Although the cost of living declined somewhat early in the year, it again rose near the end of the year and wages increased accordingly.
The cost of nearly all Bureau construction work declined, however, as indicated in table 5. No increase is shown in any of the types of work listed, and only three items, all of which required the use of large quantities of steel, remained the same in June 1950 as they were in July 1949. This is attributed to increased competition among bidders for most work.
As contractors cut their unit prices where stiff competition prevailed, it was evident that they were operating on a smaller margin of profit. Other factors enabled contractors to reduce their bids, including the
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
7
Table 5.—Bureau of Reclamation cost indexes—-fiscal year 1950
Cost indexes based on January 1940 costs=1.00
July 1949
January
1950
June 1950
Dams: Earth			2.15	2.10	1.85
Concrete			2.15	2.15	1.95
Pumping plants: Building	- -			2.30	2.25	2.25
Equipment			1. 75	1.70	1.70
Discharge pipes			2.10	2.10	2.10
Canals and conduits: Canals	__ 		2.30	2.15	2.15
Conduits	_ 				2.30	2.20	2.20
T/at orals and drains	_ 		2.45	2.40	2.35
Power plants, hydro: Building			2.30	1.90	1.90
Equipment			1.75	1.75	1.75
Penstocks						2.10	2.10	2.10
Transmission switchyards and substations 	________	1.75	1.70	1.70
Transmission lines (wood pole) _		-		2.35	1.95	1.80
Roads and bridges: Primary roads, surfaced			-		2.20	2.10	1.95
Secondary roads, unsurfaced.	--	-		2.15	2.05	1.80
Bridges _ . 		2.25	2.10	2. 05
Composite index		2.20	2.15	2.00
decreased cost of earth-moving operations. Such work requires a minimum of labor, and materials and costs were lowered by increased efficiency of large earth-moving equipment.
In addition, equipment and materials were in much better supply and it was unnecessary to include contingency items previously required to cover possible delays in obtaining materials and equipment or in making costly substitutions. Labor was in good supply, resulting in greater efficiency of operations and increased production efficiency.
Developments in Specifications Requirements
New specifications methods were adopted to assist contractors in preparing their bids for Bureau work. Specifications procedures were initiated aimed at minimizing the inclusion of contingency costs in bid prices.
To provide for progress payments under the lump-sum price for water control and care of the river during construction, a method was adopted to permit the contractor to submit a breakdown of his watercontrol plan. The contractor was thus permitted to allocate the total lump-sum price into 12 major divisions of work. When approved, the allocation and the water-control plan became a part of the contract and monthly estimates for progress payments.
Specifications paragraphs regarding extra work and contractors’ protests were modified to provide for a more equitable and expeditious procedure in handling and processing contract adjustments. Construction specifications were individually analyzed for division
8
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
of work into smaller schedules to give small contractors an opportunity to bid. Provision was made in many specifications for final acceptance of work completed but which constituted only a portion of the total contract; thus contractors were relieved of responsibility for maintenance of the completed and accepted portions.
The construction contract bid form and the specifications paragraph relating to commencement, prosecution, and completion of work were modified to expedite start of construction. Although the Bureau is still furnishing items of large quantity and specially designed meta] work and operating equipment, specifications were prepared providing for the contractor to furnish the major portion of construction material.
Early in the year, Bureau engineers’ estimates of the cost of performing construction work by contract wTere published for the first time, permitting contractors to compare bids with the engineers’ estimates, thereby assisting the contractors in planning future work.
Design and Operating-Criteria Developments
Coordination of field design activities with the Chief Engineer’s office in Denver and the development of closer liaison between these offices speeded design and specification work materially. The program of inspection to assure satisfactory service conditions and functions of Bureau of Reclamation structures and facilities, initiated in fiscal year 1949, was conducted successfully. In all, about 250 major structures were inspected since start of the program, and work totaling approximately $2,000,000 was accomplished as a result of inspection recommendations.
To assure proper and efficient operation of installed equipment and machinery, operating criteria and instructions were issued to operators of Bureau power plants, pumping plants, dams, and canal systems. Information was provided to field design offices preparing operating instructions for delegated design work. Progress in standardization of operation instructions continued, and instructions prepared for the operation of appurtenant works of dams, and test apparatus for earth and concrete dams.
A panel of engineers reexamined all basic design criteria for concrete dams, making many revisions. The panel reviewed results of observations of instruments embedded in Bureau dams such as Grand Coulee and Shasta, and also considered applicable data from such outside agencies as Tennessee Valley Authority and the Corps of Engineers. New7 criteria that may effect important economies in construction of future concrete gravity dams were being considered at year’s end.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
9
Administrative Developments
Concurrent with the expanded design and construction activities, increased emphasis was placed on continued improvement of the engineering staff and administrative functioning.
A notable development was the initiation of annual conferences of Bureau construction engineers during the winter season when major construction activity is curtailed. The first conference, devoted to discussions of technical and administrative procedures, was held in February in Denver. Aimed at improved control procedures and uniform construction standards, the conference stressed design and specifications requirements and construction practices, and resulted in better all-around understanding of over-all objectives.
As the result of a development program for recruitment and training of construction engineers, initiated during the year, 70 engineers were selected as potential construction engineers from those who applied for training and from those nominated by the Bureau’s regions. At the peak period this year, more than 300 young engineers participated in the program for developing young engineers under the rotation plan, initiated last year with a group of 50. Under the plan, participants move from one assignment to another every 3 months, thus gaining diversified engineering experience, and providing the Bureau with a more flexible work force. When the work load is heavy in one part of the engineering organization, rotatees are reassigned to balance the load. Also, during the year, more than 100 young men were given 90-day field assignments to round out their experience.
An operation and maintenance liaison representative was appointed on the Chief Engineer’s staff in March 1950, in order to assure that significant information regarding operation and maintenance experience and requirements is made available to design and construction engineers. Data concerning operation and maintenance activities were compiled for use in developing improved design and construction practices.
A management survey of the Bureau’s design and construction functions, completed in 1949, resulted in clarification of branch and field offices’ responsibilities. Specific recommendations based on the survey strengthened coordinated activities and improved over-all efficiency of design and construction operations.
An Assistant Chief Engineer was appointed in the fall of 1949 to assist the Chief Engineer in directing the technical and administrative functions of the Branch of Design and Construction.
Research
The Bureau’s research laboratories in Denver intensified activities in the investigative and testing fields. Major efforts were directed
10
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
toward studies of construction, materials and verification of designs through, the use of structural and hydraulic models, as well as investigations of new construction materials and processes which would lead to better and cheaper construction.
An important addition to the laboratories was the installation of a 5-million-pound universal testing machine, used to determine the strength and elasticity of construction materials in both tension and compression. With facilities for testing large specimens up to 32 feet in length, the machine made possible investigations of structure models outside the realm of ordinary testing. One result of the machine’s use indicated that large, low-alloy, high-strength steel members could be successfully welded.
Another addition to research facilities was the establishment of a new radioisotope laboratory, headed by a scientist trained at the Atomic Energy Commission’s laboratories in Oak Ridge, Tenn. Here, initial studies were begun on the application of radioactive tracer techniques in the studies of weed control and materials research. The laboratory is expected to assist research engineers in the solution of many complex problems heretofore unsolvable by conventional methods.
An important conclusion, resulting from continuing investigations of pozzolanic cementing materials, was the decision to use fly ash in the concrete for Canyon Ferry Dam on the Missouri River Basin project in Montana, the second dam to contain this material. It is also being used in the concrete for Hungry Horse Dam now under construction in Montana. Fly ash, a waste product from steam power plants using powdered coal as fuel, insures a concrete of better quality where, as at Canyon Ferry, for example, the aggregate for the concrete is found to be reactive with alkalies in portland cement. Fly ash, together with certain admixtures, was also shown to improve the pumpability of cement grouts used extensively in construction work to solidify foundations and fill in areas of fractured rock and voids behind tunnel linings.
In connection with the pozzolanic studies, it was indicated that certain pozzolans would reduce the cracking tendencies of concrete made with the reactive aggregates found in certain areas in Nebraska and Kansas. As a result, portland-pozzolan cement will be used in the concrete for Trenton Dam to be constructed in Nebraska.
The strain-relief testing technique for determining existing stresses in rock was further developed in the laboratories, and applied to Diablo Dam for the city of Seattle to measure stresses in that structure. Additional data were obtained in the strength of mass concrete under triaxial loading, leading to a better understanding of the factors of cohesion and shearing resistance of concrete in dams.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
11
A new chemical, rosin amine D acetate, was found to be effective in destroying algae growths in drains. Applications of this compound in the field, carried out by laboratory personnel, immediately reduced the maintenance required to keep drains and ditches open.
In the field of earth controls, the laboratories prepared a classification chart outlining the various types of soils and defining their physical properties. This chart proved valuable to field engineers and the Denver laboratories in coordinating field data on earth materials. A field permeability test to determine probable water losses in canals was also developed. Stabilization and drainage of soils by an electro-osmotic process were studied and applied on certain canals on Bureau projects.
New basic data in the field of hydraulics, compiled by research engineers, contributed to improved design of water-control structures. Particular emphasis was given to problems of silt deposition and sedimentation, and to methods for reducing scour and aggradation in unlined canals. An electric analog computer, devised for evaluating flows in estuarine channels, was utilized in the studies of flow in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta area in California, resulting in savings that significantly lowered design and construction costs. Corrective measures to solve the troublesome problems of watersurface surging in the open stands of pipe irrigation systems were obtained from cause-determining studies.
Experiments were conducted to develop new and cheaper materials and methods for lining irrigation canals, including the use of asphaltic membranes and novel methods for applying them. These linings, very low in first cost, were applied on reaches of certain canals with marked success. Patent application was made on a prefabricated buried asphalt membrane canal lining, and the lining was utilized on several installations.
Publications
Marked progress and increased activity featured the preparation and issuance of publications relating to the technical work of the Bureau. Publications issued reflect a wide diversity of engineering knowledge acquired and disseminated in Bureau design and construction operations, including new important contributions to the profession.
Major technical publications issued during the year include: The fifth edition of Concrete Manual, a handbook of information and instruction on concrete construction; a new edition of Hydraulic and Excavation Tables; the Arc-Welding Manual, containing information on the design and control of welded steel construction; engineering monographs; and a group of bulletins completing the series record
12	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
ing results of studies, investigations, and the more unusual problems of design and construction in developing Boulder Canyon project.
Two publications were prepared for issuance in the next fiscal year, namely, the Earth Construction Manual, bringing together engineering practices and procedures developed in earth materials testing and construction; and the Paint Manual, recording the procedures and techniques for control of paints and protective coatings. Other publications planned for fiscal year 1951 include manuals on safety, bituminous construction, hydraulic laboratory and materials laboratory subjects, and additional engineering monographs.
Work Performed with and for Other Agencies
The Bureau was again called upon to assist outside agencies and other Government departments in design and research work covering a widely diversified field of engineering, and continued mutually beneficial cooperative undertakings.
Detail work continued on designs and specifications for Falcom Dam and power plant, to be constructed by the International Boundary and Water Commission on the Rio Grande near Laredo, Tex.; hydraulic models of the spillway and outlet works were constructed; and Bureau laboratories continued testing materials proposed for use in constructing the dam.
Through a cooperative agreement with the city of Seattle, an analysis was made of the structural behavior of Ross Dam, based on extensive data obtained from instruments imbedded in the concrete of the dam. The instrument readings were analyzed to determine how the dam is performing under loading. Also, stress measurements on Diablo Dam were made for the city of Seattle, and laboratory tests made of the properties of the concrete in the dam.
Tests were begun for the Atomic Energy Commission in the development of heavy, dense concrete to be used in the Commission’s structures. Concrete aggregates were tested for the Johnsonville steam plant of Tennessee Valley Authority. And tests were conducted on concrete core specimens of the Copper Basin Dam for the metropolitan water district of California.
Paints stocked by the Bureau of Federal Supply centers were tested by the Bureau for performance with purchase specifications. Bureau of Reclamation laboratories assisted the United States Forest Service in its campaign to eradicate beetles in national forests by conducting tests for the chemical control of the dichlorobenzenes used in the beetle eradication. The city of Kennewick, Wash., was assisted in development of its water system.
Coordination of the Bureau’s mapping activities, particularly those using aerial photography, with the mapping programs of Geological
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
13
Survey, Army Map Service, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Soil Conservation Service, were continued to insure that no duplication occurred. The Bureau awarded contracts for aerial photography and mapping for areas in California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, North Dakota, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming.
In order to meet the Bureau’s requirements for special high-dam design data, and requirements of the Coast and Geodetic Survey for the latest seismic information, coordinative seismological studies of the Bureau, the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and the National Park Service were continued and expanded at Hoover, Shasta, and Hungry Horse Dams.
International Cooperation
Increased demands upon the Bureau of Reclamation for technical assistance to foreign countries were made during the year. Existing legislation made possible Bureau assistance to foreign countries in the fields of irrigation, drainage, hydroelectric power development, and comprehensive planning for multiple-purpose projects. In fulfilling the demands, the Bureau received considerable valuable information through certain exchange arrangements for technical data.
Approximately 200 foreign officials and engineers from some 37 countries toured Reclamation projects and visited the Bureau field offices. About 50 engineering trainees from 14 foreign countries studied Bureau engineering practices in the Denver engineering offices and laboratories.
Numerous requests were filled by the Bureau for specific engineering information, technical assistance and guidance. Bureau engineering assistance was given to Greece, Portugal, Turkey, France, and Korea, at the request of the Economic Cooperation Administration. Engineers were sent to Japan and islands of the Pacific to aid in construction of irrigation and conservation projects, at the request of the Departments of the Navy and Army. Other engineers went to Australia, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, and New Zealand to lend assistance.
Requested by the Department of State, Bureau engineers assisted with certain preliminary work in connection with the proposed Maraetai Dam in New Zealand, and Kosi Dam in India. Under similar arrangement, earth materials tests were conducted in Bureau laboratories for the proposed Gal Oya Dam in Ceylon and for the Hirakud Dam in India.
Requests by mail from other countries and individuals throughout the world for Bureau publications and prepared data on a diversity of complex problems continued to increase. Many were first requests;
14	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 6.—Bureau of Reclamation dams
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
15
a
F
See footnotes at end of table.
16
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Volume	8 05	§88 <35 co ©	ii	§	8	1	^§§8	§§§§		s	§		8
	©	1,914 202 234	1,244 629	CM Cl CM w	CO CM CO	o	6 253 29 } 1,852	793 2,363 645 19	CO rH CM CO r-4	co IO		1,783 607 3,500	© »o
	a co	,084 ,025 ,114	,558 ,674	s 00	»o CM CM	CM r—<	390 675 285 ,860 ,420	,450 ,700 ,850 469	840 485 435	co 8	8	,262 825 ,900	8 o
s	T“4			r—<	CM	r—(	CO co r—<					co	»—I	
’able 6.—Bureau of Reclamation dams—Continued
wines, power plant.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES >	17
18	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
others were follow-ups in which the Bureau had arranged for exchange of technical data.
During the fiscal year, Bureau of Reclamation engineers participated in international conferences, including the United Nations Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources at which three papers were presented, and the International Conference on Large Electric High-Tension Systems. Nine technical papers have been prepared for presentation at the International Congress on Large Dams to be held in India in January 1951.
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
Reclamation exists not only for the purpose of constructing dams and power plants and creating far-flung irrigation systems, but for the service that these facilities provide. This service is an important factor in the creation of irrigation farms for settlement by veterans and others, homes for farm families, sound agricultural communities, and stable agricultural foundations for related business and commercial enterprises throughout the West.
In 1949, through the Bureau of Reclamation’s operation and maintenance activities, irrigation service was supplied to 91,000 farms with a total farm population of 354,000. A farm population in excess of 246,000 was reported for the 64,000 farms on regular Reclamation projects and a population of about 108,000 for the 27,000 farms receiving water from Reclamation under Warren Act or special contracts. With the inclusion of units of less than 5 acres, the total number for 1949 was nearly 100,000 farms.
Including the approximately 1,500,000 population reported for towns located on or adjacent to the irrigation projects, the Reclamation area population now totals about 1,850,000, an increase of roughly a quarter of a million from the 1948 estimate. The estimates are exclusive of Central Valley project in California.
In addition to the above, Reclamation service is provided to a large number of people in distant cities, towns and rural areas who receive electric energy from hydroelectric plants on Reclamation projects, and others benefit directly from flood control and through use of recreational facilities created by storage reservoirs.
Operation and maintenance of the 65 projects, or divisions of projects, completed by the Bureau of Reclamation, including the use of water, maintenance of irrigation systems, production of crops and livestock, and the general welfare of the water users, constitute “service” matters of primary concern to every Reclamation employee.
Progress was continued during fiscal year 1950 on one of/the fundamental service jobs of Reclamation, namely, to “keep the water running down the ditch.” This is sometimes a complicated matter
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES >	19
involving stream flow and runoff forecasts, regulation and operation of storage reservoirs and distribution systems, maintenance of all structures and distribution facilities, measurement and delivery of water, drainage where necessary, and control of waterweeds. The task is becoming even more complicated on multipurpose, basin-wide projects such as in the Central Valley of California and in the Columbia and Missouri River Basins.
Other operation and maintenance activities on which progress continued include negotiation and approval of amendatory and new repayment and water service contracts, rehabilitation and betterment of older existing projects, sprinkler irrigation studies, opening of additional public land to settlement, operation of development farms to provide assistance to settlers and others, lower cost canal lining investigations, and soil and moisture conservation operations. The end objective of all the operation and maintenance activities is the adequate and proper development of land through irrigation, and its use by farm families.
Extension of Irrigation Service
Irrigation facilities were extended in 1949 to the point where irrigation service could be provided for 5,678,512 acres, an increase of 298,497 acres over that of the previous crop year. Total acreage irrigated was 4,820,589, an increase of 261,834 over 1948. The difference between the acreage for which irrigation facilities have been provided and the acreage irrigated is due principally to the need for allowing land to fallow for a season, the need for farm ditches on some new farms, clearing or leveling, idle land involved in settlement of estates, rights of-way, and other factors.
Projects reporting the principal amount of increase in acreage irrigated, with the farms and acreages furnished a full or supplemental water supply for the first time during 1949 include the following:
Irrigated farms
Irrigated acres
Minidoka project, Idaho-------------------------------
Boise project, Black Canyon irrigation district, Idaho-
Rathdrum Prairie project, Idaho----------------------
Columbia Basin, Pasco unit, Washington---------------
Yakima project, Roza division. Washington--------------
Deschutes project, North unit, Oregon----------------
Klamath project. Oregon-California.--------------------
Central Valley project, California---------------------
All-American Canal system, Coachella division, California. Gila project, Yuma Mesa division, Arizona------------
Mancos project, Colorado_____________________________
Tucumcari project, New Mexico------------------------
W. C. Austin project, Oklahoma-----------------------
Riverton project, Wyoming____________________________
Shoshone project, Wyoming____________________________
Kendrick project, Wyoming------------------------------
Mirage Flats, project, Nebraska______________________
21 142
123
49 77
89
64
8
66
54
10
15
4
5
Total._____________________________________________________________________
680 5,738
916
2,130
1,182
13,252
5,420
101,431
4,397
200
6,292
6,440
18,408
1,198
1,682
*1,373
*994
727	171,733
* Includes acreage added to existing farms.
20	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
-See footnotes at end of table.
22
ANNUAL
REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 7.—Projects in operation—Irrigation and crop value data for the calendar year 1949—Continued
Special and Warren Act contractors receiving water from Bureau-constructed works		Crop values	Per acre												$133.19	I 86.53	149. 39	
			Total												$21,770,672	|84, 572, 286	48,232,869	
		2 £.S3 >.2 4 tS o 4^		Acres											163,458	| 977,329	322,870	
		Irrigated area		Acres											162,702	976,612	304,782	
		Irrigable area 1		Acres											191,400	1,054,038	438,864	
Projects furnished supplemental storage water from works constructed by the Bureau		Crop values	Per acre													$63. 20		
			Total													$11,697,599		
				Acres												185,085		
		Irrigated area		Acres												177,194		
		Irrigable area 1		Acres												195,247		
Projects entirely constructed by the Bureau	Temporarily - suspended land2	Total crop values								0 $1,146 20,749 0					10 0 OO 01	35,085		
		-J ri 0		Acres						0 56 411 0					5	1 50 OO		
	Land subject to construction charges	CO		CC i	100.01 97.76			101.38 189.25		54.05l 163.15 134.98 248.41					132.41	i		OO 0 g
		Crop va	Total	$16,067 8,501 219,869				244,437 723, 687		2,944,494 6, 294,856 11, 231,360 6,142, 041					26,612,751	| 76,501,083		0 s T—<
		SMlf		Acres 77 85 2,249				2,411 3,824		54,477 38, 583 83, 209 24,725					1 200,994	785, 295		I 16,706
				Acres 77 80 2,249				2,406 3,824		54, 238 38, 643 81,968 24,640					199, 489	776,158		0 CO
	Irrigable area1			Acres 80 111 5,552				5, 743 5,321		59, 610 44, 712 103, 579 27,271					235,172	893, 436		cT
State, project, and subdivision				Region 1—Continued Washington Columbia Basin: East Columbia Basin irrigation district	 Quincy-Columbia Basin irrigation district	 South Columbia Basin			Total—Columbia Basin nrniont		Okanogan...			Yakima: Hi trie inn	• h 3 A .B St 0	Sunnyside division	 'Tininn dixriainn		Total—Yakima project..		Total—Region 1	 Region 2 California Cpnf.rpl Vallptr		Orland	
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
23
	72.05 134.89		125.01 168. 60	1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1	165.09	CD	1 1 1 I 1 1 1	
1	1 1	1 1	1	5,366, 288 53, 599,157		111,885 13, 759,171	1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 «	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 »	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1	72, 638,09?	oT UO CD* OO 1	1 1	
	74,484 397,354		895 81,607	1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1	440,000	CM 1 CM* CM		
	74, 484 379, 266		895 81,607	1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	I 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1	420,000	s 1 cm' s		
	85,933 524, 797		960 97, 814	1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1	523,000	CM CD	1 1 1 1 1 1	
1	1 1	1 1	1				1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1	1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	I 1	1	1 1	1	1		108.50	
1	1 1	1 1	1				1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 I	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1	1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1		231,537	
				1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1	1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1		2,134	
				1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	I 1	II	1 1	II	1 •	II	1	1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1		2,134	
				1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1 1	II	1	1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1 1	1	1		2,662	
74,900 5,494	80,394 80,394			38,220 0 0 0	8	!	: CM	l	i OC*	1	I CO	l	1 1	1 1	1 1	1	38, 220		-
1,157 80	r—4 r—I	i		r- oo o CD CM	CD	! । CM	1 ।	CD CM		
114.37 145.50	132.29 124. 64	107. 58 120. 38	113.39 136. 54	83. 86 85. 89 289.84 426.04	260.18 657. 74	197.89		
3,665,127 6,325,455	9,990, 582 11,495,376	735,817 684,847	1,420, 664 30,807,031	318, 569 520,413 13,485,178 888, 728	CO	1	CD CO	1 OO	1	co CM	ICQ r-4	1	O CM	1	r-4 iD*	iCD	63,543,939		
32,047 43,475	75,522 92,228	6,840 5, 689	12,529 225, 621	3,799 6,059 46,527 2,086	58,471 24,483	321,104		
32,906 42, 518	75,424 92,130	6,308 5,689	11,997 219,039	3,799 5,668 46,711 2,086	58,264 24, 483	313,783		
41,102 44,327	85,429 104,869	20,251 7,118	27,369 243,125	7,734 6,890 50, 390 3, 607	68,621 24,836	363,951		
Oregon-California Klamath: Main division (Oregon)	 Tule Lake division (California)		 Total—Klamath project. Total—Region 2	 Region 3 Arizona Gila: Yuma Mesa division: Yuma Mesa	 North Gila Valley	 Total—Gila project	 Salt River	 Arizona-California Yuma: Reservation division: Indian lands (California)	 Bard irrigation district (California)	 Valley division (Arizona).. Yuma Auxiliary (Mesa) (Arizona)	 Total—Yuma project— California All-American Canal: Imperial irrigation district. Coachella division 5							Total—Region 3	 Region 4 Colorado Fruitgrowers Dam			
See footnotes at end of table.
24
> ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table I .—Projects in operation—Irrigation and crop value data for the calendar year 1949—Continued
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	25
! i		1	| :		s i s i	g s	i i	!	i i	273.96	273.96
I i I i		i		i	s i m i	•			i :	4, 740,921	4,740,921
H 1 1			!	i	1 i	2 OS 22	i : i		i i	17,305	
				!	g i	098 ‘81	■	i :	i	i	: i	17,305	Isos ‘Z1
! i		i	i	i	1 i		■ ■		i i	20,483	20, 483
§822	gs		i ; : i i i		103. 46	2? 3	:	i		| :	107.37	107.37
	g¥			i	9 9, 394, 389	21,406,038	i i	i	i	i !	1	i	1
«TU5	§§ ds		i		90, 801	B	i	: i	:	i	i !	i	5 •	r-	5
gg idw	10, 891 14, 544				90, 701	g		i i	1	1		
«5. 657,03714. 820, 58914, 916. 2341516, 329, 0081 105.03
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
29
30	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
The remaining increase of 90,101 acres irrigated, not listed by projects, represents lands on Reclamation projects which temporarily received a water supply from private wells, and scattered tracts of land on a number of projects that had a previous irrigation history, but were not irrigated in 1948. An estimated additional 110,000 acres will be irrigated for the first time during 1950 with project water.
Operation and Maintenance of Irrigation Systems
In order to supply Reclamation area farmers with irrigation water for crop production, activities on operating projects continued to stress, as the first order of business, the storage, regulation, and distribution of irrigation water supplies, and the maintenance of structures and distribution systems. As a result, crops were matured profitably on all operating projects during the calendar year 1949, despite some water shortages which occurred again in the Southwest. On some projects where surface water was not adequate, ground water was pumped to supplement supplies.
The Bureau of Reclamation operates and maintains directly 24 projects or divisions of projects, while 41 projects or divisions of projects are now operated by water-users organizations under only general supervision of the Bureau. In accordance with established congressional and departmental policy providing for transfer of completed projects to water users for operation and maintenance, the Carlsbad project was so transferred during the fiscal year.
Progress was made on investigations of and improvements in serious drainage conditions, and in water-conservation programs, including control of carriage losses, sprinkler-irrigation investigations, education for better farm-irrigation practices, waterweeds control, and reuse of return flows, all aimed at fuller utilization of water resources.
One major break in a distribution system occurred early in March 1950 when mountain landslides crushed a portion of a tunnel forming part of the main canal of Grand Valley project, Colorado. Although first estimates for repairs indicated that serious delay might be suffered in project water delivery, expeditious handling and close teamwork resulted in completed construction of a new tunnel bore around the collapsed section within 2 months, and water delivery to project farmers early in May, practically on schedule. This achievement was accomplished through cooperative effort by the Chief Engineer, the Regional Director, the project operation and maintenance forces, and the contractor, whose forces worked consistently around the clock to get the job done.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	31
Crop Production
For the fourth consecutive year, crop production on farms receiving Federal Reclamation water was in excess of one-half billion dollars. For the fifth successive year, the value of crops grown exceeded $100 an acre. The 1949 valuation of $516,329,008 compared with a record high of $555,420,804 established in 1947 and $534,623,541 in 1948. Crop returns in 1949 averaged $105.03 an acre while the previous year average was $113.76 an acre. Highest average return per acre was $121.95 in 1947. Highest 1949 per acre crop value was reported for the Coachella Valley, Calif., which receives water from Coachella division, All-American Canal system. Including 1949 production, the cumulative value of crops grown since irrigation water was first supplied from Reclamation projects in 1906 totals $6,583,570,000.
Vegetable and truck crops, a large portion of which were grown on projects in the Southwest that supply the Nation with fresh vegetables during the off-season months, accounted for about 29 percent of the 1949 value; and another 29 percent came from hay, forage, and grain crops, consumed largely by livestock in the producing areas or in feed lots near west coast cities.
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 8.—Cumulative crop values, 1906-49
1 Revised.
‘Includes projects constructed by the United States and those for which supplemental water is furnished from storage works built by the United States. 3 Estimated.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	33
The volume of crops produced amounted to 13,225,070 tons, practically the same as 1948, compared with a record volume of over 14.4 million tons in 1946. Vegetable, truck, hay and forage crops totaled 59 percent of the 1949 tonnage. Generally favorable yields were obtained by irrigation farmers and water supplies were generally adequate for full crop production. Average yields of grain and forage crops were maintained at the fairly high level of 1948. Yields of alfalfa seed, most vegetable crops, sugar beets, and most deciduous fruits were higher in 1949 than 1948, but lower for potatoes, prunes, and citrus fruits; citrus yields were reduced by freezing weather during the early months of the year.
The cultivated acreage from which crop production was calculated in 1949 was 4,916,234, an increase of 216,500 cropped acres over that reported for 1948. Throughout the West a general increase in acreage of hay and forage crops and some reduction in sugar beet acreage occurred. The difference between the 4,916,234 acres cropped on Reclamation project farms and the 4,820,589 acres irrigated by Reclamation was due to some relatively small areas in dry farming on irrigated farms.
Livestock and equipment on Reclamation farms November 1, 1949, were valued at $220,000,000, approximately the same as the November 1948 value. Livestock value was $89,000,000, 76 percent represented by cattle, 12 percent by sheep, 5 percent by poultry, 3 percent by hogs, another 3 percent by horses and mules, and 1 percent by miscellaneous livestock. Equipment was valued at $131,000,000, with tractors, trucks, and other motor vehicles accounting for two-thirds of the value. Marked increases in inventory values of machinery and equipment on Reclamation projects have occurred in recent years; in 1949 the increase was only 4 percent, indicating that project farmers may have largely replaced machinery worn out during war years.
Income Taxes From Reclamation Areas
Income tax revenues from Federal Reclamation areas represent a return to the Federal Treasury over and above the return of appropriate reimbursable construction costs by the irrigators, and from power revenues.
Estimates were prepared of income taxes paid from seven selected project areas, including businesses and residents of adjacent towns. These estimates indicate that from these seven areas almost $57,000,000 was paid in individual income taxes in 1949 and about $384,000,000 since the initiation of Federal income taxes. Federal construction net expenditures for these same projects through May 31, 1950, total approximately $163,000,000. Thus, Federal income tax revenues
34	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
amounted to about two and one-third times the Federal expenditures for irrigation development.
A break-down of the seven project areas and estimated individual income taxes follows:
Project area	1949	Total
Salt River project area, Arizona						$24,643,000 2, 500,000 9,465,000 19, 257,000 260,000 368,000 433,000	$164,229,000 17, 242,000 56, 568,000 136,480,000 2,629,000 2,917,000 3,887,000
Yuma project area, Arizona-California			
Boise project area, Idaho			
Yakima project area, Washington	 			
Shoshone project area, Wyoming			
Sun River project area, Montana			
Lower Yellowstone project area, Montana-North Dakota. __ 			
Total.						
	56,926,000	383,952,000
		
Individual income taxes from these areas in 1949 amounted to about $52 per irrigated acre, and the estimated cumulative total averaged about $351 per acre. These tax revenues represent not only taxes paid by irrigation farmers but also the taxes paid by the individuals of the nearby towns and villages whose business or employment is directly or indirectly attributable to the Reclamation development.
In addition to the above tax revenues an appropriate share of corporation income taxes and other Federal taxes are either directly or indirectly attributable to business and industrial activity resulting from Reclamation developments. Rough estimates of these additional Federal taxes were made of Maricopa County, Ariz., which represents the Salt River project area. These additional Federal revenues plus the $24,643,000 of individual income taxes would raise the total Federal tax revenue from that area in 1949 to over $65,000,000. Inclusion of all Federal taxes in the estimate for the seven project areas would raise the figure to about $86,000,000 for 1949 and to more than $500,000,000 for the 1916-49 period.
It is roughly estimated that about 1.4 billion dollars of individual income taxes or more than 2.0 billion of all Federal taxes have been paid into the Treasury since 1916 from all Federal Reclamation areas. This compares with a Federal construction cost on these projects of about $500,000,000. These estimates do not include projects under construction such as Columbia Basin, Central Valley, Hungry Horse, and Missouri Basin, nor power developments at Hoover, Fort Peck, Parker, and Davis Dams. Including these major projects under construction, Federal construction costs totaled 1.8 billion dollars at the end of the fiscal year, an amount about equivalent to the estimated returns in Federal taxes from all Reclamation projects and the nearby communities.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	35
Public Land Openings
During fiscal year 1950, the Bureau conducted four land openings involving a total of 12,830 acres of irrigable land, public and Government-acquired, comprising 128 farm units. These openings were as follows:
Project	Acreage	Units
Boise-Payette division, Idaho		4 480	50
Yakima-Roza division, Washington			9 723	H
Riverton, Wyo			6 940	54
Cohimbiai Basin, Wash	 .	’ 678	13
Total		12 8.30	128
		
The units on Columbia Basin project were offered for outright purchase, as in the fiscal year 1949 opening, rather than for acquisition through homesteading. This latest opening marked the second such sale of lands served by irrigation facilities of Columbia Basin project.
Although the number of acres available for homesteading in fiscal year 1950 was less than half the number available in fiscal year 1949, there has been continued interest in the openings as evidenced by the large number of requests for applications. In the Boise project opening alone more than 12,000 requests for applications were received. Veterans from 41 States and far-off Arabia filed applications for farm units in the most recent of the land openings, on the Riverton project.
Up to the end of the fiscal year, the Bureau had conducted 21 postwar land openings with a total of 82,599 acres, including 878 farm units, opened either to homestead entry or, in the case of Columbia Basin project, to purchase. In all openings, veterans were given preference in the submission of applications, and their demands for publicland farm units has greatly exceeded the supply, averaging 29 applications for each available unit. Thus, unfortunately, for each veteran who succeeded in obtaining a farm unit, 28 were disappointed.
During fiscal year 1951 additional units on Riverton project, Wyoming, and Columbia Basin project, Washington, are expected to be opened for settlement, and a few additional units on one or more of the other Bureau projects may be available. It is planned to make available for sale during the first half of the fiscal year, 56 part-time farm units on Columbia Basin project. Considerable attention has been devoted during fiscal year 1950 to developing policies and procedures in connection with this first sale of part-time units on a Reclamation project.
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Settler Assistance
Development farms.—Nine development farms have been established by the Bureau of Reclamation, as a phase of its settler assistance program, in cooperation with the several State agricultural colleges. The one most recently established is on Frenchman-Cambridge division of Missouri River Basin project in Nebraska, where a privately owned 95-acre unit was selected. Considerable research is being done on these farms for irrigation development, by the colleges, the Bureau of Plant Industry, Soils, and Agricultural Engineering, the Soil Conservation Service, and other agencies. Establishment of several additional development farms is anticipated within the next 2 years.
Inasmuch as several Bureau regions have been developing and operating development farms by substantially different means, the Chief of Land Development, Columbia Basin project, was directed to make a study of methods being used or contemplated on such farms in the various regions. Differences can be attributed largely to the ownership of the land on which the farms are located and to variance in local circumstances. Result of the study was made available early in 1950 in a factual report setting forth the purposes of development farms, nature of the work conducted, methods of establishment and operation, and cooperative relationships with State and Federal agencies in the program.
Credit for settlers.—Limited finance of settlers on projects of the Bureau of Reclamation has been a persistent problem. Despite this fact, the 104 settlers who obtained farm units on the Heart Mountain division of Shoshone project in the fall of 1949 had 60 percent of their acreage in crops by the spring of 1950. Under provisions of Public Law 361, Eighty-first Congress, it is now possible for the Farmers Home Administration, Department of Agriculture, to make loans to settlers on public land previous to the time the settler receives patent to the land.
A memorandum of understanding between the Departments of the Interior and Agriculture, outlining the general procedure to be followed by the Farmers Home Administration, the Bureau of Land Management, and the Bureau of Reclamation when the former agency extends financial assistance to settlers on public land, has been approved. This increase in credit availability has been of material assistance to the settlers in developing their farm units. But credit facilities to settlers are still not entirely adequate, as development of private lands for irrigation will create new problems of financial assistance.
Cooperation with other agencies.—It is the policy of the Bureau of Reclamation to continue obtaining technical information and as-
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	37
sistance with the agricultural and economic phases of its program through cooperation with the State colleges of agriculture and agencies of the United States Department of Agriculture. In this connection the Bureau has in effect at the present time 35 memoranda of understanding with the State colleges and other agencies. During the fiscal year, memoranda of agreement were effected in connection with the following projects: Tucumcari, Missouri River Basin, Riverton, Columbia Basin, Shoshone, Kendrick, and Rio Grande.
Representatives of the Division of Land Economics and the Division of Farm Management and Costs, both of the Bureau of Agricultural Economics of the Department of Agriculture, have cooperated with the Bureau of Reclamation in securing more information as to the type and extent of land-use integration which has developed between existing irrigated areas and surrounding dry-land and range area and in developing a type of program which will intensify and expand the desirable types of land-use integration.
With respect to the agricultural economy, such integration may be separated readily into two types, i. e., within farms and between farms or between areas. In addition, the increased and more stabilized production resulting from irrigation generally results in building up the community or urban economy. Although considerable information is available bearing on these various types of integration, additional studies will be pursued to determine more precisely their nature and extent and the specific types which should be fostered.
Amendatory and New Repayment and Water Service Contracts
The full stride set in fiscal year 1949 in the Bureau’s repayment program was maintained throughout fiscal year 1950. Significant progress was made toward disposing of the backlog of financial adjustment investigations on operating projects. Negotiations for new repayment and water-service contracts kept abreast of the accelerated construction program. The guiding principle for these negotiations remains the same: that repayment arrangements should be tailored to fit the payment capacity of the water users.
During fiscal year 1950, negotiations of amendatory repayment contracts for six projects were completed under provisions of section 7 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. Congressional approval was given to the results of these negotiations in Public Law 419, Eighty-first Congress, first session. Under authority of this law, the following amendatory repayment contracts were executed:
Oregon: Vale project, Vale irrigation district; Umatilla project, Stanfield irrigation district and Westland irrigation district.
907639—51---5
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
South Dakota: Belle Fourche project, Belle Fourche irrigation district. Washington: Yakima project, Prosser irrigation district.
Wyoming: Shoshone project, Deaver irrigation district.
The Bureau’s rehabilitation and betterment program is based on Public Law 335, Eighty-first Congress, first session, which requires full reimbursement of funds expended. This program was placed in full operation during fiscal year 1950, thus requiring considerable additional repayment contract negotiation, some of which was on an emergency basis. This additional load was handled successfully and repayment arrangements were negotiated for 11 projects.
These negotiations were conducted under procedures prescribed by Public Law 335, and its amendment, Public Law 451, Eighty-first Congress, second session, which requires approval of repayment arrangements by the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the House Committee on Public Lands before expenditures can be made on rehabilitation and betterment work. These requirements were met for six projects through special provisions in amendatory repayment contracts negotiated under section 7 of the Reclamation Project Act as cited above. The remaining five cases involved only rehabilitation and betterment and received specific approval of the two congressional committees. The 11 projects involved, by States, are as follows:
•
Arizona: Salt River project.
California: Orland project.
Colorado: Grand Valley project.
Montana: Bitter Root project; Milk River project.
Nebraska-Wyoming: North Platte project.
Oregon: Vale project.
South Dakota: Belle Fourche project.
Washington: Yakima project, Prosser irrigation district.
Wyoming: Riverton project; Shoshone project.
Physical and economic analyses were completed and negotiations well advanced during the fiscal year in connection with financial adjustment investigations leading to amendatory repayment contracts on the following:
Idaho: Boise project, Black Canyon irrigation district; Owyhee project (eight districts).
Montana: Milk River project, Malta irrigation district and Glasgow irrigation district; Frenchtown project, Frenchtown irrigation district.
Oregon: Umatilla project, Hermiston irrigation district and West Extension irrigation district; Deschutes project, North Unit irrigation district.
Utah: Ogden River project, Ogden River Water Users’ Association; Hyrum project, South Cache Water Users’ Association.
Washington: Yakima project, Roza irrigation district.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	39
Financial adjustment investigations were in various stages of completion on 19 additional projects.
In connection with the rehabilitation and betterment program, negotiations were under way at the end of fiscal year 1950 for repayment contracts for the following:
Montana: Sun River project.
New Mexico-Texas: Rio Grande project.
Washington: Okanogan project; Yakima project, Storage division.
In connection with construction of new projects or units of projects, the repayment contract program involved negotiation of one waterservice contract under the provisions of section 9 (e) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, two repayment contracts under section 9 (d) of the same act or other comparable legal provisions, and/or three combination water-service and repayment contracts. Under the combination plan, the cost of the distribution system is contracted for repayment under section 9 (d) and water service is provided under section 9(e), both in the same contract.
During fiscal year 1950, 13 new repayment contracts were executed with the following water users’ organizations:
Arizona: Yuma project, Arizona Edison Co. (municipal water), and sale of waste and drainage water to Mexico.
California: Central Valley project, Contra Costa County water district (interim) and Ivanhoe irrigation district; Cachuma project, Santa Barbara County water agency.
Montana: Milk River project, city of Havre.
New Mexico: Fort Sumner project, Fort Sumner irrigation district; Tucumcari project, city of Tucumcari.
North Dakota: Missouri River Basin project, city of Dickinson.
Oregon: Deschutes project, Grants Pass irrigation district and Ochoco irrigation district.
Texas ; Rio Grande project, city of El Paso and Hudspeth County conservation and reclamation district No. 1.
At the close of the fiscal year, negotiations had been completed on 12 additional contracts which were pending formal execution by either the water users or the Government. These involve the following water users’ organizations:
Arizona: Gila project, North Gila Valley irrigation district.
California: Central Valley project, Chowchilla water district, Exeter irrigation district, Lindsay-Strathmore irrigation district, Madera irrigation district, Saucelito irrigation district, Stone Corral irrigation district, Terra Bella irrigation district, and Tulare irrigation district.
North Dakota: Missouri River Basin project, Heart River irrigation district.
Wyoming: Eden project, Eden Valley irrigation and drainage district; Missouri River Basin project, Owl Creek irrigation district.
40	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
In addition, detailed physical and economic investigations were completed and negotiations were advanced on 20 water service and/or repayment contracts involving new projects or new project units.
Urban population growth through out the West is increasing the need for development of supplemental municipal water supplies. During the past year, seven contracts were negotiated to provide additional municipal supplies from Reclamation projects. It is anticipated that the growing competition for limited water resources will require increasing attention to municipal and industrial water requirements, both from existing Reclamation projects and in the authorization of future projects. Full water resource development in connection with multiple-purpose basin developments will necessarily entail proper integration and recognition of municipal water requirements.
Cooperation With Design and Construction
The Branches of Design and Construction and Operation and Maintenance have taken positive steps during the past year to assure that the members of both branches cooperate to the fullest extent in ironing out possible future problems which may be taken care of in the design stage of any new project or individual structure. The Chief Engineer has appointed an engineer with years of experience in both design and project operation and maintenance to spearhead this task.
Rehabilitation and Betterment
At the close of the fiscal year, much badly needed rehabilitation and betterment work on the physical plants of older irrigation projects had been completed and the volume of work in progress was increasing steadily. The $2,500,000 appropriated by the Congress for this work during the year was allotted as follows:
Project:	Allotment
Salt River, Ariz________________________________________________ $790,	000
Orland, Calif____________________________________________________ 114,	250
Grand Valley, Colo_______________________________________________ 730,	000
Bitter Root, Mont_________________________________________________ 15,	000
Milk River, Mont__________________________________________________ 23,	250
Sun River, Mont____________________________________________________ 2,	000
North Platte, Wyo.-Nebr___________________________________________ 80,	000
Vale, Oreg______________________________________________________ 50,000
Belle Fourche, S. Dak____________________________________________ 100,	000
Okanogan, Wash_____________________________________________________ 5,	500
Riverton, Wyo____________________________________________________ 379,	000
Shoshone, Wyo____________________________________________________ 211,	000
Total______________________________________________________ 2,500,000
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
41
Following the depression years prior to World War II and the restrictions on manpower, equipment, and materials during the war, deferment in maintenance of the physical plant of many of the older irrigation projects approached a critical stage. A survey of then existing conditions, authorized and executed during 1946 and 1947 on 51 projects or divisions of projects, revealed that thousands of wood structures constructed from 20 to 30 years ago were in need of replacement; many concrete and steel structures were badly in need of repair or replacement; canals, laterals, wasteways, and drains badly needed cleaning to restore them to their original capacities; additional canal lining to prevent excessive loss of water was needed; additional drain ditches were required to prevent further waterlogging of lands; and additional roads and cattle guards and many other items were mandatory to restore the projects to their original operating condition.
This program was initiated in fiscal year 1949 by an appropriation of $1,500,000 and the funds were allotted to nine projects showing the greatest need for immediate aid.
It was intended from the inception of the program that the costs would be repaid by the water users in installments over a sufficient number of years. In order to clear up misunderstandings that had arisen and caused some delays in the program, Public Law No. 335 was enacted in the first session of the Eighty-first Congress, and an amendment thereto, Public Law No. 451, enacted in the second session, prescribes procedures for negotiation and approval of repayment contracts in connection with expenditures of rehabilitation and betterment funds.
Sprinkler Irrigation
Investigation of the possibilities of sprinkler irrigation has been intensified during the past year through operation and observation of the sprinkler systems installed by the Bureau on Columbia Basin project in Washington, Missouri Basin project in both North and South Dakota, and on Gila project in Arizona.
Many types of systems being used on a large variety of crops and under a wide range of conditions continue to indicate that sprinkler irrigation is well established as a successful practice with most crops and on most arable lands. It does not appear to be as economical or otherwise superior to surface methods on lands well adapted to the latter.
A preliminary report on these investigations, prepared during fiscal year 1949, proved so popular that the original supply was soon exhausted. In December 1949 the report was fully revised to reflect all new developments, and is now available to the public. Sprinkler
42	4 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
irrigation may be purchased from the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C., price 20 cents.
Lower Cost Canal-Lining Program
A growing concern about the loss of water from irrigation canals and laterals and the excessive cost of making canals and laterals reasonably watertight prompted the Bureau to initiate a lower-cost canal-lining program in 1946, aimed at the development of more economical methods of seepage control. The program has progressed through laboratory tests and experimental field installations of various types of materials and construction methods.
Certain phases of the work have been performed by the State colleges and universities with the assistance of the Soil Conservation Service in making cooperative studies. Progress during the first 2 years was covered in a general information report entitled Lower Cost Canal Linings,” dated June 1948. Subsequently, a number of special reports on equipment development, trial installations, cooperative tests, and condition surveys have been issued.
The most outstanding accomplishments to date are development of placing methods and equipment; relaxing of specification restrictions of line and grade, and finish of concrete and mortar; elimination of reinforcing steel when not required for safety; development of buried asphalt membrane lining, covered with a protective blanket of earth or gravel; and greater utilization of thick compacted earth linings of selected earth.
Findings and developments in this program have been utilized in design and construction of new projects and in rehabilitation and betterment of older, existing projects. Worth-while savings are being realized.
Soil- and Moisture-Conservation Operations
The soil- and moisture-conservation program of the Bureau is a minor item in comparison with the total over-all Reclamation program, but it is particularly important in connection with the prevention of siltation of reservoirs and the protection of water-distribution systems above Reclamation projects.
Within the limit of the funds made available to the Bureau for these purposes, control of accelerated erosion on public lands under its jurisdiction and protection of the watersheds above Reclamation projects are being accomplished. This is being done both through individual effort of the Bureau and through effective cooperation with all other interested agencies in each of the areas concerned, particularly with the Bureau of Land Management, the Bureau of Indian
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
43
Affairs, the Forest Service, the Soil Conservation Service, and various soil-conservation districts.
The prevention of water losses, including correction of wasteful practices in the distribution and use of water on irrigation projects, is gaining recognition as equal in importance to the prevention of soil erosion. This activity is receiving increasing consideration in our current work and in planning for future operations under the soil- and moisture-conservation program.
Weed Control
Greater emphasis has been placed during the fiscal year on the Bureau’s weed-control program, and effective results are evident in most regions. The control of new willow growths has become a simple operation with newly developed Bureau techniques, and the control of waterweeds in many instances has been reduced to a routine operation with aromatic solvents. New chemicals, equipment, and methods are beginning to show large savings, not only in labor and chemical costs, but also in irrigation water.
Recommendations for the'use of aromatic solvents in the control of waterweeds in irrigation channels have been revised, and more than double the amount of the chemical formulation applied in 1949 will be used in 1950. The formulation developed through the Bureau of Reclamation’s cooperative research program with the Bureau of Plant Industry has been more effective this year due to better emulsifying agents, tested and approved by the Chief Engineer’s office.
Several of the regions have made special investigations of the salt cedar control problem, including a determination of water losses caused by the plants, methods of control, and other factors. This program has been coordinated with other agencies interested in the effect of the plants on land use, flood control, and water conservation, and much progress made through meetings with inter-agency and intra-agency committees that have been recently established.
Official status has been given to the Department of the Interior Weed Control Committee, which has as its principal function the exchange of weed-control information among the Department of the Interior agencies having weed problems on lands under their jurisdiction.
A revision has been made in the Bureau’s weed manual, Control of Weeds on Irrigation Systems, and the revised publication has been made available for general distribution.
Bureau personnel are engaged in the preparation of a motion picture entitled “Weed Control on Irrigation Systems,” which will demonstrate the most effective methods of controlling weeds on Bureau rights-of-way and other lands under Bureau jurisdiction. Prints of the film are expected to be available early in 1951. It is
44	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
believed that the new methods developed through cooperative research with the Department of Agriculture can best be shown to irrigation districts through visual methods.
Payments to School Districts
On August 1,1949, the Secretary of the Interior delegated authority to the Commissioner of Reclamation, by order No. 2529, for furnishing assistance under the provisions of the act of June 29, 1948 (43 U. S. C. A., sec. 385a), and legislation supplementary thereto, to local school districts on which an undue burden is cast by reason of the construction activities of the Bureau.
The Commissioner’s order No. 1, dated December 20, 1949, redelegated to regional directors authority for furnishing assistance at a rate not exceeding the average per pupil cost of the State in States in which school funds are equalized, and at a rate not exceeding the average per pupil cost of the school district in States in which school funds are not equalized.
Amendment No. 1 to order No. 2529 delegated to the Commissioner, without authority of redelegation, authority for giving additional assistance to local school districts in cases where extraordinary circumstances or conditions indicate that in fairness and equity a rate above that provided in the original order should be paid.
During the year cooperative agreements covering school assistance were negotiated with the following: Trenton, Nebraska, school district (Trenton Dam) ; Indianola, Nebraska, school district No. 2 (Frenchman-Cambridge unit); rural school district No. 9, Crook County, Wyo. (Keyhole Dam); York consolidated school district, Lewis and Clark County, Mont. (Canyon Ferry Dam)—all in the Missouri River Basin project; School district No. 18 (Platoro Dam), San Luis Valley project, Colorado; Grand Coulee school district No. 55, and Quincy school district No. 144, Grant County, both in the Columbia Basin project, Washington. Negotiations were under way at the close of the fiscal year for rendering assistance to other eligible school districts.
Recreational Use of Reservoirs
Construction of dams and reservoirs for irrigation and power development provides incidental but very definite benefits to the public through the creation of exceptional recreational opportunities.
At the larger reservoirs, such as Lake Mead, on the Colorado River between Arizona and Nevada; Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, on the Columbia River in Washington; and Millerton Lake, on the San Joaquin River in California, the administration of recreational facilities is handled for the Bureau by the National Park Service. At
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45
certain other reservoirs located within National Forest boundaries, recreational facilities are administered by the United States Forest Service.
As a prerequisite to achievement of a program for optimum recreational use of all existing Reclamation reservoirs, as well as for those under construction or still under investigation, legislation is required to provide for the expenditure of nonreimbursable funds for development and administration of these recreational resources.
POWER UTILIZATION
A new record of achievement in hydroelectric power capacity and production on multipurpose Federal Reclamation projects was accomplished during fiscal year 1950.
By year’s end, the total installed capacity was 3,168,400 kilowatts, highest in Bureau of Reclamation history. Sales of electric energy during the year totaled approximately 19,790,000,000 kilowatt-hours, which brought in revenue about $33,200,000. Additional capacity to be added in fiscal year 1951 will approximate 663,000 kilowatts.
Although previous records of capacity and generation are surpassed with the installation of each additional unit or Reclamation projects, demands for electric power still remain unsatisfied. Applications for power continue to mount and contracts for energy sales are being processed in great numbers to provide for the utilization of power to be generated from plants now under construction.
Expansion of rural electrification is a major factor contributing to the increasing power requirements in many areas, paiticulaily in Missouri River Basin States. Shortages of power of particular note have occurred in North and South Dakota.
To alleviate the critical situation, the Bureau has been authorized by the Congress to advance the construction of portions of its ultimate power system. These portions will be utilized to serve cooperative loads from available sources and from proposed Rural Electrification Administration generation plants until such time as the ultimate system is required to market Federal power.
Advancing construction of transmission lines and substations even a few years means the difference between keeping these cooperatives alive or letting them remain dormant until added capacity is available. This cooperative arrangement demonstrates clearly what can be accomplished by coordinated development of the Federal program.
Wheeling arrangements, whereby Reclamation power is transmitted over the lines of private utilities, constitute another significant factor in the utilization of Federal electric output to a maximum of capacity. Such arrangements have been consummated with a number of private
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
utilities and are under active negotiation with other utilities operating in Reclamation areas. Through these, existing utility capacity is utilized to the maximum extent possible for serving areas at an earlier date or at a more economical cost to the Reclamation project.
In many instances it has been possible by wheeling and interchange arrangements to provide power to preference customers, especially Rural Electrification Administration cooperatives, well in advance of the time when additional service can be made available to them by construction of added capacity and necessary transmission systems. These arrangements also permit delivery of power to areas remote from Federal power plants and beyond the present economical transmission distance but which can be served by maximum utilization of existing facilities, by displacement.
Irrigation pumping continues to impose greater demands upon the Reclamation power systems. It has been proven that tapping underground sources of water to permit irrigation of additional areas has been a boon to agricultural development, but electric power is necessary for the pumping.
The Bureau is continuing to plan development of a program to increase the power available consistent with full development and utilization of western water resources.
Present Installed Capacity
The installed nameplate capacity of 3,168,400 kilowatts in the 19 power plants in operation by the Bureau of Reclamation at the end of fiscal year 1950, showed an increase of 411,000 kilowatts capacity over the 1949 fiscal year. The increase resulted from the addition of 3 generating units of 108,000 kilowatts each at Grand Coulee power plant on Columbia River Basin project in Washington, 3 units of 25,000 capacity each at Keswick power plant on Central Valley project in California, and the first of 3 units of 12,000 capacity each at Kortes power plant on Missouri River Basin project in Wyoming. Power plants operated by other agencies, principally water users’ organizations, on Reclamation projects totaled 16 of which 9 with a total installed capacity of 30,967 kilowatts were installed by the Bureau of Reclamation, and 7 with a total installed capacity of 62,900 kilowatts by others.
Dedications of Shasta and Grand Coulee Dams were the most significant events concerning hydroelectric power development during the fiscal year. Shasta’s dedication marked completion of the installations at Shasta and Keswick power plants. At the time of Grand Coulee dedication, the total number of main generating units at its power plant had been brought to 13, making it the largest power plant in the world with a present installed capacity of 1,424,000.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	47
Additional Capacity Under Construction
Under construction by the Bureau during the year were 10 new power plants, which will have an ultimate capacity of 892,100 kilowatts. A contract was awarded for a turbine and generator for 1 additional 50,000-kilowatt unit at Hoover power plant on the Boulder Canyon project, while fabrication was continued on 2 units of 82,500 kilowatts each for which contracts were awarded in fiscal year 1949.
Completion of Keswick power plant on Central Valley project, with an installed capacity of 75,000 kilowatts in three generating units, brings the total installed capacity on the project to 454,000 kilowatts, including both Shasta and Keswick plants. The first unit in Kortes power plant on Missouri River Basin project was placed in operation this year. Construction is continuing on the remaining 2 units in Kortes power plant for completion during the early part of fiscal year 1951, to bring the total capacity in the plant to 36,000 kilowatts.
Marys Lake power plant of 8,100-kilowatts capacity and Estes power plant of 45,000-kilowatts capacity, now under construction on Colorado-Big Thompson project in Colorado, are scheduled for initial seasonal operation during the summer of 1950. These will bring into operation the initial phase of the eastern slope power development of this project. Work is progressing on approximately 100,000 kilowatts of additional capacity to develop the power drop between Estes power plant and Foothills storage system of the project, scheduled for initial operation in fiscal year 1953.
On Missouri River Basin project, work is progressing on Boysen Dam and power plant in Big Horn Basin in Wyoming. The power plant of 15,000-kilowatt capacity is scheduled for operation in fiscal year 1952. Davis Dam and power plant, located on the Colorado River downstream from Hoover Dam, is scheduled for operation in the spring and early summer of 1951 with an installed capacity of 225,-000 kilowatts. The power plant at Anderson Ranch Dam in Idaho will have an initial installed capacity of 27,000 kilowatts and is scheduled to be placed in operation in the fall of 1950.
Hungry Horse Dam and a power plant of 285,000 kilowatts, now under construction on the South Fork at Flathead River in Montana, is scheduled for initial operation in October 1952, with the second unit in operation by December of that year. The remaining two units are scheduled for operation in August and November of 1953. Canyon Ferry power plant in Montana, now under construction, will begin initial operation in November 1953.
The Bureau of Reclamation is responsible for marketing power generated at dams constructed by the Department of the Army’s Corps of Engineers in Missouri River Basin, and therefore has an in
48	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
terest in their construction progress since power requirements of the basin areas indicate the immediate need for additional generating capacity. The Engineers Corps is progressing on the installation of a third unit on Fort Peck project in Montana with a 35,000-kilo-watt capacity, scheduled to be in operation in 1952. They have Garrison Dam in North Dakota and Fort Randall Dam in South Dakota under active construction. Although power requirements of both these areas indicate immediate need for additional generating capacity, the initial operating schedule for Garrison is tentatively 240,000 kilowatts capacity in fiscal years 1955 and 1956, and for Fort Randall, 160,000 kilowatts in fiscal years 1954 and 1955. Actual progress which can be accomplished is contingent upon appropriations to meet these schedules.
The status of hydroelectric power plants on Reclamation projects, in operation, under construction, or authorized is shown in table 9.
Transmission Lines
At the close of fiscal year 1950, the Bureau had about 4,400 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation. Principal lines placed in operation during the year were as follows:
Project	Voltage	Completed	Length
	Kilovolts		
Yakima: Pumping plant supply line		34. 5	May 1950	62 0
Central Valley:			
Gas Point Rd. to Pacific Gas & Electric Co. substation	230	Nnvp.mber 1949	7 4
Shasta power plant to Gas Point Rd	230	Novpmbpr 1949	22 0
Keswick Junction to Keswick power plant..	230	No VP, m bp, r 1949	2 0
Davis: Coolidge to electric district No. 5.	115	May 1950	31.0
Missouri River Basin:			
Miles City to Glendive		115	August 1949	78 0
Fort Peck to Williston-Garrison.	115	Novpmbpr 1949	309 0
Kendrick: Seminoe to Casper..		115	Octobp,r 1949	aq n
Missouri River Basin:			
Gering to Alliance. 		115	August 1949	47 0
Cheyenne to Pine Bluff... 		115	August 1949	37 n
Sterling to Sidney. 			115	January 1950	39 0
Colorado-Big Thompson:			
Wiggins to Hoyt	 		115	Dppp.mber 1949	15 n
Flatiron to Greeley			115	February 1950	9c n
Brush to Yuma	 .	69	February 1950	
Yuma to Wray 		69	June 1950	1	77.0
Pole Hill to Flatiron	 ...	115	Junp, 1950	J 5 0
Total				822.4
			
Construction was continuing on more than 2,000 miles of high-voltage lines at the end of the fiscal year. These lines will be placed in operation during fiscal year 1951 or in subsequent fiscal years.
Electrig-Energy Sales
Sales of electric energy and power revenues by the Bureau of Reclamation reached an all-time high during the fiscal year. The total,
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
+ 49
Table 9.—Hydroelectric plants on Reclamation projects, operating, under construction, or authorized as of June 30, 1950 CONSTRUCTED AND OPERATED BY BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
See footnotes at end of table.
50
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR

ANNUAL REPORTS OF
BUREAUS AND OFFICES
♦ 51
AUTHORIZED TO BE CONSTRUCTED BY BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
52	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
not including transactions between Bureau projects, approximated 19.79 billion kilowatt-hours in sales, and approximately 33.2 million dollars in revenues.
The Bureau marketed the output from the 19 power plants it operated and, under the provisions of the Fort Peck Project Act of 1938, from the Fort Peck power plant, operated by the Corps of Engineers.
The 1950 fiscal year sales and revenues compare to a total of approximately 18.32 billion kilowatt-hours sold during fiscal year 1949, and approximately 32.23 million dollars in revenues that year.
This increase in sales and revenues resulted from the continuing heavy demands for electric power, and integration of the Bureau’s hydroelectric systems with other existing systems to obtain maximum power production from the water resources. A summary of power sales and revenues by projects is shown in table 10.
Table 10.—Bureau of Reclamation power systems, power sales, and revenues by projects, fiscal year ending June 30, 1950 1
Project	Sales of electric energy	Revenues from sales of electric energy	Project	Sales of electric energy	Revenues from sales of electric energy
Region 1: Boise				Kilowatt-hours 39, 662, 240 10,505,939,200 106,260,079 23,425,046 1, 529,140,444 5,978, 672,884 801,299,081 9,591,857 83, 240,543	$44,814 7,443,866 425,156 60, 647 9,340,727 9,375,417 2,443,750 36,756 402,892	Region 6: Fort Peck.. 	-	Kilowatt-hours 321,952, 242 32,018,806 56,661,399 42,466,406 132, 586,923 126,786,499	$991,960 196,305 336, 541 453,975 777,137 881,395
Columbia Basin 				Riverton			
Minidoka					Shoshone			
Yakima	 				Region 7: North Platte			
Region 2: Central Valley, Region 3: Boulder Canyon						
			Kendrick					
			Colorado-Big Thompson			
Parker						
Yuma	 _					Total			
				19,789,703,649	33,211,338
Region 5: Rio Grande						
					
1 Does not include energy sales and revenues in transactions between Bureau projects.
Power Contracts
Electric power was delivered by the Bureau to numerous major and minor users of power during the fiscal year. Major deliveries were made to 26 municipalities, 7 State government agencies, 65 rural electric cooperatives, 4 Federal agencies, 41 public authorities, 27 commercial and industrial users, and 34 privately owned utilities. A summary by classification of customers for the 12 months ending June 30, 1950, is contained in table 11.
During the year, 84 contracts for delivery of power were executed. These include 2 contracts with irrigation districts, 4 with other Federal bureaus and agencies, 1 with public-power districts, 4 with State authorities, 15 with private utilities, 45 with rural electric cooperatives, 8 with municipalities, and 5 with other customers. A number of these contracts were renewals of expiring contracts or revisions resulting from changed conditions.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	53
Table 11.—Summary by classification of customers for 12 months ending June 30, 1950 1
	Number of customers	Sales of electric energy	Revenues from sales of electric energy
PrivAtp.lv owned utilities 	 		34	Kilowatt-hours 4,642,908, 691	$15, 989,939
Municipal utilities	 			26	3,267,200, 519	5, 292,647
State government utilities		 		7	595,634,309	1,592, 577
Cooperative utilities (Rural Electrification Administration projects)		 		65	136,169,449	925,130
Other Federal utilities 		4	10,504, 740,225	7, 519,093
Residential and domestic	-- 				535	4,777, 450	31,924
Rural (other than Rural Electrification Administration projects)	- 		8	105,570	978
Commercial and industrial	 -	27	64,179, 539	401,513
Public authorities	_ 		41	468,825,664	1,233,218
Interdepartmental 		33	105,157,746	224, 276
Other sales		1	4,487	43
Total all customers..			781	19,789,703,649	33,211,338
1 Does not include energy sales and revenues in transactions between Bureau projects.
The contract between the Bureau and Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. was supplemented during the year to provide for service by the Bureau to additional preference customers. The wheeling arrangement now in effect between Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. and the Bureau has been instrumental in providing electric service to cooperatives not directly connected to Bureau transmission facilities. A wheeling contract with Otter Tail Power Co. has been executed to provide a similar service to preference customers in the section of Missouri River Basin project served by the company. Similar wheeling arrangements are now in process with other utilities in Missouri River Basin area.
At the beginning of fiscal year 1951, the Bureau had 242 contracts for delivery of power under negotiation. These include 7 with irrigation districts, 2 with public-power districts, 9 with Federal agencies and bureaus, 4 with State authorities, 27 with private utilities, 112 with REA cooperatives, 72 with municipalities, and 9 with other customers. A number of these are for the renewal of existing contracts or for revision to reflect changed conditions. A large number of contracts under negotiation are for future power deliveries at such time as additional generating capacity now under construction is placed in operation.
GENERAL INVESTIGATIONS
General investigations is that phase of Bureau of Reclamation activity concerned with resource investigations and developments of project plans. Its interest begins at the time the potential project is first considered for development and extends through project construction, development, and operation. The success of Reclamation
907639—51--6
54	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
projects is dependent not only upon sound planning but also effectuation of the plans and efficient operation of the project.
Comprehensive River-Basin Surveys
Planning and survey work for western resource development through Bureau of Reclamation projects on a comprehensive riverbasin basis went forward during the fiscal year with certain significant accomplishments achieved.
A Report on Comprehensive Plan of Development of the Water and Related Resources of the Columbia River Basin, including recommended projects and a recommended basin-account plan, was submitted to the Congress and printed as House Document 473, Eighty-first Congress, second session.
The Bureau’s report emanated from coordinated plans prepared late in fiscal year 1949 by both the Bureau and the Corps of Engineers for the comprehensive development of Columbia River Basin. It recommended that the initial units of the plan be authorized for construction and that the basin financial pooling plan be established. Projects recommended for construction by the Bureau included the following:
Project:	State
Bitterroot Valley____________________________________Montana
Cambridge Bench_____________________________________Idaho
Canby----------------------------------------------- Oregon
Council---------------------------------------------Idaho
Crooked River_______________________________________Oregon
Hells Canyon________________________________________Idaho-Oregon
Mann Creek___________________________________________ Idaho
Missoula Valley, North Side unit_____________________Montana
Columbia Basin modification of Grand Coulee Dam for flood control_______________________________________Washington
Mountain Home_______________________________________Idaho
The Dalles, West unit_______________________________Oregon
Upper Star Valley____________________________________Wyoming
Vale, Bully Creek extension_________________________Oregon
One of the most important features of the Bureau’s Columbia Basin report, the basin financial pooling plan, known as the “basin account,” has two primary objectives, namely, to provide a basis for the establishment of power rates on a uniform basis or region-wide basis; and to provide a means for paying irrigation costs to the extent that they cannot be repaid by the water users, applying for that purpose the interest component of pooled power revenues.
The Congress, in the Flood Control Act of 1950, authorized those Columbia River Basin projects included in the joint plan for construction by the Department of the Army’s Corps of Engineers, but omitted all the projects jointly recommended for construction by the Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation. It also omitted pro
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
55
visions for establishing the basin account without which the various Federal projects to be constructed in the Basin cannot be combined in a sensible and practical operating system.
The President, in approving the flood-control bill, stated:
I urge that the Congress reconsider this matter at the earliest opportunity, and authorize the missing pieces of the Army-Interior Columbia Basin plan.
The Flood Control Act of 1950 also authorized the Secretary of the Army to develop comprehensive, integrated plans for improvement of the Arkansas-White, and Red River Basins. In commenting on this authorization in his message of approval, the President stated:
I shall attempt to assure concerted action and effective planning, so far as that may be accomplished under existing laws. I am therefore issuing instructions to the appropriate Federal agencies to work together in preparing comprehensive plans for these basins, insofar as their existing authority permits, and to invite participation by the States concerned.
An interagency field committee for the Arkansas-White and Red River Basins was established by the federal Interagency River Basin Committee on June 12, 1950, to coordinate at the field level, work in the comprehensive survey of these basins. The Flood Control Act of 1950 provides an opportunity as well as a responsibility to develop a comprehensive program of resources development, urgently needed by this area. This work will be under way in fiscal year 1951.
The Bureau of Reclamation’s comprehensive report on Central Valley Basin, Calif., was transmitted to the Congress early in the fiscal year and printed as Senate Document 113, Eighty-first Congress, first session.
After careful analysis of testimony presented at a public hearing April 3, 1950, the Secretary of the Interior approved construction of Echo Park and Split Mountain Dams for impounding water within Dinosaur National Monument, in connection with development of Colorado River storage project. The project would provide storage for comprehensive development of upper Colorado River Basin. The hearing, called to consider the merits of the two proposed dams, attracted large numbers of proponents from Colorado River Basin States and numerous opponents representing recreational interests.
Work will be furthered in fiscal year 1951 on the United Western Investigation, an important reconnaissance investigation, involving several Western States, initiated late in fiscal year 1949. The investigation is being conducted to ascertain, and to report to the Congress, whether the Bureau of Reclamation should further explore the possibility of bringing surplus water from Columbia River Basin, or elsewhere, by diversion, transfer, or other means, into the Southwest, which is greatly deficient in water supply; and whether, by suit
56	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
able exchanges, further development can take place in the States within the Colorado River Basin.
Continuing rapid growth of population, industry and agriculture in the Western States is requiring extensive additional developments of local streams, many of which are, or soon will be, fully developed. Ground water supplies essential to the existence of many communities already have been heavily overdrawn. Future growth will be inhibited unless new water supplies can be brought to such dry areas by diversion, transfer, or other means.
New Projects Authorized
The following projects, or units of projects, have been authorized for construction by the Congress: Folsom unit and Sly Park unit, American River division, Central Valley project, California; Weber Basin project, Utah (report printed as S. Doc. 147, 81st Cong., 2d sess.); Fort Sumner project, New Mexico; Buffalo Rapids project, Montana (reauthorized); rehabilitation of pipeline, Grants Pass irrigation district, Deschutes project, Oregon; Middle Rio Grande project, New Mexico, previously “approved” by the Congress.
Other Project Planning Reports
At the end of the fiscal year, the Senate was considering a bill, passed by the House and printed as H. R. 940, to authorize construction of Eklutna project in Alaska. Reclamation’s report on the project had been forwarded to the Congress prior to the House action.
A report on initial development of North Fork Kings unit of Kings River division, Central Valley project, California, was submitted to the Congress by the Secretary of the Interior, with recommendations for authorization. It was printed as H. R. 537, Eighty-first Congress, second session.
When the year ended, the Bureau of the Budget was considering Reclamation reports on the following: Alcova power plant, Kendrick project, Wyoming; Canadian River project, Texas; Collbran project, Colorado; North Side pumping division, Minidoka project, Idaho; and Palisades project, Idaho (reauthorization).
River Compacts
The President, on March 21, 1950, signed the bill approving the Snake River compact between Idaho and Wyoming, now known as Public Law 464, Eighty-first Congress, second session. This action is expected to clear the way for further developments along Snake River, especially construction of Palisades Reservoir in Idaho.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	57
The States of New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas have been authorized to negotiate a compact on the Canadian River, and a Geological Survey representative has been named Federal representative. Legislation was introduced in the Congress to authorize a compact on the Sabine River, but no action was taken during the fiscal year. Negotiations are still under way for the Bear River compact and Cheyenne River compact.
The Upper Colorado River Commission has been active during fiscal year 1950 setting up machinery to implement the upper Colorado compact which went into effect during fiscal year 1949.
Bureau of Reclamation representatives have participated in all these compact negotiations in various capacities.
Hydrology
In addition to its normal hydrologic studies, the Bureau has intensified its planning for river operations particularly in Missouri River Basin and Columbia River Basin. Plans were formulated for better uitilization of water for irrigation, improvement and coordination of flood-control operations with the Corps of Engineers, and to form the basis for an operational plan which will be gradually enlarged as new units are constructed. Progress was made on development of improved methods of forecasting runoff from rain and snow.
The Bureau is engaged in an important investigation, in cooperation with the Geological Survey, the Weather Bureau, and the Department of the Navy, to determine the rate of evaporation at Lake Hefner near Oklahoma City, Okla. Techniques of this study will be applied in the precise determination of evaporation at Lake Mead as an aid to operations; and they also will have wide application in planning other western reservoirs and improving studies of water loss by non-beneficial consumptive use by vegetation.
More adequate and economic spillway design has resulted from improvements and refinements of design flood studies in connection with specific investigation. The improvements and refinements were effected through use of new techniques developed with the aid of storm, unit hydrograph, and infiltration studies.
Looking toward improving the design of diversion works and canals and determining more precisely reservoir storage space allocations, sedimentation studies have been continued with particular attention given to bedload studies of streams in Missouri River Basin. A sedimentation survey of Belle Fourche Reservoir, Belle Fourche project, South Dakota, made during the fiscal year, disclosed that only slightly more than 8 percent of its capacity had been depleted in 42 years. Studies were made and a report prepared showing the effect of all
58	♦ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
developments existing and proposed on the water supply in Missouri River Basin.
International Streams Investigations
The Bureau participated in the international engineering studies of Kootenai River in Columbia River Basin, and in developing information for use in the preparation of a report to the International Joint Commission on all international aspects of Columbia River.
Engineering work has been advanced on the Waterton-Belly Rivers reference and the Souris-Red Rivers reference made to the International Joint Commission in January 1948. A report on present and future water uses in Waterton and Belly Rivers was submitted to the Commission, and the Commission held public hearings in Montana and Alberta relative to the apportionment between the United States and Canada of the waters of those two streams. Work was started on collection of data that will be needed for preparation of plans of mutual advantage to the two countries as the final phase of the investigations.
Studies of present and future water uses were continued on the Souris and Red Rivers. The devastating floods which occurred on the Red River in May 1950, were the greatest on record and caused increased interest in the control and use of that stream, and acceleration of the international engineering studies now in progress.
Definite Plan Reports
Definite plan reports were completed during fiscal year 1950 for four units of Missouri River Basin project, namely, Fort Clark unit in North Dakota, Keyhole unit in South Dakota and Wyoming, lower Marias unit in Montana, and Owl Creek unit in Wyoming, and for two other projects, including Eden in Wyoming and Fort Sumner in New Mexico. Preliminary drafts of reports on several other projects and units were also prepared.
The Bureau’s definite plan reports are those prepared finally for a whole project, or a unit of the project, depending on the size and complexity of the plans recommended for development after authorization of the project.
A brief explanation of how these definite plan reports fit into over-all project planning will not be amiss. Project planning feasibility reports are prepared to present a comprehensive plan for orderly development and conservation of water and related resources, and to ascertain the probable engineering and financial feasibility to enable recommendation for or against work on the plan of a project. Considerable detailed studies and exploratory work usually remain
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	59
to be done after this stage before sufficient data are available to initiate preparation of final plans and specifications.
In some cases, projects are authorized by the Congress before investigations have been completed, documented, and reviewed on the basis of limited data, but are sufficient to support favorable recommendation for authorization of a project. Frequently, there is a fairly long period between authorization and start of actual construction due to lack of funds as well as lack of detailed information. In these instances, there is need for further detailed, documented, and up-to-date information on which to program and develop final plans and specifications for an authorized project, and need for a report on the additional studies, including investigations and negotiations consummated prior to construction. This final report is the definite plan report.
The definite plan report is used by all Bureau administrative officials and technical personnel as the authoritative, detailed plan and specification, and, if favorable, as the basic guide for carrying out plans for proper and orderly development of a project, division, or unit. The report is also important as the basis for scheduling and programing the planning and construction of the project; as the fundamental source of information for budget justifications furnished to the Bureau of the Budget and to congressional committees in support of requests for construction funds, and for other officials and interested agencies; and, as a check to determine the engineering, agricultural, and economic soundness of the plan in its various details of development, or of individual major portions of the plan, before actual construction is undertaken.
Other Planning Activities
The Bureau held its first Reclamation policy conference in fiscal year 1950, with regional and branch directors and other members of the Reclamation Commissioner’s immediate staff participating. Results of this conference clearly indicated the value of such meetings, and they will be held annually hereafter in the month of December.
As work progressed on the Missouri River Basin project during the year, it became increasingly apparent that firm criteria needed to be established and used in moving units of the project from the planning stage (phase B) to construction (phase A). To accomplish this, the following criteria have been set up: Approval of the definite plan report by the Reclamation Commissioner; favorable benefit-cost ratio; ability to meet annual costs of operation, maintenance, and replacement by each reimbursable function; and, reimbursement of power
60	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
costs in 50 years at 3-percent interest, municipal water costs in 50 years at 2-percent interest, and costs of irrigation distribution system in 40 years without interest.
Work With the President’s Water Resources Policy Commission
The President’s Temporary Water Resources Policy Commission was established by Executive Order No. 10095, dated January 3, 1950, for the purpose of studying and making recommendations on policies that should be followed in federally sponsored development, conservation and use of the Nation’s water resources. Since water resource use is closely related to and, in many instances, dependent on the use of other resources, the Commission’s assignment involves a large proportion of the field of resource development carried on by the Bureau of Reclamation.
The Bureau, therefore, has worked closely with the Commission since its establishment in its consideration of the extent and character of Federal Government participation in major water-resources programs ; an appraisal of the priority of water-resources programs from the standpoint of economic and social need; criteria and standards for evaluating the feasibility of water-resources projects; and, desirable legislation or changes in existing legislation relating to the development, utilization, and conservation of water resources.
PROGRAMS AND FINANCE
Programs and finance work in the Bureau of Reclamation is primarily concerned with administrative coordination and integration of construction program recommendations and decisions, and the establishment and maintenance of accounts, program schedules, financial statements, and progress reports. It thus facilitates the Bureau’s control of progress and the financing of all its activities, in accordance with requirements and limitations imposed by statutes and by congressional direction.
New Accounting System
A new accounting system, patterned after the uniform system of accounts prescribed by the Federal Power Commission for public utilities, was devised and has been installed in all the Bureau’s accounting offices. This system provides financial information through a commercial-type financial statement, normally rendered to stockholders and directors of large corporations. It embodies the principle of branch-office accounting, providing fund control through reciprocal
»	’ It
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	61
accounts in the Washington and regional offices, the reciprocal accounts being eliminated on a consolidated statement.
The project is the accounting entity in the new system; properties are accounted for at original cost, operation, and maintenance on an applied cost basis. The system differentiates between capital expenditures and current expense. Expenditures are recorded on an accrual basis; the expenditure is said to accrue when property or services are received.
In the system, classification of accounts is uniform for programing, budgeting, accounting, and subsequent reporting. A system of budgetary control is integrated with the general ledger accounts. Conversion from manual to IBM recapitulation and tabulating of Budget-Treasury Borm 3 reduced the time of the operation from weeks to hours. Proceduralizing and installing a work order system to relate current work to the approved program and to select accounts under which costs are to be accumulated, was begun during the fiscal year and will be completed in 1951.
In order to make the new accounting system operative on the date of conversion, certain account balances were converted from the old accounts to the new without analysis. Most important of these is the plant-in-service accounts for which the division of costs between multipurpose irrigation and electric plants could not be determined with reasonable accuracy. Analysis of recorded costs appi oximating 2.0 billion dollars will continue through fiscal year 1951 looking to complete adjustment and accurate reporting on the Bureau of Reclamation’s financial condition by close of the year.
Manualization of Procedures
Manualization of procedures progressed satisfactorily during the fiscal year. At the beginning of the year, program procedures for the scheduling, budgeting, and reporting of construction activities for fiscal year 1951 were issued to the field. These procedures were extended during the year to cover general investigations, and manual-ized drafts were reviewed and cleared by regional officials at the Bureau’s first programing conference in June.
On the basis of trial installations in a representative group of field offices, the work order and cost accounting procedures were officially issued in the finance manual. These work order procedures are the basic connecting link between the finance and accounting procedures on the one hand, and the program, budget, and reporting procedures on the other.
Manualized drafts covering the program aspects of the work order procedures have been completed, and will be issued early in fiscal year
62
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
1951. A survey was also initiated to develop a higher degree of integration between the work order procedures and the procedures for construction and procurement scheduling, payrolls, property accounting, and progress reporting.
Manualized procedures were issued for movable property accounting, retirement accounting, fund control, billing and collections, travel, plant-in-service accounts, irrigation operation and maintenance accounts, municipal water supply accounts, and accounting for purchases made through the Bureau of Federal Supply. Procedures covering a complete system of financial reports and statements were also issued in manual form.
Further simplication and refinement of both program and finance procedures will be made possible by the simplified appropriation structure provided for in the pending appropriation bill for fiscal year 1951.
During the year, more than 175 forms and reports were eliminated, making a total of 225 such eliminations in fiscal year 1949 and 1950 and indicating a high rate of progress in simplification and consolidation of reporting procedures. Further work in this direction is an objective for fiscal year 1951.
Programing Coordination
Programing of Bureau operations to assure coordination of all activities for the orderly and efficient achievement of predetermined objectives and to furnish essential administrative control had been well established at start of the fiscal year in connection with construction projects. During the year, programing procedures were expanded to cover operation and maintenance and general investigation activities. By year’s end these were operating on a preliminary basis.
Applying experience gained during previous years to the over-all programing procedures, considerable improvement was achieved in the form of submittal and detail of information required. A major step in this direction was made by combining two forms previously used into one master form, thereby greatly reducing the amount of material prepared and submitted. A simplified procedure for revising programs was inaugurated, resulting in reduced paper work and the maintenance of more realistic and sensitive schedules. Instructions for preparation and submittal of program documents, previously issued as administrative letters, were in process of manualization, considerable material having been issued in final form.
While it is recognized that refinements based on further experience, especially in the new fields covered, will be required, it is believed that the major task in formalizing program procedures has been accomplished.
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63
Table 12Bureau of Reclamation—schedule of advance construction program, fiscal years 1951-57, authorized projects
64
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.ble 12.—Bureau of Reclamation—jschedule of advance construction program, fiscal years 1951—57, authorised projects—Continue
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4-	65
See footnotes at end of table.
66
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ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4-	67
fHQafeooEROTEROT^OTERKfcOTEROTEROTfeOTEROTEROTEROTEROTEROTEROTfeOTEROTEROTEROTfqOTEROTpRM	tza	Erot
See footnotes at end of table.
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907639—51---7
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The new procedures, to a much greater degree than previously, tie the programing documents to the accounting system and budgeting procedures, thus more closely approaching the ultimate goal of a completely coordinated system of estimates, programs, reports, and accounts. The revised procedures emphasize the interdependence of the various program and finance activities and reflect the close coordination developed within the organization. This coordination has made possible the submittal of program schedules covering a considerably increased field within the same time limits previously established for the more limited operation concerned with construction only. Establishment of a work order system as a link between the program schedule and the accounting system greatly facilitated this coordination.
Another major step toward more efficient preparation of realistic programs was taken with inauguration of annual programing conferences, which will be held hereafter in June of each year. At the first conference in June 1950 proposed schedules for the current and budget year were reviewed by representatives of all concerned Bureau subdivisions prior to their submittal to the Commissioner of Reclamation for approval. Experience gained at this conference indicates that coordination of the objectives of the various offices and branches will be more readily achieved, and revisions of the program during the year will be held to a minimum by continuation of this procedure.
Appropriations
The Bureau of Reclamation’s regular and supplemental appropriations for fiscal year 1950 amounted to $358,308,510, an increase of $91,535,964 over fiscal year 1949. With the unused balance of $35,518,-017 from the previous year, the money available for Reclamation totaled $393,826,527.
The unobligated funds at the end of fiscal year 1950, carried over into fiscal year 1951, totaled 57.7 million dollars, considerably larger than the regular 10 percent usually allowed as a provision against contingencies, and frequently carried over. This larger carry-over resulted principally from a return of competition in the construction field, due in part to increased labor efficiency resulting in bids considerably lower than the estimates.
Another factor having a bearing on the carry-over balance was the uncertainty about appropriations during the entire first quarter of the year. This was occasioned by delay in the passage of the 1950 appropriation bill, which was given final approval on October 12, 1949.
In spite of these conditions, obligations for fiscal year 1950 totaled 336.1 million dollars or 85.3 percent of the work programed in 1950,
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
71
as compared with 88.5 percent accomplished in fiscal year 1949, and 88 percent in fiscal year 1948.
The 1949 Appropriation Act imposed certain restrictions on the Bureau, one of which limited the amount of construction work which could be performed by Government forces (force account work). The act decreed that the amount of work these forces could perform could not exceed 8 percent of the appropriation for any one project, with a maximum of $200,000 that could be so used. This restriction was modified by the First Deficiency Appropriation Act of 1949 to allow 12 percent of the appropriation of any one project for force account work. A similar limitation appeared in the Interior Department Appropriation Act, 1950, but with a further modification increasing the maximum amount which may be used on any one project to $225,000.
Another restriction appearing in the 1949 Appropriation Act was the limitation of $7,800,000 placed upon design work performed by the Bureau’s central design office at Denver. This restriction was raised to $9,250,000 by the First Deficiency Appropriation Act of that year and was eliminated in the Interior Department Appropriation Act, 1950.
A $50,000 limitation in the salaries and expenses appropriation was imposed upon expenditures for informational work during the fiscal year 1949. While a similar limitation was again imposed in 1950, the amount allowed for this work was raised to $150,000.
Restrictions limiting the amount which could be expended for personal services to $48,000,000, and the number of employees in grades CAF-9 and P-3 and above to 3,500 appearing in the Interior Department Appropriation Act, 1949, were increased to $54,500,000 and 3,625, respectively, in the First Deficiency Appropriation Act, 1949. These, together with other minor personnel restrictions, were not continued in the Interior Department Appropriation Act, 1950.
The budget submissions for fiscal year 1951 were presented to the Bureau of the Budget and the Congress in conformity with the new appropriation structure as recommended by the House Appropriations Committee. This new presentation simplifies the budget submission because the multifarious activities of the Bureau are grouped into only four major appropriations, namely, general investigations, construction and rehabilitation, operation and maintenance, and general administrative expenses, with specified amounts to be derived from the Reclamation fund, the Colorado River Dam fund, and the Colorado River development fund.
It is anticipated that requests for deficiency and supplemental appropriations will be minimized somewhat as a limited interchange of funds within the appropriation will be permitted in cases of real
72 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR emergency; only, however, with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior who is charged with the responsibility of carrying out the intent of Congress with respect to allocations.
The amount appropriated, including all suppiementals for fiscal year 1950 for each activity, is as follows:
Table 13.—Condensed statement of appropriations, fiscal year 1950, exclusive of trust funds
Appropriation
Reclamation fund, special fund:
Salaries and expenses______________________________________________
General investigations_____________________________________________
Investigations, Upper Colorado River Basin_________________________
Advance planning, Yakima project, Washington, Kennewick division.
Construction_______________________________________________________
Operation and maintenance, direct appropriation (irrigation)___
Operation and maintenance, power revenues______________________
$2,455,975 9,327,097
Operation and maintenance, total_________________________________________________
Rehabilitation and betterment of existing projects_______________________________
Total, Reclamation fund, special fund (includes appropriation from power revenues)_________________________________________________________________________
General fund:
Alaskan investigations.
Construction 1_________
Total, general fund.
Colorado River Dam fund:
Colorado River development fund (expenditure account).
Boulder Canyon, operation and maintenance___________
Total, Colorado River Dam fund.
Total, general and special funds (includes appropriations from power revenues)...
Amount
$4,365,100
3, 700,000
500,000
50,000
21,853,063
11,783,072
2, 500, 000
44, 751,235
200,000
311,234,175
311,434,175
500,000
1,623,100
2,123,100
358,308, 510
1 In addition, Appropriation Act permits contract authorization of $975,700 for All-American Canal, Arizona-California, $1,000,000 for Fort Sumner project, New Mexico; and $6,364,000 for Missouri River Basin project.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
73
Funds made available to the Bureau from its inception to date aie shown in table 14. From 1902 to 1915 the amounts shown were authorized by Secretarial action from the Reclamation fund, consisting of money from public land sales and other sources. Subsequent amounts were appropriated by Congress.
Table 14.—Allotments from Reclamation fund, 1902-15, appropriations from Reclamation and general funds, 1916—50, and emergency fund allocations \NIRA, PWA, and ERA)
Fiscal year	Allotments from Reclamation fund	Appropriations from Reclamation and general fund 1	Emergency fund allocations (NIRA, PWA and ERA)	Total funds available for expenditure
1Qno	*$855,000			*$855,000
IQAd.	*18,200,000			*18,200,000
iqak	*8,758,000			*8,758,000
	* 3 -9,711,173			* 3—9,711,173
]QQ7			*15,211,407	4 $1,000,666		*16,211,407
ions	*10,011,765			*10,011,765
1909	*10', 378,950			*10,378,950
1910	*8, 504,050			*8, 504,050
1Q11	24, 722i 790			24, 722,790
1912	1,286; 000			7,286,000
1913	6,229,000			6,229,000
1914	9; 764; 166			9, 764,166
1915	IL 742; 042			11,742,042
fQfft				13, 530,666		13,530,000
1917				8,902, 557		8,902, 557
1918		8, 537,213		8, 53/, 213
1Q1Q				9,840,277		9,840, 277
1920		7,848,927		7,848,927
1921		9,124,177		9,124,177
1922		20,601,871		20,601,871
1923		15,359,530		15,359,530
1924		12,564,067		12, 564,067
192fi				13,640,809		13,640,809
1926		12,363,240		12,363,240
1927				7,556,320		7,556,320
1928		12,203,800		12,203,800
1929		14,443,400		14,443,400
1930		8,743,000		8,743,000
1931		20,242,000		20,242,000
1932		22,371,000		22,371,000
1933				25,866,953		25,866,953
1934	_ _ ___ 			11,456,335	$87,205,098	98,661,433
1935					1,176,750	30,523,787	31,700, 537
1936						15,438,100	36,883,746	52,321,646
1937					56,444,600	1,646,362	58,090,962
1938					42,417,600	31,089,515	73,507,115
1939				45,410,600	2,376,654	4 7,787,254
1940				78,165,600	2,715,032	80,880,632
1941				74, 533,600	13,514	74,547,114
1942	 1943				102,776,031 91,663,670	24,824	102,800,855 91,663,670
1944				41,610, 575		41,610, 575
1945		27,434,000		2/, 434,000
1946				120,943,650		120,943,650
1947				119,631,088		119,631,088
1948		143,185,038		143,185,038
1949 2				266,772,546		266,772,546
1950		358,308,510		358, 308, 510
	|								
2 DoesdiiotPOmciru 1,165,480.17 2 3, 401, 454.36 29,778, 300. 23 s 10,401. 79
Proceeds, Federal waterpower licenses						
Proceeds, potassium royalties and rentals. .					
Receipts from naval petroleum reserves, 1920-38, act of May 9,1938..					
Proceeds from rights-of-way over withdrawn lands, act of July 19, 1919 						
Grand total						
					282,171,419.82
					
Proceeds for fiscal year, $36,441.57. 2 Proceeds for fiscal year, $110,320.75. 3 Proceeds for fiscal year, $5,639.08.
Reports
The Bureau’s established reporting system, covering prescribed recurring and special financial, personnel and power statistical and progress reports and publications required within the outside Bureau offices, was rounded out during the fiscal year by the inclusion of a group of interpretative summary reports. These now serve as instruments for administrative purposes.
The Summary Progress Report, correlating the approved scheduled construction program with the newly established accounting and work order system, was fully established. It includes monthly and cumulative accomplishment data and monthly revisions, if any, in estimated value of work projected over the balance of the year beyond the report month. Provisions have been made to adapt this report to other Bureau programed activities in the ensuing fiscal year. The recurring monthly report, giving data on current, cumulative and anticipated contractors’ earnings on each construction project, was continued.
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77
The Monthly Fund and Cost Data Digest was inaugurated in November 1949. It is a comprehensive summary of teletyped report data from the regional offices pertinent to the Bureau’s all-inclusive construction program. It evaluates accomplishments with respect to scheduled work, appraises the utilization of funds, and is complete with comments on headline items for each construction project undei way. This report was extended in June 1950 to include all other programed activities of the Bureau. It is made available to the Bureau’s top-management by the 15th of the month following the report month.
Utilizing data from Monthly I und and Cost Data Digest as well as other basic report data, a series of program accomplishment memorandums were developed during the year. Purpose of these is to pinpoint condition detrimental to efficient operations and to direct attention to corrections or improvements in construction program performances.
Tabulations of month-to-month estimates of year-end carry-over of unobligated construction funds were furnished monthly to officials concerned for scrutiny. Through these tabulations officials were enabled more readily to make determinations for use of available funds to achieve the set program goals. Additional tables on estimates of unliquidated obligations at the year end were provided for measuring progress and for fiscal year 1951 programing.
A trial run of the new Activity and Object Expenditures Report was undertaken prior to the year’s end. This report, designed to give Bureau officials necessary information pertinent to costs of basic activities into which the Bureau’s work is divided, for administrative and budget preparation, will be fully established in fiscal year 1951.
Throughout the year, regular and special reports and charts on Bureau employment, its trends and forecasts, from a low of 15,545 full-time employees to a high of 18,962, were furnished and adequate controls maintained.
Three ready-reference books, data for which were compiled in fiscal year 1949, were published or otherwise issued during the year. These include volumes entitled, respectively, “Bureau of Reclamation Project Feasibilities and Authorizations,” “Bureau of Reclamation Public Notices,” “Bureau of Reclamation Project Finance Data, Part I. Partial release of part II of the latter volume was also issued. Data were compiled for a 1950—56 estimated-program publication, planned for issuance in fiscal year 1951.
COMPTROLLER
The office of the Comptroller continued consultative and advisory assistance to the Commissioner of Reclamation and his top staff; review and approval of proposed accounting procedures and other
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system elements; and performance of independent financial audits of Bureau projects, water users’ associations, contract settlements, and other features of Bureau operations.
This office has effected a more complete integration of the Comptroller’s financial policy responsibilities with the total Bureau program ; specifically, in matters of repayment contract negotiations, analysis of rate schedules, furtherance of problems of municipal finance and management, special studies of the interagency agreements, analysis and interpretation of external audit reports, and problems relating to the effect of legislative developments.
During fiscal year 1951 the Comptroller intensified the audit activity and performed comprehensive audits of nearly all the major Bureau projects. After obtaining an inventory of the financial problems, an audit plan that will assist line offices at all organizational levels to strengthen specific accounting weaknesses and prevent continuance of recurrent errors was inaugurated. The plan consists of comprehensive audits, selective audits, special audits, and audits of water users’ organizations.
Comprehensive audits will be facilitated by the establishment of resident auditors placed at the larger Bureau operating offices. Selective audits will concentrate audit attention and immediate corrective action on specific segments of the accounts where known or anticipated difficulties exist. Special audits will be performed in connection with negotiations with contracts, amendatory repayment contracts, cost allocation studies, and similar matters. Audits of water users’ organizations will be performed for the purpose of protecting the contractual interest of the Government.
To effectuate the audit plan, the field audit organization is being strengthened by reorganization. This readjustment will permit a broader exercise of the Comptroller’s field functions regarding financial policy per se and a more vigorous approach to enforcement by more direct and prompt action.
LEGISLATION
Several bills, affecting the Bureau of Reclamation program, had either been passed by the Congress or were still in the pending stage at the close of the fiscal year.
Of significant importance is Public Law 356, enacted by the Eighty-first Congress October 11, 1949, and pertaining to the American River Basin, Calif. It reauthorized Central Valley project, Calif., to include the American River Basin development consisting of Fol-som Dam and Reservoir, a hydroelectric power plant and necessary hydroelectric afterbay plants and transmission lines, a storage dam on
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79
Sly Park Creek, a diversion dam on Camp Creek and incidental works for the delivery of water to lands in El Dorado County, Calif.
The act requires that Folsom Dam and Reservoir be turned over to the Bureau of Reclamation after the Corps of Engineers completes construction to the extent where water from the reservoir is ready to be turned either into the power plant or the conduits. This act not only fulfills the President’s recommendations regarding the American River Basin development but constitutes the first step in the direction envisaged by the President for administration of the Federal Government’s water resource development and conservation program in the Central Valley Basin.
Rehabilitation of the Fort Sumner irrigation district in New Mexico was authorized by Public Law 192, enacted July 29, 1949; and construction, operation, and maintenance of Weber Basin project, Utah, by Public Law 273, enacted August 29, 1949, but construction appropriations requested for the latter project are expected to be delayed until certain steps have been accomplished.
Of vital interest to the Bureau was the enactment of Public Law 335 (H. R. 1694) on October 7, 1949, authorizing the repayment of rehabilitation and betterment costs to be deferred in those cases.when current financing of such work is beyond the repayment ability of water users. That act was later amended by Public Law 541 on March 3, 1950, and the Bureau’s rehabilitation may now go forward with the least possible delay.
As a follow-up to Public Law 56 enacted May 6, 1949, and which was the first omnibus amendatory repayment contract measure to be passed by the Congress, Public Law 419 was enacted October 27,1949, approving contracts negotiated pursuant to section 7 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 with the Belle Fourche, Deaver, Westland, Stanfield, Vale, Oreg., and Prosser irrigation districts. Other important enactments by the Congress during the fiscal year included: Public Law 336, authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to complete construction of irrigation facilities on Buffalo Rapids project; Public Law 383, passed October 25, 1949, authorizing the withdrawal of public notices in Yuma project; Public Law 464 of March 21, 1950, granting the consent and approval of the Congress to compact entered into by the States of Idaho and Wyoming relating to the waters of Snake River; Public Law 491, enacted April 29, 1950, granting the consent of the Congress to the negotiation of a compact relating to the waters of the Canadian River by the States of Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico.
Still pending before the Congress are certain measures of importance to the Bureau of Reclamation program, the general welfare, and the areas immediately affected by them—measures that were pending
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at the close of fiscal year 1949. One of the most important of these is House bill 7351, successor to House bill 1770. Objectives of the two bills are the same, namely, first, to give statutory recognition to the fact that multipurpose Federal Reclamation projects frequently serve various purposes, the costs of which should not be borne by the water and power users; and, second, to afford a basis for an improved contract relationship between the Bureau of Reclamation and its irrigation users. However, House bill 7351, unlike House bill 1770, would not recognize the benefits of general salinity control, improvement of public transportation, protection of public health, promotion of the national defense, and the fulfillment of international obligations as purposes to which nonreimbursable costs should be allocated. Nonreimbursable allocations of cost related to sediment control and recreation would be recognized by House bill 7351 in a more limited manner than in House bill 1770.
Also of major importance in this category is a measure to authorize the Interior Department’s portion of the joint Interior-Army comprehensive plan for the Columbia River Basin, including a Columbia Basin account. That measure in its original form by an amendment to the rivers and harbors flood control bill was tabled by the Congress.
Authorization of the North Fork Kings River power development as a part of the Central Valley project is another such measure introduced in the Congress over a year ago and which is still pending.
Also pending is House bill 2984, a bill to consolidate the Parker Dam power project and the Davis Dam project. Purpose of the bill is to permit economies and increase efficiency in the construction, operation, maintenance, and administration of those projects.
Other legislation pending before the Congress for over a year includes bills to authorize the Central Arizona project, and provide for the construction of Bridge Canyon Dam and Reservoir as one of its features (S. 75); to authorize the Canadian River project (H. R. 2733); and to authorize the construction of canals in the Sacramento River area as a part of the Central Valley project (H. R. 163).
At the beginning of the fiscal year 1951 it appeared that construction of the Eklutna power project in Alaska (H. R. 940) would be authorized in the near future.
Among the more important bills introduced in the Congress during fiscal year 1950 are Senate bill 2195, to authorize the Palisades Dam and North Side pumping division, Idaho; and Senate bill 1300, to conserve and increase the Nation’s water resources by producing water suitable for consumptive use from sea and other saline waters.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	81
Litigation
On June 5, 1950, the Supreme Court of the United States rendered its opinion in the action entitled “United States v. Gerlach, Lire Stock Com/panyand the related cases, Nos. 4-9, inclusive, October term 1949.
Those actions were initiated in the Court of Claims in 1944 and involved issues relating to the compensation of riparian land owners in the area of the San Joaquin River, Calif., for loss of water rights through the construction of Friant Dam by the Bureau of Reclamation. Although other issues were raised the most important appeared to be the contention that the Central Valley project was authorized by Congress under the commerce power as a measure for the control of navigation. Such an authorization, it was contended, makes applicable the rule that the Government does not have to compensate for the destruction of riparian interests over which at the point of conflict it has a superior navigation easement, the exercise of which occasions the damage.
The basis of that contention was the fact that in the Rivers and Harbors Acts of 1937 and 1940 (50 Stat. 844, 850 Stat. 1198, 1199) reauthorizing the project, Congress said that—
The entire Central Valley project * * * is * * * declared to be for the purposes of improving navigation, regulating the flow of the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento River, controlling floods, providing for storage and for the delivery of the stored waters thereof * * * .
The 1937 act also provided that—
The said dam and reservoirs shall be used, first, for river regulation, improvement of navigation, and flood control * * * .
The Court stated that the general declaration of purpose was intended to help meet any objection to its constitutional power to undertake the project. The Court then said:
* * * The custom of invoking the navigation power in authorizing improvements appears to have had its origin when the power of the Central Government to make internal improvements was contested and in doubt. It was not until 1936 that this Court in United States v. Batter (297 U. S. 1), declared for the first time, and without dissent on this point, that, in conferring power upon Congress to tax “to pay the debts and provide for the common defense and general welfare of the United States,” the Constitution delegates a power separate and distinct from those later enumerated, and one not restricted by them, and that Congress has a substantive power to tax and appropriate for the general welfare, limited only by the requirement that it shall be exercised for the common benefit, as distinguished from some mere local purpose. If any doubt of this power
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remained, it was laid to rest the following year in Helvering v. Davis (301 U. S. 619, 640). Thus the power of Congress to promote the general welfare through large-scale projects for reclamation, irrigation, or other internal improvement, is now as clear and ample as its power to accomplish the same results indirectly through resort to strained interpretation of the power over navigation. But in view of this background we think that reference to the navigation power was in justification of Federal action on the whole, not for effect on private rights at every location along each component project. [Italics supplied.]
After finding that the Central Valley project is a Reclamation project to be constructed under the provisions of the Reclamation Act of 1902 (32 Stat. 388, 390), so as not “to in any way interfere with the laws of any State or Territory relating to the control, appropriation, use, or distribution of water used in irrigation, or any vested right acquired thereunder * * the Court found that act required it to turn to the laws of the State of California to determine the rights and liabilities of landowner and appropriator.
The Supreme Court then upheld the finding of the Court of Claims, that a beneficial use was made of the natural floodwaters by the claimants to moisten their land and that their right to compensation has a sound basis in California law.
The United States District Court for the Southern District of California heard arguments on motions to dismiss applications for preliminary injunction in connection with the actions by Everett G. Rank, Josephine Jasper, O. G. Cervelli and C. Cervelli, Hollister Land <& Cattle Co., and the Northern California Fisheries Association and others who sought to enjoin the United States from diverting and transporting waters of the San Joaquin River to lands outside the watershed of that river or from entering into contracts for the sale of water of the San Joaquin River. The Court on April 12,1950, denied the Government’s motions to dimiss the complaints except that of the Northern California Fisheries Association and denied without prejudice the plaintiff’s applications for a preliminary injunction.
Representatives of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of Justice continued to explore possible means of bringing to a conclusion the action entitled Pioneer Irrigation District v. American Ditch Association et al., United States of America, Intervenor. The action was instituted many years ago in the Seventh Judicial District Court for the State of Idaho to determine the rights of the several parties to the waters of the Boise River.
The Court of Claims dismissed the petition in the case entitled Columbia Basin Orchard et al. v. United States, No. 48674, in which the petitioners sought damages for the alleged taking by the United States of its orchard. The Court’s commissioner had previously filed a report in which he recommended an award of $70,000 in favor of the petitioners.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	83
In connection with the cases entitled Fine Sheep Co. v. United States; Ira R. Ure et al. v. United States; Ira R. Ure v. United States; and Schejf White et al. v. United States, and consolidated cases, the United States District Court for the District of Oregon announced its decision. The cases included 191 actions for alleged damage to crops by reason of a failure to deliver water and two actions for alleged damage caused by flooding resulting from a break in the North canal of the Owyhee project. The court found in favor of the United States in the group of cases involving failure to deliver water and in favor of the plaintiffs in the cases involving damages by flooding. The amount of the damage has not been determined.
An action was instituted in the Court of Claims entitled McCrary v. United States, to recover damages for having been wrongfully separated by reduction in force from employment with the Bureau of Reclamation.
Alternative offers of settlement were made by the plaintiff in the action entitled Washing ton Water Power Co. v. United States. The offers are being considered by the Department of the Interior and the Department of Justice. The action was filed in the Court of Claims to recover for damages allegedly caused to the plaintiff’s Little Falls power plant on the Spokane River, Wash., by reason of the filling of the Franklin D. Roosevelt Reservoir, Columbia Basin project.
Hearings were held on applications for an order for a preliminary determination and adjudication and the granting of a temporary restraining order providing for the distribution of the waters of the Carson River, Nev., in connection with the action entitled United States v. Alpine hand & Reservoir Company. In effect, the granting of the application would be a continuance of an order entered in 1949.
In connection with the action by the United States against the Northern Colorado Conservancy District, the city and county of Denver, and others, arguments on motions to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction were heard by the United States District Court for the District of Colorado. Briefs are now being prepared by the parties. The principal purposes of the action are to quiet title of the United States to the waters of the Blue River, which waters are required to operate the Green Mountain Reservoir of the Colorado-Big Thompson project and to obtain a judicial construction of the meaning and effect of certain portions of Senate Document 80, Seventy-fifth Congress.
Relative to the action entitled Provo Bench Canal and Irrigation Company et al. v. United States, which involves an appeal from a ruling of the State engineer affecting the water rights acquired by the United States for the Provo River project, Utah, the United States filed an action in the Supreme Court of Utah for a writ of prohibition against the District Court of the Fourth Judicial District in and for
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Utah County, alleging that the United States has not consented to be sued and praying that the District Court be restrained from proceeding with the case. Briefs were filed and arguments were heard by the Supreme Court of Utah but no decision has been reached.
Approximately 165 proceedings to acquire lands and rights-of-way by condemnation were instituted during the fiscal year.
Assistance was given the Department of Justice in the conduct of the trials of the above and other cases and in the preparation of legal briefs, arguments, and proposed settlements.
General.—In response to requests by the President’s Water Resources Policy Commission, the Office of the Chief Counsel prepared a statement on the Bureau’s responsibilities for, and participation in: Development of water resources; utilization of water resources; conservation of water resources; land uses related to development, utilization, and conservation of water resources; and other public purposes to the extent that they are directly concerned with water resources.
In connection with such responsibilities and participation, separate reports were prepared as follows:
A sectional analysis of each statute and executive or administrative order; a legislative history of each statute; conflicts and duplications between the responsibility and participation by the Bureau and those of any other Federal or State agency; State statutes and judicial decisions which have aided or impeded fulfillment by the Bureau of such responsibilities and participation; an analysis of judicial decisions in determining or interpreting the scope of statutory or other provisions which imposed such responsibilities or authorized such participation; the Federal water-resources policy sought to be achieved through fulfillment of the Bureau’s work; and special legal problems encountered.
The Office of the Chief Counsel participated in all other phases of the Reclamation program which required legal assistance including such matters as repayment, power sales, service, construction, supply, and other contracts and amendments thereto, interbureau agreements, lands and water right acquisitions, and planning reports. Under a delegation of authority, regional counsel of the Bureau administratively determined claims up to $1,000, filed under the Tort Claims Act and the claims item in the annual appropriation act.
MANAGEMENT PLANNING
Emphasis in the Bureau of Reclamation’s organization planning, both in the Washington office and the regions, continued to be placed upon more effective use of staff branches and district offices, and upon the solution of specific management problems.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	85
Noted progress has been made toward developing greater awareness of management factors that increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Bureau administration and facilitate program accomplishment. Although the President’s management improvement program (officially promulgated July 29, 1949) did not necessitate any major changes in the Bureau’s program for improving management, it served to increase the tempo with which management planning went ahead.
Numerous specific management problems were identified and resolved by the management staffs during the year, in cooperation with the Bureau’s branch offices. Specific field studies of an administrative review character and coordinated programs for further work on specific operating, procedure, and policy problems were developed.
Concentrated effort progressed toward completion of the Reclamation Manual, encompassing all policy and procedural instructions, methods, and standards for carrying out the Bureau program; and on the refinement of material already published. At the close of the fiscal year, the Branch of Design and Construction was nearing completion of its work in condensing the extensive engineering material for which it has primary responsibility, and in eliminating technical data from the manual through a planned system of specialist handbooks.
The Bureau’s program for control and improvement of forms and reports went into full gear during the fiscal year. In the initial review of forms, the total number in active use was reduced a spectacular 50 percent. During the next fiscal year additional tangible economies are anticipated through continuing appraisal of Bureau reporting needs and procedural requirements.
PERSONNEL
Although still restricted by congressional limitations on the number of employees who could be engaged on personnel work, the Bureau personnel staffs concentrated on planning and developing a forwardlooking personnel management program. Emphasis was placed on forecasting staffing requirements and programing placement of available employees according to workload, construction engineer development, rotation of beginning engineers, recruitment and college relations, letter-writing improvement, and personnel procedures inspection.
The employee utilization program increased steadily with launching of the construction engineer development program and initiation of a pilot plan for junior accountant trainees. Evaluation of the programs instigated last year, namely, the administrative trainee, rotation of GS-5 and GS-7 engineers, and the scheduling of staffing
907639—51---8
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requirements, has resulted in their extension to regions, districts, and projects where needs have existed.
To provide an adequate staff for Bureau operations, considerable recruitment activity was undertaken. The Central Board of United States Civil Service Examiners for the Bureau processed 9,712 applications, and 2,127 persons were appointed. Among these were 770 graduate engineers recruited on a Nation-wide basis. These beginning engineers came from 109 different colleges located in 47 of the 48 States. In addition, 232 undergraduate engineers, under the student engineer plan now in its third year of operation, received probationary appointments. They work, principally, during the summer months and will provide a source of carefully selected new engineers upon graduation. A small number of student engineers were employed on the cooperative college plan and worked alternating periods the year round.
The apprenticeship program is in operation at the Boulder Canyon project and at Parker Dam in region 3. Other regions are considering its early inception to provide skilled workers in the trades and crafts.
The collective-bargaining type of labor agreement is in operation on one major Reclamation project. Equitable hourly rates, based upon the principal of paying employees in accordance with local prevailing rates, were kept current by the Bureau’s wage boards.
Progressive improvement in labor relations was brought about by effective negotiations through the Bureau labor relations officer for the 22,000 contractors’ employees, with a creditable low percentage of man-days lost because of work stoppages.
The Bureau’s safety program was further intensified. A 28-per-cent reduction in the number of accidents under the rate experienced in 1949 continued a desirable downward trend. Safety inspections were performed in all Bureau operations and a program of safety education was continued. The Federal employee health program was in its field try-out stage at the Denver Federal Center and the Bureau was the principal participant.
Through incentive programs, such as rewards for superior accomplishment and suggestions, employees were awarded approximately $7,000. Distinguished service awards were given to 9 employees for outstanding service; meritorious service awards to 13 employees for exceptionally meritorious service; and 30 employees were granted commendable service awards upon retirement.
With passage of the Classification Act of 1949, impetus was given to the classification program. New policies and procedures were developed, and contacts with field installations were expanded to acquaint management with the many ramifications of the act. The in
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spections of decentralized field operations were intensified. Reorganizations of various field installations required the active attention of Classification to place positions on a current and accurate basis during the fiscal year.
Forty inspections were made covering all offices with a GS-7 appointing authority and above. The inspections were broadened to include questions on classification, employee relations, hours of duty, and employment.
On June 30, 1950, the Bureau had on the rolls 18,962 full-time employees, 14,846 of whom were under the Classification Act and 4,116 under the wage boards. Of this number, 10,287 were entitled to veterans’ preference; 2,387 were women.
During the year several top-ranking Bureau employees were loaned or given assignments .to foreign governments for consulting purposes.
Import changes in key personnel included the appointment of Goodrich W. Lineweaver as Assistant Commissioner on April 28,1950. He was succeeded by Eugene D. Eaton as Acting Director of the Branch of Operation and Maintenance. William F. Kubach retired as Comptroller of the Bureau on April 30, 1950, and W. Darlington Denit was appointed as his successor on May 1, 1950.
SUPPLY
Airplane Operations
The Bureau of Reclamation maintained and operated a fleet of 6 aircraft, including 1 twin-engine, 10-passenger Lockheed Lodestar; 2 twin-engine, 5-passenger Beechcrafts; and 3 single-engine, 3-pas-senger Fairchilds.
The Lodestar, assigned to the Washington office, was used to transport Departmental and Bureau officials and Members of Congress to observe construction of Bureau dams, power plants, canals, transmission lines, and other structures, many of which are located in areas off the regular commercial transportation routes; thus, visits were made in a minimum of time and usually at rates equal to or less than the cost of commercial transportation.
The two Beechcrafts, assigned to regions 3 and 6, respectively, were used to transport regional staff personnel to areas not generally served by commercial facilities, for inspection of proposed transmission line rights-of-way and surveillance of flood-water conditions. The three Fairchilds—overhauled surplus aircraft of prewar vintage acquired from Civil Aeronautics Administration—have proven extremely valuable to the district offices where they are assigned. These aircraft can be landed in relatively small areas and have provided means of trans
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porting district headquarters personnel to construction sites for in-pections in much shorter time than could surface transportation.
Two additional single-engine aircraft, authorized by the 1950 Appropriations Act, were ordered. The first new aircraft to be acquired by the Bureau, they will be of modern design with higher cruising speeds, generally safer operations, and will carry pilot and four passengers.
Procurement Activities
Detailed procedures covering the scheduling of procurement of all materials to be furnished by the Bureau for its construction program were developed during the year. Through this procurement scheduling program all parties concerned will be currently informed of all items to be procured by the Bureau in connection with the construction of any project, all Bureau organization units involved in any phase of the project will be currently and accurately informed of the status of procurement activity, and all items of equipment and supplies to be furnished by the Government will be delivered to the project when needed. Advantages of this program have been thoroughly proven through complete field tests made at one of the Bureau’s large construction projects. Instructions for carrying out this program have been included in the Bureau’s manual instructions and will be used by all Bureau projects in the future.
A clear-cut policy concerning materials and equipment to be furnished by contractors as part of their agreement with the Bureau to build the several types of structures required in the Bureau’s construction program was established after views of field procurement and administrative officers and project engineers were obtained. This policy will be used as a guide in preparing specifications for all future construction work for which the Bureau secures bids. It provides generally that the Government will furnish, for installation under general construction contracts, specially designed materials and equipment such as fabricated steel, machinery, steel pipe and penstocks, large electrical and mechanical apparatus and equipment; that contractors will furnish all standard and stock construction materials, specially fabricated metal work and prefabricated items for which requirements, details, and quantities involved can be included in the general construction specifications without appreciably delaying their issuance.
More expeditious procurement of heavy machinery for the Bureau’s construction projects and reduction of paper work involved have resulted from rescission of the Federal Supply Service’s requirement that such equipment be purchased only through that organization. The requirement was rescinded primarily because of objections raised
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by the Bureau. The Bureau then centralized purchase of such machinery in its Denver procurement office where acceptable specifications could be developed to cover the several types of machinery required for Bureau construction. When standard specifications have been developed, it is planned to redelegate authority to the field to procure this type of equipment.
Because of difficulty in procuring heavy-duty trucks and items of specialized automotive equipment, the Bureau has requested Federal Supply Service to rescind the part of its Circular B-20 requiring that li/2-ton and larger trucks, and all types of specialized, motorized equipment be procured through that agency. The Director, Federal Supply Service, is now considering this recommendation.
In order to implement the Bureau’s policy of better utilization of automotive equipment, a directive, issued early in the fiscal year, prohibited the procurement of certain types of station wagons and directed that only such vehicles as have been proved to provide the greatest possible utilization would be acquired.	’ .
Extensive efforts were made during the year to divert as much of the Bureau’s business as possible to small business concerns. A reporting procedure was instituted whereby data are collected on all Bureau procurement activities and the amount allocated to small business. These reports have not been in effect sufficiently long to determine the value of data obtained as compared to the cost of collecting it.
Substantial savings to the Bureau have resulted from administrative examination of transportation vouchers, a program inaugurated during the fiscal year. Previously, General Accounting Office instructions had been interpreted as prohibiting such examination and vouchers were submitted without administrative audit. Adoption of the money-saving policy resulted from complete review of the matter and further discussions with General Accounting Office representatives,.
After conferences with Bureau representatives, several large railroads have indicated their willingness to review estimates of quantities and types of materials and equipment that would need to be transported for the building of Reclamation structures and to furnish the Bureau with tentative special freight rates that might be used in calculating ultimate costs of structures involved; thus, savings resulting from negotiated rates could be taken into account in determining feasibility of proposed projects. Also, elimination of many of the controversies that have developed with carriers in the past regarding rates for hauling materials and equipment to Bureau projects could result from such a procedure,.
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Property Management Activities
Inventories of all the Bureau’s accountable property were completed on more than 90 percent of all Bureau projects during the year—the first year since the Office of Supply was organized that inventories have been so nearly complete. Procedures, devised for easy integration with the Bureau’s accounting system, were developed to reconcile these inventories with fiscal accounts. Considerable progress has been made in developing a consciousness of the need for stewardship of Government property at all levels of the Bureau’s organization. Procedures concerning the receipt, storage, issuance, warehousing, and disposal of Bureau property have been carefully scrutinized for maximum simplification consistent with a high degree of stewardship responsibility.
A vigorous program to increase the utilization of Bureau-owned vehicles, including a system of preventive maintenance and a study to insure that only those vehicles actually needed are maintained and used was continued. With the goal of a reduced fleet of vehicles so maintained and allocated that no aspect of the Bureau’s work will suffer from lack of adequate transportation, automotive costs were reduced by $350,000 and automotive vehicles by 448.
How best to protect the interest of Government in the control of small tools and minor equipment without incurring a volume of recordkeeping disproportionate to the value of the items controlled, was still under consideration. Work continued toward a policy to free financial records of the burden of keeping track of such items while preserving accountability.
Public Law 152, creating the General Services Administration, brought many problems concerning property disposal, including one in connection with disposal of surplus structures on land that is not to be disposed of and which were acquired with reimbursable funds. In most instances these involve structures on reservoirs, rights-of-way, etc., which cannot be disposed of for use in their present locations. Conferences with General Services Administration representatives resulted in authority to dispose of such surplus structures without reference to the detailed procedures established by GSA.
Office Services Activities
An extensive program aimed at ultimate disposal of many Bureau records and reduction of the quantity of files that now must be preserved and handled was undertaken during the year. Schedules for disposal of many types of Bureau records, including those of temporary value, are being worked out in cooperation with National Archives.
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Importance of office management work and the need for highly qualified specialists in this field was emphasized and considerable progress made throughout the Bureau in this respect.
REGIONAL REPORTS
Region 1
General investigations.—A major accomplishment of region 1 in its planning and investigation program during fiscal year 1950 was the completion of a report on the Rogue River Basin project, Oregon, presenting a general plan for the irrigation of about 114,000 acres and the installation in three plants of 61,000 kilowatts of hydroelectric power. The acreage-irrigation plan includes 74,000 acres of new land and 40,000 acres for which supplemental water will be provided. Total cost of the project is estimated at $76,500,000. The region also participated in preparation of a report on the basin for the Pacific Northwest Field Committee.
All told, the region worked on 5 reconnaissance investigations, 3 basin studies, 28 project investigations, 14 studies of existing projects, 7 investigations classed as general engineering research, and 1 advanced planning study.
Completed reports, in addition to Rogue River Basin, included those on Kalispell project in western Montana and the eastern division of the greater Wenatchee project in Washington. Refinement of the comprehensive plan for development of Columbia River Basin was advanced; and substantial progress made on development of a river operation plan by subcommittees of the Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee, with strong participation by Reclamation Bureau’s regional representatives. A special report, entitled “Data on Projects in the Coordinated, Comprehensive Plan for Development of the Columbia River Basin,” was prepared; and a special report on the domestic water system for the Deschutes project, Oregon. Two reconnaissance reports were completed and substantial progress made on the region’s portion of the united western investigation; an advanced planning study was made for the authorized Kennewick division of Yakima project, Washington.
Construction.—Completion of six irrigation projects involving approximately 100,000 acres of new land and expansion of Reclamation’s hydroelectric capacity at Grand Coulee Dam by nearly a third of a million kilowatts highlighted construction work in the region. Big event of the year was formal dedication of Grand Coulee Dam and its 151-mile reservoir, Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake, by President Truman on May 11,1950.
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Irrigation projects completed include the 50,000-acre North unit of Deschutes project in central Oregon; the 27,000-acre Pump unit of Roza division, Yakima project, in eastern Washington; the 25,000-acre Black Canyon unit of Boise project in southern Idaho; the 900-acre Big Flat unit of Missoula Valley project in western Montana; the 1,300-acre Burbank unit of Columbia Basin project in eastern Washington; and the 1,000-acre Hayden Lake unit of Rathdrum Prairie project in northern Idaho.
Columbia Basin project, in the biggest year of construction activity in its 17-year history, was 48 percent completed on July 1, 1950; contractor earnings totaled $53,500,000, almost 70 percent higher than fiscal year 1949, a record year in itself.
Accrued Columbia Basin project resources now include completed Grand Coulee Dam; 13 hydroelectric generators, largest in the world; and more than $100,000,000 invested toward the ultimate irrigation of 1,029,000 acres in the basin. Some $21,500,000 in new construction contracts were let during the year; about two-thirds of these for the irrigation phases of the project. The first water from Grand Coulee is to be available to 87,000 acres in 1952; it is toward this event that all major phases of construction moved.
Major irrigation works completed include O’Sullivan Dam, an earthwork structure with a volume almost equal to Grand Coulee; South Dam, which seals the lower end of Grand Coulee’s equalizing reservoir; the 10,000-foot Bacon Tunnel; the Bacon siphon; and work on major canals, including the first sections of both the East Low and West Canals. Status of other work is as follows: Grand Coulee pumping plant, 72 percent complete; the feeder canal, able to carry any but the largest rivers in the Nation, within 4 months of completion; North Dam, which seals the upper end of Grand Coulee reservoir, 70 percent complete; second and third sections of East and Low Canals, under way; Burbank pump unit No. 1, substantially complete; Soap Lake siphon, largest in the world, 80 percent complete; power installation, 88 percent complete, with 23.1 percent of the work done during the fiscal year. Other work in progress: A $1,691,000 contract to place armor rock on the river bank below the dam; a $1,488,000 contract to develop a permanent industrial area for the dam; and repair of the spillway bucket with the use of a floating caisson.
Hungry Horse project in northeastern Montana, largest concrete dam now under construction in the world, was 32 percent complete on the basis of the total estimated cost of $108,800,000, climaxing 15 months of intensive construction activity since the first concrete was placed September 7, 1949. By the end of the fiscal year, 300,000 of
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the nearly 3,000,000 cubic yards of concrete required to complete the dam and power plant were in place; the dam towered 139 feet above bedrock, was rising 1 foot a day toward its ultimate height of 564 feet.
Simultaneously, the tremendous job of clearing Hungry Horse project’s 34-mile long reservoir area was under way; 55 to 60 percent of an estimated 80,000,000 board-feet of merchantable timber had been removed, and approximately 40 percent of the 23,500 acres that will be flooded by the 3,500,000 acre-foot reservoir had been completely cleared. Clearance was well ahead of schedule as the result of a new “highball” method pioneered by two major clearing contractors during the spring of 1950. The method, utilizing huge 8-foot diameter 4%-ton steel balls, fastened to heavy wire cable up to 2,000 feet in length, and pulled by power tractors, has proven so successful that it is expected to revolutionize the clearing industry. It is expected to result in savings of millions of dollars on future clearing jobs.
On Boise project, the lateral distribution system to serve the 25,000-acre Pumping unit of P’ayette division was completed; work continued at Cascade Dam, source of water supply for the area. Construction continued at Anderson Ranch Dam on spillway, outlet works, and power plant, the dam providing 314,000 acre-feet of storage and full storage of 493,000 acre-feet set for 1950, while initial generation of power from one of the two 13,500-kilowatt units being installed is scheduled for September 15, 1950.
Work completions on Deschutes poject included Wickiup Reservoir; rehabilitation of Ochoco Dam for the Ochoco Dam irrigation district; reconstruction of Northwest unit pipeline for Grants Pass irrigation district; reconstruction of Arnold flume for the Arnold irrigation district. Lewiston Orchards project completion, scheduled for the first half of fiscal year 1951, has been delayed due to exhaustion of funds, a water-treatment plant and domestic water reservoir remaining unfinished; the irrigation and domestic water pipe distribution systems were completed during the year.
Start of major construction on Palisades Dam awaits reauthorization of the project by the Congress; however, construction of the Palisades-Goshen transmission line progressed on schedule for completion early in fiscal year 1951; 33 percent of the relocation of 2.5 miles of highway at the dam site was completed. The lateral system for 17 pumping areas embracing 27,000 acres of the 72,000-acre Roza division was completed on the Yakima project. Under the rehabilitation and betterment program, rehabilitation of pump-discharge and siphon lines for the Prosser irrigation district was completed and Tieton Dam and spillway rehabilitation was substantially completed.
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Rehabilitation of Rock Creek diversion dam and flume 18 of the main canal of Bitterroot project and Little Valley siphon of Vale project was finished.
Determining feasibility of irrigating approximately 64,000 acres by pumping from underground water supplies was continued on the North Side pumping division of Minidoka project; pumps were installed and lateral systems completed for three wells previously drilled; drilling of four additional irrigation wells was completed and contract awarded for drilling four observation wells.
Operation and maintenance.—The 17 operating projects in the region, embracing 1,948,014 acres receiving a full or supplemental supply of water from Reclamation Bureau works, produced crops valued at $172,922,032 in 1949. Average gross return per cropped acre was $88.77, as compared with $106.03 in 1948, and the highest on record—$120.18—in 1947.
Northwest projects again made available public land to meet the great demand for farming opportunities by World War II veterans and other qualified persons. Fifty homestead units, embracing 4,489 acres of irrigable land on Payette division of Boise project, were awarded on March 25, 1950; total of 1,427 ex-servicemen qualified for the drawing at Caldwell, Idaho. Eleven public-land homesteads, comprising 723 acres, were opened to entry on Roza division of Yakima project on March 21,1950, the drawing to be held July 21,1950. The availability of farm units, comprising 678 acres on Burbank pumping unit of Columbia Basin project was announced May 3,1950, the drawing to be held in fiscal year 1951, as will a sale of 56 part-time farm units in the area.
Federal irrigation service was extended to 6,000 acres on Payette division of Boise project, 1,300 acres under Burbank pumping unit, and 27,000 acres under pump on Roza division.
A fourth “development” farm on Columbia Basin project was established south of Quincy, another unit of the cooperative research program in which the Department of Agriculture’s Bureau of Plant Industry and Soil Conservation Service and the Washington State Experiment Station are cooperating with the Bureau of Reclamation.
Work leading toward execution of amendatory, supplemental, or interim repayment contracts was carried forward for 20 irrigation districts. Repayment contracts were executed for Stanfield and Westland irrigation districts of Umatilla project, and for Prosser and Sunnyside districts of Yakima project. An amendatory repayment contract was being executed at the close of the year by Frenchtown irrigation district.
Negotiations were under way with eight irrigation districts of Owyhee project, Black Canyon irrigation district of Boise project,
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and Roza division of Yakima project. An economic report and repayment plan were contemplated for each of the following: North unit irrigation district, Deschutes project; Hermiston and West extension districts, Umatilla project, Wilder irrigation district, Boise project. Preliminary work was started on Kennewick division of Yakima project, including land appraisal and classification and preliminary construction surveys, and plans were initiated for undertaking a repayment study.
Cooperative working agreements were made with the University of Idaho, Oregon State College, Washington State College, and the States of Idaho and Wyoming for carrying on activities of mutual interest in the fields of project development, construction repayment, and capital and credit requirements on irrigated farms. Progress was also made on studies relating to weed control, operation and maintenance costs, excess lands, income-tax payments, and car-lot rail shipments.
Power production.—The five Bureau hydroelectric plants in the region increased the power output to a new high of 10,700,925,138 kilowatt-hours of energy during the year, to meet increasing demands for power in the Pacific Northwest. The output of Grand Coulee Dam s huge plant was wholly responsible for the increase. The gross revenue totaled $8,020,281.75.
Grand Coulee, the world’s largest power plant with an installed name-plate capacity of 1,424,000 kilowatts, carried a peak load of 1,590,000 kilowatts in May and produced 10,505,939,200 kilowatt-hours during the year. Gross revenues totaled $7,342,081.19. A daily record of 35,928,000 kilowatt-hours was established on February 1, 1950, with a monthly record of 1,022,062,000 kilowatt-hours set in January. Almost half of dam’s record annual output went to aluminum industries. Three new 108,000-kilowatt units were put into operation during the year, bringing the installation to 13.
The 13,400-kilowatt Minidoka power plant produced 102,932,650 kilowatt-hours to earn gross revenues of $432,739.77. Boise project, with the 8,000-kilowatt Black Canyon and 1,500-kilowatt Boise River plants, produced 67,036,888 kilowatt-hours to earn $94,813.79 in gross revenues. The 2,400-kilowatt Prosser plant on Yakima project produced 25,016,400 kilowatt-hours, earning $60,647 in gross revenues.
Region 2
General investigations.—During the year the Central Valley Basin report was transmitted to Congress and printed as Senate Document 113, Eighty-first Congress, first session. The report on the North Fork Kings River development was transmitted to Congress and printed as House Document 537, Eighty-first Congress, second session.
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Significant developments in connection with the Central Valley Basin plan, California, included the preparation of a status report on the San Luis division, a preliminary report on the Lower Feather River development, and the submittal of an interim report on the Sacramento River canals to the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs in connection with H. R. 163, an act to authorize Sacramento Valley irrigation canals, Central Valley project, California. Substantial progress was achieved upon San Luis Obispo, Sacramento River canals, Trinity River division, Feather River, San Luis, Klamath Basin, Pajaro River investigations, and advanced planning work on the Solano project.
Construction.—The first major expansion in the scope of Central Valley project since its original authorization occurred when Congress directed the inclusion into the project of Folsom Dam upon its completion by the Corps of Engineers and authorized the Folsom power plant and pertinent facilities and the Sly Park irrigation unit for construction and operation as a part of the Central Valley project (Public Law 356, 81st Cong., 1st sess.) Following the congressional action, the principle of integrated operation was endorsed in the President’s letter upon transmitting the Central Valley Basin plan to Congress. This endorsement, known as the “Folsom Formula,” states that multipurpose dams are the responsibility of the Bureau of Reclamation and that works exclusively for flood control are the responsibility of the Corps of Engineers.
Central Valley project features essentially complete and in operation in fiscal year 1950 were Shasta Dam and Reservoir, Friant Dam and Reservoir, Madera and Contra Costa canals, Shasta and Keswick power plants. Initial deliveries of water from the first 73 miles of Friant-Kern canal were made. Construction proceeded at an accelerated rate on the uncompleted features of the Central Valley project and got under way on the Cachuma project. Enlargement and modernization of the Klamath project proceeded on schedule.
During the fiscal year installation of the three 25,000 kilovoltampere generators at Keswick power plant was completed, the units placed in service, and a contract for the completion of Keswick Dam, power plant and switchyard was 90 percent complete at the end of the year.
The first major contract for construction of Tracy pumping plant building was completed on December 30, 1949. The contract for completion of Tracy pumping plant, including installation of six 767-cubic-feet-per-second pumping units and six 22,500-horsepower motors and related equipment, was 52 percent complete on June 30,1950, and is scheduled for completion in July 1951. Construction of the 15-foot-diameter concrete and steel discharge pipelines between the
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pumping plant and Delta-Mendota canal was practically complete on J une 30.
Specifications were issued and contracts awarded for completion during the next fiscal year of the 231-mile East Side single-circuit and 213-mile West Side double-circuit 230-kilovolt transmission lines from Shasta switchyard to Tracy. A contract for the construction of Tracy switchyard was 52 percent complete on June 30, 1950, and is to be completed by June 1951.
Thirty-nine miles of the 117-mile Delta-Mendota canal and the Intake canal to the Tracy pumping plant were completed by June 30, 1950. The remainder of the canal, including wasteways, is under contract with completion of all parts required for initial operation scheduled for July 1951. On June 30, 1950, 117 miles of the 153-mile Friant-Kern canal were complete and the remaining 36 miles are under contract. The canal is scheduled for completion to Kern River in July 1952.
Work was started under two contracts for the construction of distribution system for the Southern San Joaquin municipal utility district. Specifications for the next contract are being prepared and will be issued early in fiscal year 1951; completion of the first unit is scheduled for January 1951; and of all units, for October 1952. Two contracts are under way for construction of the distribution systems for the Lindmore irrigation district. Preliminary plans were started for the Ivanhoe, Lindsay-Strathmore, Exeter, Stone Corral, and Sausalito irrigation district distribution systems.
On the Cachuma project near Santa Barbara, construction work for the 6%-mile Tecolote tunnel and the 10-mile Goleta section of the South Coast conduit was started. Specifications were issued in June 1950 for Cachuma Dam.
Power production.—Water supplies for production of power, while below normal for the region as a whole, were sufficient to prevent a reoccurrence of the power shortage of the previous year.
Energy sales and power revenues totaling 1,730,966,570 kilowatt-hours and $9,340,726.66 respectively, for the Central Valley project, exceeded those of any previous year. Fiscal year 1950 revenue exceeded that of fiscal year 1949, the previous high year, by almost 40 percent. All energy that it was possible to deliver was sold, and wastage of water from which power could have been generated was nonexistent after completion of Keswick. Of the total energy sales, 99.3 percent was sold to the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. under terms of the day-to-day agreement in effect since January 1, 1949. Substantial progress was made on negotiations toward a contract to replace the day-to-day agreement and to include provisions by which
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the company would transmit project power over its system to project customers.
Assistance was given to the Department of National Defense in planning facilities for procurement of power service from the Central Valley project, particularly for Naval Shipyard, Mare Island, and Camp Stoneman.
Operation and maintenance.—A Central Valley project operations office with a superintendent in charge was established to direct the operation and maintenance of the physical works. Water sales contracts were negotiated under Reclamation law to the extent that most of the water available under the initial features of Central Valley project has been sold. On July 9,1949, the first section of the Friant-Kern canal was placed in operation. Project water deliveries were made for the first time to eight irrigation districts in the service area under temporary contracts. Two irrigation districts along the Madera canal also received proj ect water under temporary contracts. Approximately 20 interim contracts for water service along the San Joaquin River were handled during the year.
Contract negotiations were completed and a contract executed with the Ivanhoe irrigation district. Contract negotiations were carried on and proposed contracts with the Madera, Tulare, Exeter, Stone Corral, Terra Bella, Lindsay-Strathmore, and Sausalito irrigation districts, and the Chowchilla water district were approved as to form by the Secretary.
On September 23, 1949, the water service contract between the United States and the Santa Barbara County Water Agency was executed.
A repayment plan for the Tule Lake division of the Klamath project was approved by the Commissioner. Initial meetings with the Tule Lake water users indicated a willingness on their part to organize an irrigation district.
Revenues from the sale of water during the fiscal year totaled $874,000, and through fiscal year 1950 amounted to approximately $2,424,000.
Region 3
General investigations.—Considerable progress was made on studies of potential projects in the lower Colorado River Basin. At Bridge Canyon an access road to the Bridge Canyon Dam site and a route for a line to supply power for construction have been located and townsites for construction and operation forces have been explored. Bridge Canyon Dam is a feature of the potential Central Arizona project.
As a service to region 4, field work for the potential Glen Canyon Dam was carried to a point where preliminary design studies can be
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made during fiscal year 1951. At Marble Canyon, Bureau forces have constructed roads and trails and an access cableway so that geologic examination and drilling of dam sites can be carried on. Various other studies have been made in connection with the potential dams on the Colorado River and its tributaries.
Studies of a second barrel to the San Diego aqueduct, being investigated by the Bureau under a contract with the San Diego County Water Authority, were expedited and are scheduled to be completed in fiscal year 1951.
Other investigations work was performed in connection with the Dixie, Moapa Valley, and Santa Margarita projects. Investigation of the Victor project was reactivated.
Construction.—The Davis Dam project, under construction since March 1946, neared completion. The first of the power plant’s five 45,000-kilowatt generators is scheduled to go on the line in January 1951. The Davis-Mesa-Coolidge, Davis-Hoover, and Davis-Parker 230-kilovolt lines and the Parker-Gila 161-kilovolt line will be completed and in service about the same time. All of the Davis power plant units will be in operation by the end of fiscal year 1951. The Davis power plant will add approximately a billion kilowatt-hours to the present annual output of Colorado River dams.
All of the 18% mile Wellton-Mohawk canal on the Gila project was brought under construction and completion is expected by the end of fiscal year 1951. A contract for construction of 30 miles of the Mohawk canal, a branch of the Wellton-Mohawk, was awarded and work on an additional 10 miles of the canal will be started in fiscal year 1951. The first water from the Colorado River is expected to flow through the canal sytem in the spring of 1952. Upon completion, the Wellton-Mohawk system will serve 75,000 acres.
The first six units of the Coachella Valley underground distribution system were completed sufficiently to turn over to the water users for operation. Construction on unit 7 and initiation of work on units 8 and 9 were delayed pending availability of funds. At the close of the year nearly 25,000 acres in the Coachella Valley were being irrigated from wells and the lateral system. The system is designed to irrigate about 78,500 acres in the valley when completed.
Preparations were made for the installation of units A-3, A-4, and A-9 in the Arizona wing of the Hoover power plant. Unit A-9, 50,000 kilowatts, and unit A-4, 82,500 kilowatts, are scheduled to go on the line in November 1951. Unit A-3, also 82,500 kilowatts, will follow in January 1952. The three units will complete the installation in the power plant’s Arizona wing, raising the plant’s installation to 1,249,800 kilowatts. The installation of an 82,500-kilowatt unit in the Nevada wing, yet to be ordered and contracted for, will com
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plete the power plant’s installation of fifteen 82,500-kilowatt units and two smaller units, bringing the plant’s capacity to 1,332,300 kilowatts.
Power production.—The Hoover and Parker power plants on the Colorado River generated about 6,750,000,000 kilowatt-hours of energy, or about 42 per cent of the region’s power requirements and about a third of the total generation of all Bureau power plants.
Operation and maintenance____Farms in southern California and
Arizona, in the lower Colorado River Basin, irrigated by Reclamation facilities, produced an income last year of about $152,000,000, or approximately 30 percent of the total crop values from farms on all Reclamation projects.
The Colorado River dredge sank near Needles on November 4,1949 and was raised, rehabilitated, and returned to service by the following June. Dredging of the 12-mile channel through the swamp between Needles and Topock, Calif., is progressing under a 24-hour day, 7 days a week schedule. During the past few years, Needles has been threatened by a raised water table caused by silting up of the river at that point. The dredging will restore the river to a definite channel with a resulting lowering of the water table.
Rehabilitation work was initiated on the Salt River project’s irrigation system. The Bureau of Reclamation is advancing funds for the work, which is being performed by the Salt River Valley Water User’s Association.
Region 4
General investigations.—The Weber Basin project was authorized by Congress in August 1949 and plans were immediately put into action to expedite preparation of the Definite Plan report. Cooperative arrangements with the Department of Agriculture and the Utah State Agricultural College on joint studies and investigations are intended to avoid duplication of work and expedite clearance of the final report. The Definite Plan report for the Eden project was approved on June 14, 1950, as a basis for issuance of bids for construction of Big Sandy Dam. A Definite Plan report was prepared for the Paonia project outlining some desirable revisions in the approved project plan.
Reports are nearing completion on 11 projects in the upper Colorado River Basin which were recommended by the upper basin States to participate in revenues of the Colorado River storage project. The 11 projects are: Central Utah, Emery County, Fla., Gooseberry, Hammond, La Plata, Lyman, Pine River extension, Seedskadee, Silt, and Smith Fork. Preparation of the report on the Colorado River storage project is nearing completion following the approval in June 1950
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by the secretary of Echo Park as a unit of the project. The Collbran project report was submitted to the President on May 9, 1950, as a . proposed project independent of the Colorado River storage report.
The region entered the field of small project investigations in instituting and completing during the fiscal year a preliminary investigation of the West Gem project, Idaho.
Construction.—Approximately $7,173,170 of a $7,483,500 construction program was accomplished. The Salt Lake aqueduct which stretches some 42 miles in length to transfer water from Deer Creek Reservoir to the vicinity of Salt Lake City moved nearer completion by finishing 7.5 miles in Salt Lake County and part of the remaining 5.5 miles in Provo Canyon. The Duchesne tunnel, a companion feature, to divert water from the Duchesne drainage into the upper Provo River was rehabilitated for 2.3 miles previously constructed, and excavation was begun on the remaining 3.7 miles. On June 29, 1950, 3 days after the bid opening, a contract was awarded for the construction of the Big Sandy Dam and dike. This earth-fill dam, 2,300 feet long and 80 feet high, is the major feature under the Eden project, Wyoming.
In addition to the above features programed for construction and completion in the near future, five sets of specifications were issued for canals and structures by the regional office. These included the construction of a lateral system and two equalizing reservoirs to serve the project lands of the South Ogden distribution system, two siphons and a wasteway on the Fire Mountain canal of the Paonia project, and three canal construction jobs on the Provo River project. Possibly no other construction in region 4 is more noteworthy than that of reconstructing a section of tunnel No. 3 on the Highline canal of the Grand Valley project, Colorado. This emergency work of constructing 2,200 feet of bypass tunnel in record time brought water to thirsty lands ahead of schedule and saved millions of dollars in crop value for 1950. This accomplishment was made possible by innovations in contract procedure and by cooperation among various offices of the Bureau and excellent management by the contractor.
Operation and maintenance.—On March 3, 1950, an amendatory contract was executed with the Grand Valley Water Users’ Association under Public Law 335, for rehabilitation and betterment of project works on the Garfield Gravity Division. Among other works, this contract covered the emergency construction of 2,200 feet of bypass tunnel on the Grand Valley tunnel No. 3 and was a significant factor in early initiation and completion of construction. On September 6, 1949, an amendatory contract was executed with the Pershing County Water Conservation (Humboldt project) eliminating incremental value povisions. A similar contract with the Washoe County water
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conservation district (Truckee River storage poject) was executed on August 12,1949. The Ogden River Water Users’ Association (Ogden River project) on April 23, 1950, and the South Cache Water Users’ Association (Hyrum project) on April 24,1950, executed amendatory repayment contracts which have been submitted to the Secretary and the Congress for action.
On the Mancos project, Colorado, the notice of beginning of development period on January 1,1951, and notice of development period charges were issued by the Commissioner on June 30, 1950. On the Newlands project, Nevada, land reclassification field work was completed on the class 5 lands.
A memorandum of understanding among regions 1, 4, 6, and 7 of the Bureau and the University of Wyoming on October 13, 1949, established a uniform method of conducting joint studies and investigations by the Bureau and the University on existing and potential Reclamation projects. On July 28,1949, region 4 executed an agreement with the Soil Conservation Service for the cooperative conduct of topographic, conservation, and land-classification surveys and on December 20, 1949, executed a memorandum of understanding with the same agency on land development, both on the Eden project. On June 1, 1950, regions 4 and 7 entered into a memorandum of understanding with agencies of the State of Colorado, the United States Department of Agriculture, and other agencies of the United States Department of the Interior regarding soils surveys and land-classification surveys in Colorado.
Joint studies and investigations continued on the lower cost canallining program under cooperative agreements with the Soil Conservation Service and the Utah Agricultural Experiment Station.
Soil- and moisture-conservation measures undertaken in cooperation with Bureau of Land Management in the watershed above Grand Valley project works have been effective in controlling damaging runoff from a test area. Tests were made to determine the conservation of water by controlling undesirable vegetative growth above the Strawberry Reservoir, Strawberry Valley project.
For the calendar year 1949 region 4 projects reported a gross crop value of $33,631,962 from 536,812 acres of irrigated land, an average of $62.65 per cropped area.
Region 5
General investigations.—Investigations of the Canadian River project, Texas, were completed and a report was transmitted through the Secretary of the Interior to the Bureau of the Budget. A report on the Fort Gibson project, Okla., was forwarded to the Commissioner and to local interests for study. A report on potentialities of
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103
the San Juan-Chama project, Colorado-New Mexico, was forwarded to the Commissioner and to the State of New Mexico, for study. Reports on the Washita River subbasin, Oklahoma, Canton project, Oklahoma, and the Carlsbad project, New Mexico, are being processed for early presentation to the Commissioner. West Texas project and Lower Nueces River project studies were initiated. Inventories of land and water resources in the Arkansas-Red River Basins and the Gulf Basin were continued.
Construction.—Camp and liquefied petroleum facilities were completed at Platoro Dam, San Luis Valley project, Colorado. Construction of Platoro Dam and clearing of Platoro Reservoir site continued and specifications were prepared for a gate tender’s house at Platoro Dam site. Designs and specifications were issued for exploratory drilling in the San Luis Valley project. Construction was completed on the camp and liquefied petroleum facilities at Fort Sumner project, New Mexico; construction advanced on the project’s main canal, pumping plant, and diversion dam; contracts were awarded for the high-line canal, drains, and laterals, and designs and specifications initiated for balance of main canal.
Construction completions were made on other jobs as follows. Three two-bedroom ditchrider houses, dike drains, laterals, and wasteway drains on the W. C, Austin project, Oklahoma; lateral unit No. 7 on the Tucumcari project, New Mexico; the Socorro and Alamogordo substations on the Rio Grande project, New Mexico-Texas, and employee housing at Alamogordo substation; protective fencing at Elephant Butte stilling basin.
End of the fiscal year found construction of the utilities system at Elephant Butte Dam in progress, road improvements and employee housing work continuing at Elephant Butte and Caballo Dams. Exploratory drilling and water testing were completed at Ezzell and Oakville Dam sites, Lower Nueces River project, Texas.
Work expected to be completed early in 1951 includes replacement of the 1,000-kilovolt-ampere substation and the 3.75-mile, 13,800-volt line serving Hot Springs, N. Mex., with a 1.5-mile, 115-kilovolt singlewood-pole line and a 3,000-kilovolt-ampere, 115-kilovolt substation. Proposed early additions to the Rio Grande project power system, to be in service in 1952, are a 79-mile, 115-kilovolt transmission line from Socorro to Albuquerque with a substation at Albuquerque, and a 50-mile, 115-kilovolt tap transmission line, from near Belen, N. Mex., to Willard, N. Mex., with a substation at Willard.
Power production.—During the fiscal year, the Rio Grande project power plant sold energy of 83,240,543 kilowatt-hours that produced revenue totaling $402,892.31. Generation was below normal due to the low water in Elephant Butte Reservoir. The Rio Grande project
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power system lias a hydro generating plant at Elephant Butte Dam, with three 8,100-kilowatt generating units; a transmission system with 364 miles of 115-kilovolt, woodpole, H-frame line extending from the power plant to 8 substations serving 11 customers. Additions to the Rio Grande project power system to be completed in 1951 and 1952 are listed in the construction section of this report.
Operation and, maintenance.—At the close of the fiscal year, operation and maintenance activities involved four projects in full operation, one water conservation and utilization project in full operation, one Warren Act contractor, and one project under construction. Farmers in region 5 grossed a total crop revenue of $53,262,235 from the 267,931 acres irrigated on 9,742 farms in 1949. The farms had a population of 49,094.
On the Rio Grande project, the 159,043 acres irrigated produced a crop value of $40,109,580 or $251.32 per cropped acre. The 17,224 acres irrigated with water delivered under a Warren Act contract on the Hudspeth project produced crops valued at $4,724,317 or $274.29 per cropped acre. Crops were valued at $3,039,814 or $144.84 per cropped acre on the Carlsbad project where 20,988 acres were irrigated. During the year, facilities were completed to serve the 49,972 irrigable acres on the W. C. Austin project; the 35,841 acres irrigated in 1949 produced crops valued at $3,087,411 or $85.16 per cropped acre. The 22,509 acres irrigated on the Tucumcari project produced crops valued at $1,177,834 or $52.33 per cropped acre, and facilities were completed to serve the project’s 42,321 irrigable acres. On Balmorhea project, 7,411 acres irrigated produced crops valued at $795,^23 or $107.37 per cropped acre. On the Fort Sumner project 4,915 acres irrigated produced crops valued at $327,556 or $66.64 per cropped acre; this project continued under construction.
The soil- and moisture-conservation program included construction of detention dams and diversion terraces on Lake Altus Reservation, W. C. Austin project; construction of detention dams and diversion terraces in the Alamogordo Reservoir area; salt cedar spraying and mechanical clearing for water conservation in MacMillan Reservoir delta and inflow area, Calsbad project; plans and estimates were prepared for protective measures on Lucero Arroyo, Rio Grande project. The Carlsbad project, excepting Alamogordo Dam and Reservoir, was transferred to the Carlsbad irrigation district on October 1, 1949.
Region 6
General investigations.—Investigations to obtain material for basin reports were carried forward on 33 divisions. During the fiscal year, two interim reports, on the Upper Marias and Missouri-Souris Divi
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sions, were prepared. One special and one division report are scheduled for submission in fiscal year 1951 and three division reports in fiscal year 1952. Twelve definite plan reports were processed, with seven being submitted to the Commissioner for approval. By the close of the year, the Keyhole report had been approved, and the reports for Owl Creek, Fort Clark, Lower Marias and Yellowtail units were approved with reservations which required some revision of the reports. Twenty-one definite plan reports are scheduled for submission to the Commissioner in fiscal year 1951 and 10 in fiscal year 1952.
Construction.—The following construction was completed by contract during the fiscal year: Bridge superstructure, Boysen unit; Angostura Dam; clearing reservoir area and Heart Butte Dam, Heart Butte unit; Government camp, Keyhole unit; clearing reservoir area, Dickinson unit; relocation of county road, Canyon Ferry unit; pumping plant, canals and laterals, Savage unit; Government camp, Moorhead unit; miscellaneous work on Government camp and relocation of Forest Service buildings, Canyon Ferry unit; canal and lateral system (stations 1G59 to 2560), some canal lining on Pilot and Wyoming canals and North Pavillion lateral system, Riverton project; access road for Shoshone power plant, Shoshone project; main canal relocation, Painted Woods Creek drain and miscellaneous structures, Buford-Trenton project; and Fort Peck-Williston-Garrison transmission lines. Contracts for the Circle and Savage substations and relocation of the Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad at Boysen were substantially completed at the close of the year.
Construction progress during the fiscal year and to date on major contracts carried over from fiscal year 1949 and continuing into future fiscal years follows: Dickinson Dam, 82 percent completed during the year with 95 percent of the total contract completed by June 30; Shadehill Dam, 48 and 58 percent; Canyon Ferry Dam and power plant, 20 and 21 percent; and Boysen Dam and power plant, 15 and 75 percent.
New construction contracts were awarded on Keyhole Dam; temporary housing at Chester and Government camp and access road at Tiber Dam site, Lower Marias unit; additional temporary housing, Canyon Ferry unit; Williston, Miles City, Thermopolis and Havre substations; clearing of Shadehill Reservoir area; Boysen-Thermop-olis, Alcova-Boysen, Jamestown-Edgley, Edgley-Forman, Voltaire-Rugby-Devils Lake-Carrington, Leeds-Rolla, Garrison-Washburn-Bismarck, and Havre-Shelby transmission lines. At the close of the fiscal year, specifications had been issued for the Rugby, Devils Lake, Jamestown, Rudyard and Shelby substations and the Bismarck-Dowson-Jamestown transmission line.
In fiscal year 1951 construction work is scheduled to start on such
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
major features as Anchor Dam, Bixby Dam, Missouri Diversion Dam, Angostura power plant; irrigation facilities for Angostura, Heart Butte, Fort Clark, N-Bar-N and Cartwright units; and several transmission lines and substations.
In fiscal year 1952, construction is scheduled to start on Cannonball Dam; Yellowtail Dam and power plant; pumping plants for Charlie Creek, Nickwall, Sadie Flat and Sidney units; and several additional major transmission lines and substations.
Operation and maintenance.—The eleven operating projects in the region, receiving a full water supply from Bureau works, produced a gross crop valued at $18,445,610 as compared to $18,161,000 in 1948. During the fiscal year, public drawings were held for 104 public land farm units, comprising 12,073 acres, on the Shoshone project, and 50 farm units, comprising 5,912 acres, on the Riverton project. Public notice No. 30, Riverton project, was issued March 4 and opened to homestead settlement 54 farm units comprising 6,940 acres. The Savage unit, comprising 2,218 acres, was completed and was the first unit of the Missouri River Basin project to receive water.
The Marias irrigation district was established and work progressed in organizing the Angostura and Buford-Trenton irrigation districts as required by State law.
Amendatory repayment contracts were executed with the Belle Fourche and Deaver (Shoshone project) irrigation districts. The Secretary of Interior approved as to form the amendatory contracts with the Malta and Glasgow irrigation districts of the Milk River project. Negotiations were under way for an amendatory contract with the Midvale irrigation district, Riverton project. The board of commissioners of the Buffalo Rapids irrigation district No. 1, Buffalo Rapids project, passed a resolution approving and confirming the form of a proposed amendatory repayment contract.
A new repayment contract with the Willwood irrigation district, Shoshone project, and a water service contract with the city of Dickinson, N. Dak., were executed. The board of directors of the Belle Fourche irrigation district approved as to form a repayment contract for supplemental water from Keyhole Reservoir. The repayment contract with the Owl Creek irrigation district was executed by the district, but required court confirmation at the close of the year. The directors of the Fort Clark irrigation district approved the form of their repayment contract by resolution. The repayment contract of the Heart River irrigation district, Heart Butte unit, is under consideration by the landowners. A water service contract was being-developed with the city of Belle Fourche for a supplemental water supply from Keyhole Reservoir.
Contracts for the repayment of rehabilitation and betterment work
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107
were executed with, the Malta, Harlem, Paradise Valley, Alfalfa Valley, Zurich, and Fort Belknap irrigation districts of the Milk River project; the Willwood and Deaver irrigation districts, Shoshone project; the Midvale irrigation district, Riverton project; and the Belle Fourche irrigation district, Belle Fourche project.
Operation and maintenance of the Midvale irrigation district, Riverton project, is scheduled to be turned over to the water users January 1, 1951.
Power production.—During the fiscal year, 38 contracts involving sale of power to REA cooperatives, irrigation districts and utilities within the region, were completed. The number of REA cooperatives in the region served directly with Federal power increased from 22 to 31. Total power revenues for fiscal year 1950 were $1,524,808 as compared to $1,455,785 for fiscal year 1949. Generation by Federal hydroelectric power plants in the region, for which the Bureau markets the power, increased from 446.7 million kilowatt-hours in fiscal year 1949 to 471.4 in fiscal year 1950.
Region 7
General investigations.—Investigation reports of the various basins have been coordinated by the region to allow the maximum efficiency in the preparation of the various basin reports. Prior to the beginning of the fiscal year, the Lower Platte River Basin report and the interim report of the Blue-South Platte and the Gunnison-Arkansas projects were completed, reproduced, and submitted to all interested State and Federal agencies for their review and comment. Comments from the agencies were received on the Lower Platte River Basin and the Gunnison-Arkansas projects reports; these reports are being reproduced for final submission to the Commissioner. Comments of the State of Colorado on the Blue-South Platte project have not been received.
These two projects in Colorado are dependent upon the transmountain diversion of Colorado River water and the authorization of the projects and subsequent construction will depend upon the division of water made available under the Colorado River Basin compact between the eastern and western slopes. The construction of project facilities will tend to solve the problem posed by irrigation and municipal water deficiencies in Colorado east of the Rockies and provide generation of a large bloc of sorely needed hydroelectric power, as well as flood control and sedimentation benefits.
Work was continued on the Kansas River and South Platte River Basin reports which consists of completing reports already under way on the South Platte, and the Republican, and Smoky Hill River Ba
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sins, together with additional studies on the Blue and Lower Kansas River area. Investigations of the Niobrara and North Platte River Basins’ potentialities were continued and are expected to be completed during fiscal year 1951.
Land classification of project lands was continued to bring data up to date and to provide a more detailed basis for specific units. In this connection, contracts have been made with various State education institutions in Kansas, Nebraska, and Wyoming to provide much of the technical personnel needed in making the various classifications desired. Additional topographic surveys and drilling to determine the character of subsurface formations have been made at various dam sites, reservoir areas, and along the expected reaches of canal lines. An extensive investigation program, relative to riprap and aggregate substitutes, and loess soil has been started in the Kansas River Basin.
Assistance was given to the local interests in Nebraska, Colorado, and Kansas in the promotion and formation of irrigation districts that in the end repayment contracts might be more easily executed.
Construction.—Activities were widespread throughout the region and a greater volume of work was accomplished than in any other year, despite several labor strikes affecting construction workers and the railroad delivering materials to Bonny and Cedar Dams. Major highlight was the dedication of Kortes Dam in the month of May by President Truman, and the subsequent placing of 12,000 kilowatts of sorely needed power into commercial operation. Some 51 major construction contracts totaling $120,000,000 were in force, including 7 major dams, 67 miles of canals, 7 miles of tunnels, 725 miles of transmission lines.
At close of the fiscal year, the Colorado-Big Thompson project was estimated to be 65 percent complete, and work was finished on the Granby and Olympus Dams and the Horsetooth Reservoir. A project feature was construction of the Estes Park-Granby transmission line through the 13-mile Alva B. Adams tunnel, using three cables encased in a pressurized nitrogen-filled tube. Suspension of the line from the roof of the tunnel saved construction of about 10 miles across Gore Pass and eliminated hazardous operation and maintenance of the line in winter.
Four years of construction on the vast Missouri River Basin project shows tremendous results. One generating unit of the power plant of almost-complete Kortes Dam in the North Platte River Canyon, 2 miles below Seminoe Dam, was placed in operation; Enders and Medicine Creek Dams and one 12-mile section of Cambridge Dam. all in the Kansas River district, were completed while construction on the Superior-Courtland Diversion Dam and one 12.6-mile section of Superior canal neared completion in the same district.
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Work was well advanced on the remaining 24 miles of Superior canal and the first section of Courtland canal, both in Bostwick division; one section of Cambridge canal in Frenchman-Cambridge division; and foundation work of Trenton Dam. Construction work was accelerated on Bonny and Cedar Bluff Dams started in 1949, to the extent that $6.0 million additional funds were requested to keep abreast of contractual operation. Bonny Dam is expected to be completed during fiscal year 1950, 12 months ahead of contract time allowed.
End of the fiscal year found just-awarded contracts made for Carter Lakes Dam and pressure tunnel on the Colorado-Big Thompson and Trenton Dam in Frenchman-Cambridge division; and the following in the invitation-to-bid stage: relocation of the railroad and Highway 34 around Trenton Dam and the Sidney-Ogalalla transmission line.
While most construction projects showed relatively good progress, others were unable to proceed with scheduled operations because of difficulties beyond control. The Glendo and Narrows units, scheduled for start of construction in the spring of 1949, were further delayed until the spring of 1952 because of uncertain support of State groups over the amount of water available for the reservoir. The other sections of the Courtland canal, the Republic Diversion Dam, and other features on the Bostwick division, failed to reach the design stage because of questions raised over the legality of the present Kansas irrigation laws.
Power production— The four hydroelectric power plants in the region—Seminoe, Guernsey, and Lingle power plants of the North Platte River district, and Green Mountain Dam and power plant m South Platte River district—generated 290,000,000 kilowatt-hours of electrical energy. Of this amount, 258,000,000 kilowatt-hours were sold to municipalities, REA cooperatives, industrial plants, and public utilities for gross revenue of $2,112,400.
The outstanding problem in the region has been the rapid rate of load growth to be cared for by the existing power plants. Very little relief could be expected until May of this year when the first unit of the Kortes power plant with its 12,000 kilowatts installed capacity was put into operation. The second unit of this pow’er plant is expected to be in operation in July qnd the third one in December 1950. The Estes power plant with its 45,000 kilowatt installed capacity, and the Marys Lake plant with 8,000 kilowatts, are scheduled for completion about August 1950. Completion of these three plants will tend to minimize the problem.
Operation and maintenance.—No new group of facilities were completed on the various projects within the region that would serve additional acreages with irrigation water. Construction of the lateral
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system in Frenchman-Cambridge division has been retarded pending confirmation by the District Court of the repayment contract with Frenchman-Cambridge irrigation district.
At the close of the fiscal year, irrigation reached a total of 257,000 acres, approximately 236,000 acres on North Platte project; 7,000 acres on Kendrick project; 12,000 acres on Mirage Flats project; and 2,675 on Frenchman-Cambridge division of the Missouri River Basin project. Also, supplemental water was delivered to 24,000 acres of the Northern Colorado Conservancy District, and 110,000 acres of Warren Act land in North Platte project.
*1 he regional office is preparing, for completion early in fiscal year 1951, an amendatory repayment contract for a district of the Kendrick project to adjust the existing unrealistic situation. The present contract provides for payment at the rate of $2.00 per acre for 40 years for 35,000 acres. A reappraisal of the situation indicates that there aie only 21,000 acres of repaying lands with a repayment ability of less than $1.00 per acre.
Division of Power
Walton Seymour, Director ☆ ☆ ☆
THE DIVISION OF POWER, a staff agency, assists the Secretary in the supervision of all the electric power activities of the Department. The growing power business is one of the major responsibilities of the Secretary of the Interior.
In the Department there are four principal power marketing agencies and five other agencies with minor power problems.
The principal power marketing agencies are: (1) Bureau of Reclamation, which operates in the 17 Western States; (2) Bonneville Power Administration, operating in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Western Montana; (3) Southwestern P’ower Administration, which markets power in Louisiana, Arkansas and portions of Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas; and (4) Southeastern Power Administration, a new organization, operating in West Virginia, Virginia, Kentucky, Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama and Mississippi.
These agencies market power produced at projects of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers of the Department of the Army.
Other Department agencies whose power problems are of concern to the Division of Power are the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Division of Territories, the Bureau of Mines, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service.
In addition to its staff functions in assisting the Secretary, the Division of Power carried on the necessary preliminary work incidental to the marketing of power from dams constructed by the Corps of Engineers in the Southeastern States, which it has been doing for the past several years: It assisted in setting up the Southeastern Power Administration which was established by Secretarial Order on March 22,1950, at which time the Division assumed its staff responsibilities with respect to this agency.
The power activities of the Department are carried out under policies laid down by the Congress over the past four decades. The fundamental principles of these policies can be summed up as follows: (1) Dams shall be constructed which shall, where feasible, include facilities for generating electrical energy; (2) Preference in the sale of power is to be given to public bodies and cooperatives; (3) The power is to be sold on a basis which will assure its widespread use at the lowest possible rates consistent with sound business
ill
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principles; (4) Power disposal shall be for the particular benefit of domestic and rural consumers; (5) Power is to be sold at rates which will return the investment plus interest to the Treasury over a specified period of years; and (6) Power disposal shall be such as to encourage widespread use and to exclude monopolization.
The Department and all its agencies engaged in power activities have firmly supported these principles and are guided by them in all of their marketing functions.
The electric power business of the Department of Interior has grown substantially since the end of World War II. During fiscal year 1950 the power agencies of the Department marketed 24.1 billion kwh with revenues from these activities of over $59,800,000, an increase of 6.6 percent in sales and 11.4 percent in revenues over 1949. With the completion of projects now under construction this rate of growth will increase materially over the next few years.
Bonneville Power Administration
Paul J. Raver, Administrator ☆ ☆ ☆
MANAGEMENT
Power production, electric energy sales, and
NET REVENUES reached new highs with the close of fiscal year 1950 but found the region ill-prepared to meet the emergency developing with the Communist invasion of South Korea and American intervention. Critical loading of transmission facilities and deferred maintenance continued to jeopardize accepted standards of service stability and reserve transmission capacity. A continued shortage of power even with scheduled new generation appeared inevitable for the next several years. Difficulties are anticipated in meeting normal load growth of the region without considering the potentially urgent power demands of a defense economy.
During the fiscal year the Administration continued to work closely with the Columbia Basin Interagency Committee, the Pacific Northwest Utilities Conference Committee, and with the Northwest Power Pool to serve present and potential power needs. Particularly significant was the coordination of power requirements of the region with current revisions of multipurpose dam and generation installation schedules of the Corps of Engineers and Bureau of Reclamation.
Transmission Economies
System operations and engineering advances continued to effect substantial economies in costs of high voltage transmission. Current comparisons reflect a reduction of nearly 40 percent in the cost of power transmission per kilovolt-ampere-mile since 1940, even though cost of materials and labor has nearly doubled during the same period. Principal contributing factors in this achievement were engineering improvements in the fields of transformer, circuit breaker, series capacitor and substation construction, together with development of light steel towers and improved relaying.
ENERGY PRODUCTION
Electric energy produced at Bonneville and Grand Coulee power plants during fiscal year 1950 totaled over 14,000,000,000 kilowatt-hours. The generation of energy by the Federal Columbia River power system was about 10 percent less than generation by the Ten-
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nessee Valley Authority, the only system in the United States, either publicly owned or privately owned, with generation larger than the Columbia River system.
The total generation of 14,140,833,500 kilowatt-hours represented an increase of 9 percent over fiscal year 1949 and constituted over 50 percent of total power production in the Pacific Northwest region during the 12-month period.
Table 1, generation at Bonneville and Grand Coulee plants, shows energy production by years from the beginning of operations to the end of fiscal year 1950. The monthly peak and average production for the same period of time is shown in chart 1 together with the combined installed generation capacity. It can be noted that maximum system demands during the last 4 years have continuously exceeded the name plate rated generating capacity.
THOUSANDS OF
MONTHLY PEAK DEMAND AND ENERGY
BONNEVILLE AND GRAND COULEE PLANTS
1
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	115
Table 1.—Generation at Bonneville and Grand Coulee plants for Bonneville Power Administration, fiscal years 1939-50
[Thousands of kilowatt-hours]
Fiscal years ending June 30—	Bonneville generation	Grand Coulee generation	Total generation for Bonneville Power Administration	Fiscal years ending June 30—	Bonneville generation	Grand Coulee generation	Total generation for Bonneville Power Administration
1939	34,874 208,426 894,177 1,807,309 2,801,480 3,488,874 3,391,128		34,874 208,426 901,632 2, 549,153 5,618,436 9,239,824 9,051, 574	1946		2,674,834 3,695,255 3, 991,860 3,868, 558 3, 689,309	3,561,329 5,058,482 6,894,047 9,057,230 10,451, 524	6,236,163 8,753,737 10,885,907 12,925,788 14,140,833
1940				1947				
1941			7,455 741,844 2,816,956 5,750,950 5,660,446		1948				
				1949				
1942 								
							
1943					1950 				
				Total-.			
1944								
					30, 546, 084	50,000,263	80,546,345
1945								
							
New System Peak
The maximum coincidental demand of the Administration s system on the Bonneville and Grand Coulee plants was 2,106,000 kilowatts on January 4, 1950. This demand represents an increase of 1 percent over the system peak during the preceding fiscal year. Installation of 3 new units was completed at Grand Coulee during the fiscal year, making a total of 13 units installed at that plant. Addition of these units brought the total installed generating capacity at the two Columbia River plants to 1,922,400 kilowatts name plate rating, with safe continuous capacity under favorable operating head conditions of 2,124,000 kilowatts.
ENERGY RECEIPTS AND DELIVERIES
Electric energy receipts and deliveries on the Bonneville Power Administration transmission system cover numerous types of transactions in addition to receipts from generation at Bonneville and Grand Coulee and deliveries by sales. Since the transmission grid is operated as a part of the interconnected transmission system of the public and privately owned utilities operating as the Northwest Power Pool, substantial quantities of energy are received and delivered as transfers for other utilities. Energy receipts also include receipts from storage by the Administration in non-Federal reservoirs or for storage by non-Federal utilities in Grand Coulee. Energy deliveries include deliveries from storage in Grand Coulee or to storage on other systems, energy used by the Administration and energy losses in transmission and transformations. A summary of total energy receipts and deliveries is shown in table 2, Electric Energy Account, page 116.
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Table 2.—Bonneville Power Administration electric energy account, fiscal year ended June 30, 1950
Energy received (thousands of kilowatt hours) :
Energy generated for Bonneville Power Administration:
Bonneville________________________________________________ 3, 689, 309
Grand Coulee______________________________________________ 10, 451, 524
Total___________________________________________________ 14,140,833
Power purchased and interchanged in___________________________ 836, 704
Total received______________________________________________ 14, 977, 537
Energy delivered (thousands of kilowatt hours) :
Sales_______________________________________________________ 13,032,173
Power interchanged out______________________________________ 724, 273
Used by Administration______________________________________ 15,153
Total delivered_____________________________________________ 13, 771, 599
Energy losses in transmission and transformation______________ 1, 205, 938
Losses as percent of total energy received____________________ 8.1
Maximum demand on Bonneville and Grand Coulee plants (kilowatts)
Jan. 4, 1950, 5-6 p. m., Pacific Standard Time__________________ 2,106, 000
Load factor, total generated for Bonneville Power Administration, percent_________________________________________________ 76. 7
Sales Exceed 13 Billion Kilowatt-Hours
Energy sales by the Bonneville Power Administration to its customers during fiscal year 1950 exceeded 13 billion kilowatt-hours, an increase of 9 percent over the preceding year. Energy losses in transmission and transformation of power were 1.2 billion kilowatt-hours or 8.1 percent of total energy received by generation, purchase, or interchange.
The increase in energy sales to publicly and privately owned utilities was 13.6 percent over the preceding year. The increase in sales to all industries was 5.1 percent with an increase in sales to the aluminum industries of 3.5 percent. A substantial portion of the increase in power supplied to the aluminum industries represented interruptible power that the Administration was able to supply because of favorable water conditions.
During the 12 years’ operation ending June 30, 1950, the Administration has delivered 75,353,895,000 kilowatt-hours of energy at a composite rate of 2.44 mills per kilowatt-hour. Sales to publicly owned utilities for the 12-year period were 10.3 billion kilowatt-hours at an average rate of 2.81 mills. Privately owned utilities received 19.3 billion kilowatt-hours at an average rate of 2.41 mills, and industries 45.8 billion kilowatt-hours at an average rate of 2.37 mills. Power sales to the aluminum plants, initially established in the Pacific
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	117
Northwest primarily to meet World War II production needs, were 39.2 billion kilowatt-hours at an average rate of 2.23 mills. Sales to industry other than aluminum, including sales to military establishments, were 6.6 billion kilowatt-hours at an average rate of 3.22 mills.
Electric energy sales by class of customer for each of the years are shown in table 3. A further summary of sales classified by rate schedule is showm in table 4. Approximately three-fourths of energy sales
Table 3.—Electric energy sales by class of customer, fiscal years 1939-50 [Thousands of kilowatt-hours]
Fiscal years ending June 30—	Industry		Publicly owned utilities	Privately owned ut'lities	Total
	Aluminum	Other industry 1			
	522, 982 1,845, 249 3,	588, 848 5, 453,893 4, 667,381 2, 492,985 4,	212, 413 4,902, 465 5,	665, 746 5,863, 465	4,829 79,155 507,196 1,022, 477 964, 724 799,378 626, 688 646,913 880, 017 1, 016, 402	35,242 142, 491 435, 289 727, 642 823,822 635, 531 1,044, 784 1, 561,436 2, 082, 619 2, 840, 529	536, 555 357, 704 739,076 1,467,304 2,057,203 1,902,990 2,377,887 3,176,732 3, 334,076 3,311,777	1,099, 608 2, 424, 599 5, 270,409 8, 671, 316 8, 513,130 5,830, 884 8, 261, 772 10,287, 546 11,962,458 13,032,173
1942	"	_ __	 							
1943							
1944		 ---							
1945							
1946							
1947							
1948	- 						
1949							
1950						
Total to June 30,1950	 		39, 215,427	6, 547,779	10,329,385	19,261,304	75,353,895
					
1 Includes military establishments.
Table 4.—Electric energy sales by rate schedules, fiscal year ended June 30, 1950
Rate schedule	Energy	Revenue 1	Mills per kilowatt-hour
C-2, C-3, C-4:	Thousands of kilowatt-hours	$13,438,993	2.07
	6,483, 701		
Utilities		3,657,018	8,496,333	2.32
	10,140,719	21,935,326	2.16
				—	■ ■	1	■ —
F-2, F-3, F-4:	251,294	930,184	3.70
Utilities			128,843	580,018	4.50
	380,137	1, 510, 202	3.97
	18,425	59,710	3.24
E 2 E 3 E 4' Utilities		 - --	1, 756,301	5,680, 228	3.23
Experimental, H-l, H-2, H-3, and exchange (industries and util-	736,591	1,841,478	2.50
Total sales		13,032,173	31,026,944	2.38
		1 +354, 750	
		362,903	—
		31, 744, 597	
			
i Sales statistics include billing adjustments or revisions made subsequent to close of accounting records.	■*
Major features of rate schedules:
C-2, C-3, C-4: Kilowatt-year rate for transmission system firm power.
F-2, F-3, F-4: Demand-energy rate for firm power.
A-3, A-4: Kilowatt-year rate for at-site firm power.
E-2 E-3 E-4: Demand-energy rate for firm power for resale to ultimate consumers.
Experimental: Energy rate of 2.5 mills for developmental purposes.
H-l, H-2, H-3: Energy rate for dump, emergency, or breakdown service.
Exchange: Gross exchange account deliveries at dump energy rate.
907639—51--------10
118
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
during the fiscal year were made under the C schedule, at an average rate of 2.16 mills. This is the kilowatt-year rate for firm power delivered at any point from the transmission system. Sales are generally made under this rate to industries operating at high load factor and to utilities having substantial generating facilities.
New Customers Added
At the end of fiscal year 1950 the Administration served 103 customers, including 73 publicly owned distributors of power, 19 industrial customers, 4 military establishments, and 7 privately owned utilities. Nine customers were added during the year—two public utility districts, three cooperatives, one State institution, one privately owned utility, and two industries. Service to two industries was discontinued during the year. Energy deliveries during the fiscal year to each individual customer are shown in table 5.
Table 5.—Energy deliveries to customers of the Bonneville Power Administration, fiscal year ended June 30, 1950
Publicly owned utilities: Municipalities:
Bandon, Oreg_________
Canby, Oreg__________
Cascade Locks, Oreg. Centralia, Wash______
Cheney, Wash_________
Drain, Oreg__________
Ellensburg, Wash_____
Eugene, Oreg_________
Forest Grove, Oreg__. Grand Coulee, Wash. McMinnville, Oreg__. Milton, Oreg_________
Monmouth, Oreg_______
Seattle, Wash________
Tacoma, Wash_________
Total municipalities (15)
Energy deliveries for year,1 kilowatt-hours
3, 356, 880
6, 472, 800
6, 940, 800
2,700, 410
9,185, 300
6, 084,000
15, 968, 975
62, 099,130
22,560, 000
22, 221, 600
35,543,000
8, 907, 600
6, 822, 024
230,574, 000
441,179, 000
880,615, 519
Public utility districts:
Benton County public utility district No. 1____________________ 57, 044, 799
Central Lincoln public utility district________________________ 49, 231, 087
Chelan County public utility district No. 1____________________ 129, 920,120
Clallam County public utility district No. 1___________________ 51, 691, 581
Clark County public utility district No. 1_____________________ 261, 211, 415
Clatskanie public utility district_____________________________ 8, 067, 600
Cowlitz County public utility district No. 1___________________ 219, 606, 227
Douglas County public utility district No. 1___________________ 10,160, 700
Ferry County public utility district No. 1_____________________ 100, 095
1 Includes energy deliveries carried on exchange accounts.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
119
Publicly owned utilities—Continued	Energy deliveries
for year,
Public utility districts—Continued	kilowatt-hours
Franklin County public utility district No. 1__________ 42, 216, 920
Grant County public utility district No. 2_____________ 82, 707, 527
Grays Harbor County public utility district No. 1____;__	146, 405, 600
Kittitas County public utility district No. 1______________ 3,	799, 200
Klickitat County public utility district No. 1____________ 28,	089, 000
Lewis County public utility district No. 1________________ 71,	404, 026
Mason County public utility district No. 3________________ 55,	391,160
Northern Wasco County public utility district__________ 3,197, 400
Okanogan County public utility district No. 1_____________ 57,	474, 786
Pacific County public utility district No. 2______________ 40,	586, 843
Pend Oreille County public utility district No. 1_________ 24,	757,315
Skamania County public utility district No. 1_____________ 13,	710, 600
Snohomish County public utility district No. 1___________ 307,	402, 488
Tillamook County public utility district__________________ 14,	807, 237
Wahkiakum County public utility district No. 1_____________ 8,	551, 200
Total public utility districts (24)__________________________ 1, 687, 534, 926
Cooperatives:
Benton-Lincoln Electric Cooperative___________________ 27,164, 876
Benton Rural Electric Association_____________________ 16, 020, 891
Big Bend Electric Cooperative------------------------- 8, 728, 349
Blachly-Lane County Electric Cooperative-------------- 3, 765, 600
Central Electric Cooperative__________________________ 4, 955, 220
Chelan County Electric Cooperative-------------------- 462, 960
Clearwater Valley Light and Power Association_________ 16, 560,150
Columbia Basin Electric Cooperative------------------- 649, 800
Columbia County REA_______________________:-----------	8, 068,050
Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative_______________________ 5, 289,000
Douglas Electric Cooperative__________________________ 13, 817, 464
Eastern Oregon Electric Cooperative___________________ 300, 600
Hood River Electric Cooperative_______________________ 7, 972, 800
Idaho County Light and Power Association______________ 3, 445, 450
Inland Empire RE Inc__________________________________ 35, 282,100
Kootenai County REA___________________________________ 6, 615, 410
Lane County Electric Cooperative______________________ 12, 691,404
Lincoln Electric Cooperative__________________________ 10, 004, 860
Missoula Electric Cooperative_________________________ 487, 733
Nespelem Valley Electric Cooperative__________________ 4, 518,299
Northeast Clackamas Electric Cooperative______________ 1,145,300
Northern Lights--------------------------------------- 4, 892, 700
Okanogan County Electric Cooperative__________________ 1, 808,360
Pend Oreille Electric Cooperative_____________________ 3, 216, 987
Ravalli County Electric Cooperative___________________ 532,140
Salem Electric________________________________________ 20,116, 600
Stevens County Electric Cooperative___________________ 7,631, 484
Tanner Mutual Power and Light Association------------- 216,553
Umatilla Electric Cooperative_________________________ 12, 067,673
Wasco Electric Cooperative____________________________ 13,168,146
West Oregon Electric Cooperative---------------------- 8,036, 538
Total cooperatives (31)_______________________________ 259,633,497
120	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Publicly owned utilities—Continued	Energy deliveries
Other:	e	for year, kilowatt-hours
Oregon State College			 1, 809, 600
Vanport Extension Center			 372,367
Vera irrigation district No. 15			 10, 563, 000
Total other (3)			 12, 744, 967
Total publicly owned utilities			 2, 840, 528, 909
Privately owned utilities:
British Columbia Electric Ry. Co_______________________ _____________
Mountain States Power Co_______________________________ 143, 823, 719
Pacific Power & Light Co.—Astoria______________________ 71, 425, 000
Portland General Electric Co___________________________ 1, 083, 384, 000
Puget Sound Power & Light Co___________________________ 576, 698, 741
Washington Water Power Co.—Kootenay Lake_______________ 116,160, 000
Washington Water Power-Pacific Power & Light Cos_______	838, 928, 000
Five-Company Pool-------------------------------------- 481, 357, 518
Total privately owned utilities (7)_______________________ 3, 311, 776, 978
Military establishments:
Pasco General Depot_______________________________________ 1, 335, 600
Strategic Air Command_____________________________________ 11, 072, 000
Tongue Point Naval Station________________________________ 15, 899, 607
Velox Naval Supply Depot__________________________________ 3, 945, 600
Total military establishments (4)_______________________ 32,252,807
Industries:
Aluminum:
Aluminum Co. of America____________________________ 1, 463, 237,200
Kaiser Aluminum & Chemical Corp.:
Spokane Aluminum Fabrication___________________ 210, 540, 000
Spokane Aluminum Reduction_____________________ 1, 966, 210, 000
Tacoma Aluminum Reduction______________________ 435, 790, 000
Reynolds Metals Co.:
Longview--------------------------------------- 554, 328,000
Troutdale-------------------------------------- 1, 233, 360, 000
Other industries:
Carborundum Co_____________________________________ 45,137, 000
Crown Zellerbach Corp______________________________ 38, 545, 400
Electro-Metallurgical Cd>__________________________ 77', 740, 000
Pacific Carbide & Alloys___________________________ 23, 012, 650
Pennsylvania Salt Manufacturing Co_________________ 94,104, 800
Rayonier Corp______________________________________ 13, 501,000
Miscellaneous (9)__________________________________ 692,108, 720
Total industries (21)______________________________ 6,847,614,770
Total sales of electric energy (104)________________________
13, 032,173, 464
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
121
Low Rates Increase Power Use
All long-term wholesale power contracts with distributors of Bonneville power contain provisions regarding resale rates and principles of operation to insure distribution for the benefit of the general public, and particularly domestic and rural consumers. The direct relationship of increased use of electric energy to the influence of lower rates is well illustrated in table 6. This shows the trends from 1938 to date on the average use and price for residential home and farm service in the Pacific Northwest as compared with the national average.
Table 6.—Residential and rural service, average use per customer and average price per kilowatt-hour
Kilowatt-hours per customer
Price per kilowatt-hour
Calendar year
United
Statestotal
Oregon and Washington
Calendar year
United Oregonand
States total Washington
1938_______________________
1939_______________________
1940_______________________
1941_______________________
1942_______________________
1943_______________________
1944_______________________
1945_______________________
1946_______________________
1947_______________________
1948_______________________
1949_______________________
902 953
1,006 1,044 1,088 1,135 1,225 1,305 1, 418 1, 546 1,674 1,806
1,410
1,467 1,589
1,776 2,024
2, 279 2,504
2,801 3, 219 3,696
4,160 4,503
1938_______________________
1939_______________________
1940_______________________
1941_______________________
1942_______________________
1943_______________________
1944_______________________
1945_______________________
1946_______________________
1947_______________________
1948_______________________
1949_______________________
Cents
4. 02
3.87
3.74
3.65
3. 57
3. 50
3.41
3.32
3.13
3.00
2.92
2.87
Cents
1 2.65
1 2.55
2.27 2.08
1.94 1.84 1.74 1.69 1.58 1.49 1.41 1.38
i Partially estimated from State commission data. Source: Edison Electric Institute.
REVENUES
Gross operating revenues of the Administration for fiscal year 1950 were $31,745,000. This figure is subject to confirmation by the independent auditors. If no change is made, the total revenue for fiscal year 1950 exceeds that of the previous year by $3,900,000 and sets a new high in power sales.
Revenues increased in all customer categories. Sales to aluminum and other industries, including military establishments, increased $849,485 or 6.1 percent; to publicly owned utilities $2,515,992 or 42.7 percent, and to privately owned utilities $405,131 or 5.2 percent.
Sales to industries, as shown in table 7, page 122, accounted for 46.7 percent of the gross, publicly owned utilities for 26.5 percent, privately owned utilities for 25.7 percent and other electric revenues for 1,1 percent.
122	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 7.—Revenues by classes of customer through fiscal year 1950
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
123
Annual Audit
The books and accounts of the Columbia River power system consisting of Bonneville Power Administration and the power components of Bonneville Dam project and Columbia Basin project (Grand Coulee Dam) are being audited for the sixth time by Arthur Andersen & Co. Final figures are not available, therefore the following amounts are estimated. Net operating revenues for the fiscal year 1950 are expected to reach $11,600,000 after deducting all expenses of operation, maintenance, depreciation, and interest. Gross operating revenues from the beginning of operations to June 30,1950, will exceed $189,000,000, leaving a cumulative net revenue of about $54,200,000 as of that date after provision for all expenses, including depreciation and interest on power investment.
Power Allocations
The total original construction cost, including interest during construction on construction costs allocated to power, of all types of plant, i. e., power, irrigation, navigation, multipurpose, etc., will approximate $596,500,000 as of June 30,1950. Of this amount $409,200,000 was allocated to power, including river regulation, and the remainder of $187,300,000 was allocated to irrigation, navigation, flood control, and other nonpower purposes.
In addition to this investment of $409,200,000 in the construction costs of transmission lines, dams, power plants and related facilities allocated to power, the United States Government has invested money in the operation and maintenance of these power facilities and is credited with interest on the unpaid balances of its total investment. As of June 30, 1950, the gross investment of the Government in the construction costs, operations, maintenance and interest on the power activity approached $526,000,000. This amount includes all funds appropriated exclusive of unrequisitioned balances together with indirect items such as WPA expenditures and amounts representing the net fair value of property received from or transferred to other Fed-eral agencies without interagency transfers of funds in payment therefor. The interest accumulation included in the gross Federal investment was approximately $69,000,000 on June 30, 1950.
This gross Federal power investment is reduced by repayment of all cash receipts from power operations inasmuch as these cash receipts are covered directly into the Treasury of the United States. In other words, the projects cannot retain and use in their operations the amounts collected from power sales with the minor exception of a small continuing fund. The cumulative gross repayments to June 30, 1950, should approximate $179,000,000, leaving a net Federal in
124	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
vestment of about $347,000,000 as of June 30,1950, to be returned from future power operations.
TRANSMISSION SYSTEM
Key transmission facilities completed during the year substantially increase the flow of energy to power-deficit load centers of the Olympic Peninsula, Puget Sound, Portland-Vancouver and southwest Oregon areas. Most important additions to the transmission system, chart 2, included 230-kilovolt line construction from Grand Coulee to the Snohomish substation, the 115-kilovolt line from Shelton to Port Angeles, a 230-kilovolt line from Bonneville to Troutdale, and the Detroit-Lyons-Lebanon 230-kilovolt line, currently operated at 115-kilovolts. Substation facilities were completed to match the increased transmission capacity.
Circuit Miles Added
During the 1950 fiscal year, 579 circuit-miles of high-voltage lines and 15 substations were added to the Federal transmission system, comprising a total network of 4,040 circuit-miles and 108 substations serving Washington, Oregon, Northern Idaho, and western Montana. The system has 1,823 miles of 230,000-volt line, 1,913 miles of 115,000-volt line, and 304 miles of lower voltage line, as shown in chart 3.
Substation capacity, chart 4, was increased by 303,350 kilovoltamperes, bringing the total transformer capacity to 2,765,975 kilovoltamperes, under self-cooled conditions and a maximum of 3,389,803 kilovolt-amperes when forced-cooled. An additional 117,520 kilovoltamperes of static capacitors was installed, bringing the capacitor total to 455,000 kilovolt-amperes. A 20,000 kilovolt-ampere synchronous condenser was added to bring total capacity for this equipment to 307,500 kilovolt-amperes.
Numerous customer service substations were energized during the year. The largest single substation addition was a third transformer bank installed at Troutdale substation. This bank has a self-cooled capacity of 150,000 kilovolt-amperes and a forced-cooled capacity of 250,000 kilovolt-amperes.
Engineering Advances
Notable economies in system design and operation were achieved by the engineering staff. Largely through efforts of Bonneville engineers, the utility industry has accepted new low levels in insulation requirements, making possible savings of as much as 10 percent in the cost of transformers, circuit breakers, and other high voltage equipment. These savings, and increased competition among manufac-

ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
125
Chart 2
126
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
TRANSMISSION LINES
IN CIRCUIT MILES
CIRCUIT MILES
Chart 3
SUBSTATION CAPACITY IN KVA
Chart 4
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	127
turers of this type of equipment have resulted in bids as much as 50 percent lower than quotations in 1947 and 1948. Costs of transmission per kilovolt-mile are nearly 40 percent lower than 10 years ago even though material costs have nearly doubled, largely due to engineering advances such as light-steel towers, and improvements in high voltage equipment, together with integrated system operation.
Lines energized during the year included:
Location	Date energized	Structure miles	Kilovolt
Detroit-Lyons					Sept. 1,1949	21	230
Lyons-Lebanon. 				 				do		23	230
Grand Coulee-Snohomish No. 1 and No. 2	 		Oct. 21,1949	136	230
Midway-Benton No. 2 		Dec. 7,1949	17	230
Bonneville-Troutdale No. 2		Dec. 103949	21	230
Columbia-Grande Coulee No. 3			June 7,1950	76	230
Grand Coulee-Foster Creek		Sept. 25,1949	30	115
Shelton-Port Angeles 				Oct. 31,1949	82	115
Olympia-Cosmopolis						Feb. 23,1950	41	115
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
Extremely heavy loading of transmission lines and inadequacies of the Administration’s preventive maintenance program, emphasized in the 1949 report, resulted in costly and hazardous disruptions of system operations during fiscal year 1950. New transmission lines and substation facilities were more than offset by generation added at Grand Coulee Dam. Proposed accelerated generating schedules without adequate increases in construction and maintenance funds could easily create a critical operating problem.
Bonneville’s system was seriously disrupted for prolonged periods of time on three separate occasions during the fiscal year due to unstable operating conditions. Each major disturbance could have been prevented or confined to a small area through adequate reserves of transmission facilities, better system protection equipment, and preventive maintenance.
The Administration’s annual budgets and advance programs are designed to accrue a minimum amount of reserve capacity over a period of years and to improve protective systems through current development of microwave installations. Problems of carrying increased loads and providing reliable service could quickly become critically acute should a national emergency situation continue to develop. Meanwhile, all possible steps are being taken to give high priority to all proposals and methods of strengthening the system and insuring maximum stability of operation.
128
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
ADDED GENERATING CAPACITY
During the past year three additional Grand Coulee units were installed in the right powerhouse. The addition of these units increased the maximum generating capability of the system to 2,124,000 kilowatts. Five additional units will complete the installations at Grand Coulee by October 1951.
The Federal projects recommended by the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation are shown in table 8. These multipurpose projects are needed to meet flood control, navigation, irrigation, and power needs of the region. With complete development of the projects listed, 17.8 million acre-feet of storage space will be added to the present flood-control facilities and nearly 10.0 million kilowatts will be added to the region’s power supply.
Non-Federal Additions
The non-Federal utilities have added smaller, although highly important, amounts of generating capacity to the region. During the year, Pacific Power & Light Co. added a 50,000-kilowatt unit at Ariel hydro plant and the city of Eugene added 12,500 kilowatts at the Leaburg and Walterville hydro plants, and 13,000 kilowatts at a new steam plant. In the eastern area the Idaho Power Co. added 84,000 kilowatts and the Montana Power Co. has added 56,000 kilowatts to its Kerr hydro plant. Additional improvements planned by the non-Federal utilities are shown in table 9, page 130.
Generation during fiscal year 1950 by the principal electric utility systems of the Pacific Northwest region are in table 10, page 130, and chart 5, page 131. All of the utilities are members of the Northwest Power Pool. Utah Power & Light Co. and British Columbia Electric Co. are also members of the pool but are not included since their major service areas are outside of the Pacific Northwest.
The Administration supplied 56.7 percent of the total energy requirements of the utilities serving the region. In addition to the power requirements of industries and nonpool member utilities a maximum hourly delivery of 808,000 kilowatts and 3,961,100,000 kilowatt-hours was provided by the Administration for use by the other pool utilities in meeting their requirements.
RECOMMENDATIONS
The national emergency which developed at the end of the fiscal year has emphasized the need for maintaining normal generation schedules in addition to speeding up the supply of power available in order to provide a safe margin for national security over and above normal requirements of the regional economy.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
129
-Federal hydroelectric projects in the coordinated construction program, existing, authorized, and recommended installations and capabilities correspond to a coordinated system of operation of all plants
06
•J
<
H
130
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 9.—Generators scheduled for installation in the Pacific Northwest by non-Federal utilities, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana
[Thousands of kilowatts]
	Type of installation	Name plate rating	Peaking capability
Privately owned utilities: Idaho Power Co.: Bliss No. 3, No. 4				Hydro		46.0	46.0
Guffey No. 1, No. 2, No. 3				.. do ..	30.0	30 0
Plant No. 1			do			65.0	65.0 70.0
Plant No. 2					do		70.0	
Plant No. 3		— do . _ _ .	80.0	80.0
			
		291.0	291.0
California Oregon Power Co.: Toketee Falls No. 3				do . _	13.3	14.2 17.0
Slide Creek..						do .			17.0	
Soda Springs		- do	12 0	12 0
U pperClearwater			do	13.0	13. 0
Lower Clearwater					do_		15.0	15.0
Fish Creek			do		6.0	6.0
Upper Lemolo	 „		do	20.0	20.0
Lower Lemolo		__ .	do	20.0	20.0
			
		116.3	117.2
Total privately owned utilities			407.3	408.2
			
Publicly owned utilities: Seattle City Light: Gorge No. 4.. 		„_do		60.0	40.0
Ross No. 1, No. 2, No. 3, No. 4			do		360.0	360.0
			
		420.0	400.0
City of Eugene: Leaburg No. 2					do		7.6	7.6 13.0
Eugene No. 3		Steam	13.0	
			
Rock Island:1 No. 5, No. 6. No. 7, No. 8, No. 9, No. 10		Hydro		20.6 120.0	20.6 120. 0
Total publicly owned utilities			560.6	540.6
			
Total all non-Federal utility installations 			967.9	948.8
			
1 Contingent upon acquisition of this plant by a publicly owned utility from the Puget Sound Power & Light Co.
Table 10.—Generation by the principal electric utility systems of the Pacific Northwest, fiscal year 1950
Utilities	Kilowatt-hours	Percent of total generation	Utilities	Kilowatt-hours	Percent of total generation
Publicly owned: Bonneville Power Administration		Billion 14.1	Percent 56.7	Privately owned—Con. Washington Water Power Co		 _	Billion 1.3	Percent 5.2 3.6
Seattle City Light		1.1	4.4	Pacific Power & Light Co. Portland General Electric Co	.9	
Tacoma City Light		.8	3.2			
				.7 2.8	2.8 11. 3
Total publicly owned--	16.0	64.3	Montana Power Co			
				1.5	6.0
Privately owned: Puget Sound Power &					
	1.7	6.8	Total privately owned.	8.9	35.7
			Total generation1		24.9	100.0
					
1 The above utilities are members of the Northwest Power Pool. Utah Power & Light Co., and British Columbia Electric Co., are also members of the pool, but are not included above because their major service areas lie outside the Pacific Northwest region.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	131
POWER GENERATED
TOTAL 24.9 BILLION KWH
H- o m o	£
w 1 o < z
132
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Supplementing a speeded-up program of generation, it is equally important that the program of transmission construction be accelerated in order to serve vital defense industries and other war establishments when and as new power becomes available.
In order to fulfill its responsibility as a public utility, as well as to provide the reliability of service upon which the requirements of certain strategic industries insist, the following specific recommendations, in the opinion of the Department, should be given thorough consideration by the Congress and the Executive branch:
(a) Adequate funds should be made available for operation and maintenance of the system commensurate with its size. A tendency not to recognize the importance of a sound maintenance program concurrent with expansion of the system cannot help but result in a consequent degrading of service which customers of the system are paying for.
(&) Recognition of the need for reserve transmission capacity cannot be overemphasized. System stability cannot be maintained under overload conditions. Reliability of service, therefore, demands sufficient reserve capacity to provide this needed and urgently recommended protection.
A further recommendation involves the need for clarification and revision of Federal fiscal policy by the Congress to permit more flexible and efficient operation of reimbursable public works. Further consideration by the Congress of legislative proposals for establishment of a Columbia Basin Account could go far towards a more equitable basis for fixing rates as well as simplify present irrigation subsidy procedures. Such a law should provide for fixing rates and returning reimbursable costs on a pooled basis to correspond to the present integrated operation of the United States Columbia River power system.
Southwestern Power Administration
Douglas G. Wright, Administrator
☆ ☆ ☆
THE INSTALLATION OF TWO NEW GENERATORS, one at Denison Dam project, and one at Norfork Dam project, gave Southwestern Power Administration an additional 70,000 kilowatts of capacity for its system.
NEW PROJECT
Power and energy from the Narrows Dam project located on the Little Missouri River in southwestern Arkansas became available to Southwestern Power Administration. The project is designed for three main generating units, each with a name-plate rating of 8,500 kilowatts. One unit was placed in operation on May 27, 1950; and the second unit began producing testing power and energy on June 20, 1950. Installation of the third unit is not contemplated in the near future. Average annual energy from the new project is estimated at 27,402,000 kilowatt-hours. With this new project, the Administration was able to meet an emergency for the Southwestern Gas & Electric Co. in June, when a boiler failed at one of the company’s main steam plants, by furnishing power and energy to the company under a temporary arrangement.
ENERGY PRODUCTION
Net generation during the fiscal year from the three projects was as follows:
Kilowatt hours
Denison----------------------------------^2, 079, 000
Norfork_________________________________ 251,954,500
Narrows_________________________________ 958, ^70
ENERGY DELIVERIES
Energy sales by the Southwestern Power Administration during the fiscal year 1950 amounted to $2,036,940.44. Electric power and energy generated by the hydroelectric facilities under the marketing jurisdiction of Southwestern Power Administration were sold to eight rural electric cooperatives, one municipality, and four private utility
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companies. Due to the lack of transmission facilities, a certain amount of surplus power and energy from the Norfork Dam project, Denison Dam project, and Narrows Dam project was sold to private utility companies under temporary arrangements.
Sales to municipalities and rural electric cooperatives amounted to $135,742.48, and to private utility companies $1,901,197.96.
CONTRACTS
Several new contracts were executed with rural electric cooperatives, generation and transmission cooperatives, and municipalities, under which service will start as soon as interconnection facilities can be obtained.
Continued efforts were made during the year to reach an agreement with the two Oklahoma private utilities for integration and interconnection of facilities. It is anticipated that a contract will be executed early in fiscal year 1951, which will eliminate the construction of transmission facilities estimated to cost approximately $6,000,000?
SPA SYSTEM
At the end of fiscal year 1950 approximately 505 miles of high-voltage lines and one substation were being maintained by Southwestern Power Administration. Construction work contracted under the 1947 and 1948 appropriations was completed. These lines consisted of 259 miles of 154-kilovolt, 113 miles of 132-kilovolt, and 133 miles of 66-kilovolt transmission lines.
Under authorizations granted by the Congress, contracts were let under the 1950 appropriations for construction of 196 miles of 154-kilovolt lines, 70 miles of 132-kilovolt lines, two switching stations, and two substations. This construction will be undertaken in fiscal year 1951.
Muskogee, Okla., being the city nearest the geographical center of the main transmission line running from Denison Tex., to Norfork, Ark., was chosen as the location of the field operations center. Maintenance depots, with the necessary trained personnel, were located at Denison, Tex.; Muskogee, Okla.; Clarksville, Ark.; and West Plains, Mo. Patrol crews were stationed at Holdenville, Okla.; Van Buren, Ark.; and Marshall, Ark.
1 The Oklahoma contract was signed July 13, 1950, and full information on it win be given in next year’s annual report.
Bureau of Mines
James Boyd, Director ☆ ☆ ☆
FOREWORD
ON JULY 1,1950, the Bureau of Mines passed its fortieth birthday.
The four decades since the Bureau was created in 1910 were marked by achievements that have earned world-wide recognition in the fields specified by the organic act: Mining and preparation of minerals; conservation of mineral resources; and advancement of health and safety in the mineral industries. Not only have the Bureau’s investigations touched widely varying phases of the discovery, extraction, and treatment of minerals and mineral fuels, but the efforts to increase safety in mines are yielding heartening returns in improved accident and fatality rates.
Plans for the near future include projects that, if successful, would establish additional reserves of strategic minerals and augment the military and economic strength of the United States.
Early in its career the Bureau cooperated with the National Radium Institute in studies and plant operation that freed this country of dependence upon imports of radium, largely extracted from ores mined in this country but sent abroad for processing because we lacked the necessary knowledge. Techniques developed not only cut the cost of radium for the treatment of cancer to less than $40,000 a gram, compared with $100,000 to $120,000 a gram being paid for imported radium, but it also made feasible the use of much ore previously discarded as too lean.
Early studies, involving the location of ore deposits and the development of methods of mining and treating them, were largely responsible for the development of the domestic molybdenum-mining industry, which now leads the world; other Bureau studies helped pave the way for this country’s self-sufficiency in potash.
These investigations were discontinued long since, in accordance with the Bureau’s established policy of turning to other problems when it has carried its work to the point where industry is able and willing to assume the burden. This policy insures that the Bureau’s scientific and technologic research will complement rather than duplicate that done by other public and private agencies. Much of the Bureau’s program is carried on in cooperation with other Federal and State
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agencies, universities and private research foundations, and industry itself. This cooperation adds to their effectiveness.
The analysis of coals from most of the important fields in the country, primarily to guide Government procurement officials but also to assist all purchasers of solid fuel, has been an important Bureau undertaking from the beginning. Closely allied to this work have been studies of the combustion of coal that were instrumental in reducing the quantity of fuel required for producing a kilowatt-hour of electricity from about 3.2 pounds in 1929 to an average of 1.25 pounds in 1949. In cooperation with the electric power industry the Bureau developed the first successful generating plant to burn powdered coal—an improvement in the generation of power now in common use.
Other coal research has covered mining methods, with a view to helping the industry obtain maximum recovery, and methods of cleaning and otherwise preparing coal for market. In recent years the Bureau has given special attention to determining the coking properties of American coals. Its studies have shown that proper preparation, including blending with better coals in some instances, makes it possible to produce metallurgical coke from many coals not commonly used for the purpose.
The Bureau’s scientific and technologic work on the extraction and refining of petroleum early won it the title “father of petroleum engineering,” and the industry still regards its reports and publications as the “last word” in this field. During World War II the discovery by the Bureau that certain American crude oils previously considered unsuitable could be used for producing aviation gasoline played an important part in winning the Battle of Britain.
Because of their importance to mining and quarrying, whether viewed from the standpoint of efficiency, economy, or safety, the Bureau has devoted much study to explosives. It first introduced liquid oxygen explosives, known as LOX, in this country. It developed standards, issued as schedules, for testing the suitability of various explosives for safe use in coal mines, and those that meet these strict requirements are designated “permissible.” Over the years it has conducted fundamental research on the nature and propagation of flame and on the basic physics of breaking rock by blasting—studies still in progress. It is constantly seeking to discover safer and more effective methods of blasting. During the two World Wars the Bureau licensed the sale and use of industrial explosives and conducted confidential tests for the armed services.
Closely allied with the work on explosives has been that on toxic and flammable gases and on mine ventilation. What is now the Army Chemical Corps was a development of these Bureau studies during World War I. Early in 1917 the Bureau turned its attention to the
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war gases and ways of protecting American troops against them. Later in the year this work was expanded with the aid of funds allocated by the War Department; and in 1918, by Executive ordei of the President, it was transferred to the Army. After the war Bureau research resulted in the development of highly efficient masks and respirators for protection against industrial gases.
Bureau of Mines research on ventilation methods and on the occurrence of carbon monoxide in automobile exhaust gases was utilized for the benefit of millions of persons having no connection with the mineral industries when it furnished the basis for the successful ventilation of the Holland Tunnel between New York City and New Jersey. This was the first long tunnel built for handling automobile traffic, and the method used for ventilating it has since been applied in a number of other tunnels in this country and abroad.
To the general public the Bureau’s best-known activity is its participation in rescue and recovery work after mine disasters, an activity for which there has been less need recently than in earlier years. When the Bureau was established in 1910, after a series of coal-mine explosions taking thousands of lives, very little was known about the causes and prevention of such disasters. A new era in coal-mine safety dawned when the Bureau, at its experimental coal mine at Bruceton, Pa., proved for the first time that bituminous-coal dust will not only enter into and intensify a gas explosion but will itself explode and propagate an explosion in the absence of gas and that rock dusting will render it nonexplosive. Other safety advances in which the Bureau has assisted include the growing use of electric cap instead of open-flame lamps; the introduction in many mines of permissible explosives, which burn with a shorter and less hot flame and so are less likely to ignite gas or coal dust, to replace black blasting powder and dynamite; and the development of standards for testing electrical equipment to determine its suitability for safe use in coal mines.
It is interesting to compare the coal-mine fatality record of 1910, when 2,821 miners lost their lives and the death rate was 2.02 per million man-hours of exposure, with that of 1949, when accidental deaths of coal miners totaled 593 and the death rate per million manhours was 0.96. It is also a source of satisfaction that 1949 was the first full calendar year in the statistical history of American coal mining to pass without a major disaster—defined as one causing five or more fatalities—and that as this report was written (in mid-August of 1950) there had not been a major coal-mine disaster since November 4,1948.
Satisfaction over these records is tempered, however, by the knowledge that conditions such as have caused great disasters still exist in
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some coal mines. Nor is it possible to be complacent over the death of 593 men a year in a single industry, even though that figure represents notable safety progress. The problem still demands unremitting effort. The Bureau proposes to continue its attack by the threefold approach that has proved effective in the past: (1) Research and investigations to identify hazards and find ways of counteracting them, (2) education and training to spread the knowledge gained throughout the industry, and (3) inspections to learn the specific hazards present in individual coal mines and provide a factual basis for specific corrective recommendations.
Throughout its existence the Bureau has made the results of its work available promptly by means of its own publications by papers presented at scientific and technical meetings, by contributions to the trade and technical press, and by classes for workmen and supervisors in the mineral and allied industries.
During the Bureau’s fortieth year its organization was streamlined to enable it to meet the mineral needs of the Nation more effectively. The number of operating divisions in the Washington, D. C., headquarters was reduced from five—Mining, Metallurgical, Fuels and Explosives, Health and Safety, and Economics and Statistics to three—Minerals, Fuels and Explosives, and Health and Safety—corresponding to the three major commodity groups with which the Bureau deals. (For organizational purposes, health and safety is treated as a commodity.) In this reorganization the gathering and compilation of economic and statistical data, formerly conducted as a separate activity, were integrated with the Bureau’s scientific, technologic, and educational work in the various commodity fields. In addition, the Director’s staff was strengthened by the addition of a chief mining engineer, a chief metallurgist, a chief economist, and a chief of air- and stream-pollution research.
To bring the Bureau closer to the industries it serves and to free the top-ranking scientists and technologists on the Washington staff from a welter of administrative and fiscal details, which had left them less and less time to concentrate on coordinating and planning research and educational projects, the Bureau’s field activities were divided among eight regions covering the continental United States and Alaska and a ninth, known as the foreign minerals region, to deal with matters of cQncern to the Bureau in the rest of the world. All personnel, fiscal, and administrative authority the delegation of which is not prohibited by statute or by regulations of higher administrative authority has been assigned to the regional directors.
The new regional organization, still under way, makes the Washington office in effect a GHQ, where broad phases of the Bureau’s scientific, technologic, and educational work are planned and coordi
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nated, priorities are assigned to projects, and the stations and laboratories where various research projects are to be undertaken are determined. Headquarters also maintains liaison with other executive agencies and with the Congress. Direct communication is maintained between top-ranking scientists and technologists at headquarters and their colleagues in the regions. Provision has been made for all suggestions for improving the Bureau’s services and for desirable research projects to reach the Director at Washington, accompanied by the regional director’s approval or his reasons for disapproval.
The regions, the designation of each, and the territory each covers are: Region I, Alaska; region II, the Northwest, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana; region III, the Southwest, California and Nevada; region IV, the Rocky Mountains, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, Arizona, and New Mexico; region V, the North Central, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa, Wisconsin, and Michigan; region VI, the South Central, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas; region VII, the Southeast, south from the North Carolina-Tennessee northern borders to Florida and west to the Mississippi River; and region VIII, the Northeast, from the west boundary of Illinois to Maine and from the Great Lakes to the Virginia-Kentucky southern borders, also including Louisiana, Mo., where the Bureau’s coal-to-oil demonstration plants are situated.
During the fiscal year, while being reorganized to increase the effectiveness of its work, the Bureau continued its research and educational programs. Major factors shaping its activities were the depletion of mineral resources as a result of two great wars, the increasing demands of the Nation’s expanding economy for minerals and mineral fuels, and the requirements of national security imposed by the uncertain international situation. Throughout the year the Bureau keyed its activities closely to the needs of the National Defense Establishment, the National Security Resources Board, the Atomic Energy Commission, and other agencies directly concerned with military preparedness. Efforts to expand United States mineral resources by discovering new deposits of strategic and critical minerals, by developing improved methods that will make it possible to obtain more of the useful content of known deposits, and by devising ways of using plentiful materials in place of scarce ones were intensified.
The Bureau devoted much attention to the raw-material needs of the steel industry, including methods of increasing domestic supplies of manganese, chromite, and vanadium. In addition to exploratory, development, and metallurgical studies of domestic reserves of low-grade manganese ores, the Bureau cooperated with the Iron and Steel Institute in quest of feasible methods of recovering manganese from open-hearth furnace slags, a potential source of the equivalent of
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900,000 tons of imported ore a year. Another problem, toward, whose solution progress was made, is the utilization of the Nation s vast deposits of iron ores of lower grade than those now used. Studies of these and kindred problems, the urgency of which increases yearly, are being continued.
Other pressing investigations concerned with metals and non-metallic minerals, which the Bureau pushed during the year, were the low-cost recovery of lead and zinc from oxidized ores, the improvement of techniques for recovering and refining nonferrous metals from scrap, the utilization of the Nation’s large reserves of siliceous bauxite, and the production of synthetic mica and synthetic asbestos.
A high light of the year’s work on mineral fuels was completion of the study in the first counties in the Nation-wide survey of domestic reserves of coking coal. Besides inventorying the Nation s reserves of this important commodity, the Bureau is striving to expand them by developing methods of upgrading the poorer coking coals and by utilizing them in blends with better ones. Other work on fuels included the completion of the Louisiana, Mo., demonstration plants, where liquid fuels are being produced synthetically from coal; further reduction of the costs of mining and retorting oil shale; and advances in refining shale oil. At Gorgas, Ala., the second field-scale experiment in the underground gasification of coal, conducted in cooperation with the Alabama Power Co., pointed to the possibility of extending the Nation’s coal resources by utilizing in this way seams too thin for mining. Meanwhile, further attention was given to the problems of drying, burning, and gasifying subbituminous coal and lignite, low-rank coals of which the United States has enormous reserves.
Petroleum research conducted during the year expanded the Nation s oil reserves by making it possible to extract a greater proportion of the oil in the ground both by secondary recovery methods applied to old fields and by more efficient primary recovery methods for new ones.
Intensifying its study of the air-pollution problems, to which attention had been forcibly called by the Donora, Pa., smog disaster of October 1948, the Bureau provided the chairman and cooperated with other Government agencies in laying the groundwork for and conducting the First United States Technical Conference on Air Pollution. Authorized by the President in December 1949 and meeting at Washington in May 1950, the Conference brought together for 3 days of discussion scientific and technical representatives from universities, industry, Federal, State, and local governments, and three foreign countries.
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Ill respect to health and safety the Bureau completed the eighth full year of Federal inspection of coal mines under the Federal Coal-Mine Inspection Act of 1941. During this period the trend of coalmine fatalities, which had been upward during the preceding 9 years, has been consistently downward, focusing the attention of all concerned upon the need for making coal mines in the United States safei places in which to work. Other Bureau activities that affected coalmine fatality and injury rates were training courses in first-aid and mine rescue procedures, as well as special coal-mine accident-prevention courses for supervisors and miners. Similar courses were given in other branches of the mineral industries.
Without neglecting studies of the causes and prevention of coalmine explosions and other accidents, the Bureau continued its intensive study of ways of preventing accidents from falls of rock and coal—the industry’s No. 1 hazard—and prepared for a similar attack upon prevention of haulage accidents. Experiments on roof bolting to supplement or supplant conventional roof-support methods, which the Bureau introduced to the coal industry in 1947, were continued and expanded to include more fundamental research on the behavior of mine roof under loading. The contemplated concentration upon the problem presented by haulage hazards was scheduled to get under way during the coming fiscal year.
A high light of the year’s health and safety program was inauguration of a policy of investigating all fatal coal-mine accidents with a view to determining more effective ways of preventing them. In the past the Bureau had investigated major disasters but had seldom been in a position to study accidents causing only one or two deaths. Such accidents, while apparently minor, year after year cause the bulk of coal-mine fatalities.
To make the results of its studies in all branches of its field available to the industries, the Bureau published them as rapidly as feasible. The number of copies of each report was held down as much as possible in the interest of economy.
The foregoing discussion covers some of the major activities of the Bureau during the past fiscal year. A more detailed summary of all phases of the Bureau’s work is given in the sections that follow.
MINERAL DEVELOPMENT
Pressure of the cold war, the outbreak of fighting in Korea in the closing days of the fiscal year, and the military importance of minerals have had a marked influence on the work of the Bureau of Mines during the 12 months ended June 30,1950. Without neglecting long-
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range planning for mineral conservation and development, essential alike to the Nation’s economic strength and its military security, the Bureau tied its activities even more closely to the needs of the Department of Defense, the National Security Resources Board, the Atomic Energy Commission, and other agencies directly concerned with military preparedness.
The Bureau’s fact-finding and advisory services grew in number, scope, and urgency. The stockpiling program of the Munitions Board, on many of whose active committees Bureau staff members serve, continued to require a large share of these services. In addition, special technical investigations were made for the Federal Supply Service in connection with the procurement of mineral commodities, the beneficiation of low-grade stocks, and the improvement of stockpile storage procedures.
Toward the close of the year major investigations of the world situation regarding a number of critical metals and minerals were begun for the National Security Resources Board. Reports will be prepared on the status of mining and smelting operations, secondary recovery, stocks, foreign trade, plants, and related phases of these industries. Congressional committees were supplied information requested upon iron ore, managanese, chromite, and other commodities. The Bureau also furnished representatives for the Department on interdepartmental committees assisting the Office of International Trade with regard to licensing the export of strategic commodities. Bureau staff members likewise served on the United States delegation to the International Tin Study Group at The Hague in October 1949 and at Paris in March 1950.
A new experiment station at Juneau, Alaska, for which a construction contract had been awarded in June 1949, was completed ahead of schedule and occupied in January 1950.
As in previous years, other activities included fundamental and applied research, investigations of mineral resources, and the technical and economic appraisal of problems of the mineral industries.
Ferrous metals.—Assuring an adequate emergency supply of manganese, essential for steel making, received close attention during the year. The Interdepartmental Manganese Coordinating Committee was formed to focus the attention of interested Government agencies and private industry upon the Nation’s manganese problem. Intensive investigations of major domestic manganese deposits in Maine, Minnesota, Arkansas, Montana, and Arizona increased factual knowledge of domestic reserves. Development of the large deposit at Artillery Peak, Ariz., was begun. Bureau metallurgists studied ways of utilizing low-grade domestic ores for the production of ferromanganese, electrolytic manganese, and battery-grade manganese.
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In cooperation with the American Iron & Steel Institute, the Bureau is devoting research to development of a practicable method of reclaiming the manganese, equivalent to 900,000 tons of imported ore annually, in the manganese-rich slag from open-hearth steel furnaces.
Experimental mining of and metallurgical research on the low-grade chromite ores of Montana were continued. Certain tests indicated that these ores, forming a large but submarginal reserve, may be an acceptable substitute for imported chemical-grade chromite. Other research led to the development of a new method of smelting whereby a low-carbon chromium-nickel-iron alloy can be produced directly from northwestern chrome-nickel-iron ores. In cooperation with a major chromium and ferrochromium producer, electrolytic chromium pilot-plant operations continued through the year.
Future iron-ore requirements and sources of supply received much study, and research was continued on the utilization of domestic ores of lower grade or poorer quality than present furnace feeds. An ore-reserve study of the Birmingham iron district in Alabama was begun. Continuing research pointed to flotation and gravity concentration as the most promising ore-dressing methods. The nodulizing and pelletizing of fine iron-ore concentrates to permit reduction in the blast furnace comprised another research project.
A method has been devised for recovering vanadium and other metals that are concentrated in the ferrophosphorus when phosphate rock from some of the lower-grade deposits of the West is smelted to produce phosphorus and phosphoric acid. Meanwhile a small experimental mining operation has been carried on to learn the best methods and probable cost of mining the high-vanadium formation selectively.
Nonferrous metals.—Demand for nonferrous metals continued to grow, emphasizing the need for conservation and the development of domestic resources. Marginal and submarginal deposits of copper, lead, and zinc were investigated in the States and in Alaska. “Atlases” designed to preserve and make readily accessible all available factual information on the ore reserves in certain large mining districts were prepared in cooperation with mining companies, property owners, and State and Federal agencies. Metallurgical tests to devise low-cost means of recovering lead and zinc from oxidized ores were continued, partly in cooperation with industry. As another conservational measure, improved techniques are being developed for recovering and refining nonferrous metals from scrap and for recovering metals from drosses and other metallurgical wastes.
With funds provided by the Atomic Energy Commission, the Bureau has been studying radioactive minerals in various placer deposits in California, Idaho, and Nevada for that agency. This investigation has resulted in a series of reports evaluating the eco
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nomic and strategic importance of each such deposit, including recommendations for methods of mining and recovery of the “black sands” and radioactive minerals. Because of the newness of this subject, the work has raised many problems of exploration methods and equipment, sampling techniques, mineral identification, and analysis. Research and experimentation in the field and at the Bureau’s Mount Weather, Va., laboratories have contributed much to the solution of these problems.
Under an arrangement with the Atomic Energy Commission, the Bureau tested and evaluated about 8,000 samples of ore believed to contain uranium. For the Atomic Energy Commission, too, research was conducted on the concentration and extraction of uranium from ores of the Colorado Plateau area.
The Bureau identified bastnasite, a fluocarbonate of cerium and other rare earths, in a large deposit in the Clark Mountain district, San Bernardino County, Calif. Concentration and extraction tests are being made on this ore because of its importance as a substitute for monazite sands.
A pilot plant at Boulder City, Nev., produced titanium metal at the rate of 200 pounds a week. Much of this metal is made available to industry for private research, as commercial facilities cannot meet all needs. The rest is used by the Bureau in continuing experiments, especially on fabrication methods. An outstanding achievement was the successful fabrication of several welded titanium structures, including a mortar base and a Diesel-engine muffler.
A notable development in the study of zirconium alloys for high-temperature use was the discovery that small amounts of tantalum or columbium added to zirconium make it corrosion-resistant to water at 600° F.
Recent experiments have suggested the possibility of lower-cost production of magnesium from dolomite. Using helium at atmospheric pressure to prevent reoxidation of magnesium vapor may eliminate high-vacuum operation and permit a continuous instead of a batch process. A general investigation is being conducted on the development of new and improved magnesium alloys as substitutes for scarce metals.
Research in quest of a practicable method of treating siliceous bauxites to permit their use in aluminum manufacture is being continued. Domestic reserves of such ores are large.
Nonmetallic minerals.—Ceramic research is in progress on the production of superduty refractories from domestic raw materials. An investigation carried on throughout the year disclosed a large tonnage of kyanite ore suitable for milling in a Buckingham County, Va., de
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posit. The Bureau also is testing refractory raw materials purchased for stockpiling.
Pegmatite deposits in Colorado and South Dakota were investigated as potential sources of mica, beryl, and other associated minerals. Field and laboratory studies aimed at fuller recovery and utilization of the minerals of these complex deposits are being continued.
As part of the Missouri Basin development program, the Bureau surveyed the mineral resources, largely nonmetallics, of Nebraska and that part of Kansas lying within the basin. It also drilled sodium sulfate lake deposits in North Dakota. In addition, mine and mineral surveys of several Montana mining counties were completed.
As part of a continuing program designed to lessen, if possible, the cost of construction in Alaska, building materials along the Alaska Railroad were investigated.
The unprecedented demand for structural materials has led the Bureau to give a great deal of attention to lightweight aggregates and mineral insulators. Fundamental research and pilot-plant work have demonstrated the feasibility of obtaining such products from various natural deposits as well as from industrial wastes, thus contributing to the increased commercial production of lightweight aggregates, plasters, and heat-insulating materials.
In the interest of national security the Bureau continued extensive investigations on the possibility of producing synthetically certain industrial minerals of which this country lacks adequate deposits. Progress was made in the production of synthetic mica, and studies were made of conditions favoring the formation of strategic grades. It appears that the physical properties of the synthetic product will equal or surpass those of natural mica. Work is underway on the manufacture of synthetic asbestos from various types of melts. In this connection, conditions favoring the growth of the desired long, slender, fibrous crystals are being determined. The Bureau is also developing methods for better utilization of short-fiber and off-grade natural chrysotile asbestos.
Miscellaneous mineral research.—Blasting is not only one of the chief cost items in most mining operations but is the subject of several current engineering research projects of the Bureau. Among these are blasting methods in oil shale, oil-well shooting, and dam-foundation excavation and tunnel excavation (for the Corps of Engineers). Because the mechanics of the generation and propagation of elastic waves in rock by the use of explosives is a problem fundamental to such inquiries, it is the subject of special studies. A new and larger instrumentation truck was put into service during the year. As a result, records from as many as eight stations can be picked up simul
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taneously and recorded photographically, permitting more rapid and accurate analysis of the behavior of strain waves in rock after an explosion. Records have been obtained in sandstone, chalk, and shale, and during the coming year similar tests are to be made in other kinds of rock.
Adaptation of underground development blasting practices to the use of millisecond-delay electric detonators was carried forward in the experimental hard-rock mine at Mount Weather near Bluemont, Va. Results from numerous drift and raise rounds pointed to the possibility of substantial savings in drilling and explosives costs, together with improved fragmentation. Preliminary data have been published.
Continuing past arrangements, the Bureau has provided specialized microseismic equipment and occasional observation and consultation in connection with the removal of pillars at an iron-ore mine in Michigan. Large tonnages of ore are being extracted safely. The operating company is now using the microseismic technique for studying ground movement, especially the subsidence of overburden, at two other mines.
Experimental diamond-drill bits cast in the Mount Weather, Va., laboratory were tested in the experimental mine there and on a field drilling project with promising results. Instead of being set at random, as in standard commercial bits, the stones were placed with their crystals carefully oriented to take advantage of the so-called “hard vector.” As the tests showed the possibility of notable economy, this investigation is being continued in cooperation with diamond-drill contractors and manufacturers.
The Bureau completed a 2-year project for the Corps of Engineers research and development laboratories with the transmittal of a i export that will form the basis for a military text on quarry equipment and operation.
Several hundred examinations of mineral deposits were made in the* continental United States and in Alaska. Systematic, county-by-county surveys of the mineral resources of several States were carried forward, in a few instances to completion. Considerable progress was made on a survey of mineral resources around Skagway, Alaska, where a large Canadian-American hydroelectric power development is under construction.
Completion of three more core-storage warehouses during the year brought facilities for the storage of cores from governmental and private mineral exploration projects within a convenient distance of nearly every mining section in the country.
Research continued to determine and correlate thermodynamic data on metals and metallic compounds used in metallurgical processes.
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Similar data previously published by the Bureau are known and used by metallurgists throughout the world. A new compilation of entropy data also was made available.
FUELS AND EXPLOSIVES
The Bureau of Mines program of fuel research and development last year concentrated upon increasing efficiency and improving quality in the fuel industries. With continued emphasis upon the promotion of safety and conservation in order that the Nation might derive the greatest good from its fuel resources.
Designed to augment dwindling reserves of coking coal, the Bureau’s program of estimating known minable reserves of such coals was prosecuted vigorously, as were studies of the washing and blending characteristics of lower-grade coals not now suitable for making metallurgical coke. Much attention was given to the problems of drying, burning, and gasifying the enormous reserves of lower-rank coals—subbituminous coal and lignite—to insure the most effective utilization of domestic resources. Laboratory research, coupled with pilot- and demonstration-plant operations, pointed the way toward the future economic and technologic feasibility of producing synthetic liquid fuels from coal and oil shale on a commercial scale. Petroleum research aided materially in increasing total recovery from present fields, with a consequent increment in our total petroleum reserves. Demands for helium from all consumers increased during the year, and the Bureau stepped up production of this unusual gas accordingly.
Coal and Coal Products
Coal mining and investigations.—Seeking to improve mechanization and mining methods in the anthracite fields of Pennsylvania, the Bureau successfully tested a machine for packing waste material into underground chambers to support the roof, developed mechanical methods of mining thick horizontal beds to recover millions of tons of anthracite now left underground, and demonstrated the suitability of lightweight cutting and shearing machines for mining thin, steeply pitching beds. Studies of methods of pillar removal in mechanized mines were continued in bituminous mines in West Virginia and Kentucky.
As development of additional reserves of coal in Alaska was extended, Bureau core drilling in the Matanuska field indicated existence of a minable reserve sufficient to warrant opening a mine. Diamond-drilling investigations in Maryland disclosed recoverable reserves of more than 450,000,000 tons of coking coal, an appreciable
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addition to our depleted reserves of coal suitable for metallurgical coke. In a study of coking-coal reserves data on the reserves of Cambria and Indiana Counties, Pa., and Pike County, Ky., were brought together. Thirty-one additional counties in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia, and Virginia were surveyed.
Cooperating in the development of the resources of foreign countries, Bureau engineers investigated Greek lignite deposits, made recommendations, and assisted in core drilling and mining operations.
Coal preparation.—To enlarge supplies of coking coal, studies of the preparation characteristics of coals from Cambria County, Pa., and the Pocahontas No. 6 bed in West Virginia showed that most of the coals tested meet present metallurgical requirements. The kero-sine-flotation process, developed by Bureau engineers, was installed in a second commercial washery in Alabama. Successful operation of the cyclone washer with coals varying widely in impurities was achieved without material effect on quality of the product. Treatment of Washington coals by chemical leaching processes yielded a product suitable for use as electrode carbon in the metallurgical industry.
Coking, gasification, drying, and combustion studies.—Of the many eastern Appalachian coals tested for carbonizing properties, several proved satisfactory for more extensive use in satisfying demands for coking coal. Similar tests were conducted on coals from British Columbia and Alaska to determine their suitability for use in far West steel plants. Research on the complete gasification of bituminous coal in the Lurgi pressure generator demonstrated that gas could be made successfully at rates more than double those attained in Europe with brown coal and lignite. Seeking to utilize the Nation s vast reserves of lignite, the Bureau operated its annular gasification retort at Grand Forks, N. Dak., to obtain additional data on the capacity of this type of equipment and demonstrated that the life of this retort is sufficient to make the process appear feasible where low-priced natural gas or oil is not available.
In an endeavor to utilize Texas lignites for generating power, a new program of drying and gasifying them was undertaken in cooperation with a Texas power company. A large, gas-fired, utility, power-station boiler was tested to compare its performance with that of pulverized-coal-fired boilers previously tested.
Research facilities—The first unit of the anthracite research laboratory at Schuylkill Haven, Pa., was completed and occupied. Architectural drawings and specifications for the additional wing, which will bring the laboratory up to the size originally authorized, weie completed and approved. Completion of this wing is expected during 1951.
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Work was begun on the lignite research laboratory at Grand Forks, N. Dak., and completion of the building is expected in late 1950.
Services to the Government.—Approximately 23,000 samples of coal and related materials were analyzed for the Bureau and other Government agencies. Coal analyses and related data on Iowa coals were published in another of the Bureau’s series of papers on analyses of coal by States. In the coal-sampling service required for Federal coal purchases and general research work samples were taken at 480 mines, and special training in coal sampling was given plant personnel at 5 Federal installations.
Boiler-plant operating costs were compared for the use of oil, gas, and coal, and the type of fuel-burning equipment was recommended for nine new Veterans’ Administration hospitals. Boiler-plant surveys were made for various agencies, with substantial savings in one instance $30,000 and in another $52,000—in the cost of new equipment. Services on 160 special fuel-burning problems were given 36 different Federal agencies.
In serving Federal boiler plants more than 9,300 samples of boiler water were analyzed and recommendations made, and numerous special boiler-water problems were solved. Typical of the results is the experience of the Albuquerque, N. Mex., Indian school, where tests showed an annual fuel saving of $13,700. Research work on the fundamental cause of corrosion of boiler equipment was continued. Five hundred large industrial plants reported good success with caustic embrittlement prevention methods developed by Bureau of Mines research.
The pronounced drop in coal production stimulated widespread interest in the position of coal in its relation to the national health, economy, and security, including the effect on employment and economic conditions in the coal and related industries. To meet unusually heavy requests for detailed information, the statistical and economic studies of the Bureau on production, distribution, consumption, stocks, and use of bituminous coal, anthracite, lignite, coke, and coal chemicals were expanded so that the many problems involved could be analyzed.
Details regarding the economic aspects of the various energy sources were maintained on a current basis for continuing appraisals of the national energy supply. For correlation with these energy studies and for guidance in appraising emergency fuel requirements, plans were made to study coal-distribution patterns and methods for increased efficiency in coal production and utilization. Bureau representatives, both as members and in preparing basic data, took an active part in the work of a number of important committees concerned with peacetime and emergency availability of coal and coke. The Bureau also cooperated closely with committees and members of the National
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Bituminous Coal Advisory Council in reappraising the Nation’s coal reserves and devising methods of increasing the rate of recovery and conservation of domestic coal resources.
Papers by Bureau coal specialists were presented at the International Conference on Coal Preparation in Paris during June 1950.
Synthetic Liquid Fuels
In the Bureau’s synthetic liquid fuels research and development program advances were made toward the production of competitive products from oil shale and coal, process improvements and further reductions in the cost of mining oil shale leading the way.
Oil from coal.—At Louisiana, Mo., major activities in the new coal-to-oil demonstration plants shifted from design and construction to completion of equipment installations, testing, and initial operations.
In the 200- and 300-barrel-a-day coal-hydrogenation plant break-in and initial operating runs were completed successfully in the liquidphase section, where the coal is liquefied, and in the vapor-phase section, where the liquefied coal is converted to gasoline and other products.
Construction of the final units of the 80- to 100-barrel-a-day gassynthesis plant was completed. Two units, the oxygen producer and the coal gasifier, made trial runs while construction proceeded on the gas purification and synthesis units.
Many engineering and cost studies for plants of commercial scale were completed during the year, and an investigation was undertaken on the chemical byproducts of synthetic fuels produced from coal and oil shale, including benzene, phenol, and other chemicals now relatively scarce.
At Bruceton, Pa., the work of the coal-to-oil laboratories and pilot plants centered on the development of new and improved processes for the synthesis of liquid fuels from the gas produced from coal and by the direct hydrogenation of coal. Two synthesis pilot plants were operated, as were liquid- and vapor-phase coal-hydrogenation pilot plants. Research disclosed a direct method for converting an alcohol into the next higher alcohol (containing one more carbon atom), a discovery of marked commercial importance. Laboratory tests to discover new, more readily available catalysts as reactive as tin in coal hydrogenation have shown that impregnating coal with such materials as ferrous sulfate, nickel chloride, and ammonium molybdate is highly effective.
At Gorgas, Ala., the Bureau of Mines and the Alabama Power Co. made significant progress in their second field-scale experiment in the underground gasification of coal. No difficulty was encountered in
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maintaining combustion, and more than 3,000 tons of coal were burned without finding a limit to the quantity that can be consumed from an area surrounding a given initial entry.
In the synthesis-gas-production laboratories at Morgantown, W. Va., the problem of producing cheaply the carbon monoxide and hydrogen required in synthetic-fuel manufacture was under attack from another quarter. A small pilot plant successfully gasified virtually any kind of coal, regardless of ash or sulfur content. A gas-purification pilot plant was completed and operated.
Oil from oil shale —Near Rifle, Colo., low-cost methods and equipment were developed for mining one of the world’s greatest fuel deposits—the Green River oil-shale formation of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming. In a public test run in the Bureau’s completely mechanized experimental mine, 32,560 tons of shale was mined at a direct cost (excluding depreciation, general office expense, and overhead) of only 29 cents a ton. The average production rate, establishing a new high for underground operations, was 148 tons per man-shift of underground labor, or 116 tons per man-shift of total labor. Substantial progress was made in all phases of the mining research program, particularly in those problems associated with the drilling and blasting of oil shale.
In the nearby oil-shale demonstration plant research was centered on retorting and refining problems. Shale gasoline and Diesel fuel produced in the new refinery unit were burned with good performance in automobiles, buses, Diesel trucks, and other equipment.
Ten cooperative agreements with industry and educational institutions to supply oil shale, shale oil, and shale-oil products for experimental work were added to 25 already in effect.
At Laramie, Wyo., the Bureau studied the composition of oil shale and shale oil and developed new methods of processing and using these materials. Hydrogenation was found to be the most practicable known method of refining shale oil to reduce the sulfur and nitrogen content and yield good-quality fuels, and shale oil was found to contain large amounts of valuable chemicals.
Petroleum and Natural Gas
With petroleum supply again adequate for present demands, the Bureau directed its petroleum research toward further increasing ultimate oil recoveries from known fields and toward the wiser and more effective use of the vast quantities of oil now produced.
Studies of water flooding as one method for recovering more oil were continued. A completed survey of all water-flood projects in north Texas and a detailed study of some in Kansas will guide opera
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tors in extending present projects and initiating new ones. Used successfully for several years in the Appalachian region, an intermittent method for flowing oil wells on gas-injection projects was introduced to the midcontinent area by the Bureau as another method of increasing production and reducing costs. A study of the Brennenman, W. Va., field disclosed that 350,000 additional barrels of oil will be recovered from secondary recovery operations.
Engineering studies of oil and gas fields in Pennsylvania, West Virginia, Oklahoma, Kansas, Texas, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, and California were continued, and a study of the Nation’s third largest gas field—the Carthage field in Texas—was concluded. Analyses of oil samples from fields producing the more volatile liquids disclosed that present estimates of total liquid reserves in such fields will have to be revised upward as much as 100 percent in some instances. Field tests showed operators of natural-gas wells how to make large savings through proper control of periodic blowing of wells to remove water. To effect sizable savings on costs arising from freezing and other problems, natural-gas pipeline companies installed still more water-vapor dew-point recorders developed by the Bureau.
A complete study of the thermodynamic properties of nine important normal paraffin hydrocarbons was completed. In cooperation with industry a broad program on the production, isolation, and purification of sulfur compounds gained momentum. To satisfy the ever-increasing demand for crude-oil analyses, the Bureau made more than 200 routine crude-oil assays on both domestic and foreign crude oils, and information on properties of asphalts from Rocky Mountain crude oils was compiled. Nitrogen contents of 153 domestic oils were determined and correlated with the geological origin and carbon residue of the oils. In cooperation with the American Petroleum Institute the Bureau published periodic surveys of the quality of commercial mtor gasolines, aviation gasolines, and Diesel fuels.
Adequate fuel supplies in 1949 presented new problems in the competition for markets and emphasized the need for new types of factual information and expansion of old. Statistical measures of the regional movement of petroleum products by pipeline and rail were developed, as were data on offshore shipments of petroleum by the military services. More detailed information on petroleum was released to the public, and statistical procedures used for reporting operations on the Pacific coast were revised and improved.
Monthly publication of World Petroleum Statistics was begun, to provide information on crude-oil supply and demand and on production of the principal refined products by the countries of the world.
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Helium
Helium production increased 17 percent to a total of 63,311,003 cubic feet, all from the Bureau’s plant at Exell, Tex. This reflected an increase of 27 percent in demands for helium for commercial and medical use that totaled 20,030,992 cubic feet. Shipments to Federal agencies increased more than 30 percent. Revised helium regulations, amended to facilitate the sale of helium for commercial use, were approved by the President on December 3, 1949.
More than half of the total shipments for the year had a purity of 99.9 percent, supplied mainly for use in helium-shielded arc welding. Characteristics of additional oil and gas reservoirs were determined by the use of helium as a tracer gas, and research progressed on the liquefaction of helium and the use of helium in welding of metals and alloys.
Explosives and Explosions Research and Testing
Explosives.—Seeking further reduction in the hazards associated with explosives, the Bureau conducted approximately 1,680 tests on permissible explosives, special explosives, and hazardous chemicals. The active list of permissible explosives decreased to 174 by the shift of 38 explosives to the inactive list and the addition of 15 to the active list. The quantity of explosives used in coal mines decreased approximately 28 percent under that in the previous year, but the ratio between the use of permissible explosives and black powder remained almost constant.
The study of simultaneous and short-delay multiple blasting of coal was extended to include a study of the vibrations of the mine roof during such blasting. Testing was continued on the safety characteristics of incombustible stemming devices, and research disclosed that a permissible explosive can ignite a preformed cloud of coal dust. The relationship between the fundamental characteristics of military and commercial types of explosives and the breakage produced in various types of rock was explored.
Gas and dust explosions.—The Bureau continued its program to eliminate dust-explosion hazards by determining the explosibility of approximately 75 dust samples. The relative effectiveness of various diaphragm materials for the relief of explosion pressures was evaluated, providing data that can minimize damage from dust explosions.
In an effort to achieve greater safety in industrial use of gases and vapors the ignition temperatures and limits of flammability in air for a number of industrially important compounds were found, as were
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the quantities of inert gases required to make several of the gases nonflammable. Relationships for rendering natural gas-air mixtures nonflammable at high pressures were worked out. To eliminate a critical industrial hazard, a method was developed for stabilizing acetylene gas by adding other flammable gases.
In the Bureau’s research program on the ignition and propagation of flame certain phenomena of turbulent combustion not only were qualitatively explained but also were shown to be amenable to quantitative computations. Irregular propagation of flames under conditions supposedly conducive to regular propagation was discovered.
SAFETY AND HEALTH ACTIVITIES
The Bureau of Mines is the only Federal agency responsible for improving safety and health conditions in the mines and plants of the mineral industries. For four decades it has discharged this responsibility, one of its oldest, by (1) conducting research and investigations to obtain fundamental and specific knowledge of hazards encountered in the industries and ways of correcting them and by (2) providing education and training for workmen and officials so that they will be able to put the knowledge gained to practical use. To these two approaches a third was added in 1941—inspections, to identify the hazards existing in individual coal mines and provide a factual basis for corrective recommendations.
Investigations and tests.—The two principal hazards in coal mining are falls of roof and coal and haulage operations. Together, they have for years caused more than half the Nation’s coal-mine fatalities. During the fiscal year the Bureau continued its intensive attack upon the problem of roof support and prepared for a similar study of coalmine haulage methods and practices.
An outstanding contribution to the reduction in roof-fall injuries has been the introduction by the Bureau of roof bolts to supplement or supplant conventional timbering in coal mines. By the close of the fiscal year roof bolting had been adopted in 354 coal mines, where an estimated 37,260,000 square feet of mine roof was secured with approximately 2,170,000 bolts. Roof bolting also was applied in 19 noncoal mines, in which 255,380 bolts were used to secure 5,267,600 square feet of roof.
Research work on roof bolting was done both in the field and in the laboratory. In efforts to solve some of the technical problems involved in this rapidly spreading method of roof support tentative standards were established for torque to be applied in roof bolting. A centrifugal testing laboratory was established and equipped with a centrifuge of 2-foot working radius, capable of developing a field of 2,500 times gravity, for use in testing models of mine structures
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under body loading. In the field, meanwhile, a cooperative project was begun at the Dehue, W. Va., coal mine of the Youngstown Mines Corp., to determine the safest and most efficient method of roof bolting. Color photography of the inside of boreholes is being used experimentally in this work. Other field studies involve the use of the stratascope to determine strata separation, torqueometer readings to determine bolt tension, roof painting to determine efficiency in preventing the disintegration of mine roof, and the adoption of roof bolting where pillars are being extracted.
Plans were completed for establishing a special group to study haulage problems in a similar manner. Its first task will be to gather information on haulage practices in coal mines, make a thorough study of injuries charged to haulage, and publish the data gathered so that the industry may be better equipped to overcome haulage hazards.
Throughout the fiscal year the Bureau continued its efforts to increase electrical and mechanical safety in coal mines. These activities included (1) investigation of electrically operated machines and appliances to determine whether they are so constructed as to minimize gas- and dust-ignition hazards as well as the risk of electrical shock, (2) investigation of Diesel-engine-operated mine locomotives and equipment with respect to safety of operation in mines, and (3) research on the cause and prevention of accidents injuring men working with or around equipment.
This work consists mainly of inspections and tests to determine whether various new types of machines and appliances meet Bureau of Mines standards (issued as schedules) prescribing the safety features that should be built into equipment designed for use in gassy coal mines. Equipment must meet these standards before the Bureau will formally approve it as “permissible,” indicating that under prescribed conditions it is safe for use in gassy mines. Approvals are granted under 10 different schedules.
Seventy-two formal approvals of equipment were granted during the fiscal year. This number indicates a continually increasing demand for permissible equipment, largely the result of Federal coal-mine inspections. Tests to determine flame-resisting qualities were made on 64 trailing cables. To permit changes in approved electrical equipment, 194 formal and 1,403 informal extensions of approval were granted under 10 different schedules.
Health.___The Bureau’s efforts to improve health conditions in the
mineral industries centered largely upon studies of atmospheric conditions in mines and plants. More than 17,000 gas and dust samples were analyzed during the year. They were collected in coal, metal, oil-shale, limestone, and potash mines; in tunnels under construction; in connection with investigative work for the military sei vices; in
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connection with the investigation of accidents; and in various laboratory studies. Bureau engineers used the results of these analyses and examinations as a basis for recommendations to correct or prevent hazards from flammable or toxic gases or from harmful airborne dusts to improve mine ventilation and to determine progress in extinguishing sealed mine fires.
Eight new approvals and twenty-five extensions of approval were granted for respiratory protective devices during the year. Many consultations with representatives of manufacturers of respiratory devices were held to aid in developing equipment meeting the requirements of the Bureau of Mines approval system. Almost universal acceptance and requirement of Bureau-approved devices by industries, insurance companies, and governmental agencies attest the signficance of this work.
The Bureau also continued literature research and the compilation, coordination, and documentation of scientific information relating to industrial hygiene and preventive medicine in the mining and allied industries.
Accident analysis.—Demand for the Bureau’s current reports on injury records of the mineral industries continued to increase with the growth of interest in accident prevention in mines and quarries. In addition to the regular injury analyses on an industry basis, the Bureau prepared many special analyses of injury data for use in planning and directing the safety-engineering and inspection work of Federal and State agencies, producers’ associations, labor groups, and operating companies. A record total of 903 mineral plants enrolled in the safety competitions for 1949, which marked the twentyfifth anniversary of these annual contests. Demand for data on the consumption and ingredients of industrial explosives also continued to grow.
. Safety education.—Although the coal-mine inspection program of the Bureau has contributed largely to the downward trend in accident rates during the past 8 years, it can reach its peak effectiveness only if mine supervisors and miners know enough about modern concepts of coal-mine safety to recognize a hazardous condition or practice when they encounter it and to take the proper steps to correct it. The Bureau provides them with an opportunity to obtain this knowledge through coal-mine accident-prevention courses, one designed for supervisors and another for miners.
The popularity of these courses is shown by the number of persons who attend the classes voluntarily. Since the revised course for supervisors was first offered in March 1948, 8,707 mine officials have completed it, 5,330 of them during the fiscal year. It is estimated that about 50,000 supervisors are employed in and around United
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States coal mines. The revised course for miners was introduced in January 1947, and 23,548 miners had completed it through the close of the fiscal year. The demand for this course is growing, but the number of classes conducted is limited by the number of coalmine inspectors who can be spared for this work. The metal-mine accident-prevention course was given to 985 persons who completed it and to 243 who received some training during the fiscal year. The petroleum-gas course was completed by 145 persons and partly completed by 87.
During the fiscal year 32,734 employees of mining and allied industries were given first-aid and mine rescue training, bringing the total persons who have completed such courses since the establishment of the Bureau to 1,770,528. With the training of 226 instructors, more than 18,230 persons throughout the country have become qualified to teach the Bureau of Mines first-aid course. During the fiscal year 72 mines and plants were awarded certificates showing that all employees had been trained in first aid.
Coal-wblne inspections.—The fiscal year 1950 was the eighth full year of Federal inspection of coal mines under authority of the Coal-Mine Inspection Act of 1941 (Public Law 49, 77th Cong.). While this period represents only a fifth of the Bureau’s life, it is long enough to permit an evaluation of the effectiveness of this channel of approaching the problem of reducing the hazards of coal mining. As the chief purpose of the act is to reduce the number of coal-mine accidents, both absolutely and in relation to the number of man-hours worked, by calling the attention of miners and operators to hazardous conditions and practices, the trend of coal-mine injury rates provides a gage of the value of the work carried on under it.
The upward trend in coal-mine fatalities per million man-hours of exposure during the 9 years before the passage of the act was reversed in 1942 and has continued to decline steadily. The 1949 fatality rates of 0.85 per million man-hours of exposure for anthracite mines and 0.98 per million man-hours for bituminous-coal mines were the lowest ever attained by the industry. Nonfatal-injury rates also are declining. The rate of 75.18 nonfatal injuries per million man-hours of exposure in Pennsylvania anthracite mines achieved during 1949 set a new low. Perhaps the most significant attainment, from the viewpoint of the general public, is that at the time this report was written in August 1950 there had been no major coal-mine disaster—defined as one causing five or more deaths—since November 4, 1948. This is the longest disaster-free period in the statistical history of American coal mining.
These favorable records cannot rightfully be attributed to the sole efforts of any one group or agency. Coal-mine safety requires the
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wholehearted cooperation of operators, miners, and State and Federal agencies working together for a common end. However, it is generally recognized that Federal activities under the Coal-Mine Inspection Act have proved a powerful influence in focusing the attention of all concerned upon the importance of safety and health in mines.
Approximately 8,000 coal mines were operated more or less regularly during the fiscal year. The 250 Federal inspectors allotted visited 5,674 of them and made 8,183 inspections in all. This brought the number of inspections completed since the inception of the program to 33,615. An individual report on each coal-mine inspection is prepared. Besides recording all unsafe conditions and practices observed and making recommendations for correcting them, the inspector credits the mine with all safety improvements made since the previous inspections. Copies of each report are sent to the mine operator, the officials of the mine workers’ union, the State mining agency, and the Joint Industry Safety Committee.
Although the records show a decline in coal-mine accidents, much remains to be done before injury rates in coal mining will be in line with those of other major industries. Lack of attention to imminent dangers is revealed by the fact that 41 percent of the Federal inspections made during the fiscal year disclosed serious hazards. Only 30 percent of the Federal inspectors’ recommendations were followed during the year.
Aside from inspecting coal mines, the Bureau’s principal activity under the Coal-Mine Inspection Act is to investigate all coal-mine fatalities. Made possible by a decrease in the number of fatal accidents and modest increases in the number of inspectors, these investigations were begun on February 10, 1950. Complete fatality reports are prepared for distribution to all persons who receive copies of the regular inspection reports. The information obtained is published from time to time. It should assist the industry in planning future accident-prevention programs.
Control of fires in inactive coal deposits.—Another relatively new activity of the Bureau in the field of safety and health is the control of fires in coal deposits not now being mined. This work was first undertaken in the fiscal year 1949, and considerable progress has been made already. Before that time the Bureau could only investigate such fires and make recommendations for controlling them, even though they have caused the loss of thousands of acres of valuable coal reserves, damaged or destroyed considerable surface property, and menaced the life and health of persons living nearby.
Since funds for combating such fires first became available, 17 have been or are in process of being controlled; 8 of these are on the public domain in Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, and the remaining
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9 are on private lands in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. I he Government pays the entire cost of controlling fires on the public domain. However, if a coal fire on private lands is to be controlled, the owner or owners must contribute a third of the cost.
The work of controlling these fires is done under contract and under the supervision of Bureau engineers. It is planned to control numerous other fires in coal beds on the public domain in Western States as funds become available. In the interest of conserving an irreplaceable natural resource the program should be continued until all known coal-bed fires are under control.
Anthracite flood prevention.—During the fiscal year the Buieau carried forward a study to find a feasible method to prevent the loss of all or a large part of the Pennsylvania anthracite reserves through flooding by underground and surface water.
One phase of the mine-water problem in the Northern field of the anthracite region is presented by the buried valley (filled ancient channels) of the Susquehanna River. The present river channel is above those of the ancient waterway, which the north branch of the Susquehanna has filled with clay, sand, and gravel. This valley fill is waterbearing and irregular in shape and depth. The deposited material generally ranges from 100 to 150 feet in depth, in places exceeding 300 feet. The coal measures or anthracite-bearing formations lie beneath and outcrop beneath and at the sides of these deposits.
A study is being made of the coal barrier pillars left underground to support the overburden in about 186 anthracite collieries. This involves the investigation of 6,000 barrier pillars.
An investigation is also underway to obtain the data necessary foi estimating the anthracite reserves of the Northern, Western Middle, and Southern fields. This will cover 186 collieries that may be di ained by any tunnel or central pumping-plant scheme that might be adopted.
One proposed method of unwatering the anthracite mines involx es construction of a concrete-lined tunnel system to drain all the anthracite fields into the Susquehanna River near Conowingo, Md. From Conowingo to the vicinity of Mahanoy City, Pa., the proposed system would consist of two parallel tunnels of horseshoe cross section, each 13 by 13 feet and each having a capacity of 350,000 gallons per minute at a gradient of 2 feet to the mile. From Mahanoy City to Glen Lyon, Pa., where the system would intersect the Northern field, each tunnel would have a cross section of 11 by 11 feet and a capacity of 20,000 gallons per minute at a gradient of 1.44 feet per mile.
There would be 103 miles of main twin tunnels from Conowingo to Glen Lyon and 123 miles of double laterals from the main tunnels to drain the separate fields. Cross-over connections are proposed for the parallel tunnels so that either could handle the full flow in times
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of low water while the other was being inspected and repaired. These cross-overs are proposed for the points where the lateral intersect the main tunnels.
This proposed tunnel method of draining the anthracite mines of Pennsylvania is of such magnitude that the only present engineering projects of similar nature comparable to it are the Croton and Delaware aqueducts, supplying water to the city of New York, the Hetch Hetchy system of water supply for the city of San Francisco, and the Los Angeles aqueduct supplying water to Los Angeles.
AIR AND STREAM POLLUTION
Problems resulting from the discharge of industrial wastes into the air and into streams, which the Bureau from its inception had been studying to a limited extent, became so serious that at the beginning of the fiscal year a special office was set up to direct and coordinate all activities in this field. The importance of this work had been emphasized in October 1948 by the death of 20 persons and the illness of nearly 6,000 resulting from a smog that hung over Donora, Pa., for 5 days.
To focus attention upon the need for preventing air pollution and to bring together the best-qualified scientists and legal authorities to discuss technical and legal problems involved, the Secretary of the Interior approved a proposal for a United States Technical Conference on Air Pollution. The conference, authorized by the President in a letter to the Secretary dated December 10, 1949, was planned by an interdepartmental group on which were represented the Bureau of Mines, the Public Health Service, the Atomic Energy Commission, the Bureau of Standards, the Weather Bureau, and the National Defense Establishment.
The Conference, first of its kind to be called in the United States, met in Washington on May 3, 4, and 5, 1950. Registration exceeded 750, and the conferees included outstanding scientific and technical representatives of universities, industry, and Federal, State, and local governments throughout the country. The United Kingdom, Canada, and the Netherlands also were represented. The work of the Conference was divided among seven panels: Agriculture, analytical methods and properties, equipment, health, instrumentation, legislation, and meteorology. These panels met simultaneously for 2 days. The third and final day was devoted to plenary sessions.
Asking that the Federal Government continue its interest and support in solving air-pollution problems, the conference adopted a resolution requesting the formation of an advisory council on air pollution, to be composed of representatives of research and educational institutions, industry, and appropriate Federal, State, and local agen
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cies. The proposed advisory council would correlate the activities of all interested agencies and groups and develop a program aimed at the effective and expeditious solution of all air-pollution problems.
The interdepartmental committee has met twice since the conference to consider publication of the proceedings and to discuss the make-up of the proposed advisory council on air pollution.
During the year the Bureau assisted in technical studies of air pollution at Beaumont, Tex., and Los Angeles, Calif. A cooperative agreement was concluded in June 1950 between the Bureau and the airpollution control district of Los Angeles County providing that the Bureau furnish four or five members of its staff to the district for air-pollution studies for not more than 6 months. Another cooperative agreement, for the development of equipment capable of disposing of radioactive combustion products safely, was entered into between the Bureau and the Atomic Energy Commission.
Three reports relating to acid mine waters were being edited as the fiscal year ended.
PUBLIC REPORTS
The volume of publications prepared and issued decreased somewhat from the previous fiscal year, largely reflecting the smaller number of descriptions of mineral deposits investigated by the Bureau submitted for publication in 1950. The backlog of technical reports and papers that had been withheld during World War II for security reasons had been virtually absorbed.
To fulfill its responsibility for keeping the mineral industries and the public abreast of trends and developments, the Bureau disseminated its scientific, technologic, and economic information among those to whom it would be of value. At the same time, to conserve funds, the number of copies of each report was held to a minimum.
Results of the Bureau’s investigations were distributed in the form of printed and processed reports, in papers before scientific, technical, and trade organizations, and in contributions to the technical and trade journals. In summary, 680 manuscripts were edited during the year, compared with 753 during the previous fiscal year. These included 17 bulletins, 117 Minerals Yearbook chapters and indexes, and 19 miscellaneous items, such as handbooks and monthly and cumulative lists of publications—a total of 153 printed reports. In addition, there were 132 reports of investigations, 45 information circulars, and 37 other manuscripts, including Mineral Trade Notes and special reports for the State Department and other agencies. Reports for presentation before technical societies and for publication in the trade press totaled 313. Indexes of nearly 4,000 items each were prepared for Mineral Yearbooks 1947 and 1948, and indexes of subjects and
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authors that accompanied the text of the cumulative list of publications totaled approximately 33,000 items. The Senate hearings on the Interior Department appropriation bill were indexed for the eighth year.
The number of showings of films from the Bureau’s free loan library of educational motion pictures established another all-time record during the fiscal year. Bureau films were exhibited a total of 174,308 times, an increase of 15 percent or 22,411 over the 1949 record of 151,897 showings, itself an all-time high and 14 percent above the number of showings during the preceding fiscal year. The total attendance at showings during the fiscal year 1950 was 12,465,034, up 19 percent from the preceding year. In addition, television audiences that saw Bureau films during the year are estimated to total 10,545,000, up 52 percent from the preceding year.
A total of 758 new copies of films were added to the film library during the year, and 738 copies were withdrawn, owing to obsolescence and ordinary wear. At the end of the year, 6,274 copies of motionpicture films were in circulation, a slight decrease from the 6,277 copies circulating at the end of the preceding fiscal year. These figures break down into net decreases of 21 percent in the number of copies and 27 percent in the number of reels of silent films and net increases of 7 percent in the number of copies and 4 percent in the number of reels of sound films.
Three new films became available for circulation during the fiscal year. They were Missouri and Its Natural Resources, The Oxy-Acetylene Flame—Master of Metals, and The Story of Lubricating Oil.
Bureau of Mines educational films are available in 16-millimeter width, all in sound except for a few of the earlier ones, and many in color. Like all films in the Bureau’s free loan library, those added during the fiscal year 1950 were sponsored by industrial concerns, which defrayed all expenses incidental to production and provided the Bureau with enough copies for distribution to schools, colleges, training classes, the armed services, business and civic groups, and other recognized organizations. No charge is made for the loan of films, but the borrower pays transportation charges and for any damage other than ordinary wear and tear.
ADMINISTRATION SUMMARY
During the fiscal year 1950 a comprehensive reorganization of the Bureau of Mines was effected, which was designed to improve efficiency of management and operation and to give greater emphasis to the economics of mineral resources and to the development and conservation of regional resources.
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The headquarters staff is responsible for planning program and project proposals as well as developing and correlating programs for the regions that have an over-all national scope. Such programs, when approved by the Director of the Bureau, are executed under the supervision of regional directors, and the work performed is subject to review and suggestions by the headquarters staff.
The field organization consists of nine regional offices, each headed by a regional director who is responsible to the Director of the Bureau for all activities in the region. Region I covers Alaska; each of regions II to VIII, inclusive, covers several States; and region IX carries on the Bureau’s programs with respect to foreign minerals. Within each region are field units performing specialized parts of the Bureau’s operations, which report to the regional office. These units consist of experiment stations, laboratories, offices of several types, and, in some regions, pilot plants, demonstration plants, and helium-production plants. The field organization varies from region to region, both as to the organization of the regional office and the types of field units, depending on the mineral resources in the region and the Bureau’s programs with respect to such minerals.
Authority has been delegated to the various regional directors and to some principal field stations to make appointments and status changes in positions which have been allocated and established as well as to fill vacancies vice such positions and to take additional identical actions on such positions. This authority has been delegated to the field for all positions in GS-1 through GS-7; CPC-1 through CPC-10; and all ungraded positions.
The Office of the Bureau Safety Engineer is charged with the formulation and direction of a program to improve the health and injury experience of employees. There are now six full-time safety engineers and one safety inspector in the three synthetic liquid fuels plants. At each of four stations, two helium plants, and two metallurgical laboratories an employee functions as safety engineer besides carrying on his regular duties.
The injury-frequency rate (the number of disabling injuries per million man-hours of work) was 12.8 for the calendar year 1949. This value is 22 percent lower than for 1948, 26 percent lower than the 5-year average, and 17 percent lower than the lowest for the last 7 years. The severity rate (the number of days of disability per thousand man-hours of work) was 1.67 for the year 1949. Fire losses continued remarkably low both in number and extent of damage. Motor-vehicle accidents in 1949 were fewer by 17 percent than in 1948, and property damage was lower by 52 percent.
After 3 years of concerted effort the fourth year of the general program has shown encouraging improvement in the health and safety of Bureau of Mines employees.
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PERSONNEL
On June 30, 1950, there were 4,505 full-time employees in the Bureau of Mines, distributed as follows:
Table 1.—Classification and number of appointees
	GS i	CPC 2	Total
Departmental 		522 3, 021	10 952	532 3,973
Field				
Total			 .			
	3,543	962	4,505
			
i Includes instrument makers, safety instructors, laboratory aids, assistants, etc.
2 Includes laborers, mechanics, messengers, wage employees, etc.
FINANCE
The total funds available to the Bureau of Mines for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1950, including direct appropriations, departmental allotments, reappropriated balances, and sums transferred from other departments for service work, were $36,773,799. Of this amount, $26,351,227 was expended, leaving an unexpended balance of $10,422,-572. On the regular work of the Bureau, $23,807,238 was expended. These figures are subject to revision because of unpaid obligations.
Table 2 presents classified information regarding the financial history of the Bureau for the fiscal years ended June 30, 1947-51.
Table 2.—Bureau of Mines appropriations and expenditures, fiscal years ended June 30, 1947-51
Fiscal year	Appropriated toU Bureau of Mines	Departmental allot-ments j|	Funds transferred from other departments!	jTotal funds W available < for expenditures	Unexpended balances	Total expenditures	Expenditures, exclusive of service item 1
1947		$16,000, 515 18, 714,181 27,020, 990 «33, 710,778 34, 592,031	$7,800 6,500 6,000 302,819 200, 000	$1, 641,243 3,068, 284 3, 732, 667 2, 760, 202 1,340, 922	2'$26,052, 579 I? 21, 788, 965 4 30, 759,657 » 36, 773,799 7 36,133, 753	3 $10,114,009 4 1, 623, 519 f » 2, 467,388 ’10, 422, 572	$15, 938, 570 20,165,446 28, 292, 296 26,351, 227	$14,885,652 18, 769, 286 25, 996,102 23, 807, 238
1948								
1949								
1950								
1951								
							
1	Service items include helium and other investigations and services for other departments.
2	Includes $3,176,386 unexpended balance reappropriated, and balance of $457,684 receipts from sale of helium and other products.
3	Includes $6,501,988 unexpended balance reappropriated, and balance of $800,727 receipts from sale of helium and other products.
4	Includes $81,471 unexpended balance reappropriated, and balance of $720,155 receipts from sale of helium and other products.
‘ Includes $913,300 unexpended balance reappropriated, and balance of $672,322 receipts from sale of helium and other products.
6	Includes contract authorizations $7,150,000.
7	Includes $2,443,780 unexpended balance reappropriated, balance of $763,451 receipts from sale of helium and other products, and $7,150,000 contract authorizations unappropriated.
Table 3 gives a statement of the distribution of congressional appropriations to the divisions and branches and the expenditure of these funds in 1950 by Bureau divisions.
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Table 3.—Bureau of Mines expenditures, fiscal year 1950
907639—51----13
See footnotes at end of table.
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Table 3.—Bureau of Mines expenditures, fiscal year 1950—Continued
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Table 3.—Bureau of Mines expenditures, fiscal year 1950—Continued
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PROPERTY
Property records of the Bureau of Mines, as of June 30, 1950, show accounts as follows:
Automobiles and trucks__________________________________$i, 508, 432. 81
Canvas and leather goods________________________________ 19, 246. 95
Drafting and engineering instruments____________________ 87,134. 52
Electrical equipment____________________________________ 304,856.41
Hardware and tools______________________________________ 393, 046. 91
Household equipment_____________________________________ 90, 417.19
Laboratory equipment------------------------------------ 5,057,224.83
Medical equipment_______________________________________ 39 212.18
Office furniture and equipment__________________________ 1, 481, 879. 40
Photographic apparatus__________________________________ 141, 793. 37
Machinery and power-plant equipment_____________________ 5, 450, 463.19
Land, buildings, and improvements_______________________ 28, 876, 807. 06
Rescue cars and specialized apparatus___________________ 557,269. 80
Total-----------------------------------------44, 007, 754. 62
This property is in Washington and at the various field stations and offices of the Bureau.
Geological Survey
W. E. Wrather, Director
☆ ☆ ☆
Ever-increasing standards of living are the result of the expanding economy of our Nation, and the metals and minerals for machines, fuels for power and heat, and the water for power, irrigation, industry, and the home must be found in ever-increasing amounts. The focal point of the Government’s activity in the discovery, evaluation, development, and conservation of the Nation’s mineral and water resources is found in the Geological Survey. As these resources come from the earth, a thorough knowledge of the principles of geology and engineering is required to meet the demands upon the supply of these materials. The hundreds of projects carried on during the year involve surveys, investigations, mapping, gaging of streams and measurement of underground waters, and a research program designed to achieve new and improved methods and tools for doing the job. However, our information on nearly three-fourths of our country is not adequate for present needs and, at the prevailing schedule, up to 100 years will be required to complete these programs.
GEOLOGIC DIVISION
The program of the Geologic Division carried out under funds regularly appropriated to the Geological Survey was slightly larger than in the previous year, but emphasis continued on surveys and appraisal of the Nation’s mineral and mineral-fuel resources. An important development during the year was the expansion of the effort devoted to appraisal of coal resources. Summary reports on coal resources of seven States were either completed or in progress at the end of the year. A start was made toward bringing the program into better balance by enlarging somewhat the staff of consulting specialists in the field of paleontology and stratigraphy and increasing the laboratory space available for their work.
As in the previous year more than half of the work of the Division was done at the request of other Federal agencies and was supported by transferred funds. These activities included geologic surveys and other geologic work of a specialized nature for the Atomic Energy Commission, the Army and Navy, the State Department, and the Economic Cooperation Administration. Work for the ECA, which includes geologic surveys and special assignments in many foreign coun
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tries, was increased during the year, and an effort was made to prepare for a considerably larger foreign program in the immediate future.
Mineral Deposits
In order to support a rapidly expanding economy, the Nation’s mineral resources must be appraised and new deposits discovered to meet deficiencies and replace deposits being exhausted. In the field of appraisal, the work in the fiscal year 1950 included the preparation of reports distributed to various Federal agencies on certain specific resources and a map showing the geologic environment of the alumina resources of the Columbia River Basin. Studies of the position of the United States with respect to copper, graphite, and talc resources were started. Plans for the immediate future include detailed studies of the resources of more than 12 strategic mineral commodities.
The field program included 91 projects designed to provide geologic data and tools needed for the most effective search for new deposits by private industry and public agencies. The projects had varying emphasis among a group of related objectives, which included detailed geologic mapping and related studies of mining districts, extension of similar studies into undeveloped but potentially mineralized areas, development and testing of new techniques for finding ore, basic research leading to a better understanding of how mineral deposits were formed, drilling and other forms of exploration to obtain geologic information and test structural interpretations and theories of ore concentration, and the compilation of maps and the preparation of comprehensive descriptions covering broad areas or many kinds of deposits. Well over half the program was focused on strategic minerals, special emphasis being placed on commodities and areas about which knowledge is most deficient and on areas that offer the best chances for new discoveries of importance. Exploration for uranium and vanadium deposits on the Colorado Plateau continued on a large scale with funds supplied by the Atomic Energy Commission. Other projects were supported in part by funds transferred by other Federal agencies and by seven States. The base metals copper, lead, and zinc were the chief commodities involved in 29 projects in various States; manganese, chromite, and other ferroalloys were investigated in 9 projects in seven States; and iron ore deposits were studied in Michigan, New York, New Jersey, and Utah. Other metals investigated included mercury, gold, and silver. Among the non-metals, the chief emphasis was on phosphate deposits in Florida, Idaho, and Montana; beryllium, mica, and other pegmatite minerals in the Black Hills and in the Eastern and Rocky Mountain States; potash in New Mexico; talc in New York and Vermont; and monazite
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	171
in the Southeastern States. Attention was also focused on bentonite and other clays, bauxite, and numerous other nonmetallic commodities. Eleven projects involved exploratory diamond drilling. The full economic value of these studies will not be known for several years but the results to date are promising. For instance, recent Survey drilling in the Wisconsin lead-zinc district disclosed zinc mineralization of minable grade in part of the district now inactive. Significant zinc mineralization was also discovered in rock layers below those previously considered favorable for mineralization.
The Survey’s continuing research program on geochemical methods of prospecting has reached the stage of practical value to the mining industry. At least eight mining companies to date have undertaken geochemical prospecting projects of their own, in some cases with notable success, which were based in large part on methods developed by the Survey.
Publications in the field of mineral deposits during the year included five professional papers, seven bulletins, and three circulars covering a wide range of topics, such as the structural geology of a large area in Nevada ; the pegmatites of Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah; the geology of a number of areas mineralized with manganese, chromite, iron, precious metals, phosphate, corundum, and other metallic and nonmetallic commodities; and other topics of general and technical interest. About a dozen other reports by Survey personnel were published by cooperating State agencies, and 19 reports were published in professional journals. In addition, 22 reports and maps were made available to the public in libraries in various parts of the country.
Petroleum and Natural Gas
The Geological Survey has continued to provide basic geologic data for parts of the country that offer promise of additional discoveries of oil and gas. Investigations have been directed mainly toward the acquisition of regional data on geologic conditions that would aid in the search for oil and gas in known and possible producing areas, as such information lays the foundation for exploration by the petroleum industry. During the year 54 projects were in operation in 23 States.
Twelve maps and charts providing basic data as an aid to oil and gas exploration in the Rocky Mountain region, in parts of Oregon and California, northeastern Texas and in Eastern States including parts of Virginia, West Virginia, eastern Kentucky, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and New York, were published during the year. More than 20,000 copies of the available maps and charts were purchased by the public. Twenty-three reports were also transmitted for publication by State geological surveys or in technical and trade journals.
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Oil Shale
The Geological Survey continued its studies of the oil shale deposits in northwestern Colorado that are a potential source of large quantities of liquid fuel. An examination of the oil shale resources of most of the Piceance Creek basin to determine the distribution, thickness, and reserves has been completed, and reports are in preparation. Field work is being continued in the north and central parts of the basin to complete the geologic mapping of the deposits.
Coal
Coal constitutes such a large part of our total national energy resources that a sound and adequate knowledge of our coal deposits is essential. The Geological Survey has undertaken for the past several years expanded work on the coal resources of the country in two closely integrated programs. Summary reappraisals by States of all available data on coal reserves are being prepared, and the basic detailed geologic surveys, on which the accuracy and validity of all estimates of reserves depend, are being carried on in Pennsylvania, Kentucky, Indiana, New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, and Washington. Information is obtained on reserves; the distribution, attitude, and thickness of the beds; and the amount of overburden. Published results of these investigations provide new bases for planning the most effective development of coal.
During the year a report was published on the reappraisal of the coal reserves in Montana, and a complementary map of Montana showing the outcrops of known coal beds classified according to thickness was in press on June 30, 1950. A summary report on the coal reserves in Michigan was also in press at the end of the year, and reports on the coal reserves of Wyoming and New Mexico were in final stages of preparation. A summary appraisal of the coal reserves in Indiana and North Dakota are in progress.
A new coal geology laboratory was placed in operation late in the year at Columbus, Ohio, with the cooperation of the Ohio Geological Survey and Ohio State University. The laboratory will provide paleobotanic and petrographic data regarding various coals. In combination with the field investigations these studies will aid in the delineation of deposits of different types of coal.
Engineering Geology
During the fiscal year 1950 geologic investigations were continued in selected areas where proposed engineering projects will be benefited by surveys of the bedrock and surficial formations. Mapping is
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	173
carried out on an areal basis and forms part of the over-all program of mapping the geology of the United States. Areal maps that show the distribution of all the geologic formations, supplemented by descriptions of their physical characteristics, supply basic information useful not only for the currently proposed construction project but also for future structures. Basic geologic mapping is combined with serving day-to-day needs of engineers for detailed site information. Federal construction agencies and highway departments call on the geologists for information on depth to rock, sources of sand and gravel, and foundation conditions at sites of proposed highway locations, bridge crossings, overpasses, tunnels, large buildings, and other structures. In Massachusetts and Rhode Island mapping is being carried on under cooperative arrangements with the States. Investigations in Puerto Rico are cooperative with the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority.
A substantial part of the engineering geologic investigations have been in the Missouri Basin in support of the Department’s program for basin development. Several projects started in recent years reached the stage at which preliminary copies of geologic maps were made available to construction agencies active in the basin. Geologic mapping of a strip along the Snake River in southeastern AVashing ton that includes sites of four dams was done in cooperation with the Corps of Engineers.
Geologic mapping of fast-growing industrial areas to provide geologicdata pertinent to many types of engineering construction required in expanding urban areas forms part of the engineering geology program. Most active at present is the San Francisco Bay project, which will eventually yield detailed geologic maps of sixteen 7y2-minute quadrangles that include the cities of San Francisco, Oakland, and Berkeley. Geologic interpretations have already contributed to relocating roads, aqueducts, and sewage tunnels to avoid landslides; finding sources of riprap, bituminous aggregate, and other road materials; estimating costs of rock excavation in tunnels, pi e dieting foundation problems for proposed buildings and water-control structures; and analyzing causes of failure in existing structures. Characteristic of a city at the opposit extreme of development is Anchorage, Alaska, which was mapped during the past year. Geologic mapping is also in progress in areas that include Portland, Oieg., and Knoxville, Tenn.
Research on geologic processes that affect the safety of engineering structures is a significant part of the engineering geology program. One subject of study is the development of landslides along the shores of reservoirs, which is associated with the change in environment brought about by the filling of the reservoir and subsequent fluctua
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tion in water level. Translations and abstracts of foreign papers on engineering geology prepared in connection with the research activities have been made available to the public by placing them in open file in Washington, D. C., and Denver.
General Geology
Most of the Geological Survey’s field work is directed toward the appraisal of specific resources in areas known to have actual or potential importance in mineral production. Although geologists have greatly advanced the understanding of the origin and distribution of mineral commodities, many problems remain unsolved, and the ultimate mineral possibilities of most of the country are unknown. Consequently, the Survey devotes part of its efforts in the field to systematic regional surveys in little-known areas and, usually in conjunction with such surveys, carries on fundamental research on geologic processes related to structural geology, volcanology, sedimentation, and soils geology. For convenience, these activities are included under general geology.
Field activities in general geology during the fiscal year 1950 were conducted on a smaller scale than in 1949. Nineteen field projects were in progress in 15 States, Hawaii, and the Aleutian Islands. During the year new geologic maps of Oklahoma and Montana were approaching completion. Index maps of 11 States showing existing geologic mapping and detailed reports on the geology of the District of Columbia and on the petrology of the island of Hawaii were published. The Volcano Letter, a quarterly publication issued cooperatively with the University of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Volcano Research Association, was continued and was devoted almost exclusively to reports on work done by the volcano unit of the Geological Survey.
Geophysics
Geophysics continues to play a many-sided role in the Survey’s program. The work in this field now includes reconnaissance surveys, largely by air, detailed ground geophysical surveys, and research and development aimed at producing increasingly sensitive and precise geophysical instruments and methods for the use of Survey and other scientists.
Organization and staffing of the aeromagnetic section was essentially completed during the year. The increased efficiency is reflected in the resulting 35,000 traverse miles of flight, 25,000 miles of data compiled, 81 maps released in open file, and 46 maps printed for sale to the public. Of special interest was the San Francisco Bay aeromagnetic survey, which will permit tracing of faults under the bay.
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175
A program of magnetic observations in cooperation with the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory was initiated. Striking changes in magnetic intensity preceded the major eruption of Mauna Loa, and it is hoped that the program will provide data on geologic processes and assist in prediction of eruptions. Seismic installations in the Aleutian Islands are furnishing data on the occurrence of earthquakes in that area in a program similarly aimed at obtaining basic information on volcanic processes. Temperature and resistivity measurements in the permafrost at the Arctic Laboratory at Point Barrow have obvious engineering applications.
Mathemeticians in the branch published theoretical studies on the upward continuation of magnetic total intensity anomalies, which is of great importance in the interpretation of aeromagnetic surveys. A portable absolute magnetometer, capable of measuring accurately all components of the magnetic field, has been developed and is now being tested.
Geochemistry and Petrology
Minerals and rocks furnish the data with which the geologist solves many problems, and it is the function of the branch of Geochemistry and Petrology to investigate properties of these materials. The results of these studies furnish facts and theories that help the geologist solve his problems.
The amount of service work performed as an aid to field investigations during the fiscal year 1950 increased substantially over that of the preceding year. The work consisted of thousands of quantitative chemical determinations of elements in rocks, spectographic determinations, X-ray analyses, and mineralogic and petrographic determinations. These determinations were performed largely for field geologists of the Geological Survey but also for other agencies and the general public.
In addition to performing .service work, the staff is improving through research its equipment, apparatus, and methods in order to obtain greater accuracy and speed. The installation of analytical laboratories at Beltsville, Md., and Denver, Colo., was completed during the past year.
Notable research developments during the year included rapid field methods for determining lead, copper, zinc, nickel, cobalt, and molybdenum; an electrode cutter for spectographic purposes; an electronic timer for X-ray apparatus; improved microanalytical methods; extended applications of the differential thermal analysis method; the fluorometric determination of aluminum in phosphate rocks; and a dark-field stereoscopic microscope for mineralogical studies.
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One of the geochemical studies, concerned with the concentration of minor elements in coal, resulted in the discovery of germanium in high concentrations in Cretaceous logs found in Maryland. The new minerals, frondelite, hiihnerkobelite, and wherryite, have been described and a glossary of uranium- and thorium-bearing minerals published during the year. Studies are continuing on the iron borates and clay minerals and the synthesis of certain uranium minerals.
As a result of the installation of an X-ray fluorescence anaylzer during the past year, a method for the precise determination of elements such as niobium, tantalum, rubidium, cesium, hafnium, and zirconium, which were formerly obtained only with difficulty, is now available. A major advance in research facilities is anticipated upon the completion of a mass spectrometer, which will be used in connection with a wide variety of important problems including geologic age determinations based on abundance of lead and uranium isotopes in carnotite ores.
Paleontology and Stratigraphy
The increasing use of minerals and mineral products and the resulting need for geologic surveys have added greatly to the demands for the consultant services of specialists in paleontology and stratigraphy. During fiscal year 1950, however, in order to bring the activities of this branch more into balance with the rest of the program additional specialists have been added by transferring them from other work. A start toward recruiting new personnel has been made, some new and more efficient equipment has been purchased, and additional space has been obtained.
In fiscal year 1950 data were furnished that were in some instances essential and in others contributory to the location and mapping of deposits of metallic and nonmetallic minerals and mineral fuels or to the solution of other geologic or engineering problems in 32 States and 14 foreign countries. These data were supplied by personal investigations by specialists, by the work of specialists attached to field parties, or by written reports on material sent in for examination. Outstanding projects in which branch personnel were engaged in consultant or other capacities included the following: Studies conducted by the Navy Oil unit in Alaska; work done by the Military Geology branch in the Pacific islands; investigations of the phosphate and vanadium-bearing rocks in the northwestern United States; studies of the rocks met with in drilling deep wells for oil in Florida; studies of Cenozoic mollusks from Panama; studies of potential oil shales; and studies in connection with the oil and gas investigations in California, Wyoming, Oklahoma, Kansas, Ohio, Montana, and many other States.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	177
Geologic Investigations in Alaska
The increased public interest in Alaska since World War II continues to mount, and inquiries from individuals, companies, and Government agencies for information on the geology and mineral resources have become more diverse in character. There has been the usual demand for information on gold-bearing areas that have long been the mainstay of the mining industry in the Territory. Interest in coal has been centered on several of the more accessible fields, and has largely been concerned with coking coal, locomotive and power-plant fuels, and the possibility of coal supplies for synthetic fuel production. Requests pertaining to petroleum and natural gas have increased and there has been minor interest in oil shales. Among the diverse types of raw materials involved were iron ore, lead, zinc, tin, limestone, claystone and shale for cement manufacture, gypsum, barium minerals, sulfur, pumicite, clays, shales suitable for expansion to light-weight aggregate, pozzolanic materials, and riprap.
Exploratory geologic mapping and reconnaissance of mineral resources were continued in the lower Kuskokwim region in southwestern Alaska and in the Glacier Bay portion of southeastern Alaska. The detailed study of important mineralized districts was continued in the area from Juneau to Berners Bay, formerly the most productive lode-mining area in Alaska. Similar investigation is also being continued in the Willow Creek district in south central Alaska.
Coal investigations were continued in the Kenai Peninsula coal field in the south coast area and in the eastern part of the Nenana coal field north of the Alaska Range. Brief investigation was made of the Tyonek and Beluga areas west of the Susitna lowland at the head of Cook Inlet, and a number of samples of northern Alaska coals were collected for analytical work in the course of the oil investigations. Work was revived in the Matanuska field because of correlation problems that arose in the course of drilling by the Bureau of Mines on the covered south limb of the Wishbone Hill syncline.
Petroleum investigation is still under way in both northern and southern Alaska. A large number of the personnel are engaged in the northern investigations, which are carried on largely for and financed by the Navy. In the south coast region: Detailed structural work was extended northwest in the Inniskin-Chinitna Peninsula; no field work was done in the Katalla and Yakataga areas, but much was accomplished toward the final report; and reconnaissance was started in the Bristol Bay area for a possible Tertiary oil-bearing basin. Minor investigation of petroliferous material was made in the course of other work in southeastern Alaska.
Other activities undertaken because of immediate needs and on which field work was completed included: Iron ores at Tah and Hunter
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Bays in southwestern Prince of Wales Island, the investigation of gypsum at Sheep Mountain, preliminary reconnaissance for shales and limestones in connection with a proposed cement plant in the vicinity of the railroad at Windy, investigations of copper prospects in the upper Yukon River area, and asbestos in the railroad belt, and limestone work in southeastern Alaska.
Reconnaissance investigations were carried on in various parts of the Territory in search of fissionable materials with funds provided by the Atomic Energy Commission, and investigation was begun on the Klukwan iron ores in the Skagway area of southeastern Alaska.
Military Geology
As a continuing contribution to the military preparedness of the United States, the Geological Survey through its Military Geology Branch provides geologic advice to the Armed Forces. Under a cooperative agreement between the Corps of Engineers and the Geological Survey, most of the activity of this branch is directed toward meeting the needs of the Engineer Intelligence Division, Office of the Chief of Engineers.
The Military Geology program consists of several projects, all designed to obtain and interpret geologic and related data as they might affect possible military operations. These programs are currently of two main types—terrain intelligence studies and field investigations in the western Pacific islands, Alaska, and military areas of the United States.
Comprehensive intelligence studies of regions, as assigned by the Corps of Engineers, are conducted by a research staff in Washington. The studies cover a range of subjects, such as terrain, rock and soil conditions, construction materials, water supply, and the influence of geologic factors on different military operations. In fiscal year 1950, 23 comprehensive reports were prepared, as compared with 13 in fiscal year 1949. Approximately 25 additional reports dealing with special topics and smaller areas were also prepared.
In the western Pacific islands, areal geologic mapping was begun on Tinian Island in the Marianas group. Military geologic folios on Okinawa, Palau Islands, Saipan Island, and Yap, based on geologic and soil mapping completed in fiscal years 1948 and 1949, are in preparation.
The characteristics of permafrost and its effect on military engineering were studied in seven selected areas of Alaska. In conjunction with the investigations of permafrost, terrain and vegetation conditions were also studied as part of an effort to find the solution for important military operational problems in Arctic and sub-Arctic regions. Several preliminary reports on this research were completed,
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and comprehensive military geologic folios on some areas are in preparation. A special field investigation, coordinated with the permafrost project, was begun at Barrow, Alaska.
Geologic investigations of military areas in the United States were continued. Field surveys on geology, soils, terrain, water supply, mineral resources, and construction materials of the Sixth Army Area were completed. Preparation of a military geologic folio on the basic data and their military implications is in progress. A similar folio covering Fort Benning, Ga., is nearing completion.
Foreign Geologic Investigations
The Government’s cooperative program for aid in the development of economically underdeveloped foreign areas was extended from the Americas to several projects in the Eastern Hemisphere. The Geological Survey’s role in the total program is to aid these governments in assessing their potential mineral wealth and in improving their methods of geologic investigation and exploration, with the ultimate aim of raising productivity and thereby living standards. The work is financed on a divided cost basis with the governments concerned.
Foreign geologic investigations under the Department of State sponsorship resulted in the completion or publication of 12 bulletins, which deal with a wide range of geologic problems in Mexico, Brazil, Chile, and the Dominican Republic. The cooperating foreign agencies were given technical assistance in publishing editions of these reports in
their own language.
Geologic investigations in the Western Hemisphere during the year included silver, lead, zinc, phosphate, copper and iron deposits, and volcanic studies at Paricutin in Mexico; iron and manganese deposits in Brazil; lead, zinc, and copper deposits in Peru; earthquake damage in Ecuador; and ground-water studies in Chile. The Chilean Government carried the entire cost of the latter project. At the request and expense of the Venezuelan Government, the Survey built a discharge integrator and furnished detailed plans to permit Venezuela to manufacture enough instruments to serve its entire irrigation program.
In the Eastern Hemisphere, a country-wide survey of all the mineral commodities of Afghanistan, in cooperation with the Royal Department of Mines, was conducted through the year and extended into fiscal year 1951. In Thailand a 6-month reconnaissance of mineral deposits in cooperation with the Royal Department of Mines was completed. In India, reconnaissance investigations of mineral deposits in the State of Orissa and a country-wide reconnaissance of ground-water resources in cooperation with the Geological Survey of India were completed with a view to determining the need for further development. In the Philippines, the long-established minerals exploration
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program conducted in cooperation with the Bureau of Mines continued through the year with emphasis on manganese resources.
In addition to direct scientific and technical assistance abroad, the Geological Survey extended in-service training in all phases of geology and in administration of research organizations to 25 foreign nationals from 13 countries. This phase of the program is designed to train promising young scientists so that they may directly aid in establishment of advanced research programs in their own countries.
At the request of the Economic Cooperation Administration, the Geological Survey manned and administered three technical projects abroad. Pursuant to the ECA-British Colonial Surveys program, the Geological Survey recruited 14 geologists, mining engineers, and topographers for cooperative work in Africa. In cooperation with the ECA mission to Korea, a four-man geologic staff of the Survey conducted investigations on fuels and minerals in that country. Technical assistance was given the ECA in determining the feasibility of airborne inductive and aeromagnetic exploration in the French African colonies.
Geologic Maps
During the year the Office of Geologic Cartography in Washington, D. C., in conjunction with five of its field units operating in Boston, Denver, Knoxville, Salt Lake City, and Spokane, prepared 1,530 geologic maps, charts, diagrams, and other illustrations for multicolor and black and white reproduction. Final copy for four maps in the new geologic quadrangle series was transmitted to the Map Reproduction Branch during the year. This group included the Brockton, Mass., Winnemucca, and Mount Tobin, Nev., quadrangles. In the same series final copy is in various stages of preparation for seven other quadrangles.
The geologic map editor reviewed and edited 2,044 maps and figures involving more than 200 reports. Some 78 percent of these illustrations were designated for publication by the Survey; the remaining 22 percent were routed for outside publication.
Library
The use of the library facilities during the fiscal year 1950 was greater than in any previous year in the history of the library. About 20,000 readers used the library personally, of which 6,700 readers were non-Survey personnel. A total of 107,422 pieces were circulated during the year, an increase of 15 percent over the previous year. Loans to the Survey staff members increased 25 percent, and interlibrary loans increased 47 percent. More than 20,000 publications were received during the year.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	181
Library service to the men in the field continues in large volume, emphasizing the need for additional regional facilities. The Denver Branch Library is being expanded, with shelving set up for 35,000 volumes. Books and sets of journals are being purchased as rapidly as possible to equip the library for the needs of the men in the Denver area, but the library in Washington still has to supply much material by mail. The offices in San Francisco and Spokane also are building up their collections.
The foreign exchange program continued satisfactorily, and the remainder of material held because of war conditions was shipped to various exchanges during the past year. Several new exchanges were established, notably in Germany, and some were closed. As in the previous year no exchange was carried on with Russia.
The Bibliography of North American Geology for 1948 was delivered in March. The bibliography for 1949 was completed, and the cumulative volume for 1940-49 is being assembled and should be completed this fall. The publication of the bibliography annually was very favorably received by the profession.
TOPOGRAPHIC DIVISION
Topographic mapping has been carried on as a continuing national program since the Geological Survey was organized in 1879 to classify the public lands and to examine the geologic structure. Good topographic maps provide sound knowledge of the Nation’s terrain, which is essential for the conservation and development of our natural resources, for the expansion of our industrial economy, and for intelligent planning on a national scale for both military and civilian needs.
During the past 70 years topographic maps have been made of approximately half of the United States. Yet less than 25 percent of the United States as a whole can be considered adequately mapped, and an appraisal made during the past year of all existing maps indicates that only two States, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, and Puerto Rico can be considered completely and adequately mapped.
Considerable credit for what has been accomplished and what will be undertaken in the near future must go to the various States of the Union. Massachusetts, for example, has shared the work and expense of topographic mapping with the Survey since 1884, and a majority of the States have followed in cooperative efforts to expedite mapping.
As the development of the country has progressed, the trend in map requirements has demanded larger scales and greater accuracy. The quality of the maps also is being constantly improved as better instruments are designed and new methods are developed. The maps now being produced by the Geological Survey, therefore, should be
907639—51---14
182
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
adequate for an unlimited period, except for occasional revision required by changes in man-made, or so-called “cultural,” features.
Current mapping operations during the past year extended throughout Alaska, the 48 States, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico. The mapping of some 3,300 quadrangles was in progress, and more than 700 quadrangles were completed. At the present rate it will take until about the year 2000 before the entire United States is adequately mapped.
The Geological Survey, as the principal mapping agency of the Federal Government, has received strong endorsement for the imme-diate expansion of our national mapping program from various State agencies, the Department of Defense, and other organizations and interested groups. The achievement of such an expanded mapping program is dependent on the availability of adequate funds.
Mapping Accomplishments
During the year topographic mapping was carried on in 48 States, the District of Columbia, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Hawaii. Cooperative mapping projects, whereby half of the mapping funds are supplied by the State and half by the Federal Government, were conducted with 25 States and Puerto Rico. During the year the Survev also continued to assist the Tennessee Valley Authority in its mapping program.
A concentration of mapping efforts continued in the Missouri River Basin, where approximately 10,630 square miles of mapping (6,803,-200 acres) were compiled and control surveys were extended over 9,315 square miles (5,961,000 acres).
In all, approximately 51,460 square miles (32,934,000 acres) of domestic mapping was compiled during the year, including 8,150 square miles (5,216,000 acres) of map revision; 49,000 square miles was covered by third-order horizontal control, 39,000 square miles by vertical control, and 34,136 square miles by supplemental control Drafting and editing were completed for approximately 44,000 miles of mapping.
Of the 771 topographic maps reviewed and forwarded for reproduction, 752 were prepared for multicolor photolithography and 19 for copperplate engraving. Until about 10 years ago, all standard topographic maps of the Geological Survey were produced by copperplate engraving methods, but in recent years most of these maps have been produced by more rapid photolithographic methods.
In addition to the new mapping, 558 quadrangle maps, 10 State base maps, and 25 State index maps were prepared for reprint editions. At the close of the year, maps in process of reproduction included 26 for copperplate engraving and 129 for multicolor photolithography. Maps being reviewed or awaiting review by the edi
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	183
tors at the close of the year totaled 67, with 537 maps being carried on the agenda for reprinting. Of these maps, only 30 were actually out of stock and these were on the priority list for immediate reprinting.
About one-third of the 661 maps cleared for reproduction were originally compiled by other agencies for special purpose. Of these, such maps as are suitable for general use are edited and published by the Geological Survey for distribution to the public.
Extensive geodetic surveys—the framework for topographic mapping—were advanced during the year. In all, 13,344 miles of spirit leveling, 6,868 miles of transit traverse, and 18,198 square miles of triangulation were completed. These basic surveys were used not only for Government mapping operations but were also made available to the general public.
A considerable amount of supplemental control was also completed, providing for 33,546 square miles of mapping. These surveys were accomplished by the two-base altimeter method, by use of the recently developed mobile elevation meter, and by various vertical angle methods.
Special assignments of mapping and charting for the Air Force continued throughout the year. This work is performed on a reimbursable basis. The over-all program, of which this work forms an important part, is maintenance of adequate world coverage of aeronautical charts, primarily in the interest of national defense.
While chart priorities are established by the Air Force, as are all detailed specifications and other technical requirements, the Geological Survey conducts the editorial review and evaluation of charts, and as requested prepares by photogrammetric methods revised or recompiled base charts preliminary to photolithographic reproduction.
The Trimetrogon Section, in which the special work for the Air Force is conducted, also maintains the only existing world-wide reference library of trimetrogon photographs. This library contains several million oblique and vertical photographic prints from which are obtained the basic information for charting work, as well as reference data required by other organizations whose activities are concerned with geology, forestry, water resources, constructions, engineering development, or national defense.
During the year, approximately 408,000 square miles of entirely new photo compilation were completed as well as photo revision of nearly 114,000 square miles of charts and nearly 112,000 square miles of cartographic compilation, making a total of approximately 634,000 square miles. This charting covered areas in practically every part of the world, involving a total of 172 charts and other items, as follows:
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Preliminary charts on a scale of 1: 250,000 (foreign)___________________ 35
World aeronautical charts on a scale of 1:1,000,000 (foreign)___________ 8
Pilotage and preliminary charts on a scale of 1: 500, 000 (foreign)_____ 16
Approach and landing chart on a scale of 1:250,000 (foreign)____________ 1
Special charts___________________________________________________________ 2
Charts on a scale of 1: 100,000	(foreign)_______________________________ 35
Overlays for mosaics____________________________________________________ 24
Domestic mosaics_________________________________________________________ 3
Uncontrolled photomosaics	(foreign)___________________________________   48
In. addition to these, there were 224 charts in various stages of completion at the end of the year.
As a result of a research project assigned by the military services, work on which has been in progress during the past 2 years, the section completed a manual on chart compilation from radarscope photography together with information as to the interpretation of such photography.
The Special Map Projects Section was engaged in the compilation and preparation for publication of State, sectional, and regional maps on scales of 1: 250,000,1: 500,000,1:1,000,000, and small scales.
Work in progress on the international map of the world, scale 1:1,000,000, was continued on the following sheets: Austin (H-14) ; Mississippi Delta (H-15); Cascade Range (L-10) ; Los Angeles (1-11); Savannah (1-17). The Mount Shasta (K-10) and the Lake Erie (K-17) sheets were published. The preparation of additional sheets of this series has been suspended.
Progress continued on the transportation map of the United States being prepared for the Bureau of Public Roads. Work was under way on sheets for Missouri, Kentucky, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Colorado. In various phases of preparation were 8 sheets for Alabama, 15 sheets for Nevada, 9 sheets for Louisiana, and 6 sheets for Ohio. Twenty-two sheets on the transportation map were published, comprising eight sheets for Virginia, five sheets for West Virginia, eight sheets for Indiana, and one sheet for Washington, D. C., and vicinity.
Manuscript copy was transmitted for the reproduction of the topographic and shaded relief editions for New Jersey, Massachusetts-Rhode Island-Connecticut, and Maryland-Delaware, and also of the base map and highway map editions for Oklahoma, Indiana, Iowa, and Illinois. Maps of Puerto Rico and surrounding islands on scales of 1:120,000 and 1: 240,000 were prepared for publication. The revision of the 1: 500,000-scale State base maps was in progress for Mississippi, New Hampshire-Vermont, New Mexico, and Ohio.
The following topographic quadrangle maps were produced with relief shading as a part of the Geological Survey’s program for relief shading of topographic maps that have special physiographic interest: Strasburg, Va., Waldron, Ark., Crawford Notch, N. H., and the special
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	185
map of the Denver Mountain area. These shaded-relief maps are useful in the classification and study of land forms, and are of particular interest in the study of geology and physical geography.
General Planning
During the year an analysis was made of the Nation-wide map needs as submitted by 15 Federal agencies through the Bureau of the Budget. The findings from this review were then integrated with the special requests received from various State agencies and other mapusing groups for the preparation of the 1951 national mapping program. Information on mapping activities was exchanged with various departmental field committees, and the information received from these committees regarding their topographic mapping needs was integrated with other mapping requests.
Estimates and plans for the State cooperative programs were prepared in conjunction with the regional offices. A cooperative program with the State of Kentucky designed to provide that State with complete topographic map coverage on a scale of 1: 24,000 within 5 years was started. Other new cooperative mapping agreements were initiated in Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio, Tennessee, and Utah, or municipalities within those States. During the year contracts were awarded commercial firms for stereocompilation of 2,344 square miles in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota.
Mapping activities in Alaska were stepped up in line with military requirements and civilian requests. The long-range program of topographic mapping for the Territory was coordinated with the Department of Defense and through the Alaskan field committee with civilian agencies. Studies and planning were continued in order to determine the proper method of revising the topographic maps of the Territory of Hawaii, and field operations were initiated on the island of Molokai.
Research and Development
Writing of a new manual to replace Bulletin 788, Topographic Instructions of the United States Geological Survey, was undertaken. This will be issued in the form of a loose-leaf topographic manual, so that future revisions can be made by chapters. The information can thus be easily kept current.
Development and testing of new methods in utilizing trimetrogon aerial photography for mapping on a scale of 1 inch to a mile were in progress. One 15-minute quadrangle in Utah was mapped by this new method and tested with satisfactory results, and at the end of the year the mapping of four quadrangles in southeastern Alaska was under way. Specifications for map compilation from aerial photo
186	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
graphs were written and contracts awarded to commercial mapping organizations for such mapping of five scattered areas in Montana, Wyoming, and South Dakota, covering a total of 2,314 square miles.
The appraisal and classification of all topographic maps prepared, published, and distributed by the Geological Survey and of maps prepared by other agencies and distributed by the Survey were completed during the year. This work involved the examination of nearly 12,000 maps to evaluate their general usefulness and application to the needs of our expanding economy. In order that this classification may be kept up to date, a listing of all new maps produced and the recording of any changes in status of the older maps will be continued at quarterly periods.
Geodetic Surveys
Throughout the year research was carried on to evaluate and devise new survey methods and instruments in order to increase the efficiency of control survey methods in current operations. Methods tested productively included shoran control for determining horizontal position and the use of the radar altimeter for determining vertical control for photogrammetric mapping in remote areas. Other new procedures used in field operations included methods for the establishment of supplemental control from low oblique aerial photography, a more efficient use of the electronically integrating elevation meter, and measurement of traverse distances by subtense base methods.
Experiments were continued on the use of the helicopter in field operations to transport survey parties. Methods were developed for forwarding elevations by vertical angles measured simultaneously from both ends of successive lines of sight, 5 to 10 miles long, with the observing parties being carried by helicopter.
A revised edition of the Instruction Manual for Transit-Traverse Surveys and a new instruction manual entitled “Instruction for Fourth-Order Leveling With the Johnson Elevation Meter” were issued during the year. Tables for converting geodetic coordinates to State plane coordinates by means of a rapid interpolation method were devised for use throughout the United States. Similar tables were prepared for Alaska, consistent with the military universal transverse Mercator projection used for mapping in the Territory. A computing procedure was devised for converting shoran measurements to grid coordinates so that the resulting positions can easily be plotted. The preparation of a manual on supplemental control was undertaken, and considerable control survey data, together with pictures of field operations, were assembled for a training film (in color) on topographic mapping.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREUAS AND OFFICES +	187
The development of a procedure for the audio recording of technical instructions for computing and other office mapping operations was in progress. These audio recordings were used to assist in training new employees. Throughout the year the development of new electronic methods of surveying and of computing survey data were followed closely so that full advantage might be taken of these new techniques for the benefit of the Nation’s mapping program.
Photogrammetry
Various projects concerned with the research and development for the improvement of techniques, procedures, and instruments used in stereoscopic mapping were in progress during the year.
A complete redesign of the Kelsh plotter was accomplished. This new stereoplotter is now in production and will be used as standard mapping equipment in all the regional offices.
The prototype of a new double-projection mapping instrument, known as the Twinplex stereoplotting instrument, was completed and exhibited for the first time at the 1950 meeting of the American Society of Photogrammetry. Although the basic theory of this instrument is not new, its unique design will afford the photogrammetrist a more accurate and economical method of map compilation.
A diapositive printer, a device for reproducing the aerial photographic print on glass for stereoscopic projection, is being developed in which distortion compensation is accomplished by the use of an aspherical correction plate in conjunction with an improved projection lens, thus giving a high increase in image quality.
A mapping project, in which a nine-lens camera with a 130° angle of coverage was used, was initiated for the purpose of ascertaining the suitability of the camera for the preparation of small-scale planimetric base maps.
Other projects in various stages of completion included the development of a new projector with an improved light source, an improved plotting table for double-projection instruments, an optical bench designed especially for photogrammetric use, the investigation and development of curved diapositive plates designed to reduce or eliminate distortion, and development of a testing method for determining the visual skills of prospective operators of photogrammetric equipment.
A mapping project conducted in cooperation with the Department of the Air Force resulted in the procurement of approximately 20,000 square miles of aerial photography suitable for standard mapping. An important and unusual accomplishment of this project was that each exposure of this photography was positioned by shoran fixes, thus
188	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
eliminating to a great extent the need for extensive and costly ground control.
During the year approximately 50,000 square miles of aerial photography for precision mapping in the continental United States was delivered, and new contracts were placed for approximately 49,000 square miles of new aerial photography.
Cartography and Map Editing
The Cartography and Map Editing Section provided technical control of cartography in regard to map-finishing procedures and the determination of style, symbolization, and quality of the finished product. The section also did inspection work, in the form of reviewT editing, to assure that all maps produced conformed to approved standards. This involved the examination of all map copy for accuracy and completeness, as well as for its suitability for reproduction.
Symbol and style guides, as well as formal instructions on several phases of map preparation, were issued during the year. An information folder describing the nature and content of topographic maps, which includes map symbols and other color illustrations, was also prepared. The folder replaces the brief explanatory statement and one-color symbol block heretofore printed on the back of each standard topographic map sheet.
Research for the improvement of compilation and drafting equipment and procedures was a continuing project. New drawing papers and plastics, as well as other materials used in map preparation and reproduction, were tested and otherwise evaluated as soon as they were placed on the market by manufacturers. Any changes in the operating techniques of cartographic agencies in this country and abroad were also examined for possible adoption if beneficial results are indicated. This is becoming more or less a mutual endeavor, as technical groups are making increasing use of meetings and consultations to report upon their problems and accomplishments.
Map Information Office
The increasing demand for maps and related data wTas reflected in part by the steady increase in the volume of requests for such material. During the year the Map Information office filled approximately 25,000 such requests for information regarding maps of all kinds, aerial photography, and geodetic control surveys. These data are used for administrative purposes and in connection with conservation and development activities of Federal and State agencies, for the construction projects of industry, and for a variety of purposes by the general public.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
189
In order to supply this information considerable effort was devoted to the preparation of special indexes and status maps showing sectional or over-all map coverage according to scale and classification, to the recording of current data on the progress of new mapping and the availability of advance prints, and to the compilation of lists of new maps, geographic data, and reports on Government mapping activities. Attention was also given to the procurement and indexing of the ever-increasing volume of published maps, aerial photography, aerial mosaics, and horizontal and vertical control surveys.
Increasing interest in basic maps was evidenced by the visits of numerous State, industrial, and private engineers seeking data for use in industrial expansion programs and in State or private engineering investigations. Technical assistance and advice were supplied to several State officials interested in activating or developing State map information offices in order to provide first-hand information regarding surveying and mapping data.
The compilation of two new index maps showing the status of topographic mapping in the United States was completed. Based on the appraisal and classification of nearly 12,000 topographic and planimetric maps published by the Geological Survey and other Federal agencies, these index maps give the most comprehensive evaluation of the Nation’s map coverage that has ever been published.
The master series of State index maps showing horizontal and vertical control established by the Geological Survey was completed for the 48 States. Photostatic copies of these indexes are available to those having need for such information. Geodetic control data were supplied to other units of the Geological Survey, to the military services, and to other Government agencies, as well as to the public. Among the groups making extensive use of such survey data were commercial engineering organizations, oil companies, aerial survey firms, mining and mineral exploration concerns, and many highway, airport, and other construction organizations.
The supplying of photographic and photostatic reproductions of new mapping in manuscript form prior to publication for engineering and other urgent needs and of early maps or old maps that are out of print showed a substantial increase over last year. Some 550 requisitions for such reproductions, involving the processing of 7,500 prints, were filled, the sales for these exceeding $10,000. In addition, a total of 4,900 prints, requested in 1,180 orders, were supplied without charge for the official use of Federal and State agencies.
Reports on photography holdings continued to come from all sources that prepare or acquire aerial photography and aerial mosaics. In accordance with the established procedure to guard against unnecessary duplication within the Federal Government in obtaining
190	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
aerial photography, all Federal agencies, as well as many State agencies and industrial concerns, now look to this office for comprehensive information before undertaking new aerial photography or aerial mosaic projects.
The fourth edition of the index map showing the status of aerial photography in the United States was published early in the year. The demand for this information necessitated two reprint editions. Two revised editions of the index map showing the status of aerial photography in Alaska were printed. This index map is available only to Government agencies for official use. The second edition of the index map showing the status of aerial mosaics in the United States was also published.
The series of 13 master base maps of aerial protographic coverage was maintained, 10 of these showing the holdings of Government agencies and 3 showing the photography held by State agencies and commercial concerns. This series represents a cumulative inventory of aerial photography of the United States, which, including duplicate photography, now totals more than 6,250,000 square miles of coverage. These master base maps show the areas covered by aerial photography, date of photography, focal-length of lens, and scale. Photostatic or photographic reproductions of these base maps are available to other Government agencies and the public.
The sale of aerial photographic reproductions has shown a steady increase since the reactivation of the Map Information office. They increased from about $9,000 in 1947 to $56,660 during the past year.
Requests were received for map exhibits in various parts of the country. For the annual meeting of the American Society of Civil Engineers held in Washington during November, the Map Information office prepared a series of display panels showing present-day mapping methods and the various types of published maps, together with samples of advance map copy such as bluelines, composite prints, and other photostatic reproductions available to engineers. An exhibit showing the latest photogrammetric mapping techniques was also prepared for the annual meeting of the American Society of Photogrammetry in Washington in January. An exhibit of topographic maps of special interest to petroleum engineers was supplied for the annual meeting of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists in Chicago during April. Assistance was given in selecting maps, aerial photographs, and other illustrative material for exhibits sponsored by State, county, university, and other local groups.
The scheduling of motion-picture films on mapping was continued. During the year the training film, Multiplex Mapping by Photogrammetric Methods, was shown to nearly 100 technical groups before audiences totaling about 8,000 people.
Map information and research assistance was given through cor
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS ANDJDFFICES +	191
respondence to Government agencies, universities, and individuals in foreign countries, particularly Canada, Great Britain, Australia, New Zealand, France, Switzerland, Sweden, Norway, India, Pakistan, and Mexico. Throughout the year the office was visited by Government officials, teachers, students, engineers, and others interested in topographic mapping from Iran, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, Switzerland, Austria, Japan, Mexico, and Canada.
Areas mapped during fiscal year 1950for publication on standard scales
[Contour intervals, 5 to 100 feet]
State	Scale			New mapping	Remapping	Revision	Amount of new mapping to June 30,1950	Total square miles in State	Percent complete
	1:24,000	1:31,680	1:62,500						
Alabama				2,145	813	831	501	26, 921	51, 609	52.2
Arizona								36, 477	113,909	32.0
Arkansas		47		1,240	995	47	245	25, 876	53,102	48.7
California	 .	1,883			3, 786	375	4, 713	581	133, 451	158, 693	84.1
Colorado		1,649			231	661	1,162	57	59,353	104, 207	57.0
Connecticut			154				154	5,009	5, 009	100.0
Delaware								2,057	2,057	100.0
District of Columbia..	417			417			69	69	100.0
Florida				—				14,043	58, 560	24.0
Georgia		226		427	641	177	49	25, 202	58, 876	42. 8
Idaho		700	—			487		40, 599	83, 557	48. 6
Illinois		138	—	1,305	473	124	846	51, 896	56, 400	92.0
Indiana		966		245	526		440	11, 645	36, 291	32.1
Iowa		464			245	642	58	14, 679	56, 280	26.1
Kansas				695	459			66, 770	82, 276	81. 2
Kentucky		1,332		1,183	742	590	679	28, 764	40,395	71.2
Louisiana					504			21,118	48, 523	43.5
Maine		270		444	21		423	26,356	33, 215	79.3
Maryland			909	234		270	234	10, 577	10, 577	100.0
Massachusetts	_•			497	497		909	8, 257 19, 439	8,257	100.0
Michigan		363							58, 21b	33.4
Minnesota							439	802			10,378	84,068	12.3
Mississippi		1, 335		490	490	1,272		10, 522	47, 716	22.1
Missouri			—	701	63			64, 561	69, 674	92.7
Montana					701			41, 688	147,138	28.3
Nebraska		395	—	4,059	4, 454	713		39, 681	77, 237	51.4
Nevada				1, 561	848		445	45,358	110, 540	41.0
New Hampshire				445				9,304	9,304	100.0
New Jersey	 New Mexico		1,014		96	481	629		7,836 37, 819	7,836 121, 666	100.0 31.1
New York		1,300	—	1		1,300	1	49, 576	49, 576	100.0
North Carolina		380			456	624		3 812	20, 403	52, 712	38.7
North Dakota		1,960	—	118	704	1,438	—	23, 247	70, 665	32.9
Ohio		173		1,005		173	220	41, 222	41, 222	100.0
Oklahoma					6	779		41, 907	69, 919	59.9
Oregon				704	704		222	38,008	96, 981	39. 2
Pennsylvania		39	—	222		39		45,166	45,333	99.6
Rhode' Island		123	79				79	1, 214 17,098	1,214 31,055	100.0
South Carolina							123			55.1
South Dakota		997				212	997		1 812	21, 747	77,047	28.2
Tennessee		797			797			27, 575	42, 246	65.3
Texas		715	—	569	1,250	34		97, 735	267,339	36.6
Utah		382	—	276	652	6	214	21,470	84, 916	25. 3
Vermont		52	6	293	85	52		9,476	9, 609	98.6
Virginia				1,302	385	901	401	38, 097	40,815	93.3
Washington		50	—	2,324		1,989	----		46, 610	68,192	68.4
West Virginia		210		633	633	210		24,181	24,181	100.0
Wisconsin		6	—			6		22, 086	56,154	39.3
Wyoming		1,731	—	616	1, 909	438	—	38, 205	97, 914	39.0
Total		20,114	1,148	28, 954	23, 954	19, 021	8,505	1, 520, 728	3, 022, 407	50.3
Alaska				2,536	2127,359	’167,631	—	427, 274	586, 400	72.8
Hawaii				13		13	4 251	6, 435	6,435	100.0
Puerto Rico								3, 386	3,435	98.8
1 Includes 600 square miles mapped on a scale of 1:125,000.
2 Includes 126,004 mapped on a scale of 1:250,000.
3 Includes 166,450 mapped on a scale of 1:250,000.
4 Mapped on a scale of 1:30,000.
Note: The “Percent Complete” takes into account all mapping that has been done by the Geological Survey, including some maps made many years ago and now considered only of limited use.
192	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
WATER RESOURCES DIVISION
Water is the Nation’s most important natural resource. It can be conserved only by using it wisely because it is transient—it cannot be stockpiled. Reservoirs continually lose water by evaporation and seepage; in some reservoirs in the West the amount of water lost may be as much as the amount of water put to beneficial use. Conservation of water therefore means wise use of water. Fortunately, water is a renewable resource. In streams and under ground the supply is being replenished constantly through operation of the hydrologic cycle. That cycle is the circulating system whereby water in the sea and on the land is transformed to vapor in the air and then is precipitated back upon the earth, purified. The process is continuous, but because the rate varies from time to time and place to place the water supply in any one locality is always changing. Streams rise and fall; flood follows upon drought or flood in an irregular pattern; the amount of water stored underground increases and decreases; and the quality of the water changes as it passes over and through the rocks, dissolving minerals from them and picking up its load of sediment. Only by keeping records of these never-ending changes can we know what our water resources are. The collection and compilation of those records is the major work of the Water Resources Division.
In the United States the supply of fresh water has been so abundant that until the last score of years it was considered essentially inexhaustible. The advance of our standard of living has been accompanied by a steadily increasing use of water. Our modern economy is creating demands for fresh water of a magnitude and variety that formerly never were dreamed of; air conditioning is a notable example. Our population is growing steadily, and the per capita use of water is increasing by leaps and bounds—for domestic purposes, for irrigating farms and pastures, for countless industries, and for new uses that are arising continually in connection with high living standards and a growing industrial capacity. An example is the tremendous quantity of water that will be required in the manufacture of synthetic fuels to supplement our oil reserves and in the production of atomic energy. In most of our cities the per capita daily use of water far exceeds the 100 gallons that was regarded as standard a generation ago; it may exceed 1,000 gallons in summer in some communities. In our present economy there is seemingly an almost insatiable demand for water as a raw material, as a processing agent, and as a medium of heat exchange or temperature control. The full utilization of the water supply is so close in some parts of the country that the level of social and economic development dependent upon
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	193
water already seems to be approaching a ceiling. In the arid regions there is a keen awareness of the critical place of water in determining further growth, and it requires no prophet to see that the area where there is reason for concern is steadily expanding.
The creation by the President of a Water Resources Policy Commission to make a comprehensive study of the many aspects of the current water situation in the country is most timely. The Water Resources Division has prepared a comprehensive report on the water situation in the United States with special reference to ground water at the request of the Commission for use in making its report to the President and has participated in the preparation of numerous other reports for the Commission.
The current status of the Nation’s water resources is reported regularly in the Water Resources Review, a monthly press release by the Geological Survey describing water supplies in the United States and Canada. The monthly release is supplemented by a semiannual summary of conditions, and that for the period October to March also contains a summary of snow surveys and status of water storage in reservoirs.
Federal Government’s Interest in Water Resources
The problems of water supply and utilization affect such large areas and such wide interests that more and more they are becoming problems of national concern. Therefore the collection of information on wTater resources is a definite obligation of the Federal Government in close collaboration with all State and local agencies concerned.
During recent years it has become apparent also that, in addition to determining the occurrence and availability of water, the Geological Survey must also determine the extent and methods of developing supplies, utilization, and conservation in areas where the apparent limits of readily available supplies are being reached. At present several projects are under way to appraise the water resources of highly developed areas by correlating utilization and availability of water and estimating the future potentialities of the supplies. Inventories also are being made throughout the country on requirements for water by industries and the total amount of water used by all types of users. The latest estimate of the withdrawal of water from streams, lakes, reservoirs, and underground formations in the United States is about 200,000 million gallons a day, of which about 25,000 million gallons a day is from ground-water sources.
The Federal Government is also a large user of water-resources information. For example, in the Columbia and Missouri River Basins where great multiple-purpose dams and water-development projects are being built and operated, extensive and accurate water
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resources information is essential for the economic design and operation of such projects. Likewise, the need for water supplies on the public domain for livestock requires continuing search to maintain adequate supplies.
The period of useful life of large reservoirs on sediment-laden streams has been the subject of much discussion. Studies were completed during the year of data obtained in an investigation that was begun in 1948 to determine the amount of sediment deposited in Lake Mead behind Hoover Dam. This investigation, which was carried out in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of the Navy, revealed that at the present rate of sedimentation Lake Mead probably would not fill before the year 2380.
A related problem concerning reservoirs, particularly in the West, is their efficiency. Some reservoir sites are unusable because evaporation from their surface would be so great that there would be little water left for beneficial use. As more accurate information is needed on the amount of evaporation from reservoirs, the Geological Survey in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation and the Department of the Navy began a comprehensive investigation of evaporation at Lake Hefner, near Oklahoma City. That lake was chosen for the investigation after considering more than 100 others in 17 Western States. It is expected that the methods developed at Lake Hefner will be applicable to other larger reservoirs, including Lake Mead.
The Federal Power Commission requires licensees operating hydroelectric projects to measure the flow of streams used to generate power. The Geological Survey supervised stream gaging on 146 licensed projects during 1950 at the request of the Commission.
The magnitude of the interest of the Federal Government in waterresources information during 1950 is shown by the more than $2,900,000 transferred by other agencies to provide for investigations to be made by the Geological Survey that could not be financed within its own appropriation. Those agencies include the Bonneville Power Administration, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Park Service, Soil Conservation Service, Forest Service, Weather Bureau, Department of the Army, Department of the Navy, Department of the Air Force, Department of State, Department of Justice, Tennessee Valley Authority, Atomic Energy Commission, Reconstruction Finance Corporation, Veterans Administration, and American Battle Monuments Commission.
Cooperation With States and Municipalities
The welfare of the Nation is dependent on agriculture and industry, and the welfare of agriculture and industry depends on adequate
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + -195 water supplies. The information on water supplies collected by the Geological Survey thus benefits all and is available to all. The usefulness of this information to the people living within the area in which it is obtained is so great that for many years they have supplemented Federal appropriations for this work with State and local funds. For this reason the majority of the water investigations of the Geological Survey are made in cooperation with the States and local communities. Most of these investigations must be started well in advance of a project, because many years of records are necessary for the economic planning of a specific project. An adequate record once collected and compiled may be of value for many diverse uses. On the other hand, the operation of hydraulic and industrial plants requires current information about the fluctuations in water supplies. That the importance of this work is recognized by States and local communities is shown in the way that funds offered by those agencies for cooperation with the Geological Survey have generally exceeded the funds regularly appropriated to the Survey for that purpose. The appropriation for cooperative work in 1950 was $2,940,000. The amounts available for cooperation in the fiscal year 1950 in each State, Territory, and possession are summarized below:
State	Obligations	State	Obligations
Alabama				$22,700	Nevada				$32,659
Arizona				75,047	New Hampshire				11,789
Arkansas				51,187	New Jersey				54,885
	164, 498	New Mexico	80, 826
Colorado				44,400	New York				180,115
Connecticut				17,750	North Carolina		52,112
Delaware				9,524	North Dakota				33,934
Florida 				89,597	Ohio				86,276
	34, 900	Oklahoma	64, 830
Idaho				47,356	Oregon				54,320
Illinois				45,439	Pennsylvania		134,623
Indiana	71,710	Rhode Island _	6, 463
Iowa				53,743	South Carolina				29,636
Kansas				45,901	South Dakota		7, 000
Kentucky	67, 558	Tennessee				66,010
Louisiana				65,289	Texas				195,319
Maine	9, 997	Utah				107,457
Maryland —	70, 990	Vermont		7, 260
		Virginia	59, 348
Massachusetts	37, 417		
		Washington				116,979
Michigan				79,869	West Virginia		19,887
Minnesota				19,692	Wisconsin				29,293
Mississippi				12,730	Wyoming	36, 733
Missouri				23,496	Hawaii		68, 573
Montana				26,745		—
Nebraska				46,320	Total			 2,769,582
Funds aggregating nearly $9,700,000 were obligated for water investigations in the fiscal year 1950. Of that amount, about 41 percent was
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
appropriated directly to the Geological Survey by Congress, 29 percent was contributed by States and municipalities, and about 30 percent was provided by other Federal agencies.
Field Offices
Water investigations can be made most efficiently from strategically located field offices, and in 1950 the work was conducted from more than 120 principal offices, with one or more in nearly every State and in the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii. This decentralization results in a high degree of efficiency and economy of work and in better service to the public. Close contacts are maintained with local Federal, State, and municipal officials, and the interests of cooperating agencies are served. The Survey’s field offices are local sources of information as to available water resources, fluctuating stage and discharge of surface streams, fluctuations of the water table, and the chemical and physical quality of surface and ground waters.
Although the water-resources investigations are conducted along three lines—surface water, ground water, and quality of water—for administrative purposes and for reporting, the activities are so interrelated that only by giving comprehensive attention to all three can a balanced water-resources investigation be made.
Surface Water
The importance of surface water to our country’s ever-expanding economy is reflected in the steadily growing requirements for basic stream-flow data. At the end of the year about 6,300 stream-gaging stations were in operation in the States and in the Territories of Alaska and Hawaii, an increase of about 100 during the year. These gaging stations were operated through 43 district offices in cooperation with 178 agencies of States and political subdivisions and with 14 Federal agencies.
The stream-gaging program in Alaska, which was begun in 1947 with the establishment of 7 gaging stations, has been steadily expanding, and 50 gaging stations were in operation at the end of 1950. Occasional measurements of discharge are collected at a number of other locations. It is anticipated that additional gaging stations will be established in succeeding years to meet the needs of several Federal agencies.
Other investigations on the characteristics of the flow of water in streams were made during the year, in addition to the compilation of statistics on stream flow. A comparative study was made to determine the relative merits of the so-called mean-section and mid-section methods of computing current-meter discharge measurements, as a result
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + '197 of which the mid-section method was adopted as official. Floodfrequency analyses were in progress in several districts; one district completed its studies, and the results were published in a State cooperative report. Preparation of reports on the floods of April-June in the States of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota was begun. Two engineers wTere detailed to the field from the Washington office to supervise the special computations of flood flows by indirect methods and to render other assistance to the districts involved. It is contemplated that the reports will be ready for distribution in 1951. Several districts conducted studies of low-flow characteristics of small ungaged streams by correlation with adjacent gaged streams on the basis of simultaneous discharge measurements; the results of one such study have been published in a State cooperative report. Measurement of the flow of Blue Spring in Arizona showed it to be of the first magnitude (flow more than 100 cubic feet per second). This spring, at the bottom of the canyon of Little Colorado River, is the only spring of first magnitude known in Arizona and one of only about 65 in the United States. The verification of discharge determined by slopearea and other indirect methods, a program begun in 1949, was continued in 1950.
Progress was made on a program carried on in close cooperation with the Public Roads Administration and various State highway departments to promote better utilization of stream-flow records in solving hydraulic and hydrologic problems connected with highway structures. A committee was appointed to explore the possibilities of improving the annual stream-flow reports so as to make them more useful to users. A provisional report was issued by that committee in June. Suggestions were solicited from Federal agencies, and from some cooperating agencies, consulting engineers, and private individuals. The committee will complete its study in 1951.
In addition to the annual reports on surface-water supply, a report was completed on the hydrology of Massachusetts, and six other project-type cooperative reports were completed and transmitted to cooperating State agencies for publication. New items of equipment were developed in the equipment laboratory to improve the accuracy of or to expedite current-meter measurements. Of special note are a follower-brake type cable car, a computing-type depth indicator, and a special crane for Skagit River in Washington.
Ground Water
National interest in ground water, both as an overdeveloped resource in some areas and as a potential source of additional water in others, reached a new high during the year as a part of increasing water consciousness the country over. The Conservation Foundation, New
907639—51----15
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York, N. Y., sponsored a Nation-wide survey of the ground-water situation as a contribution to appraisal of that situation in relation to other national problems. A ground-water geologist of the Geological Survey was granted leave to take charge of that survey and prepare the report, which was completed in June 1950 and is to be published commercially.
What is probably the most advanced device yet developed for taking undisturbed samples of earth materials from outcrops and test pits was perfected during the year. Each sample is taken in a Incite tube that can be transferred to a permeability-measuring instrument without disturbance of the material. The permeameter, also of the most advanced design ever built, was perfected during the year. An important technique, that of deaerating the water that passes through earth samples in the permeameter, was developed. The presence of air in the water had led in the past to errors of as much as 1,000 percent in permeability determinations in the laboratory.
A paper was completed on qualitative aspects of the relation of soil structure to infiltration and unsaturated flow of water above the water table. Quantitative studies are under way.
A study of the hydrology of Eagle Lake, Ind., produced data for study of the ground-water profile adjacent to the lake as a function of lake level. The study will facilitate predicting the effects on the water table of changes in the stage of this and other lakes. The sonic method was used here, as well as in other areas, for mapping the lake-bottom elevations.
Consumption of water by phreatophytes (water-loving plants) along Salt and Gila Rivers between Gillespie and Granite Reef Dams, Ariz., was determined in a study made for the Corps of Engineers to help evaluate the feasibility of salvaging the water for useful purposes by eliminating the phreatophytes. Predictions of the amount of water available with and without removal of the phreatophytes were made for a 50-year period in the future. In the study, areas of different kinds of vegetation were mapped rapidly and accurately from a low-flying airplane.
Geophysical methods were used to locate water supplies on the water-short Navajo and Papago Indian Reservations. They were used also to help locate a site for a deep test hole at an ordnance depot near Flagstaff, Ariz., in an area where ground water occurs at great depth, drilling is expensive, and it is essential to use all available techniques in locating test holes in order to increase the chances for success. The water table in the test hole was reached 1,250 feet below the ground surface.
A hydrologic reconnaissance of the Green River, Utah, showed important possibilities in evaluating the hydrologic characteristics of
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	199
stream systems by a careful study of ground-water geology and of stream flow and quality of water at carefully selected stations along the stream.
A study was made of ground-water occurrence in the Arco area, Idaho, with respect both to availability of water for large-scale industrial operations and to ground-water movements in relation to atomic-waste disposal. Research on atomic-waste disposal on Long Island yielded useful data on the behavior of various “tracers” used in mapping ground-water movements. A study made for the Atomic Energy Commission at Valle Grande, N. Mex., showed the presence of large amounts of stored ground water in sediments deposited in the crater of a huge ancient volcano, but only a relatively small perennial supply.
Work in foreign countries by hydrologists of the branch, at the request of those countries and the State Department or other agencies, continued, with projects in Greece, Thailand, India, Arabia, the Azores, Chile, certain islands in the Pacific, and other areas. The flow of foreign hydrologists to this country for training in the methods of ground-water study used by the Geological Survey continued, with representatives from India, Venezuela, Chile, France, England, and other nations.
During the 1950 fiscal year, ground-water investigations were made on more than 400 projects in the States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Alaska. The studies were made from 37 district offices in financial cooperation with 85 State, county, and municipal agencies and 13 Federal agencies. More than 250 formal reports and papers were prepared, and several thousand requests for information on ground-water conditions were answered.
Quality of Water
Pure water does not exist in nature. All natural waters contain mineral matter in varying amounts, depending on the types of material with which the water has been in contact. Because water is a powerful solvent, every drop of rain water carries dissolved atmospheric gases—oxygen, nitrogen, and carbon dioxide. It also carries suspended material, dust, pollen, and smoke. When rain falls, the water running over the rocks and percolating through the soil gathers more and more mineral matter in solution. The uses to which a water supply may be put depend primarily on the quantity of mineral matter dissolved or on the sediment carried by it. Not infrequently a supply may be adequate with respect to quantity but wholly undesirable or even unusable when its quality is considered. Water of unsuitable quality may cause serious industrial losses, owing to corrosion, deterioration of equipment, loss of flow, boiler failure, scaling of equip
200	4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
ment, staining and discoloration of materials, and wasting of soap; it may cause deterioration of recreation facilities and property; it may destroy fish life; and it may be unsuitable for use in the manufacture of foods, beverages, textiles, and ice and in bleaching, dyeing, and tanning processes.
During fiscal year 1950, the chemical quality of nearly 40,000 samples of water was determined in the central laboratory in Washington, D. C., and in the 11 field laboratories located throughout the country. These data, together with analyses made in previous years, provide a growing storehouse of factual information concerning the chemical composition of the Nation’s water resources. Continuing records are invaluable in determining the changes in quality of streams and underground waters as a result of agricultural development, industrial concentrations, and other activities of man. Cooperative investigations of the chemical quality of surface waters were in progress in Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Kentucky, Louisiana, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Samples for chemical analyses were collected daily at 170 stations on streams in connection with these programs. In addition, samples were collected on an intermittent basis at 170 stream-sampling sites. Samples were also analyzed for cooperative studies of ground water in the above-mentioned and other States.
Factual data concerning the adequacy of the water supply for municipal or agricultural uses or with respect to corrosiveness or scaleforming properties of the waters are essential in sound development of Federal projects and the protection of federally owned equipment of plants. Water samples were examined, and analytical results, interpretation of analyses, or advice about water problems were furnished to the following Federal agencies: Atomic Energy Commission, Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Mines, Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Navy, Veterans’ Administration, Public Housing Administration, and Federal Works Agency. The Geological Survey’s laboratories also made analyses regularly for the Department of the Army and the Department of the Air Force in connection with investigations of scale and corrosion problems involving threshold treatment of water supplies at defense installations. During fiscal year 1950 more than 3,000 analyses were made at the request of the above-mentioned agencies, of which nearly 700 were analyses of samples collected at defense installations in this country and at offshore bases.
The importance of measuring the large quantities of sediment transported by the rivers of this Nation is rapidly becoming more widely recognized. The demand for the construction of large dams to impound greater quantities of water in reservoirs for irrigation, power
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + - 201 development, and industrial use has focused attention on the probable useful life of these reservoirs. As the greater part of the sediment carried in streams is dropped in the reservoirs, it is essential that systematic studies be made to determine the quantities of sediment that will have to be taken into account in the construction of the dams and operation of the reservoirs.
During the past year the extent and scope of sediment-measurement activities of the Geological Survey were extended slightly to include small investigations in Texas. Sediment samples were collected daily or more frequently at 138 stations on streams in the Rio Grande and the Colorado, Missouri, Washita (Okla.), Schuylkill (Pa.), Canadian, Red River (Okla.), Colorado (Tex.), and Brandywine (Del.) River Basins. In addition, miscellaneous sediment samples were collected on an intermittent basis at 41 stations in these river basins. In all, more than 100,000 samples were collected and analyzed for their sediment content during the year in laboratories at Albuquerque and Tucumcari, N. Mex.; Lincoln, Nebr.; Riverton and Worland, Wyo.; Norton, Kans.; Dickinson, N. Dak.; Stillwater, Okla.; Schuylkill Haven and Philadelphia, Pa.; and Austin, Tex.
Missouri River Basin
The coordinated projects of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, for the development of the Missouri River Basin require extensive water investigation in that basin. The investigations are generally conducted in cooperation with States and municipalities. Additional activities to meet the needs of the departmental program include measurements at 246 stream-gaging stations; 44 projects related to ground-water supplies or to changes in ground-water conditions that may result from reservoir construction or irrigation in the vicinity of reclamation units; more than 50,000 measurements of the sediment content of surface waters at 84 regular stations and 41 stations for miscellaneous measurements; 5,800 analyses of the chemical quality of the waters at 5 regular stations and at 88 stations for miscellaneous records; 800 chemical analyses of ground waters from various sources; and hydrologic and utilization studies related to the proposed plans of development. The information obtained through these investigations is furnished to the above agencies currently or periodically as desired.
Interstate Compacts
Interstate compacts, for division between States of waters of interstate streams, which authorize or require the establishment and operation of gaging stations, generally by the Geological Survey, are now
202	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
in effect for Colorado River (Wyo., Utah, Colo., N. Mex., Ariz., Nev., Calif.), Belle Fourche River (Wyo., S. Dak.), Republican River (Nebr., Kans.), Rio Grande (Colo., N. Mex., Tex.), Costilla Creek (Colo., N. Mex.), Cheyenne River (S. Dak., Wyo.), Pecos River (N. Mex., Tex.), and Arkansas River (Colo., Kans.). Similar compacts are in process of negotiation for Yellowstone River (Mont., N. Dak., Wyo.) and Bear River (Idaho, Utah, Wyo.).
International Treaties
International problems related to water are increasing. The Geological Survey, using funds transferred by the Department of State, makes the water-resources investigations along the Canadian boundary that are required by orders issued by the International Joint Commission, United States and Canada, under the treaty of January 11, 1909. In addition to these continuing investigations needed for division and control of waters along the international boundary, several special investigations were made in 1950 in connection with references before the Commission, particularly those relating to the Columbia River Basin, Sage Creek, Mont., Waterton and Belly Rivers, and Souris and Red Rivers. The Geological Survey, through agreement with the Department of State, has continuing obligations for obtaining water-resources information along the Mexican boundary as required by the Mexican water treaty of 1944. Members of the Geological Survey serve on several international engineering boards.
Reports on Investigations
The results of the varied studies and computations made by the Water Resources Division are made available for public inspection as soon as practicable by placing manuscript copies of observations, measurements, chemical analyses, and interpretive reports in the open files of the district offices concerned. The availability of this information is announced through press releases. Stream-flow and groundwater conditions in the United States and Canada are summarized monthly and semiannually in the Water Resources Review.
The published wrnrk of the Water Resources Division during the fiscal year 1950 consisted of 32 new water-supply papers, a large number of shorter reports in the technical press, and 62 reports transmitted to cooperating State agencies for publication by them. In addition, a number of miscellaneous processed reports were issued.
CONSERVATION DIVISION
The Conservation Division classifies the public lands of the United States as to mineral and water resources and supervises mineral re
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	203
covery operations under leases, permits, and licenses on public, acquired, Indian, and naval petroleum-reserve lands. The Division maintains a small headquarters staff in Washington and a field staff of competent geologists and engineers in strategic centers of mineralresource development. This investigative, supervisory, and regulatory force makes field surveys, prepares maps and reports dealing with water power, fuels, minerals, and chemicals essential to the mineralresource economy of the United States, and conducts on-site supervision of mining and drilling operations essential to the economical and safe production of coal, oil, gas, and other minerals, all to the end that this Nation’s mineral resources shall be developed and produced by private enterprise in accordance with approved methods and in compliance with accepted conservation practices under applicable Fed-eral legislation.
Mineral Classification
In response to the continuing demand for increased supplies of mineral fuels, fertilizer ingredients, and basic chemicals from lands and deposits owned by the United States and for other types of public land for agricultural, grazing, or residential use, all phases of the service rendered by the Mineral Classification Branch in the administration of Federal lands were maintained at an active pace throughout the fiscal year 1950.
In all, some 15,897 cases involving either the outright disposal of Federal lands with no reservation of any mineral, the disposal of such lands with the reservation of one or more specified minerals, or the exercise under the Federal leasing laws of the Government’s right to explore for and produce one or another mineral substance from lands under its jurisdiction were acted upon during the year. This represents a decrease of about 36 percent in mineral reports rendered in 1950, compared with 1949, which is attributable almost wholly to diminished interest on the part of the public in the acquisition of oil and gas leases in the face of a threat of overproduction of oil and gas. In addition, the Branch prepared and promulgated initial or revised definitions of the known geologic structure of 16 producing oil and gas fields containing Federal land and revoked one such definition ; appraised geologically 82 unit-plan or participating-area submissions; drafted 45 determinations of leasehold relations to the productive limits of oil and gas deposits as found to exist on August 8, 1946, pursuant to sections 4 and 12 of the act approved on that date (60 Stat. 950) ; reported for appropriate administrative action the fact and geologic significance of 76 new discoveries of oil or gas on or affecting Federal lands; and reclassified as noncoal 11,455 acres in Utah formerly classified as coal land.
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From field offices in Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, Utah, California, New Mexico, and Oklahoma, respectively, branch geologists made numerous “spot” investigations precedent to public-land and mineral-leasing law administration, which resulted in sundry reports and maps for official use in the Branch, other branches of the Conservation Division, the Department of the Interior, the Department of J ustice, and the National Military Establishment; in a published map of the geology of the Mush Creek and Osage fields and vicinity, Weston County, Wyo.; and in the approval for publication of a map of the geology of the Dove Creek area, Dolores and Montezuma Counties, Colo. One Branch geologist remained on detail to the Department of Justice the entire year assisting in the case of the Confederated Bands of Ute Indians v. The United States, No. 45585 in the United States Court of Claims.
Water and Power Classification
The field work of the Water and Power Branch during 1950 was directed principally toward obtaining basic information on the waterpower resources and storage possibilities of Federal lands on which projects were proposed for early development. Work was done in Alaska, in the Missouri, Colorado, and Columbia River Basins, and in California. Topographic surveys were made of two reservoir sites and 90 miles of river channel. Supervision of construction and operation was given to 152 power projects under license with the Federal Power Commission, to 322 such projects under permit or grant from the Department of the Interior, and to 177 in cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Classification activities resulted in the addition of 52,595 acres to power-site reserves and elimination of 21,355 acres, increasing the outstanding reserves in 23 States and Alaska to a net total of 6,847,618 acres.
Maps published covered 300 miles of stream channel of eight rivers, three dam sites, and three reservoir sites.
Final action involving hydraulic determination was taken on 504 cases received from departmental sources and the Federal Power Commission and on 3,448 cases that also involved mineral classification.
Investigations were in progress on the power and water-storage possibilities of 34 rivers. Three reports on power possibilities of certain streams were completed and made available for public inspection. Reservoir site reserves in nine States remain unchanged at 137,172 acres.
Mining
The Mining Branch is responsible for the supervision of operations concerned with the discovery and production of coal, potassium, so-
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + ' 205 dium, phosphate, and oil shale from all public-domain lands; of sulfur on public lands in Louisiana and New Mexico; of silica sand on certain lands in Nevada withdrawn by Executive Order 5105; of gold, silver, and mercury on Spanish land grants; of all minerals except oil and gas on segregated, restricted, and tribal Indian lands; of mineral deposits on acquired lands throughout the United States under the act of August 7, 1947, and the provisions of section 402 of the President’s Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1946; of vanadium under departmental authorization on public lands in Wyoming; and of copper, manganese, uranium, asbestos, limestone, gravel, sand, marble, silica rock, iron, gypsum, vermiculite, pumice, clay, fluorspar, feldspar, lead, zinc, barite, mica, tungsten, and garnet from Federal and Indian lands.
The branch is charged with the responsibility of reporting on applications for leases and prospecting permits, recommending lease terms, enforcing regulations and lease terms governing the conduct of prospecting, mining, beneficiation operations, and the safety and welfare of employees, protecting the natural resources, preventing waste, determining royalty liability of lessees and permittees, preparing statements of accounts, and receiving payments of royalties and rentals. The branch acts in an advisory capacity to the Secretary and to other bureaus of the Department in the handling of leases, permits, and licenses.
As of June 30, 1950, there were under supervision 1,209 properties under leases, permits, licenses, and secretarial authorizations, of which 908 were on the public domain, 85 on acquired lands, and 216 on Indian lands. These involved lands in 17 States west of the Mississippi River, 12 Eastern States, and Alaska. Production under supervision during the fiscal year is estimated at 12,914,000 tons, valued at $82,025,000, with accrued royalties of $2,600,000, indicating a de-♦ crease over the preceding year of 3,093,000 tons in production, $17,900,-000 in value, and $432,000 in royalties. Total income, including royalties, rentals, and bonuses, is estimated at $2,763,000.
The production of coal from public lands in the United States and Alaska, including the former Chickasaw-Choctaw segregated coal lands in Oklahoma purchased by the Government from the Indian owners on May 1, 1949, was approximately 7,072,000 tons, compared with 9,190,000 tons mined during the previous fiscal year from the same lands. The decrease in production was due to strikes of mine workers and increased competition of other fuels.
Potassium production is estimated at 4,400,000 tons of potassium salts, as compared with 4,952,930 tons during the fiscal year 1949. For the third year it exceeded in value the production of coal from all public-land leases. The decrease in tonnage was due to prolonged strikes of potash mine workers in New Mexico. During the year 142 core
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tests were made in prospecting operations in New Mexico, and the known potash reserves were increased. The number of potassium permits in effect in all States on June 30, 1950, was 270 as compared to 177 on June 30, 1949. A new lessee started sinking a shaft in New Mexico during the year, and another potash company is planning to develop its lands at an early date.
The principal source of sodium from public lands is the Searles Lake brine deposit in California, the production being under the provisions of potassium leases. Refined salts produced from these brines include potassium chloride, borax, soda ash, salt cake, bromine, burkite, and sodium lithium phosphate. During the year operations under 95 sodium prospecting permits were supervised in the States of California, Nevada, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming.
Phosphate leases on public lands in Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming increased in number from 17 to 29 during the fiscal year. In addition there are 33 phosphate leases on Indian lands in Idaho. The total production increased from 418,181 tons in 1949 to 428,452 tons in the fiscal year 1950. Two electrical furnaces were operated at Pocatello, Idaho, for the manufacture of elemental phosphorous for industrial use.
Lead and zinc concentrates produced from restricted Quapaw Indian lands in Oklahoma amounted to 47,965 tons, as compared with 51,404 tons for the fiscal year 1949. Lower-grade ore and lower prices during most of the year account for the decline.
Fluorspar produced in Illinois was the principal product from acquired lands. Other minerals obtained through acquired land leases are coal, silica, feldspar, mica, and asbestos. Prospecting for barite was continued in Arkansas and Missouri. It is in great demand for use as heavy mud in deep-well drilling for oil and gas.
Appraisals were made to determine the present worth of 38 tracts of coal lands in Oklahoma in connection with the sale or removal of * restrictions on allotted Indian lands, and assistance was rendered in the appraisal of ceded Ute Indian coal lands in western Colorado.
The effectiveness of the supervision by the Geological Survey is reflected by the character of the operations and by the cooperation obtained from management and employees in enforcing safety regulations. This is attested by the 5 awards of the Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association to coal mines on Government lands as compared with a total of 74 such awards in 1949 to the entire bituminous coal industry in the United States. Furthermore, one of the five mines awarded certificates of achievement in safety in the national safety competition of bituminous coal mines in the United States, operated on Government lands. Under the industrial minerals group one potassium lessee received a Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association award.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + ' 207 Oil and Gas Leasing
The Oil and Gas Leasing Branch supervises operations for the discovery, development, and production of crude oil, natural gas, and products extracted from natural gas on public lands under the act of February 25, 1920, as amended and supplemented; acquired lands under the act of August 7, 1947; tribal and allotted Indian lands subject to departmental jurisdiction, except the Osage Nation in Oklahoma, Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 2, and certain Federal lands excepted from the 1947 act, jurisdiction over which as to oil and gas leasing and operations has been transferred by other departments to the Department of the Interior. During the year these duties were accomplished through field offices and suboffices, 22 at the beginning of the year and 21 at the end, in California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming.
On the public lands 28,918 oil and gas properties were under supervision at the end of the fiscal year, aggregating 23,555,075 acres in 22 States and Alaska, an increase of 36 percent in the number of properties and 24 percent in the acreage under supervision at the close of the previous fiscal year.
Drilling on public lands during the year included the spudding of 810 wells and the completion of 829 wells, of which 581 were productive of oil and gas and 248 were barren. In all, 15,049 wells, including 8,506 capable of oil and gas production, were under supervision on June 30,1950. The production from petroleum deposits of the public lands during 1950 was somewhat less than during 1949. Production from public lands during the year amounted to about 76,000,000 barrels of petroleum, 123,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas, and 152,000,000 gallons of gasoline and butane, rendering royalty returns of approximately $21,637,000 to the United States.
Drilling on acquired lands during the year included the spudding of 43 wells and the completion of 40 wells, 23 of which were productive of oil or gas and 17 of which were barren. In all, 150 acquired-land wells, including 112 capable of oil or gas production, were under supervision on June 30, 1950. The production from acquired lands during the fiscal year amounted to about 1,204,000 barrels of petroleum, 569,214,000 cubic feet of natural gas, and 1,428,000 gallons of gasoline and butane, rendering royalty returns of approximately $300,000.
On Indian lands the Branch supervised operations on 6,552 leaseholds in 12 States, which contained at the end of the year a total of 8,241 wells, 4,110 of which were productive of oil or gas and 275 of which had been completed during the year. Total revenue from royalties, rentals, and bonuses amounted to $6,992,000.
208	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
On behalf of the Department of the Navy, supervision was continued in 1950 over operations for the production of oil, gas, gasoline, and butane from 20 properties under lease in Naval Petroleum Reserves Nos. 1 and 2 in California. Production from 254 active wells on reserve No. 2 aggregated 2,742,000 barrels of petroleum, 1,064,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas, and 7,143,000 gallons of natural gasoline and butane, having an aggregate royalty value of $945,450.
Statistics on lands heretofore reported as Department of the Army lands in the Rio Vista field, California, are now included in the figures for acquired lands under the act of 1947. Leasing on several tracts of transferred lands (excepted by the act of 1947) was in progress at the end of the year, but leases had not been issued. Many oil and gas appraisals and reports were made for the Army, the Navy, the Air Force, and the Alien Property Custodian. Some auditing of operating costs on leaseholds was done for the Alien Property Custodian.
Activities toward unitization of oil and gas operations involving Federal land were reflected in the approval of 32 new unit plans during the year and the termination of 45 previously approved unit plans, leaving 181 approved plans, covering 2,751,817 acres, outstanding on June 30, 1950. About 53.61 percent of the petroleum, 47.65 percent of the natural gas, and 74.29 percent of the gasoline and butane obtained from public lands during the year were produced under approved unit agreements. In addition there were two such approved plans covering 6,380 acres of Indian land outstanding on June 30, 1950. No new Indian-land unit agreements were approved during the year. There were also 28 drilling-unit agreements (commonly referred to as communitization agreements) approved during the year, making a total of 104 approved as of June 30, 1950. These agreements involved isolated small tracts, which are consolidated to form a logical drilling unit and, in effect, constitute an agreement similar to a unit agreement, though involving only a small segment of a single field or pool.
WORK ON PUBLICATIONS
Texts
During the year 140 new manuscripts were received by the Section of Texts, 148 manuscripts were sent to the printer, and 147 publications were delivered by the printer. Work on these included 11,101 pages of manuscript edited and prepared for printing; 3,912 galley proofs and 7,450 page proofs revised and returned; indexes prepared for 38 publications, covering 3,619 pages and consisting of 8,524
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	209
entries. Copy edited in preparation for mimeographing included 14 press releases, consisting of 25 pages, and 102 pages of miscellaneous material.
Reports delivered were as follows: Professional Papers 214-D, 216, 219, 221-A, 221-B, 221-C, 221-D, 224, 225, and 227; Bulletins 948-B, 948-C, 948-E, 955-B, 955-C, 960-F, 961, 962-A, 962-C, 963-A, 964-A, 964-B, 964-C, 965-A, 966-B, 966-C, 966-D, 967, 968, and 976-A; Water-Supply Papers 968-D, 1028, 1029, 1030, 1051, 1053, 1055, 1056, 1065,1066,1067,1069,1070,1071,1073, 1074,1075, 1076,1078,1079-A, 1079-B, 1082,1083,1084,1086, 1087,1088, 1089, 1090,1091, 1094, 1099, 1103, and 1105; and Circulars 34, 38, 43, 47, 49, 50, 52, 53, 54, 55, 56, 59, 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 65, 66, 68, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, and 74. These cover a wide range of subject matter: General geology of particular areas; mining districts and local mineral deposits in the United States, Alaska, Brazil, Hawaii, Mexico, and Palau Island; studies of fossils and the rocks in which they are found; a collection of papers on geochemical research; geophysical abstracts, a quarterly serial; measurements of stream flow and of water level and artesian pressure in wells; general studies of underground water and of the occurrence of floods, with consideration of the influence of geology and physiography.
In order to keep the public informed 12 lists of new publications were issued. Also printed during the year were 20 State index circulars ; 23 pamphlets to accompany index circulars; 2 geologic quadrangle maps (Mount Grace quadrangle, Massachusetts, bedrock geology, and Mount Grace quadrangle, Massachusetts, surficial geology) ; and First Supplement to Publications of the Geological Survey, 1948.
Illustrations
Of a total of 40 reports on hand at the beginning of the fiscal year, 19 were in various stages of completion. Twenty-four reports were received and 40 were completed and transmitted, leaving a total of 24 reports on hand, 21 of which were in various stages of completion. Those transmitted included 15 professional papers, 19 bulletins, and 6 water-supply papers, which contained 1,613 completed drawings and photographs. In addition 232 miscellaneous pieces of drafting were completed.
Map Reproduction
During the year 12 newly engraved topographic maps, 772 multicolor topographic maps, 34 river survey maps, 18 planimetric maps, 11 geologic index maps, 17 topographic index maps, 77 geologic preliminary maps, and 24 special maps were printed, making a total of
210	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
965 new maps printed and delivered. Reprint editions of 371 engraved topographic maps, 38 multicolor maps, and 198 photolithographed State geologic, planimetric, preliminary, and other maps were printed and delivered. Of new and reprinted maps, 1,572 different editions, amounting to 3,565,571 copies, were delivered.
A large amount of work was done for 39 other units of the Government, including branches of the Geological Survey, and the States. The charges for it amounted to about $156,316.03, for which the appropriation for engraving and printing geologic and topographic maps was reimbursed.
Transfer impressions and velox and plate prints numbering 484 were made during the year.
Of topographic maps and contract and miscellaneous work of all kinds, a grand total of 3,703,812 copies were printed and delivered.
The photographic laboratory made 10,522 negatives, 10,920 prints, 5,580 photolith press plates, and 776 lantern slides, and developed 37 film packs and 197 rolls of film, and developed and printed 29,600 feet of aerial film.
Map Distribution
In order to facilitate the distribution of maps to the public, the Geological Survey last year established map distribution offices at the Federal Center, Denver, Colo., and in downtown Denver and Salt Lake City. The Denver distribution center stocks and fills orders for all maps of areas west of the Mississippi River. The distribution offices at Denver and Salt Lake City were installed to satisfy a large local demand for maps.
The map distribution office at Salt Lake City was established on an experimental basis. If it is a success other distribution offices may be designated.
A summary of the distribution activities of the Geological Survey follows.
During the year the section received a total of 1,728 publications, comprising 90 new book reports and pamphlets and 7 reprints; 21 preliminary maps and charts in the oil and gas and strategic minerals investigations series and 49 in the geophysical investigations series; 11 geologic map indexes; 9 river surveys; 940 new or revised topographic and other maps and indexes (including 156 maps turned over to the Survey by the Army Map Service and the Tennessee Valley Authority) ; 46 Tennessee Valley Authority maps with contours; and 555 reprinted maps.
The total units received numbered 137,862 books and pamphlets (including 3,887 reprints), 63,200 copies of revised index maps, and 3,564,025 topographic and other maps, a grand total of 3,765,087.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	211
The section distributed 156,282 books and pamphlets, 898 geologic folios, and 1,461,811 maps, a grand total of 1,618,991, of which 838 folios and 1,045,710 maps were sold.
The breakdown of maps distributed is as follows:
Washington______________________________________________ 933, 505
Denver__________________________________________________ 519,-782
Other field offices_____________________________________ 8, 524
Total_________________________________________1,461,811
The net proceeds from sales of maps and folios were $161,602.05. In addition, $28,460.49 was repaid by other Government agencies for maps or folios furnished. The total net receipts, therefore, were $190,062.54, an increase of $28,232.36. Local Washington over-the-counter sale of maps to 9,329 private individuals was $6,406.98, an increase of $518.23 over last year. The section handled 74,383 letters.
The breakdown of money received is as follows:
Washington, D. C_________________________________$123, 715. 38
Denver___________________________________________ 33, 431. 87
Other field offices______________________________ 4,454.80
Total_________________________________________ 161, 602. 05
	On hand July 1,1949	Received	Distributed	On hand June 30, 1950
Geologic folios..			14,120		898	13, 222
Maps-- 		17,891i 263	3, 627, 225	1,461,811	20,056,677
Publications				
Complete volumes	 ..	127, 718	84,698	76,220	136,196
Separate chapters, extracts, and miscella-				
neons pamphlets		_	177,713	111,775	80,062	209,426
Total..					18, 210,814	3,823,698	1,618,991	20,415, 521
Equipment Development
Considerable progress has been made in the past in bringing into sharper focus the developmental aspects of property management. The Instrument Development Section was organized within the Branch of Service and Supply to aid in the development of specifications, the testing and inspection of new instruments, technical procurement work on standard equipment, and the improvement of standard instruments and perfection of new instruments. The section works closely with the Property Maintenance Section in accomplishing this.
In the past year the Property Maintenance and Instrument Development Sections investigated and duplicated many items, including vinyl-mounted drafting papers, arc-bulf power supplies, telescopic alidades, surveying tripods, Wilson photo-alidade telescope, altimeter field test procedure, portable telescopic signal masts, portable field
212	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
radios, portable electric hammers for setting survey marker tablets in rock, triangulation towers, and induction damped compasses.
Preliminary work is under way on the design of an optical reading telescopic alidade, which will incorporate features of both American and continental surveying instrument practice.
Assistance was given in the design and construction of the following Survey instruments: For the Kelsh plotter, 12 light tables, 2 large-angle pictures, 2 pantograph attachments, 4 pairs of light condensers and power parts, and 15 adjustable legs converted for plotter use; 3 transmission fluorimeters and 2 fluorimeters for solutions; 2 vacuum pulsator pumps and a pulsating air pump; electro-osmosis permameters and surface-sampler permameters; 2 new photoalidades; a counting chamber; 4 discharge integrators; 6 deep-well meters; a polastrodial; 40 Geiger tube assemblies; thermal analysis apparatus; 7 click wheels for micrometer stage; 6 laboratory conductance sets; ratchet arms, gears, and contact plates for a 25-tube Tracerlab automatic sample changer and an aluminum absorber; a drive core sampler ; and 3 lap machines.
At present work is under way on a standard design for seven transmission fluorimeters and five ionization chambers, and work is just being completed on 100 meter-foot stadia rods. Conversion of some U.S.E.D. rods to Survey standards is also being completed.
FUNDS
During the fiscal year 1950 obligations were incurred under the direction of the Geological Survey totaling $30,600,500. Of this amount $15,887,012 was appropriated directly to the Geological Survey, and $14,605,411 was made available by other Federal agencies and by States and their political subdivisions.
Obligations incurred by the Geological Survey in fiscal year 1950 (by source of funds')
Topographic surveys and mapping:
Geological Survey appropriation_______T___________________$6, 382,198
States, counties, and municipalities______________________ 1, 303, 615
Bureau of Reclamation_____________________________________ 2, 359 251
Department of Commerce:
Bureau of Public Roads________________________________ 51, 433
Department of Defense:
Department of the Air Force___________________________ 551,206
Department of the Army________________________________ 12 004
Department of the Navy________________________________ 11, 539
Miscellaneous Federal agencies____________________________ 241, 644
Sale to the public of aerial photographs and photographic copies of records----------------------------------------------- 20,608
Total----------------------------------------------------- 10,933,494
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
213
Geologic and mineral resource surveys and mapping:
Geology Survey appropriation______________________________$4, 070, 568
States, counties, and municipalities_________________________ 86,	071
Bureau of Mines______________________________________________ 16,	308
Bureau of Reclamation_________________________________________ 288,	497
Department of Defense:
Department of the Air Force______________________________ 17,	434
Department of the Army__________________________________ 687,	797
Department of the Navy____________________________________ 359,	627
Department of State_______________________________________ 231,127
Atomic Energy Commission_____________________‘____________. 2,495, 408
Economic Cooperation	Administration_______________________ 36, 501
Miscellaneous Federal	agencies__________________________ 83, 735
Foreign governments_______________________________________ 34,110
Total_______________________________________________________ 8, 407,183
Water resources investigations:
Geological Survey appropriation____________________________ 3,933, 359
States, counties, and municipalities_______________________ 2, 769, 582
Bureau of Indian Affairs___________________________________ 45, 259
Bureau of Reclamation______________________________________ 1, 391, 405
Department of Defense:
Department of the Army_________________________________ 857, 649
Department of the Navy_________________________________ 1, 208
Department of State________________________________________ 113, 310
American Battle Monuments Commission_______________________ 3, 718
Atomic Energy Commission___________________________________ 214,196
Tennessee Valley Authority_________________________________ 91,601
Miscellaneous Federal agencies_____________________________ 217, 003
Permittees and licensees of Federal Power Commission_______	53, 359
Total_______________________________________________________ 9, 691, 649
Soil and moisture conservation:
Geological Survey appropriation-------------------------------- 35, 384
Classification of lands:
Geological Survey appropriation___________________________________ 320,	836
States, counties, and municipalities___________________________ 486
Bureau of Reclamation---------------------------------------------- 22,	285
Miscellaneous Federal agencies______________________________________ 8,	851
Total_______________________________________________________ 352, 458
Supervision of mining and oil and gas leases:
Geological Survey appropriation_____________________________ 745,065
Bureau of Indian Affairs____________________________________ 613
Department of Defense:
Department of the Navy---------------------------------- 29, 468
Miscellaneous Federal agencies______________________________ 5, 584
Total____________________________________________________ 780, 730
907639—51----16
214	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
General administration:
Geological Survey appropriation_______________________________ $399, 902
Summary:
Geological Survey appropriation_____________________________ 15,887,012
Other Federal agencies______________________________________ 10,445,657
States, counties, and municipalities________________________ 4,159, 754
Permittees and licensees of Federal Power Commission________ 53, 359
Sale to the public of aerial photographs and photographic copies of records------------------------------------------------- 20, 608
Foreign governments_________________________________________ 34, no
Total----------------------------------------------------- 30,600,500
Oil and Gas Division
Hugh A. Stewart, Director1
☆
THE OIL AND GAS DIVISION was established by the Secretary of the Interior on May 6, 1946, pursuant to the suggestion of the President in a letter of May 3,1946. With a view to the conservation of the Nation’s petroleum and gas resources and the achievement of petroleum security, the over-all coordination of the Federal Government’s peacetime oil and gas activities was carried on by the Secretary of the Interior with only seven employees on the Division’s technical staff.
Advice and assistance on a variety of oil and gas matters and related activities were given daily to the many Federal agencies having responsibilities with respect to oil and gas, or affected by petroleum supply, and to members of the legislative branch of the Federal Government and its congressional committees, as well as to the petroleum and allied industries.
The Division represented the Department of the Interior on interagency committees, which had responsibility in connection with the Government’s synthetic rubber program. The Division was also active on a special committee, set up by the Assistant to the President, which studied and reported on the maintenance of the synthetic rubber industry in the United States and disposal of Government-owned synthetic rubber facilities and prepared recommendations for the President, who transmitted them to the Congress of the United States on January 14, 1950.
International affairs brought into focus the significance and importance of petroleum, and the Division advised and assisted the Department of State on numerous matters with respect to United States foreign petroleum policy and problems which necessitated extensive study and work on Department of State committees dealing with foreign oil situations and their effects upon the United States economy and the petroleum industry. The Division participated in more than 30 meetings of one interagency committee, under the chairmanship of the Department of State, which drafted a United States policy on petroleum trade and exchange practices with the British to improve balance of payments equilibrium between the sterling and dollar areas and at the same time to protect the United States world
1 Carroll D. Fentress served as Acting Director during the first 4 months of the fiscal year.
215
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wide petroleum trade interests. The American companies were assisted in their negotiations with the British Government by informal notes exchanged between the Governments of the United States and the United Kingdom.
Reports on the present oil resources and development in other countries were prepared and furnished to Federal agencies having need for them.
Intensive study and participation at 102 meetings of Department of Commerce committees dealing with export policy and controls were required to assist that Department on matters concerning export policy and export controls necessary to national security and defense. In June, the Division’s representative was a United States delegate on the technical mission held in Paris, France, to discuss export controls of certain equipment.
The Division worked closely with the Munitions Board Petroleum Committee and the National Security Resources Board on petroleum mobilization planning for national security and defense, and was represented on numerous task groups engaged in making special studies. The Division assisted the military, particularly the Armed Services Petroleum Purchasing Agency, on problems with respect to meeting the military requirements for petroleum products.
The Division assisted in planning the petroleum program for the United Nations Scientific Conference on Conservation and Utilization of Natural Resources held at Lake Success, N. Y., August 17 through September 6, 1949, and was officially represented at the Conference.
The Division took part in the work of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists’ exhaustive study on the future oil provinces of North America.
To increase the Oil and Gas Division’s effectiveness and to keep the public better informed on oil and gas matters, the members of the technical staff testified or were observers at congressional committee hearings, attended important meetings of oil and gas trade associations, and addressed or participated in meetings of various petroleum and mineral industries groups and professional societies.
In the very important task of coordinating the Federal Government’s oil and gas activities with the national welfare the Interdepartmental Petroleum Committee, created by the Secretary of the Interior on July 8,1946, has been most effective. Under the chairmanship of the Director of the Oil and Gas Division, a number of meetings were held during the fiscal year to consider oil and gas matters of national interest, as well as to keep the member agencies currently informed as to the petroleum situation.
Liaison between the Federal Government and the States on petroleum matters was maintained primarily by the Federal Petroleum
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4-	217
Board, under the supervision of the Oil and Gas Division, with State regulatory and conservation agencies, by the official representation of the Director of the Oil and Gas Division on the Interstate Oil Compact Commission, and by direct contacts with State officials. The Department was represented at the compact’s annual and quarterly meetings and at meetings of its Economic Advisory Committee and Committee on Regulatory Practices.
At the request of the Secretary of the Interior or the Director of the Oil and Gas Division, the National Petroleum Council studied certain matters presented to it and made reports thereon. During the fiscal year, the most important reports submitted were on the manpower employed in the petroleum industry, Federal oil and gas leasing, petroleum imports, the United States domestic petroleum reserve productive capacity, and a legislative proposal to establish a petroleum policy council. This work required 23 council committees made up of 276 petroleum industry personnel. At the close of the fiscal year, two additional studies were under way; one was the liquefied petroleum gas supply situation, and the other was on the Bureau of Mines’ estimates of the cost of producing synthetic liquid fuels. In December 1949, the Secretary of the Interior appointed the individuals to serve on the National Petroleum Council for the 1950 calendar year.
The Secretary of the Interior appointed the Military Petroleum Advisory Board to provide, on a confidential basis, expert counsel, advice, and information on oil and gas matters relating to national security and defense to the Departments of Interior and Defense and to the National Security Resources Board. During the fiscal year, the Board was of especial value in furnishing advice and information on major problems in military petroleum planning for the armed services. More than 200 specialists from the petroleum and allied industries served on the Board’s panels and committees, and as staff associates and assistants. At the close of the fiscal year, the Board was functioning under the Order No. 2562 of the Secretary of the Interior, dated April 26, 1950, which superseded Orders 2482 and 2309.
The Connally “Hot Oil” Act (15 U. S. C., 715-7151), which prohibits interstate shipment of oil produced or handled in violation of State law, is administered under supervision of the Oil and Gas Division by the Federal Petroleum Board with headquarters at Kilgore, Tex. The Board consists of a Chairman and member at Kilgore, and an alternate member in charge of the suboffice at Midland, Tex. Suboffices are also located at Houston, Tex., and Lafayette, La.
While the act is applicable wherever State laws limit the rate of production and prescribe conditions for producing and handling oil,
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its chief application occurs in the States of Texas, Louisiana, and New Mexico where regulations prescribed under the act are actively enforced by the Board and its staff. To a lesser degree, enforcement activities are carried on in the States of Oklahoma, Arkansas, Kansas, Mississippi, and other oil-producing States.
In addition to the 3 Board members, who are active in the field, the staff consists of 24 other individuals: 14 field examiners, and 10 who comprise the accounting, administrative, stenographic, and clerical personnel.
The principal functions of the Board are those of preventing, so far as possible, violations of the act and the application of its sanctions to the more important of the violations that do occur, achieved primarily through continuous field investigations by the examining staff, observing and inspecting producing, transporting, storing, and processing operations and the inspection and auditing of prescribed records and reports, and other records.
From an area designated by published regulation, which includes 106 counties in the State of Texas, two counties in the State of New Mexico, and the entire State of Louisiana, the Board is currently receiving and processing each month some 5,160 monthly operating reports of which about 4,540 are filed by producers, about 543 by transporters, and about 77 "by processors and refiners. These reports cover operations carried on in some 841 separate oil fields with about 57,385 producing oil wells, the total average monthly crude oil production from which is slightly more than 50,000,000 barrels. This represents approximately 34 percent of the total crude oil produced monthly in the entire United States.
The enforcement activities by the Board’s staff during the fiscal year included the visiting of more than 533 separate oil fields in which 3,446 separate leases were visited and inspected. More than 900. of these leases were fully gauged and checked over continuous periods ranging from a few weeks to several months in length. During the year, operating records of 17 separate pipeline systems, pump stations, and refineries were audited and the physical properties and facilities of these entities were checked and inspected. In carrying on routine field investigations, it was necessary to interview and interrogate some 1,650 different individuals, and in connection with special investigations to determine whether punishable violations of the act had occurred, it was necessary to hold 26 investigative hearings and, in addition, to interview and interrogate 724 other individuals.
At the beginning of the fiscal year, 20 separate cases were pending on the dockets of the Board, 9 of which were undergoing further investigation, 2 were pending administrative review or disposition
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
219
by the Board, 6 were awaiting the initiation of prosecution by the Department of Justice, 3 were pending disposition in the Federal courts in the State of Louisiana. Investigations were initiated during the year in 11 new cases.
Of the 31 cases thus receiving consideration during the fiscal year, 10 were closed by successful prosecution, pursuant to which fines of $52,950 were imposed and paid, 4 were closed by administrative action without prosecution, and 17 were pending on the dockets of the Board at the close of the year. Of these 17 cases, 4 were pending disposition in the Federal district courts of the States of Louisiana and Texas, 5 were undergoing further investigation, 2 pending review or administrative disposition by the Board, 1 pending review by the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior, and 5 pending the initiation of prosecution by the Department of Justice.
Investigations were completed during the year in 14 cases, 8 of which were pending further investigation at the beginning of the year, and 6 of which were cases opened during the period. Two of the three cases pending in court at the beginning of the year were concluded by successful prosecution, and one remains pending. There were no unsuccessful prosecutions.
In keeping with its established policy, all activities of the Board were carried on in close cooperation with other public authorities, both State and Federal, having related functions, particularly the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Conservation Commission of the State of Louisiana, as well as United States attorneys, the several attorneys general, and taxing authorities having interests touching the subject matter dealt with by the Board.
i. 'ilh ■■
,>	iff;	“	{ -
■
Office of Land Utilization
Lee Muck, Assistant to the Secretary ☆ ☆ ☆
ON APRIL 15, 1950, the Office of Land Utilization completed its tenth year as the coordinating agency for the land and resource management activities of the Department. The record of these 10 years indicates that considerable progress has been made by the Department in the fields of forest management, soil- and moisture-conservation operations, and water-resource development. Although the Office has demonstrated the value of effective coordination in the management of natural resources, much remains to be accomplished. Furthermore, as the result of rising international tensions toward the end of the fiscal year, the Office has been engaged in expanding some of its activities in order to assist in the planning for the mobilization of our natural resources. Plans are being prepared for intensifying the protection of our timber resources from fire and for increasing the volume of timber cut from Department of Interior lands by the construction of additional timber-access roads. Bearing in mind the long-range objective of coordinated management, as well as the shortterm objective created by the emergency, the Office was at the end of the year undergoing a reorganization to strengthen its land and resource management programs. A discussion of the activities of the Office during the fiscal year 1950 follows:
SOIL AND MOISTURE CONSERVATION
Continued slow but certain progress was made during the year in improving the application of soil-conservation procedures and practices, and in extending the program to additional lands under the jurisdiction of the Department. Measurable progress was also made toward effecting closer and more efficient working relationships between the soil- and moisture-conservation operations and those of other resource management activities of the bureaus, and in the improvement of interbureau and interdepartmental relationships. The most satisfactory progress, however, was made in connection with further development of a realistic pattern of human relationships with the landowners or land users affected by the soil- and moisture-conservation program.
Approximately 80 percent of the land under the jurisdiction of the Department is federally owned, the remaining 20 percent being custodial Indian land. On the federally owned lands under its juris-221
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
diction the Department’s legal responsibility for the conservation of the soil and moisture resources is direct and comprehensive. On the Indian lands the conservation problem is more involved. These lands, owned by individual Indians or Indian tribes, are a custodial responsibility of the Federal Government, but soil-conservation operations on any of these lands must be approved by the owners and must be fully integrated with other programs that provide for the general welfare of the Indians. In both instances, however, the human beings dependent upon these lands and resources for their livelihood constitute a conservation potential of tremendous possibilities when directed in the right way. Development of this potential on an effective working basis demands an approach that insures full recognition and appropriate action in connection with both the human and economic problems with which the landowners or users must contend.
On the Indian lands outstanding progress has been made through enlisting the interests of the Indian owners, securing their confidence, and then providing the necessary assistance so that the conservation work may proceed on a sound and satisfactory basis. When the Indian is convinced that this program means being kind to Mother Earth much of his doubt is erased and proper land and resource management not otherwise obtainable is assured.
The users of the public lands in their reactions to the soil- and moisture-conservation program are not so very different from the Indians. The main difference that exists arises largely from the fact that in this case the lands involved are federally owned. However, here again the same objective and the same general approach are bringing increasingly large dividends in the way of action.
Reluctance to participate in the program, or indifference to the practice of conservation, are rapidly giving way and are being replaced by increasing demands for more and more assistance in the way of information and guidance in order that the users of the lands may assist in putting both lands and resources in proper condition. We have been materially aided in all features of the program through the continued development of public realization of the importance of our soil resources to the continued welfare of the Nation, and that each and every landowner and user has a duty to respond in this conservation effort.
FOREST MANAGEMENT
The proper and adequate management of the forests and woodlands under the jurisdiction of the Department has been and continues to be one of the major objectives of the Office of Land Utilization.
During 1950 more adequate protection from forest pests was afforded the forest lands. Four million ribes bushes were destroyed
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	223
during the calendar year 1949 in the program to protect approximately 650,000 acres of white and sugar pines from the ravages of the white pine blister rust. Likewise, action against the mountain pine beetle infestation in the lodgepole pine forests of western Wyoming and the spruce budworm infestation in Douglas firs in western Oregon was continued in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. Furthermore, timely and adequate action was taken against many other smaller insect infestations and disease infections.
Of the 441,000,000 acres of forest, brush, grass, marsh and tundra lands of the Department requiring protection from fire, 227,000,000 acres are protected. Of the 214,000,000 acres not protected, 211,000,000 acres are in the Territory of Alaska. During the calendar year 1949, 2,724 fires were reported burning 342,318 acres of federally owned or managed lands. Although this was an increase of 752 fires from the previous year, due largely to lightning, the acreage loss was practically identical for the 2 years with 0.15 percent of the area protected burned over.
The slackening of timber sales reported last year continued through the first quarter of this year. However, increasing demand for lumber, plywood, and pulpwood evident at the midpoint of the year continued unabated at the end of the year. The record shows that for the entire year the forests of the Department produced 1,116,009,000 board feet of timber valued at $10,557,521.
The ultimate goal of adequate protection from fire, insects, and disease which is basic to complete management has not yet been achieved. According to the 1950 evaluation, by the bureaus concerned, of the protection from fire afforded the Department’s lands in the continental United States, 24 percent of the area has excellent protection, 69 percent good protection, 4 percent fair protection, 2 percent poor protection, and 1 percent no protection. Furthermore, the detection of incipient forest insect infestations has not evolved to an adequate basis as yet. The Department’s progress has been steady but it should be understood that intensive management of our forest lands has yet to be accomplished.
LAND CLASSIFICATION AND LAND POLICY
Review of proposed land transfers, land withdrawals, land disposal, and similar actions requiring secretarial action involved the examination of about 900 documents. Recommendations were made to the Solicitor concerning action on 54 appeals from decisions of the Bureau of Land Management rejecting applications for entry on public land, where the rejections were based on determinations by the bureau that the land was unsuitable for the purposes for which applications for entry were made.
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A field investigation was made of the progress of land classification activities in the regional offices of the Bureau of Land Management since the decentralization of these activities was initiated in 1948.
The Director of Land Classification represented the Secretary of the Interior on the 1951 Yearbook Commission of the American Association of School Administrators, an affiliate of the National Education Association, which is planning to devote its 1951 yearbook to the subject of teaching conservation of natural resources in primary and secondary schools.
The Office of Land Utilization has been represented on a task force established by the Bureau of the Budget to study land-management functions of the Federal Government in view of disagreement within the Committee on Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government. The task force consists of two representatives each from the Bureau of the Budget, the Department of Agriculture, and the Department of the Interior. It is concerned especially with disagreement within the Hoover Commission as to whether a combined Forest and Range Service consisting of the Forest Service and portions of the Bureau of Land Management should be placed in the Department of Agriculture or the Department of the Interior. The task force is studying the organization and activities of the two bureaus concerned, their interrelationships and their relations with other land-managing agencies, and the relationships of Government land-management functions to private citizens, particularly the users of the public lands.
WATER RESOURCES COORDINATION
During the year, agencies of the Department, acting through the Water Resources Subcommittee, reviewed 35 river and harbor and flood-control reports of the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, concerned primarily with flood control and navigation; and 3 basin and project reports of the Bureau of Reclamation concerned principally with irrigation. Proposed projects by both agencies also have incidental power, flood-control, and water-conservation benefits. The agencies also reviewed 48 applications for power permits and licenses referred to the Department by the Federal Power Commission. Recommendations were formulated for all projects designed to protect the varied interests of the agencies of the Department, and to assure, so far as compatible with the primary purpose of the proposed projects, that in their design, construction, and operation, appropriate consideration would be given to all uses of water.
The executive officer of the Water Resources Subcommittee acted as alternate to the Department’s representative on the Federal Inter-Agency River Basin Committee, and liaison with the Bureau of the Budget and the President’s Water Resources Policy Commission on
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + ' 225 matters relating to basic data programs. Agencies were kept advised throughout the year of action by the Federal Inter-Agency River Basin Committee, its three field committees (Missouri Basin Field Committee, Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee, Pacific Southwest Technical Committee), and its technical subcommittees (hydrologic data, sedimentation, and benefits and costs), and other interagency working groups, in order that agencies of the Department might actively participate in these technical coordination activities in which they are especially interested.
In connection with departmental operations, the agencies represented on the Water Resources Subcommittee were given full opportunity to review programs prepared at regional level by the Department’s field committees, and also to participate in the formulation of interstate water compacts through the designated Federal representatives.
Bureau of Land Management
Marion Clawson, Director
☆ ☆ ☆
TO MEET THE DEMANDS of an expanding economy, the Bureau of Land Management during the past year increased its activities manyfold in the administration of some 500 million acres of public lands in the United States and in Alaska. Basic resource development and management work of this agency has helped the country grow industrially at the same time that such activity has safeguarded the interests of this and future generations of Americans.
In the fulfillment of its responsibilities, such as the administration of mining, timber, and grazing lands, the Bureau of Land Management has achieved considerable stature as one of Uncle Sam’s conservation-minded money makers.
Receipts during the 4 years since the Bureau of Land Management was formed by the consolidation of the General Land Office and Grazing Service of the Department of the Interior, have totaled approximately $125 million. Of this amount, more than 50 million dollars were transferred to the Bureau of Reclamation for investment in dams and other projects for the development of the West. Almost 50 million were paid to States and counties for use for schools, roads, and other local purposes. Part of the remainder of this amount was used for conservation developments and the rest was placed in the miscellaneous receipts funds of the Treasury.
In addition to being one of Uncle Sam’s money makers, the Bureau of Land Management also provides services relating to the public domain in supplying information on titles, as well as disposing of tracts of land under homesteading, mining, and other land laws, and making cadastral surveys.
During the past year, the Bureau of Land Management has assumed an even more important role in western and national economy as shown in the greater number of applications for use of the public land. Applications have increased from a total of 17,000 during the fiscal year, 1946, to a total of 34,000 during the fiscal year, 1950.
Mineral leases, leases, and sales of tracts of 5 acres or less for use as business and recreational sites, homesteads, desert-land entries, exchange of land with States, withdrawals, and reservations requested by military and other agencies, are major types of land-office cases.
In addition to its job as a real-estate agency for the Government, the Bureau of Land Management has definite responsibilities to pro
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tect and to increase the productivity of the lands under its jurisdiction. During the past year, this agency has moved forward on an accelerated program of rehabilitation of range lands and forest conservation, and other related work. A Bureau of Land Management program designed to expedite cadastral engineering surveys on public lands, to microfilm valuable land-office records, safeguarding them against possible loss, and to provide a continued economic efficient operation of selective disposal, development, and use of the people’s acres, is being forwarded as funds are made available.
A review of the reports from the seven regions of the Bureau of Land Management, extending from Alaska to California and embracing 29 States and 1 Territory, presents a good economic cross section of American progress and potentialities. 8,576,859 head of livestock grazing on grazing districts administered by the Bureau of Land Management reflects the importance of the western livestock industry and its impact on the national economy. $4,947,813 worth of timber, containing a volume of 413,403,000 board feet, was marketed on O and C lands in western Oregon, emphasizing the value of the sustained yield policy on these lands. Revenues from oil and gas, phosphate, potash, and other mineral leases exceeded $29,000,000 and show the increasing interest in these activities, basic to national security and national agricultural and industrial prosperity.
Although its many activities are and will continue to be centered in this country, the Bureau of Land Management has received international recognition this year in requests for technical assistance on land problems in Guam and Pakistan and in representation at engineering conferences in New Zealand. In line with the President’s point 4 program, this agency is making available the use of its experts, when funds are provided to make this service possible.
Cooperating with other Federal agencies, the Bureau of Land Management has taken the initiative this past year in several important land planning studies, including those for Alaskan development, the drafting of legislation to modernize the land laws, in aiding veteran settlement, and in seeking by experimentation vegetation best suited to the rehabilitation of western range lands. Fully cognizant of the need for economy, the Bureau of Land Management has geared its administrative machinery to drive forward with a program that can best serve the public interests.
INCREASED PUBLIC LAND USE
After more than 150 years of an active campaign to dispose of its public lands, the United States, in 1934, changed over to a policy primarily of use and selective disposal with respect to the surface but still adhering to the policy of disposal as to any minerals in the land.
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Although approximately three-fourths of the original public domain outside of Alaska has been disposed of, approximately 412 million acres, plus 45 million acres of acquired lands will bring more revenue to the Federal Government than has been realized up to now. These revenues will come from several sources, but a principal source will be those mineral deposits which are subject to lease. These include, coal, oil, gas, oil shale, potash, phosphate, sodium, and, within certain limitations, sulfur. The following chart shows the mineral production under lease of public-domain lands.
MINERAL PRODUCTION UNDER LEASE OF PUBLIC DOMAIN LANDS
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Mineral Deposits on Public Land
A substantial percentage of the three trillion tons of known coal deposits is in the public lands and an unknown quantity of oil and gas exist there. At present only about 4 percent of the total production of oil and gas comes from public lands. The use of oil and gas has increased immensely in the past 20 years so that, although new discoveries have multiplied at least in the second half of that period, the proven reserve suply is sufficient only for 10 to 15 years.
The remaining public land, including acquired land and the intermingled privately owned lands, offers one of the best, if not the best, areas for prospecting for more oil and gas. Rapidly increasing technical knowledge has made it possible to find oil where no surface evidence exists.
Record Shows Increased Development
Comparatively recent discoveries indicate that oil and gas may be found in quantity in the public land area of the West. This is graphically reflected in the statistics of the Bureau for fiscal 1950.
These show a total of 16,000 non-competetive oil and gas lease applications filed during the year. These figures compare with the filing of about 7,000 oil and gas prospecting applications annually during the first few years after the mineral leasing act of 1920 was passed. During the 1930’s applications dropped to about 2,000 per year. During the war years, about 4,000 lease applications per year was the average. Spurred by the need for oil after the war this figure rose to around 7,000 in 1947. It is now more than twice that and appears to be on the rise.
Leases in large numbers are being sought in States where no oil or little oil has been found. In Utah, a State which formerly produced only a token amount of oil and gas, this activity has already resulted in discoveries. Knowledge recently acquired as to distribution of oil and gas in the earth has resulted in giving prospective value to areas in the public-land States formerly condemned or accorded slight attention. Similar areas in the Middle West, East, and South include lands purchased by the United States during the past 20 years.
It is impossible either to estimate the amount of oil and gas remaining undiscovered in the public lands or to make more than a guess as to the rate of new discoveries in future years. It can be safely assumed that for a long time to come prospecting activity will increase and broaden in scope because (1) the older oil fields are being depleted, (2) the demand for oil is increasing, and (3) the areas containing Federal lands have been less thoroughly explored than most other potential oil and gas areas.
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Potash and Phosphate—Fundamental to Agricultural Economy
The continued production of potash and phosphate is essential to all life. As populations increase, the drain of these minerals from land devoted to agriculture and stock raising becomes greater. Nearly all known potash deposits are in public lands and those lands include most of the potential potash areas. More than half of the known presently usable phosphate deposits are in public lands. This Bureau is active in endeavoring to further the search for new minable deposits of these minerals and their utilization in restoring the rapidly depleting soils upon which the Nation depends for food and clothing. Two important new discoveries of potash were made in New Mexico on Federal prospecting permits during fiscal 1950 and substantial progress was made in a program designed to accelerate the development under lease of the public-owned phosphate deposits.
Adverting again to fuel minerals, experiments now being conducted by the Bureau of Mines may result in the start of a private industry in the production of oil from oil shale of which the public lands may well contain enough to produce upward of one trillion barrels of oil. When such an industry will begin depends largely on the relative costs of producing extracted oil and on the ability to find new sources of oil. More oil will be found in pools than has been found but it must be remembered that much, much more is needed now than was required a decade ago. When the time comes to look elsewhere for oil the oil shale, and coal, and oil sands all of which are situated in large amounts in the public lands, will have to be mined to supply continuing and increasing demands.
Selective Disposal Policy
Although the policy of Government with respect to the public lands is primarily one of use, laws providing for the disposal of lands are still in force and still operate on lands classified as suitable for disposal. Since little agricultural land is now in public ownership, disposals of lands for farming are limited to occasional tracts which are susceptible to such use. The hunger for land still persists, however, and the Bureau’s offices are continually besieged by veterans and others who are willing to undergo the hardships of the pioneer in order to obtain a home. Many requests must necessarily be denied. There is no longer plenty of land for everyone. However, the wants of many— those who are content to receive a home site, or a place to go for recreation—are being satisfied. Large areas of public lands are being made available in tracts from 1 to 5 acres, in Florida, California, Arizona, and elsewhere, and many thousands are taking advantage of the oppor
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tunity thus provided. World War II veterans are given preference rights to secure these lands.
The Taylor Gracing Act of 1934 which provided for the classification of public lands also provided for exchanges of lands with private owners and with States. By utilizing this provision, the Bureau has been able to block up areas of land under its administration. States are able to an extent to consolidate their holdings, previously scattered as single sections over nearly every township in the State and the livestock and other industries of the public-land States have benefited through consolidation of holdings.
Speeding Up Action on All Cases
In general, decentralization and improved procedures have resulted in a speeding up of the work of acting on public-land cases. The chart on page — shows number of cases closed this year.
Basic to all land use is the work of this agency’s engineers.
CADASTRAL SURVEYS BASIC TO RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT
The basic information obtained in a cadastral survey is a necessity to any major project initiated on the public lands. These surveys create land boundaries, identify the lands, determine areas, furnish legal descriptions for title purposes, and actually mark the lines on the ground by establishing substantial monuments.
Surveys in the Continental United States
Title to about 50 percent of the area of the 11 Western States is still in the Government. Approximately 100 million acres of this area— equivalent to 15 percent of the total area of those States—have not been surveyed. The value and future need of timber and the potential mineral deposits in the unsurveyed areas constitute one of the primary needs for the completion of the original surveys. In addition, at the present time there is an actual demand for the resurvey of over 50 million acres located in the Western States which were surveyed many years ago.
Surveys and resurveys are needed for grazing administration— reseeding, fencing, soil-conservation work; for control of mapping programs; for the identification of lands leased under the oil and gas act; for the development of river basins; for the management of the O and C lands and the public lands in national forests; for the administration of the Small Tract Act passed in 1938; for the settlement of
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trespass cases; for the survey of lands erroneously omitted from the original surveys; for the survey of islands and areas formed by accretion, etc.
Due to the lack of funds, the Bureau of Land Management has not been able to keep current with the demand for surveys and it has been possible to undertake and complete only the most important projects.
The major projects completed during the year included the survey
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or resurvey of 55,780 acres in California, Idaho, and Wyoming for the identification of land leased for oil and gas or phosphate; 472,388 acres in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, and Utah needed for the administration of the public lands in connection with range-management activities; 1,234,927 acres in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, and Wyoming for the Bureau of Reclamation in connection with the development of the Missouri River Basin; 28,220 acres in California necessary for administration under the Small Tract Act; 47,360 acres in Oregon and Washington national forests; 23,040 acres of O and C lands in Oregon; 9,445 acres in California for Department of the Army in connection with the Folsom Dam and Reservoir; 8,320 acres in Arizona requested by settlers; and survey of islands omitted from the original surveys in Idaho, Nevada, Alabama, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin.
Surveys in Alaska
The area of the Territory of Alaska is 365,481,600 acres. The rectangular system of surveys has been extended over only 2% million acres or less than 1 percent of the total area. Although the entire area of Alaska never will be brought under the rectangular system of surveys, it will be necessary to keep a substantial force of engineers employed in the Territory to make the surveys necessary for settlement and development.
There is an urgent need and demand for the survey of isolated tracts, such as home sites, homesteads, trade and manufacturing sites, etc.; the survey of town sites; and rectangular surveys along the Glenn, Alaska, and Richardson Highways and in the Chena, Haines, and Chilkat Lake areas for settlement purposes.
The cadastral engineering program should be accelerated materially in Alaska, as at the present rate of progress delay in surveying is retarding settlement and development.
The most urgent projects completed during the fiscal year consisted of the survey of 47,830 acres along the Richardson Highway between Fairbanks and Big Delta for settlement purposes; the resurvey of 2,220 acres being administered under the Small Tract Act located along the Glenn Highway and in the vicinity of Anchorage; 194 individual tracts scattered throughout the Territory for home sites, headquarters sites, homesteads, trade and manufacturing sites; and for exchange purposes; and 441 lots in the town sites of Sitka, Cordova, Kenai, Kodiak, and Fort Yukon.
Century old land office records including engineering surveys maintained by the Bureau are priceless tools and their preservation is essential to millions of peoples all over the country.
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PRESERVING AND MODERNIZING LAND OFFICE RECORDS
The problem of preserving as well as modernizing the Bureau’s public land record system; both in Washington and the field offices, continues to be a matter of great concern to the Bureau since the loss of these records by fire or other disaster, would have a far-reaching effect on future business transactions of both public and private enterprise.
The Microfilm Project
During the year preliminary plans and procedures were developed for a comprehensive revision of the basic land record system. A small start was made with a $10,000 appropriation on one phase of this modernization program. The job of microfilming 6,500,000 patents contained in 11,550 volumes was begun in February. As of June 30, 573,000 patents were microfilmed on 35 millimeter film. When completed, the project, it is estimated, will pay for itself in approximately 5 years in savings on office space and maintenance costs alone. The life of the patent record will be extended indefinitely by use of this process.
The Records Inventory
In cooperation with the National Archives, substantial progress was made on a general survey or inventory of the records contained in the Bureau’s files. This survey should be completed in the fiscal year 1951 and will be used as a basis to carry out a systematic records retirement program.
OTHER ADMINISTRATIVE IMPROVEMENTS
Part of the administrative machinery of any agency is the handling of supplies on an economical expeditious basis.
The fiscal year 1950 accomplishments produced many improvements both in Washington and field procurement and purchase of equipment and supplies, space utilization, property control, distribution of printed material, and communication services.
Regional purchasing of office supplies and equipment through local Federal supply centers and schedules have saved considerable money in shipping costs and time.
Major improvements were also made in the accounts work.
Following decentralization of the accounts receivable to the regional offices, studies were conducted as a result of which pilot installations were made to further decentralize the maintenance of the
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accounts and collections of revenue to the district level. The results justified the extension of the plan to all district offices.
An internal audit staff was established and completed the reconstruction of the accounts receivable in three regions and the producing oil and gas accounts in another region.
The Bureau participated actively in the initial presentation of performance-type budget.
Improved Management
A land office organizational pattern has been developed as a guide, taking into consideration the physical lay-out, mechanical equipment, flow of work, personnel utilization, and related factors. This pattern is now being followed with some few minor exceptions in Cheyenne and Billings. It is being adopted as circumstances permit in other land offices.
Recommendations have been made for revision of the present oil and gas lease regulations and procedures, small tract lease and sale regulations and procedures, and the section 15 grazing lease. All of these recommendations embody the idea of a combined application and lease form which greatly simplifies the work of the Bureau. The changes should facilitate the handling of applications in several ways. The new oil and gas lease procedure will discourage filings which are not bonafide. In most cases such filings do not result in the issuance of a lease.
New procedures will greatly simplify the accounting work as the funds will be earned immediately and the making of refunds should be reduced to a minimum.
An organization chart of the Bureau is shown on page 244.
In accordance with the memorandum of the Secretary, dated February 28, 1950, and Order No. 2556 of the same date, a comprehensive management improvement plan was prepared and submitted to the Secretary which he approved. This calls for the survey of each of the Bureau’s functional areas every 3 years. Plans are now under way to make the first survey of the adjudication function.
Bureau Suggestions Committee Report
During the fiscal year 1950 the Bureau suggestions committee considered 173 suggestions. Final report was made on 118, and 55 were still pending at the end of the year. Of the 118 on which final report was made the suggestion was adopted and award made in 21 cases, or 18 percent. Awards amounted to $450, an average of $21 per award.
The suggestions for the most part dealt with changes in methods and procedures, some of them affecting every office in the Bureau, resulting
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in increased efficiency. The monetary savings represented by manhours, increased revenues to the Government, and savings in supplies and equipment, amounted to approximately $10,000.
Agency Averages 1,200 Employees
The average employment of all types of employees except district grazing advisers, was 1,200. Average employment in the Washington office was 204 and in the regions as follows: Region 1—250, region 2—143, region 3—197, region 4—175, region 5—133, region 6—15, region 7—83.
A very effective program to orient employees and keep them informed of Bureau operations was carried through during the year.
Under the honor awards system, two awards were made for distinguished service, 10 for meritorious, and 10 for commendable. Eight pay increases for superior accomplishments were earned by Bureau employees.
One for the basic responsibilities of the Bureau of Land Management is that of range management.
FEDERAL RANGE VITAL IN NATIONAL ECONOMY
The Federal range shoulders an important economic role in our expanding national development. Population increases and continuing improvement in living standards result in heavier demands for meat, wool, leather, and other animal products. Production levels to meet the expected and rapidly materializing demands are not possible without greater attention to technology and active managment of available and potential resources. Industrial expansion in the western States and population shifts to the west coast during and following World War II have tended to increase the pressure on the western ranges.
Although the demand for grazing is expanding, developments progressively decrease the area available for that purpose. Improved farm management, including crop rotation on irrigated lands, and acknowledgment of the value of livestock in maintaining soil fertility and water-retention capacity through humus-mineral relationships, result in larger demand for range use during the tillage season. At the same time, greater public interest has been focused on the present inadequacies for protection against fire, trespass, erosion, rodents, insects, and disease, which are responsible for extensive waste and damage.
Progress in the administration of grazing upon the public lands is noted by gradual increases in production capability. During the year, emphasis has been placed on reducing overuse or unseasonable use, pre-
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venting trespass, making seasonal adjustments needed as a result of weather and rainfall fluctuation, and initiating corrective treatment measures on depleted ranges.
Various other uses of the public lands command attention, including watershed values, timber and wood products, wildlife and recreational uses, all of which are highly important. The Bureau objective is to promote the highest combined land uses on every ranch or other operating unit in keeping with the highest possible sustained yield of the renewable resources. This is possible only through continued decentralized management of the lands and consultation with local advisory boards to correlate the livestock and wildlife grazing requirements with each other, and with each of the remaining important land uses. Specifically, the objectives are: (1) to use the land in a manner which will insure continued and permanent optimum productivity and value; (2) to promote the highest sustained use in accordance with land capability; (3) to reduce erosion, siltation, and flood damage; and (4) to restore lands damaged by fire and cover depletion.
It has become increasingly evident that grazing capacity estimates, especially in areas subject to highly variable precipitation, are of limited usefulness other than as an indication of what the long-run average expectancy might be. It is necessary to correlate the rate of stocking in accordance with seasonal forage production. Periodic range inspections are needed. This is particularly important in the Southwest where seasonal drought conditions often force heavy supplemental feeding or removal of the livestock, and where such drought conditions may alternate with seasons of above-average rainfall.
A pilot study of progress in range management has been initiated in the grazing districts of one region to establish a method for determining the effectiveness of grazing control under the Taylor Grazing Act. Balance between seasonal demands and trends in forage cover are important problems in the study.
Grazing Administration
The livestock industry supplies the meat and meat byproducts so vital in our Nation’s expanding economy. The public lands of the west contribute in a major degree to the total forage requirements of the range livestock portion of the industry. The new high value of every grazing animal has created additional interest among stockmen in finding and using good pasture.
The grazing district ranges have improved in all areas where the permittees have held to the limits of authorized use. Many localities have been noted where healthy perennial vegetation is covering areas that have been barren for several years. For example, in Colorado grazing district No. 1, there is reported “native grass suitable for mowing on township after township of winter grazing land which
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formerly was occupied by browse plants which were hedged and some of which were in dying condition.” In too many areas, progress has been slow because of inadequate field personnel for effective supervision.
For the most part, better forage conditions have been noted this vear in the Northwest because of heavier than average snowfall and favorable spring rains. The Southwest has suffered widespread winter and spring drought conditions with consequent heavy supplemental feeding and reductions in livestock on the range. Many operators there have moved to private irrigated pastures and have requested nonuse or partial nonuse of their allotments.
The effectiveness of conservative use of the forage resources is more outstanding on certain range units where there has been close, joint study and husbandry by the users, range managers, and district advisory boards. Increased attention is being directed to adjustments needed to control grazing to reasonable limits in seriously crowded and depleted areas, and in keeping with seasonal forage condition fluctuations.
A tighter grip has been taken on grazing trespass, but the number of present supervisory personnel is inadequate to prevent it. Good response has been experienced in many instances as a result of warnings without requiring formal action. However, it has been necessary to press charges in numerous cases of direct violation, repeated misuse, and occasionally for negligence.
Range surveys have been severely restricted by manpower shortages. Spot studies of grazing capacities and dependent base property qualifications have been made in connection with grazing appeals and transfers of 'grazing privileges to provide data on properties and range.
The grazing district advisory boards have continued in their important function of recommending actions to be taken in connection with fitting the demand for grazing privileges into the forage resources available and adjusting operations to more nearly conform to desirable range conservation practices. The regulations were amended to provide for State advisory boards and a National Advisory Board Council to consider and make recommendations on grazing administration policies or problems affecting the States and the Nation, respectively. These boards have been active previously, but only with administrative sanction.
Several grazing district boundary adjustments have been made to effect more economical administration. The more important of these include the transfer of the so-called Ramah unit comprising about 10 townships, to New Mexico grazing district No. 1, and the transfer of the so-called Puertocito unit comprising about 3 townships, to New Mexico grazing district No. 2. Another major adjustment was the
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consolidation of the west half of Oregon grazing district No. 2 with Oregon grazing district No. 1.
The operations of 20,887 grazing district licensees and permittees were covered by authorizations for 8,576,859 head of livestock as follows : 2,237,477 cattle, 83,100 horses, 6,229,189 sheep, and 27,093 goats. About 10,426 of the operators have 10-year grazing permits.
On vacant public lands outside of grazing districts leases are issued to livestock operators in accordance with section 15 of the Taylor Grazing Act. One of the results of decentralizing this function to the district level for action is a substantial increase in the acreage placed under lease. By and large, each additional lease issued reduces trespass on the lands involved. Limited personnel is reflected in minimum application of proper range management and conservation practices on these lands.
On June 30, 1950, there were 11,010 grazing leases in force on more than 13,000,000 acres of public lands, an increase of about 900,000 acres, and leaving a balance of about 22,000,000 acres yet available for lease. Of course the balance includes some lands that are barren or otherwise not suitable for economic grazing.
INTERRELATION S HIP S
Proper management of the public lands is prerequisite to regional and industrial stability which in turn is essential to the Nation’s expanding economy. The complexity of the land pattern throughout the public-land States indicates the multiplicity of interests, and reflects the confusion in jurisdictional responsibilities among Federal, State, and other agencies. Correlation is needed within each drainage basin in order to avoid conflicts in objectives and to minimize duplication. Cooperative agreements have been widely used as tools with which to coordinate interagency interests in resource management.
During the year various amendments have been made to the lists of reclamation-withdrawn lands placed under the jurisdiction of the Bureau for grazing-use regulation pending use of the land for actual irrigation development. For example, the lands withdrawn for the Hassayampa project in Arizona were placed under administration while certain lands in the Minidoka project in Idaho were released from the agreement.
Cooperation with State, county, and private agencies is a necessary part of area resource management. Land-pattern control actions, involving land exchanges and leases by the Federal Government pursuant to the Pierce Act, are continuing problems that require close working relationships.
An example is a memorandum of understanding executed with the Atomic Energy Commission by which the Bureau will administer the grazing use on the recently established 400,000-acre research station
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in Idaho grazing district No. 3 until the area or any particular part of it is actually put to research use.
Range Studies
Through cooperative agreements, studies are being made of range-management problems throughout the West. Of greatest importance to the Bureau is the work being done at the Squaw Butte-Harney Range and Livestock Experiment Station in Oregon, which is financed and operated jointly by the Bureau and the Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station.
Phases of the station program carried through the year include range studies on rotation-deferred grazing compared with season-long grazing, control of Mediterranean sage and big sage, and forage inventory, and range-utilization measurement. The livestock-management studies include winter nutrition requirements for breeding cows, larkspur poisoning, rate of calf growth in relation to cow size, factors influencing growing out replacement heifers, and cross-breeding Brahman and Hereford cattle.
The range studies at this station are the responsibility of the Bureau; the livestock studies are the responsibility of the agricultural experiment station.
Range studies are being made on public lands in cooperation with various agencies, such as the State agricultural colleges and experiment stations, and Forest Service experiment stations, on such matters as reseeding, weed, brush and pest controls, and flood control. The study of resource-management problems on the ground where corrective practices must be put into effect are extremely helpful in the whole field of resource conservation.
Wildlife Management
The Bureau has continued to participate actively in game management with the State game departments. Range managers and wildlife representatives on the district advisory boards serve an important function in recommendations upon annual game harvests, game transplants, and similar basic wildlife management planning.
In many areas, the deer herds have expanded beyond previously anticipated numbers, due in part to predator control, improved habitat, water developments, forage conditions, and to the general population upswing during and immediately following World War II. Some State game departments are participating financially and otherwise in reseeding Federal range to provide additional forage supplies for both domestic livestock and big game to reduce competition. By increasing the grass yields, the livestock use less browse which is the natural forage for deer.
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Range Improvements
The facilities for proper range use are so meager that constant effort is made by the Bureau and the stockmen to improve the range so that the livestock can be grazed according to sound management practices. Water developments and division fences continue as the two most needed types of improvements to facilitate the distribution of livestock so as to insure proper distribution and utilization. Many areas are still inadequately watered. An active maintenance program has been carried on, both by the Bureau and by individual permittees who keep in repair and operate a great number of Government-owned structures, pursuant to cooperative maintenance agreements.
The stockmen’s interest in range improvements is reflected in the contributions made to the improvement program. Annual reports from three regions indicate $633,594 in contributions compared with $151,299 available from appropriations during the year.
Soil and Moisture Conservation Operation
The increasing demand for usable water by an expanding population has served to point the soil and moisture program of the Bureau of Land Management more and more toward a program of watershed management. It is estimated that the public-domain lands produce 400,000,000 tons of silt annually. While producing this tremendous volume of silt, these same lands provide roughly only 12 percent of the usable water supply. The purpose of the soil and moisture program is to reduce this tremendous flow of silt and increase the production of usable water. The size of the job is indicated in the following table which shows the acreage of Bureau of Land Management lands contained in the major drainage basins in the West.
Basin	Total area	BLM lands	Percentage
Colorado	 	 ... 	 .	Millions of acres 155 160 130 77 333	Millions of acres 52 24 76 12 18	33J^ 15 58 16 5H
Columbia				 				
Great Basin	 				
Rio Grande	 	 . _			
Missouri				
			
In many cases BLM lands constitute as much as 85 percent of the watershed of tributaries to these large rivers.
It has been estimated that 50 percent of the 190,000,000 acres administered by the Bureau are in a state of severe to critical erosion, while 32 percent are moderately eroded, and only 18 percent are in a condition of slight to no erosion. The rehabilitation of these eroded lands is of primary importance in effecting a reduction in destructive silt flow, an increase in usable water supply and the preservation,
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protection, and enhancement of the economy of the country. The recognition of these is indicated by the increasing voluntary contributions to this program by private individuals and organizations. In the first half of the fiscal year, the contribution amounted to 35 percent of the total funds expended by the Bureau, an increase in rate of 6 percent over last year.
Much has been done to rehabilitate many of the more depleted public lands, but there still remains a tremendous job ahead. Of 50,000,000 acres of public lands contained in approved project areas, only 17,000,000 have received any conservation treatment, leaving 33,000,000 acres in approved project areas yet to be treated, plus 106,000,000 acres of depleted lands outside of project areas in need of treatment.
Recognizing the tremendous conservation job the Bureau has taken steps to develop a more realistic and comprehensive soil and moisture program. The most important of these steps will be the closer correlation of its program with other conservation programs, with more attention to watershed management and river-basin development. Next in importance is to manage the renewable resources on these lands on a sustained-yield basis; finally, acceleration of conservation education of the land users.
Range Revegetation
Range vegetation is playing a more important part in the rehabilitation of depleted range lands. It is estimated that 22,000,000 acres administered by the Bureau are in need of reseeding and brush removal. The value of range revegetation lies in increased forage production and greater watershed protection.
The revegetation program of the Bureau during the fiscal year 1950 was increased somewhat in spite of the delay in passing the appropriation bill. During the year, 46,039 acres were reseeded while brush was removed from 32,029 acres.
Plans have been formulated to accelerate the revegetation program. Recognizing that securing seed on an uncertain market would be a problem, the Bureau has made cooperative arrangements with the Army and the Navy to harvest seed from Lowry Air Base and Buckley Field Naval Training Station near Denver, Colo.; 160,000 pounds of crested wheat grass seed was harvested from Buckley Field alone this year. It is expected that the Bureau will harvest about 250,000 pounds of seed from both Buckley and Lowry fields next year.
Weed Control
A recent survey indicates that there is a widespread infestation of the poisonous plant, halogeton, on range lands mostly in the States of Idaho, Nevada, and Utah. The growing demand for weed control
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on the public lands would indicate the need for a realistic long-range program. State and county weed-control programs have been initiated in some areas but, because of lack of funds for this activity, the Bureau has not been able to cooperate in these programs to the degree the situation demands. Studies are being made to devise economic means of eradication by cultivation methods, reseeding to grasses, and by the use of herbicides.
Organization Chart
DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Land Management
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FORESTRY PROGRAM IN AN EXPANDING ECONOMY
Conservation and development of all the renewable natural resources on the public lands can play a vital part in increasing the Nation’s productive power and in helping to assure national security. Proper management of the forests and woodlands for continuous yields of the maximum volume of wood products is essential to the economic well-being of the Nation.
Management was continued and intensified during fiscal year 1950 to the greatest extent possible with available funds. Three million acres of commercial forest and 25,000,000 acres of woodland on public domain in the United States are being brought under management. Prior to 1949, these lands lacked any organized management except for fire protection.
Public Law 291, which was enacted by the Eightieth Congress, made the above program possible. This law authorizes the sale of live timber from the public domain thus clearing the way for resource management. These lands are widely dispersed in the western United States and are being developed into an important source of timber and other forest products for numerous communities which rely on such resources as the basis for industry and employment of labor.
Forest Management Produces Income
During the second year of management nearly 51 million board feet of timber were marketed for $396,453, which was approximately double the cost of administration thereby producing net income to the Treasury. In selling timber from these lands only the mature and overmature trees are marked for cutting. The younger trees are reserved for further growth and for harvesting in the later cutting cycles. Continuation and intensification of this management program including protection, will result in yields of timber several fold greater than are being harvested now.
Functions of Forestry Staff
The chief functions of the BLM’s forestry staff are to develop and conduct a forest management program designed to help meet the needs of a constantly changing and expanding economy demanding more and more forest products. These functions fall into the following classes: (1) Protection of forest and range resources against destruction by fire, insects, and diseases; (2) Marketing 650 million board feet of mature timber as an average annual sustained yield on the O. & C. lands and 100 million board feet elsewhere on the public
907639—51----18

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domain; and (3) The development of a more vigorous growing stock of timber on the lands so that the capacity of the soil shall be fully utilized and the annual sustained yield of timber developed to the highest practical level.
Actions either initiated or proposed for the solution of known operational problems include intensification of fire prevention and suppression and disease and insect control; inventory of valuable mature timber and growing stocks of younger timber on the O. & C. lands and public domain lands elsewhere in the Western States and Alaska; preparation of management plans for timber and other resources including woodland management plans for grazing districts; a program of watershed management; marketing programs for indicated volumes of timber including wood-waste utilization studies; improvement of present growing stock and reforesting of lands denuded by forest fires; and construction of access roads designed to reach presently inaccessible stands of mature and overmature timber.
Protection
Protection from damage by destructive agencies—disease, insects, and particularly fire—is a prerequisite to successful management of renewable resources.
Fire control.—The Bureau of Land Management has never had a fire-control organization large enough to provide adequate organized protection to all of the public lands under its jurisdiction.
Bureau employees as a result of a strong sense of loyalty and responsibility, have each year endeavored to keep the burned acreage as small as possible with the least possible outlay of funds. At present both communication and suppression equipment is badly in need of replacement. In 1950, in order to improve results in keeping burned acreage at a minimum and to make more efficient use of fire control personnel, the regional administrators were authorized to make regional and interregional exchanges of fire-control personnel in the event of a fire emergency.
Close cooperation with State and county organizations as well as with Federal agencies is basic to the fire presuppression program which includes active participation in fire training schools and other local training meetings held prior to the fire season. Similar cooperation exists in suppression activities by closely integrated use of equipment and supervisory personnel.
In Alaska the Division of Forestry maintains a well-organized fire control organization which furnished effective protection to 18,000,000 acres in the developed and more accessible areas around Anchorage and Fairbanks along railroads, highways, and streams and other areas accessible to fire suppression equipment such as air bases, landing
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fields and lakes in other parts of Alaska. Because of a shortage of funds and inaccessibility only limited protection can be extended to the remainder of Alaska.
Airplanes equipped with radio are used extensively in detection and scouting of fires and for directing operations from the air. A well organized radio communication system makes possible rapid action in reporting fires and follow-up in directing the work of suppression crews.
In the five Western States of California, Idaho, Oregon, Montana, and Washington, 3,000,000 acres of scattered timber lands located in areas too far from grazing district fire control units to permit economical fire control are under contract protection with the States, State protective associations, and the Forest Service. The O. & C. lands in Oregon which constitute over 2,500,000 acres of commercial timber in the Douglas fir region are under contract protection with the State of Oregon, the State protective associations, and the United States Forest Service.
Disease control.—Disease prevention and control in our commercial timber stands are essential to good forest management and the production of quality timber. White pine blister rust, a disease common to the white pines, requires two host plants, the white pine (the sugar pine, eastern and western white pine) and plants of the genus Ribes or currant. A ribes eradication project was started in 1942 in 150,000 acres of commercial white pine timber mostly of the sugar pine species on the O. & C. lands in western Oregon.
The project during calendar year 1949 treated 3,119 acres of O. & C. and national forest land with initial eradication and 8,606 acres with reeradication.
Insect control.—Insect pests take a heavy toll of timber stands each year. The spruce budworm epidemic in the Douglas fir forests of Oregon and Washington threatened wholesale destruction to 2,267,000 acres in 1949 after a small beginning in 1944. The control program for 1950 together with that of 1949 covered most of the critically infested areas. The 1950 program included treatment of 4,760 acres of public domain in eastern, central, and western Oregon. Results have been highly effective.
Inventory
Inventory of mature stands and growing stocks of younger timber is an essential requirement in planning the management of a forest property. Valuable stands of timber on the O. & C. lands and on the public domain lands should be systematically inventoried to obtain information not only concerning volume but also on such factors as age, quality, size, and location of the commercial timber species, topo
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graphic and geologic features, locations of roads, and locations of wood-using industries.
As a result of the completion of intensive inventories on several O. & C. administrative units, it is being found possible to increase greatly the sustained yield allowable cut for these units. If inventories for other units produce data following the same trend, it is estimated that the annual sustained-yield cut may be raised to a volume substantially greater than the present limit. Actual cutting which in the past has averaged far below the allowable volume probably can be doubled.
Accurate volume tables are an essential requirement in an extensive program of forest inventory. The Bureau’s Alaskan Forestry Division continued to gather data necessary for the compilation of volume tables covering the forest species of interior Alaska.
Management Plans
Management plans for timber and other resources have been prepared in well organized form for the O. & C. lands. Their periodic revision and intensification has been in progress as required to reflect the results of better fire protection, improving utilization standards and more accurate inventory data.
Elsewhere in other Western States recent studies show that woodland areas are yielding products of great local value and that these areas are worthy of more intensive management and protection from fire and trespass. Similar management plans for other regions are in preparation. Most of these woodlands are also grazing lands. Thus the woodland management program is especially valuable serving a double use and producing a double income.
In the Bureau’s region IV, comprised of the States of Colorado and Utah, a program of preparing woodland management plans for each grazing district was initiated in 1950. The plans are simple and based on the limited inventory knowledge available to the regional forester and range managers. Provision is made to adjust and intensify these plans as additional data become available. Most of the grazing districts of this region now have these plans and are finding them valuable as an administrative tool. These plans are an important step toward providing the intermountain country with a continuous supply of woodland resources, particularly fence posts and other round wood products used for ranch structures in the steadily expanding grazing industry segment of the national economy.
Watershed Management
In region I increasing attention is being directed to watershed management. Water supply and erosion problems are constantly
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	249
requiring closer attention in plans for the management of the other forest resources.
Watershed protection on timber sale areas, requires bridging of small streams, and prohibiting the yarding of logs across them in order to prevent the disturbance of water courses and water contamination. Provision is made for maintaining sufficient forest growth bordering stream courses so that satisfactory water temperatures are maintained above fish hatcheries and along fishing streams.
An improved method of harvesting timber in Douglas fir stands by the use of staggered settings has also provided for better watershed conditions. By this method, small areas varying from 25 to 45 acres in size are clear cut. The surrounding uncut timber provides the seed for early natural regeneration. It likewise retards evaporation of moisture from the forest litter and soil by reducing the movement of air.
Marketing
Marketing programs for definite volumes of timber on O. & C. lands beginning soon after the passage of the O. & C. Act of 1937 have been guided by systematic management plans.
Since January 1, 1950, an improved timber-sale procedure on the O. & C. lands has been followed with excellent results.
A sales program for an entire year in advance reflecting the suggestions of interested lumbermen and tailored to fit sustained yield plans is developed in consultation with local advisory boards. The details of the plan are given wide publicity. The advantage of this procedure to the industry is that it gives interested operators abundant time to investigate tracts of timber to be marketed. It also aids the forestry staff in avoiding fruitless and time-consuming work which formerly was performed as a result of acting on indiscriminate applications.
For the fiscal year 1950 the advance timber sale program resulted in the sale of 413,403,000 board feet, which is 56 percent more than the volume sold in the fiscal year 1949. The average selling price was $12.00 per thousand board feet.
Receipts from O. & C. and Coos Bay Wagon Road lands, principally from timber sales, for the 1950 fiscal year, were $4,005,156.
Improvement of Growing Stock
Improvement of the forest growing stock with the ultimate objective of an expanded average timber yield is being accomplished by the following program: (1) All timber sales contracts require practices of proven success in obtaining prompt and complete reforestation of all openings created by timber removal; (2) timber sale operations are concentrated in the stands of overripe and deteriorating timber
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until such stands are replaced by vigorous young growth; and (3) all areas now in a deforested condition due to fires and other destructive agents on which reforestation by natural processes appears unlikely or liable to be too long deferred are to be replanted. The speed at which plans to reforest these denuded areas are completed is dependent upon appropriations for this purpose. Planting of seedings by hand labor is a costly operation but the long-run cost of idle lands is even greater.
Access Roads
In certain more remote localities of the O. & C. lands the marketing of overripe timber and timber deteriorating as a consequence of damage by fire, insects, diseases, windthrow, and other destructive agents has been impossible because of inaccessibility. Contract authority was granted by Congress for a start on a $10 million program of access roads in fiscal year 1950; however, no mileage was actually constructed. An agreement was worked out during the year with the Bureau of Public Roads providing for engineering and construction.
Since wood is a critical material in time of national emergency the National Security Resources Board is interested in plans to provide the maximum allowable production of timber in such an event. A report has been submitted to the NSRB listing all proposed O. & C. access road projects. To obtain a full sustained-yield rate of production from all of the undeveloped stands of timber on the O. & C. lands would require a much greater program of construction than is contemplated. Much of the required road system for the O. & C. lands will be constructed by loggers and owners of the timber on intermingled private lands. Government access roads are planned primarily for the larger land units and where private construction otherwise will be too slow to meet conservation and national defense requirements.
LEGISLATION AFFECTING PUBLIC LANDS
A number of important laws affecting Bureau of Land Management operations were enacted this past year.
Development of Alaska
Legislation designed to promote the development of Alaska received a great deal of attention. Perhaps the most sigfinificant enactment is one affecting all public lands but particularly welcome in the Territory. This is Public Law 361 which authorizes the granting of farm loans by the Department of Agriculture to homestead entry
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men. Previously, an unpatented homestead entry did not constitute an adequate security interest for a loan since, upon default in meeting the entry requirements, it would revert to the public domain. The new law provides a method whereby the entries may be made a sound security basis for loans and the two Departments have established a procedure for the processing of the loans. Thus, an effective source for financing homesteaders has at last been provided, and a serious impediment to homesteading has been lessened.
Prospects for nonagricultural Alaskan development were boosted by three other acts. Public Law 275 permits the sale of tracts in Alaska for commercial and industrial purposes, including housing. This law will aid in filling a serious hiatus in the laws affecting the Territory since previously the methods whereby commercial industrial sites could be acquired were tortuous and uncertain. The new law and the regulations establish safeguards against speculation and at the same time provide for competitive bidding.
The Bureau has functions under the Alaska Housing Act (Public Law 52) and the Alaska Public Works Act (Public Law 264), both of which will play a helpful role. The former should spur housing development, and the latter should have a similar effect on public works. Under both the Bureau will be charged with the transfer of public lands for these beneficial purposes.
Finally, with respect to Alaska, a somewhat technical but very valuable act, Public Law 493, requires the recordation of settlement claims in the land offices. Previously such claims were recorded, if at all, in the Office of the United States Commissioner while all entries, leases, etc., were recorded in the land office. This dispersion of records meant that land offices could not keep or give accurate information on the status of the public lands. This, of course, resulted in uncertainty and confusion which now, under the corresponding regulations which have been approved, will be alleviated.
Mining on the Public Domain
Two acts affected mining on the public domain. Public Law 115 authorizes the Secretary to defer assessment work on individual claims for up to 2 years where claimants are prevented by legal impediments from gaining access to the claims. The administration of this act has been delegated to the Bureau, and regulations were prepared to put it into effect. Public Law 107 extended the moratorium on mining claim assessment work to include the year ending July 1, 1949. The act also allowed work done in that year to be credited in the succeeding year. Public Law 544 was enacted later to provide a procedure for claiming this credit. Both laws contained sections designed to provide added protection to owners of the surface
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of lands patented with mineral reservations to the United States by providing for compensation for damages to grazing values caused by strip mining in instances where damages to crops and improvements already are compensable. While this clause does not affect outstanding mineral leases, it should, in the future, prove to be a definite aid in securing full multiple use of the land resources coming within the scope of the bill. Appropriate changes in the regulations have been drafted. Just before the close of the fiscal year, Congress passed Public Law 582 which extended the time for doing assessment work this year until October 1, 1950. The significance of the action lies in the fact that the committees of both the House and the Senate issued stern warnings that further moratoria and extensions are not to be expected.
Cadastral Engineering Work
The cadastral engineering work of the Bureau will be materially expedited by Public Law 490, a departmentally sponsored act which amended the rules of survey to allow considerable flexibility in making surveys of areas topographically not suited for strict conformity to the rectangular survey system. Thus some areas formerly almost impossible to survey can now be surveyed, and the expense of surveys in some other difficult areas will be materially lessened.
General Services Act
The General Services Act (Public Law 152) raised two matters for the Bureau’s consideration. First, the extent of the act’s exclusion of the public domain from its scope has been a subject of considerable discussion with the General Services Administration. It is hoped that, as a result, an amendment will be proposed to the Eighty-second Congress by the General Services Administration to clarify the meaning of the term as used in the act. Second, the Secretary has delegated to the Bureau his functions, under the act, of enforcing and modifying the use and reversionary clauses in conveyances to public agencies, for park purposes under the former Surplus Property Act. While some assistance is to be given by the National Park Service, the primary responsibility has been put in the Bureau with a resultant increase, of course, in the workload in the Office of the Chief Counsel.
Finally, Public Law 226 divided an area of intermixed public domain and acquired soil conservation lands in New Mexico between the United States and the Pueblo and Canoncito Indians. The Bureau prepared regulations and several orders to effectuate the act.
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Revision of Land Laws Proposed
It is in the unenacted portion of the Bureau’s program that a large part of the hope for further improvement in the administration of the public land lies. The Bureau has decentralized its operations, it has studied thoroughly, revised and improved its procedures, it has widened its outlook and has increased its output per employee enormously. But the patchwork pattern of the thousands of laws under which the agency operates is to a large degree outmoded and incoherent. Law after law and amendment after amendment have been enacted to meet a particular circumstance or the special exigencies of a certain time. But once enacted, there they remain to plague the public and impede the administrator.
The Bureau and the Office of the Chief Counsel have attacked this problem in the only way their limited staff and resources permit, that is on a piecemeal basis as the need for revision of particular laws has become so acute that it could not be disregarded. Efforts to date can be regarded as no more than a small beginning at a much larger task.
There are many unsuspected and sometimes illogical traps awaiting public-land applicants to delay, impede, or even make impossible the perfection of their effort to secure a farm, a home, a mine, or a privilege to make valuable use of the public lands.
It was with the scope of the complete revision and consolidation to fit effectively the public land laws into an expanding national economy that the Office of the Chief Counsel prepared, as the fiscal year neared its close, a draft of a joint legislative and executive commission to study and prepare a workable, up-to-date, and correlated revision of the public land laws. Through such a commission, adequately staffed, the thoroughgoing revision can be accomplished in the foreseeable future.
Congress also has before it several important public land bills other than those already described. There is, for example, a bill to promote the settlement of Alaska by permitting some degree of planning in settlement projects, by authorizing claims more in tune to the Territory’s needs than those permitted by the homestead laws, and by authorizing the Interior and Agriculture Departments to extend both physical and financial assistance to settlers.
Regulations
In addition to regulations which were prepared in order to put into effect the various laws enacted during the year, a number of regulations were approved during the year to make more effective the public service of the Bureau and to give the lands and resources under its jurisdiction a greater part in the expanding national economy.
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The more significant of these included the revision of the road right-of-way regulations for the Oregon and California revested railroad grant lands in order to make accessible more Government timber on a competitive basis by providing for joint use of the roads by all purchasers of the timber; the regulations relating to the exchange of lands within national forests, which were revised to simplify and speed up the joint handling of the exchanges by the Forest Service and the Bureau, and to eliminate the necessity for secretarial approval of such exchanges; the revision of the town-site regulations to provide a general and workable procedure for the disposal of lands in all town sites, thus making unnecessary the future issuance of special regulations for each individual town site; the revision of the Alaska grazing regulations to make them simpler, more understandable, and more workable; the establishment, by regulation, of a policy making possible equitable distribution of lands along the highways in Alaska; a revision of the regulations relating to the sale of timber and other material on the public lands to reflect experience since the enactment of the Materials Act in 1947; a revised stipulation required of applicants for power line rights-of-way permitting the interconnection of Federal power lines with private lines over Federal lands, for the purpose of transmitting power from Federal projects; and an amendment to the coal regulations to allow holders of coal permits and leases on the Choctaw-Chickasaw Indian lands in Oklahoma which are being conveyed to the Government to continue in business on a firm basis.
The office completed a major editing job, in cooperation with the editors of the Federal Register, when it reviewed all of the regulations in title 43 of the Code of Federal Regulations and made the editorial revisions necessary to conform them with the present structure of the Bureau for the 1949 edition of the code.
Cooperation With Other Agencies
The instances in which this office cooperated with other agencies both inside and outside the Department illustrate the importance of the public lands in the national economy, and how frequently the Bureau’s actions involve a broad public interest.
Three important acts discussed in detail in the legislative section involve cooperation with other Federal agencies in the issuance of farm loans on homestead entries, and in the promotion of housing and public works in Alaska by use of public lands for these projects.
During the whole year the Bureau worked closely with the Division of Power, the Solicitor’s Office, and with other agencies in the Department in formulating coordinated policies on power lines and other rights-of-way.
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Several other regulations drafted by this office or in the preparation of which it participated, affect and were worked out with other agencies. The oil and gas lease forms and regulations involved close cooperation with the Geological Survey; regulations covering the public land interests of all departmental employees were prepared after consultation throughout the Department; and regulations governing forest exchanges, cutting down considerably on the former intricate procedure, were worked out with the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture.
Other outstanding examples of cooperation are found in the following: The preparation of an order governing the procedure to be followed by departmental agencies in requesting and processing withdrawals ; the securing of the return of Angel Island in San Francisco Bay to the public domain by the General Services Administration at the request of the National Park Service so that it could be preserved for public recreational use under the Recreation Act (43 U. S. C., sec. 869) ; the working out of an agreement with the Atomic Energy Commission to allow grazing in the vicinity of Arco, Idaho, on lands withdrawn for the Commission; numerous conferences and discussions with the Department of Defense and its components to secure satisfactory solutions of many problems arising from the proposed military and naval withdrawals in New Mexico and Alaska; the preparation for the President’s Water Resources Commission of extensive material on legal phases of its water resources study; negotiations and considerable cooperative effort with the Bureau of Indian Affairs in securing satisfactory deeds transferring to the United States the title to a large area in Oklahoma purchased by the Government from the Choctaw and Chickasaw tribes, and satisfactory interim administration of the area pending the acceptance of the deeds; and a great deal of time spent on joint legislative problems such as those relating to the public land provisions of the Alaska statehood bill and the Bureau of the Budget’s study of payments by the Federal Government to State and local governments in lieu of taxes on Federal property.
Litigation
While the office does not represent the Government in court, it cooperates closely with the Department of Justice in lawsuits involving the Bureau and its interests. The subject matter of the principal litigation during the year illustrates in how many ways and in how many places the Bureau’s activities affect the national economy.
Following the Supreme Court decisions holding that the oil and gas in the submerged lands off the coasts of Louisiana and Texas were subject to Federal, not State, jurisdiction, the office participated in negotiations to find an effective plan for the administration of these
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resources. At the end of the year the negotiations were still being carried on as were similar ones relating to the lands off the California shore.
The office also participated in suits involving the ownership of abandoned steel rails in Alaska, settled favorably to the Government; the use of power line rights-of-way in Idaho; the validity of certain Louisiana statutes relating to mineral reservations; the ownership of oil and gas below the Illinois Central Railroad right-of-way; and several involving trespass on the public domain.
Significant to the economy of the West and of the whole Nation was the preparation of material for presentation to the Federal Power Commission in proceedings involving oil and gas pipelines on the public domain. Under the Mineral Leasing Act, such pipelines must be operated as common carriers. However, in fact, they have not been so operated, and there have been some indications that the pipeline companies may resist efforts to enforce the common-carrier provision of the law. The Department has taken a strong stand in favor of all-out efforts to require the companies to meet their statutory obligations. If resistance develops, litigations may be expected to enforce the law.
LOOKING AHEAD
The Bureau's Goal
Extremely important to the expanding economy of the United States is the development of the Western States and of Alaska. The West has shown phenomenal growth in the past several years. On the other hand, Alaska is now upon the threshold of its real development.
Basic to the development of these areas, of course, is their land and • related resources. The importance of the Bureau of Land Management to economic expansion in these areas can be readily appreciated when it is realized that the Bureau administers 25 percent of the land area in the West and 80 percent of the surface area in Alaska. How well the Bureau manages its vast resources, timber, grass, minerals, and others, will have an important effect upon the welfare of the people in those areas. The Bureau has set as its goal the prime objective of managing its lands so that they will make a maximum contribution to the expanding economy of the Nation and to economies of the area in which it operates.
To accomplish its primary objective, the Bureau must direct all its management operations to the one common objective. This requires careful planning based upon sound research.
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Planning and Research
The ultimate objective of planning is to provide the Bureau with a coordinated, efficient, and balanced program so that available funds and personnel will yield an optimum return to the people of the United States. Its plans must also provide that its program be coordinated with the programs of other Government agencies and must be consistent with the needs and potentialities of local economies. • Formulation of a well-conceived program is wholly dependent upon the availability of facts. This calls for a comprehensive program involving inventory of the lands and resources, the classification of the lands, economic studies, local industries and economies which are dependent in part upon the public lands, and related matters.
As such material is gathered and analyzed it must be translated into an action program. Program plans must be developed which serve as guides for the day-to-day management activities of the Bureau.
Program Plans
The central concept of the Bureau’s planning and research program is the development of long-term plans for the entire Bureau. These plans are being developed in the districts where contact with resources and the uses of these resources are direct. When completed, they will outline the ultimate goals of the Bureau and will indicate the lines of action which must be taken to achieve them. During the past year a considerable amount of work was done in formulating these operating plans. The detailed planning is under the guidance of the regional administrators and the Director’s office, and will be formed from regional plans into an over-all program for the entire Bureau. Plans will be kept current as day-to-day operations reveal new directions and new opportunities.
Area Studies
A central theme of the Bureau’s program is the administration of the public lands on an area basis. The aim of the Bureau is, as funds become available, to undertake basic studies of the resources and the condition of the land in the areas in which it operates. Only in this fashion can the administration of the - public domain be truly integrated with local economies.
As rapidly as funds permit, the Bureau is carrying out studies to provide the information on the current condition of and the potential production on the surface of public lands.
These studies provide an inventory of the surface resources of our public land areas and are basic to the development of a land disposal
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and management policy consistent with the public interest. Such studies are well along in the Missouri Basin and in Alaska.
Several reports have been released showing the results of these studies in various of the subunits of the Missouri River Basin. These reports summarize the character and the value of the public lands in these units and indicate the management program which should be adopted for them. Comprehensive studies are undertaken in areas where the demand for land is greatest. Area classifications under these circumstances have produced solutions for some very complex land-use problems. In Alaska several area classification studies have been inaugurated with special funds to determine and develop settlement opportunities in the Territory. In the frontier conditions of Alaska the Bureau’s land classification studies and studies of economic opportunities are revealing important facts which are basic to a sound settlement program in the Territory.
Economic Problems
Extensive research into many economic and technical problems is needed. Important among these are the needs of the local communities and people so far as the public lands are concerned. Careful watch must be maintained to insure that public land procedures support and expand the economy and do not serve to restrict development in any area. The Bureau is limited as to the attack it can take on these problems, but, through cooperation with other groups and agencies, increasing attention is being given to resarch on such matters and plans envision great expansion of these activities as funds become available.
Field Examination Cases
With the expanding economy and growth of population in the Western States the Bureau receives an increasing number of applications for transfer of title or for use of the resources on public lands.
As the resources are for the most part committeed to some use these applications require careful examination to insure that the use of the lands applied for will be in the public interest.
During the fiscal year ending June 1950, the Bureau was called on to examine and make recommendations on about 10,000 applications.
The demand stresses the urgency for an inventory of resources on public lands and an area classification for use so that resources can be made available to the public and to reduce the load of cases requiring special time-consuming examination.
International Activities
Increasing demands are being made on the Bureau for technical advice regarding public land policies and procedures in underdevel
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oped countries. In handling the public lands of the United States, which lie in the less developed regions, the Bureau’s staff has experience in essentially all of the specialized fields of public land administration, including cadastral engineering, land titles, land classification, land planning, range management, forest management, land settlement, and mineral leasing. Economic progress in many of the underdeveloped countries is handicapped because of the lack of trained personnel to handle their land problems. Improvements in the welfare of the population and the ability to attract capital investment, for example, are closely related to the adequacy of the public land policies and practices.
Consideration is given to assigning technical personnel of the Bureau’s staff to underdeveloped countries and for training representatives of the countries in the technical phases of public land administration in the United States. Arrangements were completed for the participation of Bureau officials in international technical conferences during the next fiscal year in cooperation with the Department of State and with the United Nations.
Underlying Obj ECTIVES
Although the Bureau’s program is being formulated on the basis of administration of areas, it is based on definite objectives which the Bureau wishes to accomplish. Foremost among these objectives is to manage all renewable resources on a substained-yield basis. An expanding economy requires the maintenance and improvement of these resources.
A second major program of the Bureau is the undertaking of a comprehensive soil- and moisture-conservation plan. Although the lands administered by the Bureau in general are not a major source of water because of their location, they do contribute heavily to the siltload of western streams. The objective of the conservation program is to reduce the movement of silt and the loss of water from its public lands.
A further objective of the Bureau is to try to correct land use maladjustments which have resulted from many years of indiscriminate disposals of public lands and of uncoordinated dispositions. The transfer to private ownership to other agencies, and to States and local governments of lands which can be managed better under other direction is receiving attention. In areas of complicated land patterns the Bureau will try by exchange or otherwise to rationalize land ownership in order to promote more effective administration and more stable tenure. Existing withdrawals and reservations will be reviewed to remove so far as possible restrictions on the use of public lands and resources.
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For the areas which will remain under administration of the Bureau, plans contemplate multiple use to the full capacity of the lands and resources. The increasing demand for all resources on the public lands can be met to the fullest extent only through multiple-use management. The corollary of this principle is that conflicting use demands must be fully evaluated so that the lands are ultimately devoted to their proper use.
Under the decentralized plan, responsibility for much of the Bureau’s work is in the seven regional offices. The following brief reports give a few high lights from each of the regions.
REGIONAL REPORTS
Region I, Headquarters, Portland, Oreg.
The population and industrial growth of the Pacific Northwest during the past decade have emphasized the significance of the objectives of the Bureau in region I. The forage, timber, mineral, wildlife and recreation resources under its administration take on added importance as basic ingredients in the enlarged economy which must supply livelihoods to a populace that is currently increasing at a rate of between 4 and 5 percent per year.
Consistent with its long range goals of conservation, region I has, during the past year, applied several effective measures to increase the economic usefulness of its timber and other land resources. Much thought has also been given to the multiple uses of the land for watershed protection, wildlife shelter, and recreational purposes.
Specifically, the Bureau through its access roads and right-of-way programs, its forest inventory and advance timber sale programs, its reforestation and forest protection programs, and through the other phases of its forest-management program is moving to make more timber available to the lumber industry. Currently, it appears probable that the 413 million board feet of timber sold in fiscal year 1950 may eventually be increased substantially per year without exceeding the sustained-yield-allowable cut which it is anticipated may subsequently be established. This realization of the full potential sustained-yield cut from the Bureau’s commercial forest lands in the Pacific Northwest will be of substantial benefit not only in meeting the requirements of an expanding economy but will be absolutely essential in the event of full-scale mobilization for national security reasons.
The Bureau has continued with preparatory work necessary to the development of cooperative sustained yield units in areas in western Oregon where O. & C. and private lands are so situated as to indicate such units are needed for community and employment stabilization.
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Advisory boards serving in both the O. & C. and grazing areas were an asset to the Bureau during the past year. They brought to the periodic meetings both advice and constructive criticism based upon their knowledge of local conditions which was valuable as a guide in administration. In addition to assuring the Bureau, and the public the Bureau serves, of objectivity and equity in the disposal of public resources, these advisory boards have served to interpret the Bureau’s program, including the necessity for conservation management of public lands, to the groups they represent and to other interests in the communities.
Region I of the Bureau administers some 25% million acres of grazing lands. To meet the increasing national and regional requirements for food, fiber, and livestock products, the Bureau’s objective is to achieve the maximum sustained yield potential production of these lands. At the present time it is conservatively estimated that these lands are producing at somewhat less than 50 percent of their potential.
For the purpose of achieving greater economy and efficiency, and to provide a central location in each State for all public land records, the public survey offices in the States of Washington and Idaho were combined into an integrated land and survey office.
Region II, Headquarters, San Francisco, Calif.
During the past year several important office changes in region II were made as follows:
The land office which had been located at Carson City for over 75 years was moved to Reno in August 1949 and consolidated with the Survey office there to become the land and survey office of the Bureau of Land Management for Nevada. The office of the Division Chief of Range Management was moved from San Francisco to Reno in March 1950 to become an important part of the BLM activities for region II located in Nevada. At the same time, the district range manager’s office was moved from Reno to Carson City in space vacated by the land office.
Following the land office move from Carson City to Reno, the office cadastral engineer was transferred from Reno to San Francisco along with the other cadastral engineers who were transferred from Glendale to San Francisco to form a regional headquarters cadastral engineering staff under direct supervision of the regional cadastral engineer.
The Nevada survey records have now been microfilmed, with the California plats and field notes in process. As soon as this project is completed the public will be able to view desired plat or field note
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records at the respective land offices where the microfilmed positives will soon be available.
Progress on reseeding areas was particularly marked, both as to acreage planted and as to increase in cooperation from individual livestock operators. This has resulted in requests for greater participation on the part of users as to requested reseeding projects than the agency is able to authorize on the basis of present and anticipated soil and moisture conservation funds. In one project in Nevada, Mitchell pasture in Nevada-1, where 450 acres were planted to crested wheatgrass in 1945 with 8 pounds to the acre at a cost of $5 per acre, the area was stocked in 1947-48-A9 and 50 with an average daily gain of 2.63 pounds per day for approximately 100 head, or 3.04 acres per animal-unit-month for a 3-year average. At 20 cents per pound, the return for 1950 season was $2.60 per acre alone so that in two seasons it has more than paid for itself. Plans are for a considerable increase in area reseeding for 1950-51.
The total amount of receipts covered into the United States Treasury for the fiscal year 1950 amounted to $9,224,628.24. The total expenditures for “Management, protection, and disposal of public lands” for the year were $658,269.00. This region has therefore earned an income of $14 for each dollar of expenditure.
Region III, Headquarters, Billings, Mont.
The closing of the Great Falls district land office and moving and consolidating it with the Billings district land office at Billings, and the closing of the public survey office at Helena and moving it to Billings were of major importance. These moves consolidated in one place all of the basic land records not only for Montana but North and South Dakota as well, and also centralized the responsibility for actions on public land matters.
On December 12, 1949, the district land offices at Evanston and Buffalo were discontinued and archives of those offices consolidated with the district land office at Cheyenne, Wyo. This consolidation of land offices was completed on January 16, 1950. In addition to these moves, the public survey office located at Cheyenne since approximately 1870 was consolidated with the land office.
The area classification program being carried on by the Division of Land Planning under the Missouri Basin project covered 2,000,000 acres of detailed surveys of public domain and 790,000 acres of reconnaissance survey. Significant progress was made in bringing current basic public land status records, the lack of which has seriously handicapped all phases of management, classification, and adjudication activities. A systematic recordation of status of public lands in Wyo
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ming and Montana was initiated. This recordation of all classes of public lands is virtually completed for Wyoming.
Total collections from all sources for the fiscal year 1950 amounted to nearly $11,000,000 in region III.
Region IV. Headquarters, Salt Lake City, Utah
By directing all activities toward the objective of economic development by basins, a higher degree of coordinated effort within the Bureau and between BLM and other Federal and State agencies has been noted.
In addition to the extra services performed and the field collection of data for classification in connection with individual applications, detailed examination was made on 80,000 acres and general information secured on an additional 48,000 acres in the South Platte drainage of the Missouri Basin.
In administration of grazing lands emphasis has been placed on improving range conditions. The various areas within districts have been studied with a view to determining the places where overuse is occurring and, in the interest of conservation of the range and sediment control, taking corrective measures.
Soil and moisture conservation project planning has been directed more toward watershed rehabilitation as it relates to sedimentation and water conservation and use in the various major drainage basins.
The management and use of the scattered tracts of timber and the vast woodland types which have in the past not been given credit for being an important resource on public domain, have been given special attention.
During the fiscal year the Department of the Interior Colorado River-Great Basin field committee was established. Parts of region IV are located in the Southwest field committee region and parts in the Missouri Basin region. Planning activities of region IV have centered around the over-all programs of these basin committees.
During the fiscal year 1950 funds were made available to conduct Missouri Basin studies in the South Platte River drainage in Colorado, involving approximately 136,000 acres of public domain. In these studies detailed information on the character of the land, its capability and present condition, and local economy, is collected as a basis for determining its suitability for various uses.
Scope of basin planning is reflected in this region’s participation in the preparation of the Colorado River-Great Basin field committee’s report for the President’s Water Resources Policy Commission. BLM’s contribution concerned the relationship of land—principally watershed land—and water resources. In this study the lack of basic in
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formation, such as land records, cadastral surveys, maps, and land inventories as a basis for formulating policy for water conservation and use, became apparent and of major concern to all agencies dealing with these resources.
Region V. Headquarters, Albuquerque, N. Mex.
The consolidation of two former New Mexico land offices, Las Cruces and Santa Fe, into one land and survey office at Santa Fe, early July 1949, has resulted in demonstrable advantages to the public and BLM in effecting economy, expediting action, and increasing efficiency.
Moving of the cadastral engineering division from Santa Fe to Albuquerque early July 1949 enabled the division to assume its proper place in regional office organization in the interest of integration of effort and policy and of economy and efficiency.
Establishing the division of adjudication with responsibility for supervising New Mexico and Arizona land and survey offices and handling Oklahoma cases, in addition to regular work of a regional adjudicator, has resulted in improved service to the public.
Establishing the division of land planning has recognized importance of this effort, knit together land classification and program planning functions and correlated both more effectively with other activities.
Establishing New Mexico grazing district 7 without special rules constitutes a long step forward in introducing control into a chaotic situation where both land and public relations had deteriorated over a long period previous to 1950.
Under informal authorization this agency assumed, May 1, 1949, jurisdiction of Choctaw-Chickasaw segregated coal and asphalt, underlying 387,000 acres of land in Oklahoma. The agency has surface jurisdiction over only 16,000 acres. Procedures for land use permits were devised for former lessees and permittees of the Choctaw-Chickasaw Nations. The Bureau is still engaged in preparation of conveyances from Indians to the United States.
Region V experienced an unprecedented run of agricultural homestead applications in the Crow Flats area of southeastern New Mexico, necessitating processing of some 1,700 cases, affecting 234,000 acres. Approximately 1,000 acres were found suitable for agricultural purposes.
Other regional high lights were:
Processing of San Manuel Copper Co. application for patent of 82 mining claims, said to be the largest single mineral application filed in the United States in the last 45 years;
Recognition by the Secretary of the Interior of the Magdalena Stock Driveway Association formalizing an effort which is outstand
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ing in its attempt to regularize and improve a physical livestock marketing facility for approximately 12,000 cattle and 42,000 sheep.
Owing to unusual drought, the region was beset with a 13,000-acre grass-brush-forest fire in New Mexico and a 1,200-acre fire of like character in Arizona, as well as many smaller fires.
Region VI, Headquarters, Washington, D. C.
Region VI has jurisdiction over public lands in 13 States. Five of these States are located west of the Mississippi River and eight are located east.
Because of the areas, character, and dispersed locations of the lands in this region, they are not, for the most part, susceptible to a landmanagement program; and, therefore, the policy is primarily that of land disposal.
The demand for such lands, particularly in Florida, has reached extensive proportions. The need for public use of such lands for recreation, park, or similar purposes must frequently be measured against the demands of individuals for home and business sites.
The timber resources on public domain lands in this region are of considerable importance. It has been estimated that in Arkansas alone this agency administers over $1,000,000 worth of merchantable timber.
Considerable commercial timber is located on the public domain lands in Minnesota and many valuable stands of merchantable timber are located on the lands in the other States of this region.
Related to the proper disposal and use of timberlands are matters of conservation, flood control, watershed protection, and consideration of land utilization. In Arkansas, situated within the boundaries of the Southwest field committee, are many projects of the Corps of Engineers in various stages of development and planning.
The area of public domain within the region, being widely dispersed, is located within three departmental field committee regions: the Missouri River Basin, region 5; the Southwest field committee, region 6, and the newly created Eastern field committee, region 7.
During the fiscal year 1950, the division of adjudication disposed of 2,829 cases. This exceeds the number of cases closed during the fiscal year 1949 by 2,124.
Region VII, Headquarters, Anchorage, Alaska
More tracts were made available by the Bureau of Land Management for homes in Alaska principally for veterans during fiscal year 1950 than in any other comparable period of time. A total of 873 small-tract leases, some for business purposes as well as home and
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cabin sites, were in effect in Alaska by June 30, 1950. Veterans obtained an estimated 90 percent of the small tracts. Outlying communities in the vicinity of Anchorage and Fairbanks are being created by these new home builders.
At the same time, the Bureau pushed its surveying program, as patent cannot be issued before surveys are completed. This stepped-up program together with speeded up processes in the land offices through decentralization of authority to the field from Washington has resulted in patents reaching the land claimants at a greatly accelerated rate.
An important factor in the economy of Alaska was the making available of considerable grazing land to stockmen on Kodiak and Sitkinak Islands. Some leases were issued while others were in the process of being issued June 30. Timber from the public domain for domestic use of residents of Alaska is made available through the Bureau. Saw timber, fuel, house logs, fence posts, mine timbers are obtained through free use permit. Sales of timber on the public domain amounted to 12,530,661 board feet.
One of the most important phases of the Bureau’s work is its fire suppression and presuppression program. Although its manpower is spread too thin to cope with fires effectively in the remote inaccessible places, the yearly average of burned-over area has shown a marked-downward trend for the past 10 years. It has been decidedly low during the past 3 years.
Fish and Wildlife Service
Albert M. Day, Director ☆ ☆ ☆
THE YEAR’S ACTIVITIES AND ACHIEVEMENTS, which are described in the following pages, have taken place in a geographic setting extending half way around the world, from America’s east coast westward to the Philippines and from the Arctic almost to the Equator, reflecting the diverse and widely distributed character of the resources we seek to develop and conserve. In a broader sense, our activities have reached out to most parts of the world, through the medium of cooperative assistance extended to other countries in the conservation of their fisheries and wildlife, and through the exchange of scientific information. This encouraging growth of cooperation between nations, between States, and between local communities is the keystone of modern conservation.
In order to understand and to provide for the needs of terrestrial and aquatic wildlife, a great many apparently separate, but actually closely integrated studies and activities are continuously being carried forward on all fronts. This report suggests some of the highlights of the year’s conservation problems and the steps which are being taken for their solution.
PACIFIC OCEANIC FISHERY INVESTIGATIONS
In the tropical and subtropical Pacific the United States has territories and island possessions, as well as responsibilities for the trust territories. As strategic assets these are vital. But, with the exception of Hawaii, they are economic liabilities. The land area is minuscule, and even its full utilization could only partially solve the economic problem. On the other hand the surrounding and intervening sea areas are tremendous. Resources of these vast water areas are untapped. The valuable tunas and other high-seas fishes that roam in these areas constitute the most promising untapped economic resource. They are also an invitation to other countries for economic invasion of the area.
Recognizing this, the Eightieth Congress declared the policy of developing and maintaining high-seas fisheries in these areas and charged the Fish and Wildlife Service with the responsibility of investigating, exploring, and developing the high-seas fishery resources of the tropical and subtropical Pacific territories and island
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possessions and intervening seas. To carry out this responsibility a unit known as the Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigations (hereafter designated as POFI) was organized with headquarters at Honolulu, T. H., and through a series of conferences with the tuna fishing industry a program of biological, oceanographical, and exploratory investigations was developed.
The yellowfin and skipjack tunas are the primary resources to be studied, and initial surveys are taking place in the easterly areas of the region, from Hawaii out to Midway and south along the Line Islands to below the Equator and westerly to include the Phoenix Island group. The program is concerned chiefly with learning the distribution of tunas in commercial quantities, the relation of this distribution to the ocean-current system, the seasonal variations in the system and how they affect the distribution, migration, and availability of the tunas, the study of how much the tuna populations of one area mix with those of another, and in particular whether those of the central Pacific are a different stock from those along the coast of north and central America on one side of the Pacific and from those off the Asiatic lands on the other side.
Pursuit of these studies involves also the learning of the life history of the fish, where they spawn, how fast they grow, what depths below the surface they inhabit at different stages of growth, what food supplies they find, and what sea conditions, including food supply, determine their migrations and concentrations.
During 1950 the construction of facilities with which to work was completed and research work was begun on a full scale. Two ships of the YP 600 class obtained from the Navy were put into service in the early part of the year after considerable overhauling and alteration. A third vessel, an 85-foot wooden ship constructed along the lines of a west coast purse seiner, was delivered to the Service by the builder in the latter part of the fiscal year 1950. A laboratory building on the University of Hawaii campus was finished by the end of the year. Navy docking facilities in Pearl Harbor were put into service after repair and additions.
Of the nine voyages made after the vessels were completed, three-were for the test and trial of equipment, two for survey of tuna abundance by live-bait fishing for tuna, one for a trial of experimental tuna longline equipment as a means of discovering the levels below the surface inhabited by tuna, one was a purse seine voyage, one was a hydrographic survey across the Equator, and one was a plankton cruise to determine the vertical distribution of eggs and fry of the tunas. The cruises have given experience and information regarding this portion of Oceania and its resources on which to base more intensive work.
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Last year, a reconnaissance was begun of Japanese methods of tuna research and fisheries exploration. The major part of the material collected consists of scientific papers written in Japanese which have been hitherto unavailable because of the language barrier. A large number of these have been translated for the use of the POFI staff and also distributed to other research organizations and libraries.
Progress has been made in determining the geographical limits of the races of Pacific tunas. This is of importance because in view of the rapidly increasing catch, it may soon be necessary to know whether our fisheries are drawing from local stocks, or whether all the tuna in the seas pass our shores as well as those of other countries. In the case of the highly valuable yellowfin tuna (Aeothunnus macr op terus) it appears that the fish caught on the west coast of the Americas belong to a distinctly different group from those found in mid-ocean near the Hawaiian Islands; therefore, fishing activity in one area will not affect the supply in the other.
Paradoxically, although tunas have been an important source of food since ancient times, their wide distribution and far-ranging habits have made them difficult to study and there is considerable doubt as to how many separate species exist. The Fish and Wildlife Service is collecting series of specimens from oceanic localities through the world and may soon be able to clarify this problem.
Studies of the oceanography of the central Pacific Ocean were begun to determine the effect that oceanic conditions exert upon the availability and abundance of tunas. Several series of hydrographic observations have been taken from north of the Hawaiian Islands to 5° south latitude. Although this work started late in the year, much of the material has been analyzed and it will be published as a report on this little-known sector of the ocean. The occurrence of tunas and tuna food organisms is being compared with the characteristics of the ocean in which they are found. A better understanding of the factors controlling the movements and abundance of tunas will permit fishing operators to make their catches with greater regularity, and will also provide a basis for predicting where tunas may be found in unfished areas of the ocean.
The project to investigate the time and place of tuna spawning has met with some success. It may seem peculiar that we have only fragmentary information concerning the origin and replacement of a resource as valuable as this, but here again the wide spaces and difficulty of observation have retarded science. Although only a few tunas have been found which are in the spawning condition, over the past year fairly complete series of maturity stages have been assembled. Tows with fine meshed nets have yielded small tunas approximately one-fourth inch long from near the Hawaiian Islands, so it can be
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said with some certainty that spawning does occur in that region. Future months will determine when spawning is most common and whether or not it takes place only locally, or throughout the warmer waters of the Pacific Ocean.
Cooperative work has been performed with several other governmental agencies. The Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigations has acted in the capacity of advisor to the Pacific islands trust territories governments in matters pertaining to the fisheries of the region. Observers have been furnished to investigate the trust territories tuna fisheries of the western and central Pacific Ocean. Synoptic weather reports have been routinely radioed to the weather bureau at Honolulu by Fish and Wildlife Service vessels when away from localities which have reporting observers. Close collaboration has existed with the University of Hawaii and the Territorial Fish and Game Commission.
UTILIZING THE FISHERY RESOURCES
The 1949 catch by United States fisheries was the second highest ever reported. It amounted to 4.9 billion pounds. The increases were largely in the menhaden, shrimp, and salmon fisheries. New shrimp grounds were discovered in the Key West area and shrimping activities in the western part of the Gulf of Mexico expanded. Activity in the menhaden industry increased in the Gulf area and along the Atlantic coast. Increased competition and technical conditions in warehouse stocks had depressing effects on the prices of canned fishery products and of fish oils, including vitamin oils. Fresh and frozen fishery products experienced an increase of demand and of prices. On the average, the price decline for all fish and shellfish, fresh, frozen, and canned, at wholesale level, amounted to about 5 percent. The export situation improved. About 50 percent more fishery products were exported in 1949, as compared to 1948. Imports remained at about the same level.
Service-operated vessels have been active in exploratory fishing during the year. On July 13, 1949, the 100-foot motor vessel Oregon was officially transferred to the Service for exploratory fishing in the Gulf of Mexico. Pending appropriation of operating funds for the Gulf, the Oregon was repaired and used to conduct a 3-month albacore-tuna survey in the waters off Washington and southeastern Alaska. Sizable schools of albacore tuna were located off the coast of Washington and in the international waters off British Columbia, but were found to be scarce in Alaskan waters.
A new 93-foot wooden exploratory fishing vessel, the John N. Cobb, was constructed in Tacoma, Wash., specifically for the Service’s exploratory work in the North Pacific. The initial operation of the
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Cobb was a combination shakedown cruise and shrimp survey in the inland waters of southeastern Alaska, A 4-month albacore-tuna survey by the Cobb in the offshore waters of the North Pacific located the first albacore tuna of the season; the Cobb followed the tuna north, informing commercial fishing fleets of the location of the tuna as the season progressed.
After its transfer to the Gulf, the FWS Oregon made two extensive exploratory fishing cruises. The first was along the Continental Shelf from the Mississippi River westward to the coast of Texas. Many schools of little tuna were located, but only a limited number were captured with the equipment available. Large shrimp were found generally distributed at depths of 50 fathoms. Snapper, grouper, and other species of fish were taken in a number of areas. The second extended cruise of the Oregon was made along the 100-fathom curve between the Mississippi River and the southern tip of Florida. There the Oregon located new productive snapper banks and found heavy concentrations of menhaden. The basic information obtained during these cruises will form a background for future planning of exploratory fishing operations in the Gulf.
In Service technological laboratories, new food materials which might prove useful in the feeding of hatchery-reared fish were surveyed. Sixteen different diet components have been evaluated in cooperation with the Leavenworth Hatchery. More than 14 possible new foods which have been surveyed by the Seattle laboratory will be subjected to feeding trials during the next year. Mixed diets and special-diet components from State and Federal fish hatcheries were subjected to chemical proximate analysis and assays for vitamin B12, niacin, and riboflavin. The resulting data, correlated with feeding operations, will aid considerably in formulating proper diets for hatchery fish.
Continued laboratory tests indicate the superiority of fillets prepared from fish frozen in the round immediately after catching as compared with fillets prepared from fish which were first gutted and iced for a 10-day period. Tests have now proceeded to a point where commercial scale tests at sea, for which facilities are not presently available, are required.
During the year, trained Service home economists conducted 173 fish cookery demonstrations for homemakers, institutional managers, educational groups, and school-lunch supervisors. Supplementing the demonstrations were test kitchen reports, containing recommended methods for preparing fish and shellfish, which were given national distribution. In this field of direct consumer contact, considerable emphasis was directed toward the national school-lunch program.
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Monthly availability reports on the fishery supply situation were provided to national restaurant, food-chain, hospital, and fishery associations. A quarterly market outlook report also was released for the guidance of Government and trade in planning and developing fishery programs.
One educational motion picture was produced, and a second, to be financed by the fishing industry but directed by the Service, was begun. The completed picture, Food for Thought, is primarily for use by school-lunch and other institutional food supervisors. The second picture, on the important menhaden industry, will show the importance of this fishery. Completion of these films will bring to eight the total of fishery films produced for educational use. It is estimated that upward of one-half million persons have viewed these films.
The monthly commercial fisheries’ technological abstracting service was maintained during the year and provided current, concise information on the latest technological developments affecting the fisheries. This is the only domestic abstracting service available to researchers in this field.
In accordance with the authority vested in the Department by the Fishery Cooperative Marketing Act of 1934, numerous fishery cooperative associations throughout the United States were visited and their activities and conditions observed. The number of fishery cooperative marketing associations active in the United States has increased considerably during the past year, from 60 in May 1949 to 75 in May 1950.
The Service continued to aid the fishing industries in cases heard by the Interstate Commerce Commission which involved Railway Express Agency rates and charges for the transportation of fishery products.
An important Service function is the collection, tabulation, and publication of information on the employment of fishermen, fishing craft and gear engaged in the capture of fishery products, the volume and value of the catch, production of manufactured fishery products, the freezings and holdings of frozen fishery commodities, and related information. These data are essential in the management of the Nation’s important fishery resources, which consist largely of populations of fish moving in interstate and international waters. The data are likewise essential in guiding the business activities of fishing industries and the local, State, and Federal Government agences having functions affecting the fisheries.
During the year, general statistical surveys to obtain operating unit and catch information were continued in the Pacific Coast, New England, Middle Atlantic, Chesapeake, and Gulf States, Data on the
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volume and value of the United States catch in the Great Lakes and the International Lakes of northern Minnesota were obtained, but it was not possible to secure information on the number of fishermen or quantity of gear operated in these lakes. It was likewise impossible to resume the catch and operating unit surveys of the South Atlantic States, which were last surveyed from 1945 data, or of the Mississippi River and its tributaries, which were last surveyed for 1931 data. Monthly and annual bulletins on the landings of fishery products in Maine and at the principal Massachusetts ports were continued. Early in the year a cooperative agreement was entered into with the Texas Game, Fish, and Oyster Commission for a monthly bulletin on the Texas catch according to gear and area of capture. Monthly statistics on the freezings and holdings of frozen fish and shellfish were published during the year, as was information on the monthly production of fish meal and oil.
The Fishery Market News Service again operated seven offices during the year, and several offices increased the scope of their activities.
To follow the catch in the New England area more closely, the Service issues preliminary monthly summaries of landings for New Bedford and Gloucester, Mass.; and Stonington, Conn. The importance of trash fish in the production of fish meal in the New England area became greater during the year, when many of the fishing vessels devoted their entire efforts to this fishery. To follow this new development, since it affects not only the supply of food fish but also fish meal, the Boston Market News Office now reports monthly on the quantity of fish caught especially for the reduction plants in the principal New England ports. The production of fish in the New England area for human consumption during the first 6 months of 1950 has been much less than for the same period in 1949. Diversion of fishing effort to trash fish has been one cause; other factors are reduced numbers of large fishing craft, inactivity of the whiting fleet because of large stocks of whiting in the freezers, and reduced availability of groundfish on nearby fishing banks.
The marketing of shrimp in the United States continued to increase during the past year, with prices remaining firm. The available supply was at least 18,000,000 pounds greater than in 1948-49, due to increased imports from Mexico, the discovery of new fishing grounds near Key West, and larger production in the States bordering the Gulf of Mexico. About 10,000,000 pounds of the increase was marketed; the balance went into storage. The sale of breaded fantail shrimp in consumer-sized packages was started by one small firm in Georgia; this product is now marketed in volume by more than 15 companies located in several of the shrimp-producing States and in the North.
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ADMINISTRATION OF ALASKA FISHERIES
Management of the Commercial Fisheries
In Alaska the Federal Government, through the Fish and Wildlife Service, is responsible for the protection and conservation of the fishery resources, which are the basis of the Territory’s most important industry. The year 1949 set a new record for the number of boats and units of gear operating in Alaska. Never in the history of the Territory has exploitation of the fisheries been so intense, and never has the need been so great for vigorously enforced, sound regulatory controls.
Fashioned within the guide lines established by the basic statutes for the protection of commercial fisheries of the Territory, revised regulations for the 1949 season were promulgated on February 19, 1949. Of special significance was the change which further retarded the pink-salmon season in the southeastern Alaska area to provide increased escapement during the early part of the run, which had shown marked evidence of excessive exploitation. The results were beneficial beyond expectations. The early escapement was excellent, and the salmon-canning industry in this part of Alaska experienced the best operating season in 8 years. Regulatory changes elsewhere were chiefly in the nature of minor adjustments, although the herring quota for southeastern Alaska was drastically curtailed because of reduced abundance of the local herring population. Field representatives again had authority to extend or curtail fishing seasons to meet promptly observed conditions of abundance which deviated from those anticipated when the regulations were drafted. Thirteen field announcements were issued during the season for this purpose.
A total of 20 permanent fishery-management biologists and enforcement agents were identified with fishery-conservation activities in Alaska during 1949. In addition to this staff, approximately 100 temporary seasonal patrol agents and stream guards were employed on enforcement duties during the active fishing season. This number was augmented by about 20 temporary enforcement personnel of the Territorial Fisheries Board who assisted in enforcing the Federal fishery statutes and regulations. A total of 8 seagoing patrol vessels, 14 small speedboats, and numerous smaller craft participated in fishery enforcement work in 1949. Eight airplanes engaged primarily in fishery-management and patrol activities, and some assistance was rendered by other Service aircraft assigned to game-management functions. Flights aggregating 1,396 hours were made in 1949 on the fishery-conservation program. The inforcement of fishery laws and regulations in general was more effective in 1949 than at any time since the beginning of World War II.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	275
A total of 222 persons and concerns were apprehended and arraigned for violations of the Alaska fishery laws and regulations. Fines totaling $38,414 were assessed against the operators of 35 purse seines, 1 beach seine, 29 salmon gill nets, 1 salmon trap, 6 halibut boats, and 6 salmon trollers. Of this amount, $600 was suspended. In addition, suspended jail sentences totaling 600 days were imposed by the courts. Proceeds from the sales of confiscated fish exceeded $5,000.
In connection with the management of the salmon fisheries, which account for about 80 percent by volume and 90 percent by value of total fishery production in Alaska, a greatly expanded weir program was undertaken in 1949. A total of 15 weirs was operated, including 2 in the Bristol Bay area, 1 in the Chignik area, 4 in the Kodiak area, 1 in the Cook Inlet area, and 7 in the southeastern Alaska area. In addition to furnishing an exact measure of the ratio of catch to escapement, thereby making it possible to secure full compliance with the requirement of law that there be not less than a 50-percent escapement of salmon, these weirs provide precise information as to the time of arrival and duration of each run. This is information essential to sound regulation of the fishery.
Since the numerical strength of the Alaska salmon runs depends very largely upon the extent and success of spawning in the parent year, a determined effort is being made to provide a maximum amount of readily accessible spawning area. More than 100 barriers, in the form of log j ams and beaver dams, blocking the ascent of salmon, were removed from streams of southeast and central Alaska, and fish ladders were constructed in three streams to facilitate their upstream migration to extensive spawning gravels.
♦
Pribilof Islands Fur-Seal Industry
During 1949, 70,991 fur-seal skins were taken at the Pribilof Islands from surplus male animals. The 1948 take, by comparison, was 70,142. Of these, 20 percent constitute the Canadian share under the present international agreement prohibiting pelagic sealing. The byproducts plant operated in connection with the fur-seal industry produced 49,250 gallons of seal oil and 348 tons of meal, which were sold for the account of the Government for the total gross amount of $76,219.03. The 1948-49 season yielded 779 fox pelts on St. George Island; foxing operations were discontinued on St. Paul Island because of the poor quality of the pelts and adverse market for them.
During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1950, two public auction sales of fur-seal skins were held at St. Louis, Mo. A total of 25,394 skins were offered on October 10, 1949, and sold for a gross amount of $1,420,259.75. On April 17, 1950, there were offered and sold 29,800
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sealskins, the gross sales price being $1,913,037.50. All of these skins were dressed, dyed, and finished in three shades, “Matara,” “Safari,” and black. Total gross sales of sealskins at the two auctions amounted to $3,333,297.25. In addition, a few skins were sold during the year at private sales for promotional purposes. During the year also, 327 foxskins from the Pribilof Islands were sold for a total of $1,509.25.
RESEARCH IN FISHERY MANAGEMENT
Marine Fisheries
Of the many problems connected with the biology of the seas, one of the most difficult is the understanding of the circumstances that, for brief periods, bring about an enormous growth of minute animals that collectively discolor thousands of acres of water and, by poisoning the fish life therein, cause great economic loss. Such occurrences, known throughout the world, have been repeated in the waters off Florida in the form of a “red tide.” Studies of these phenomena which are being conducted at Sarasota, Fla., include a study of the normal nutrient supply of the waters in that region so as to provide a measure of the changes which precede and accompany such an epidemic. These measures, together with laboratory experiments on the nutritional requirements of the types of organisms which create the “red tide,” are continuing as a means of providing a clue to the causes of these unbalances in nature.
The stocks of sardines which, until 1945, contributed a greater tonnage to the fishing industry than did any other species in this country, are under continuing observation. It is of interest to note that other major sardine fisheries, including those of the Mediterranean and of the far western Pacific, have undergone similar declines during recent years. These studies, conducted jointly by the Fish and Wildlife Service, the California Fish and Game Commission, Cripps Institution of Oceanography, the California Marine Research Committee, and the California Academy of Sciences, and with the cooperation of the States of Oregon and Washington and the province of British Columbia, involve physical, chemical, and biological assays of the ocean along the Pacific coast from Lower California to the Columbia River and extending hundreds of miles at sea. A considerable fund of knowledge of the other fishes in the region is being accumulated incidental to this study. It has become evident, for instance, that the anchovies are as abundant as the sardines, and that enormous numbers of sauries, jack mackerel, and several other fishes likewise exist. These, if not of immediate importance to man, are of great value in providing food for other carnivores, such as tunas, which are of such economic importance.
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277
The great fisheries of the North Atlantic region have been under continuing observation through census studies of the stocks of the various fishes of these offshore banks.
Farming clams, like oysters, seems to promise better utilization of the resource and arrest of depletion on the Atlantic coast. Experimental work during the year in Massachusetts reveals that predation by horseshoe crabs has a greater effect on clam survival than had been supposed. Losses of more than 90 percent of transplanted clams in market areas were attributed to these predators alone. Methods of controlling predation are being tried concurrently with biological studies of natural flats, artificial spat collectors, and mortality from disease. Of special interest was the collection of 1,900 seed clams per square foot under a tested material, as compared with 3 to 10 per square foot on natural beds.
Because of a long-standing controversy over the effects of raking and power dredging of hard clams or quahogs in Rhode Island, the State requested the Service to study the biological effects of each on the resource in Narragansett Bay. Commercial fishing by each method in marked areas, under controlled conditions, followed by submarine photographs of the bottom, was carried on in the 1949 season and is being continued in 1950. At the termination of the project this year, it is expected that definitive results will have been obtained to settle the question for improved management of the fishery by the State.
A new specialized laboratory for oyster research was opened at Beaufort, N. C. With biochemical, culture, biological, and radiological laboratories, it is well equipped for a study of the effect of radioactivity resulting from the introduction of radioisotopes of different elements into tissues and organs of shellfish. The new project is a cooperative undertaking with the Atomic Energy Commission.
Interesting results have been obtained from other shellfish projects. For example, oyster research in Chesapeake Bay indicates that natural spawning on an oyster bar cannot be expected, under present conditions, to maintain a commercially dependable population of oysters without planting from other bars. European oysters planted in oyster-barren Maine waters last fall survived the winter well; the experiment is designed to test whether such an introduction is practicable from the standpoint of establishing a naturally maintained population of hardy, good-quality oysters where none now occur. A dramatic demonstration of the fact that the inferior appearance of many Gulf of Mexico oysters is due to lack of cultivation rather than inherent poor quality was made by laboratory experiments in Florida, involving separation of oysters; at the end of the year, they are remarkable for high quality, shape, and weight.
907639—51---30
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Study of the effects of the 1950 opening of the Bonnet Carre spillway on oysters indicated that the widespread serious damage to the beds after the 1945 opening was not repeated, but that oyster mortality from fresh water other than that from the Bonnet Carre spillway probably was intensified by the incursion of Mississippi River floodwaters. This work was done at the request of the States of Mississippi and Louisiana.
Coastal Fisheries
Studies at Karluk Lake, Kodiak Island, showed that, in laboratoryscale experiments, addition of chemical fertilizers will increase the abundance of organisms which supply food for young red salmon. Pilot fertilization of a small lake will be done in the summer of 1950, in preparation for possible fertilization of Karluk Lake itself. Other important findings relating to red salmon include discovery of a relation between temperature and the survival of young fish in the streams of Bristol Bay.
Research on the salmon populations of the Columbia River was centered about the problem of protecting runs of fish at water-use projects of the Corps of Engineers, the Bureau of Reclamation, and other construction agencies. A new type of fish ladder was tested, in comparison with the conventional pool type, and preliminary results indicate the new type is superior. Netting experiments at Bonneville Dam showed that young downstream migrants were distributed uniformly across the river, an important finding in designing fish-protective facilities.
Similar studies in the Delta region of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Rivers in relation to the Tracy pumping plant of the Bureau of Reclamation showed that the distribution of young salmon, shad, and striped bass is such that all pump intakes should be screened to prevent destruction of the young fish. Continuation of the sport fishery study of the upper Sacramento River emphasized the dramatic changes in upper-river fish populations brought about by the cooler water resulting from the operation of Shasta Dam.
Investigation of the shad of the Atlantic coast was increased several fold as a result of a special appropriation by the Eighty-first Congress. The initial studies are being concentrated on the Hudson River in an attempt to learn the cause of the recent large-scale fluctuations in abundance of the Hudson River shad.
Inland Fisheries
In October of 1949, the Great Lakes Fishery Investigations enlarged its staff to work on control of the sea lamprey as well as to keep a close watch on the condition of the Great Lakes Fishery which is
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	279
changing rapidly because of direct and indirect influences of the sea lamprey. The ruin of the most profitable fishery in Lakes Huron and Michigan represents an annual loss of some $3,200,000 to the United States commercial fishermen, in addition to the unknown loss to sport fishermen.
Since October great progress has been made in the organization of a long-term program for the development and testing of methods of controlling this parasite. It includes: Development and testing of control devices and procedures, including the accumulation of reasonably exact data on costs of installation and operation of various devices; extension of studies on the life history and habits of the sea lamprey with a view toward determining better the vulnerable stages of the life history; surveys of streams to ascertain the distribution of sea lamprey runs, the extent of available spawning grounds and larval habitats; studies of species subject to attacks by sea lampreys to learn the incidence of attacks and the effects on abundance.
Mechanical devices—weirs, traps, dams—for the blocking, capturing, or destroying spawning-run sea lampreys as they enter streams tributary to the Great Lakes constitute the only means as yet proven effective for controlling the sea amprey. The first year’s program is therefore concentrating on that type of structure.
In view of the high construction, maintenance, and operational cost of physical barriers, however, other types of barriers are being investigated. As an adjunct to studies looking toward the development of more effective control methods, laboratory experiments are being performed to discover specific toxicants to destroy larval lampreys with minimum damage to fish.
Research to improve the efficiency of hatcheries has been stressed. Nutrition experiments have resulted in more knowledge about the requirements of trout and salmon. From these studies regular diets have been modified to take care of various vitamin deficiencies and this has resulted in reducing the cost of producing fish. New drugs and chemicals are being tested in an effort to develop new and more adequate prophylactic treatments for hatchery fish. One series of experiments was conducted to determine the amount of various sulfa drugs absorbed by the various parts, organs, and blood of fish. Results indicate that several sulfonamides are not suitable for treatment of various fish diseases. Several new bacterial diseases of trout and salmon have been discovered and methods of treatment are now being worked out.
MAINTAINING THE INLAND FISHERIES
Increased fishing pressure has continued its drain of game fish from inland waters in this country. The growing number of motor
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vehicles in use, modernization of access roads into remote areas, a vacation-minded public, greater publicity regarding recreational areas, and the increased number and variety of artificial lures used for the taking of game fish are a few of the contributing factors that have made sport fishing a major element in the recreation enjoyed by the American public.
The areas available for natural spawning of game fish have been greatly reduced by continued growth of population in congested areas, depletion of forests by the lumber and pulp industries, pollution of streams, and the construction of great multiple-purpose dams. This situation coupled with fishing pressure, has placed a tremendous strain on existing fish-cultural establishments to provide game fish for restocking purposes. To endeavor to meet this demand, Congress provided funds to begin construction of hatcheries at North Attleboro, Mass.; the Upper Peninsula of Michigan; Millen, Ga.; and Bald Hill Dam, N. Dak.; also for continuing construction of the hatchery at McNenny, S. Dak.; and for enlarging and improving facilities at Lamar, Pa.; Nashua, N. H.; Hagerman, Idaho; and Hot Springs, N. Mex. Special allotments were provided for the enlargement and improvement of fish-cultural facilities at the following hatcheries in the fiscal year 1950: Berlin, N. H.; Bozeman and Ennis, Mont.; Cape Vincent, N. Y.; Corning, Ark.; Dexter, N. Mex.; Erwin, Tenn.; Harrison Lake, Va.; Hebron, Ohio; Leadville, Colo.; Meridian, Miss.; New London, Minn.; Quilcene, Wash.; Tishomingo, Okla.; Warm Springs, Ga.; White Sulphur Springs, W. Va.; and Williams Creek, Ariz. These special allotments were supplemented by $150,000 for the rehabilitation of other hatcheries in need of repairs.
Recognizing the need for an extensive program for the restocking of important fishes in the Great Lakes, Congress provided $3,000 for a survey to obtain data on potential hatchery sites in that area. A lake trout hatchery will be built on Pendill’s Creek on the Upper Peninsula of Michigan as a source of fish for experimental stocking; this stocking will be closely correlated with current investigations on the control of the sea lamprey.
Commercial exploitation of Columbia River salmon runs was first undertaken about 1830. Since 1883, this valuable fishery has shown a consistent decline accelerated in recent years by the construction of impassable dams and unscreened irrigation diversions. For many years the Service program in the West has included the propagation of salmon for maintaining the runs, particularly in the Columbia and Sacramento River systems. Large dams that have been completed on these rivers have greatly reduced the spawning areas once available for migrating salmon; proposed dams will further reduce these areas. The salmon runs will be limited to the lower reaches
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	281
of the river system when dams that have been approved are completed.
After the construction of Grand Coulee Dam, the Service undertook to preserve the upper-river salmon runs by transplanting them to streams that entered the Columbia River below the dam. The return of adult blueback salmon to these streams is now considerably greater than before the construction of Grand Coulee Dam. At Shasta Dam on the Sacramento River, both natural and artificial propagation have been used, but emphasis has been placed upon hatchery operations. This program, too, appears to have been successful, as hatchery-reared stock constitutes approximately 50 percent of the salmon taken by commercial fishermen in the San Francisco Bay area.
McNary dam and other proposed dams on the lower Columbia may cancel, to a great extent, the success of the Grand Coulee stations. To preserve the salmon runs in the Columbia, the Service, in cooperation with the States of Washington and Oregon, has initiated a program which involves the rehabilitation and improvement of existing hatcheries on the lower river, construction of new units, stream improvements to provide natural spawning areas, and construction of fish ladders and screens. Although construction and development are well under way, this program is far behind the building of dams on the Columbia and its tributaries. The Columbia Basin Inter-Agency Committee and the Federal Inter-Agency River Basin Committee, as well as the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Pacific Northwest Field Committee, and the States of Oregon and Washington, are all concerned because of the lag in this program. In order to meet the limits imposed by the dam-construction program, and taking into account the 4- to 6-year life cycles of the anadromous fish, it is necessary that certain parts of the work—particularly those involving removal of obstructions, installation of hatcheries, and the establishment and transplantation of runs—be completed in the earlier years of the project. This necessitates heavier expenditures in the earlier years. The appropriations requirements for the 10-year period were originally estimated to be in the neighborhood of $3,000,000 annually for the first 5 years after the work had started and approximately $1,000,000 annually for the remaining 5 years. Aside from the present serious lag, there is a distinct possibility that this construction program should be still further accelerated because of the recent action by Congress in authorizing the construction of additional dams on the Columbia River.
Demand for legal-sized trout exceeds the production of these fishes, whose value for stocking purposes has been demonstrated in a number of management areas. The current expansion and improvement program will provide facilities for a large increase in hatchery production of these fishes. The great amount of food necessary for the produc

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tion of large numbers of legal-sized trout and the inflated cost of meat products emphasize the need for further studies on nutrition. Only a few colleges and universities have facilities for this type of work, and few States have been able to undertake such research. For the last 18 years, the Service, in cooperation with the State of New York and Cornell University, has conducted studies on fishery nutrition at Cortland, N. Y. In conjunction with the research on trout diets, a training program for Service personnel is conducted at the Cortland Station. As a result, new methods of fish culture and fishery management are being applied throughout the country. For employees concerned with the rearing of trout and salmon, the Service continued the in-service training program at the station at Leavenworth, Wash.
As early as 1888, efforts were made to propagate Atlantic salmon to assist in maintaining the runs of this valuable species in rivers emptying into the Atlantic Ocean. At that time, the majority of the salmon were released as fry. It is now apparent that great numbers of large fingerling salmon must be reared and released if the species is to be maintained and runs are to be built up to their former importance. In accordance with the recommendations of the salmon committee in the Atlantic salmon-restoration project, the Federal hatchery at Craig Brook, Maine, has been selected to produce the fingerling salmon that are needed for the restoration program. The Craig Brook hatchery is in need of funds for rehabilitation and construction of adequate rearing facilities.
The construction of farm ponds and reservoirs continued to be a major factor in the great demand for warm-water fishes. The value of farm ponds has been proved, and thousands of small reservoirs are now being constructed annually in almost every State east of the Rocky Mountains. Demand for largemouth black bass exceeded production as this species played an important part in pond and lake management. The 1949 production of pondfish equaled the record of the two previous years. Further increases in pondfish production will depend upon the modernization of existing hatcheries and the construction of new units.
In cooperation with the Alabama Polytechnic Institute at Auburn, Ala., the Service continued a program whereby Service personnel receive training in hatchery management and farm-pond inspection and management. A school for Federal fish culturists will be set up at the Marion, Ala., hatchery for training in the most modern techniques in warm-water fish culture.
Close cooperation has been maintained with the States on all phases of propagation and distribution of fishes during the year. This has eliminated duplication of effort, increased service to the public, and contributed to more efficient management practices.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	283
In general, the production of game fish was at a high level during 1949 despite the fact that current fish-food costs were extremely high and that improvement and expansion programs are needed at many of the hatcheries. The following is a summary of the production of Federal hatcheries for the calendar year 1949 (table 1).
Table 1.—Summary of the production of fishes and eggs by Federal hatcheries during the year ended Dec. 31, 1949
Group	Eggs	Fry	Fingerling	6 inches or over	Total
Largewnnth black bass		1,085,024	8,104,437	13,162	9, 202,623
Sma-ljmnnth black bass 			511,000	222,048	3,540	736, 588
Bnck bass			17,585		17, 585
Warm mi th bass			64,040		64,040
Striped bass	__ _ __ -				339	339
Bluegill			33,302,234	19,189	33,321, 423
Sunfish red-ear	_ _ 				165,848	150	165,998
Sunfish green						7,972	500	8,472
Rainbow trout 	 -	12,019, 833	11,355	6,482,044	702, 009	19, 215, 241
Brook trout					10,420,900	81,425	3,161,022	528, 523	14,191, 870
Brown trout	831,837		1, 607, 208	165,025	2, 604,070
Blackspotted trout 	-		15,855,891	1, 764,000	3,518,872	12,022	21,150,785
"Lake trout							62,662	3,992	66, 654
Steelhead trout			114,020		114,020
Channel catfish	- 			27, 200	206,506	30	233, 736
Catfish	_ _ _ 				309, 236	11, 769	321,005
Black crappie			98, 275	5, 777	104,052
White crappie		--			3,865	2,964	6,829
Atlantic sal won				42,480		270,625	11,384	324,489
Chinook sal won	4,052,180		40,427,718		44, 479,898
Chuw salwon	5,270^ 200	6,999, 524			12,269,724
Sockeye salmon			607,069		5,791,400	2,390	6,400,859
Silver salwon	50,120		454, 303		504,423
Sebago salmon.. .					20, 000	36, 200	1,438	57,638
Northern pike.	5,524, 666	4,967, 708	802,055		11, 293, 763
Walleyed pike		1,980; 000	289,100		2, 269,100
Yellow perch			26, 778	4,737	31, 515
Grayling	1,227, 595		500,000		1,727,595
Flminder		545,871, 000			545,871,000
Shad		22,879,000			22,879,000
TiObster		206, 000			206,000
TCokanee salwon			480,873		480,873
					
Total		55,902,105	586,403,236	106,526,926	1,488, 940	750,321,207
FEDERAL AID TO STATE PROJECTS FOR THE RESTORATION OF WILDLIFE
An appropriation of $10,378,538.42, the second largest since the inception of the program, was made to finance the Federal aid in wildlife restoration program. The Service approved a record total of 703 projects obligating $11,624,486.50 of Pittman-Robertson funds. The States’ 25 percent additional contributions toward financing these projects amounted to $3,874,828.83, resulting in a grand total of $15,499,315.33 for project activities. The balance of the 1950 funds, or $3,873,064.90, will remain available to the States during fiscal year 1951, to finance additional wildlife restoration projects since apportionments are available for a 2-year period.
As of June 30, 1950, 14 States had obligated all or nearly all of the Pittman-Robertson funds allotted to them. A total of $93,821.11
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not obligated by certain States within the 2-year period of availability, was transferred to the Migratory Bird Conservation Fund, as provided by the act.
Many of the year’s projects were concerned with waterfowl. Kansas started development of water supply and control structures on Cheyenne bottoms, which will eventually provide some 15,000 acres of waterfowl refuge and public shooting grounds. Shallow ponds and boat lanes were built on the 27,000-acre Bayou Meto unit in Arkansas, and plans for the major impoundments were nearing completion. New Jersey completed the Tuckahoe project during the year. Approximately 3,000 acres of salt marsh have been converted to freshwater ponds over the past 8y2 years. Iowa continued its small lake and marsh development progr am by proceeding with work on nine areas approved last year and initiating developments on six new ones this year. Michigan increased the tempo of dam construction on its waterfowl flooding projects. Wildlife in California will benefit from a quarter of a million dollars’ worth of marsh and water development work on six areas extending from the Imperial Unit in the south to Honey Lake and Madeline Plains in the north. Nevada, cooperating with the Fish and Wildlife Service, made a start on the Stillwater Waterfowl area near Fallon. Oregon continued building the dikes that are transforming the Summer Lake alkali flats into excellent habitat for ducks and muskrats. In all, 32 States were carrying on development projects for water fowl during the year.
Iowa, North Dakota, and Tennessee undertook farm-game habitat improvement programs during the year. Forty States are now engaged in leasing privately owned lands and restoring upland game habitat thereon. Planting of trees and shrubs, herbaceous seeding, and fencing to exclude livestock were principal activities in the program to produce more farm game. To provide badly needed quail food and cover, several million plants and thousands of pounds of lespedeza seeds were distributed to cooperators by nine Southern States. Multiflora rose, the living fence and game cover plant, was used for border plantings by an increasing number of States. Water catchments in arid places were constructed by California, Nevada, Arizona, New Mexico, Hawaii, and Puerto Rico.
Development of State-owned lands for upland game was accelerated as more tracts were acquired. Fencing and range revegetation were major activities on the big-game areas of the West. Bitterbrush reseeding on overbrowsed deer and elk ranges began to show encouraging results in Washington and Idaho. Forest game received benefits from habitat improvement projects on many of the National and State forests.
Trapping and transplanting to stock-depleted ranges and to effect a more equitable distribution of animal populations was undertaken
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by 29 States, the Virgin Islands, and Hawaii. This resulted in large numbers of antelope, deer, bighorn sheep, beavers, wild turkeys, grouse, ringnecked pheasants, quail, and Chukar partridges being released on new ranges.
Twenty-three percent of all Pittman-Robertson funds were used to acquire wildlife lands in 101 areas in 33 States. This involved the purchase of 196,279 acres and the lease of an additional 123,109 acres for periods of from 1 to 10 years.
During the year, 19 percent of available Federal-aid funds were invested in 202 game survey and investigation projects correlated with the determination of hunting-season regulations. Through tagging studies and coordinated aerial and ground observations, the Western States have worked out seasonal movements and range boundaries as well as size and composition of big-game herds in sufficient detail to manage these species on a unit or watershed basis. The harvest of surplus animals and adjustment of animal numbers to the supporting capacity of the range can be regulated with a degree of accuracy heretofore impossible.
Game specialists have become increasingly apprehensive of the use by agriculturalists of modern herbicides and insecticides because of the direct or secondary effect these chemicals may have on game. Wyoming undertook an exhaustive study of two grasshopper poisons— Chlordane and Toxaphene—which are distributed in large quantities in that State, and Michigan investigated the effects of the weed killer 2,4-D.
Arizona made a field study of use being made of numerous catchments built in arid ranges with Federal-aid funds, to supply water for game birds. Lack of year-round water was known to be the reason that flourishing bird populations had not been maintained. During July and August of 1949, an average of 114 Gambel’s quail were using each rain-water-collecting installation.
California found that the valley quail were restricted in numbers not only by a lack of water in scant-rainfall localities but also by a shortage of the special type of roosting cover this species requires. The State designed and tested an artificial roost constructed of iron pipe and brush which holds promise of alleviating this defect.
As visible evidence of progress in adding to the knowledge of requirements and management technics for wildlife, the States and Territories published 330 articles and bulletins based on project findings.
During the year, the Service’s Branch of Lands examined and appraised 105 projects under the program, comprising 481,978 acres. Cover type maps and appraisal reports were prepared for each. These projects, located in 38 different States, had a total appraised value of $6,437,000 and appraisal reports were prepared for each of the 665 individual ownerships involved.
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THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE PROGRAM
The critical plight of the waterfowl and other endangered species of wildlife in the 1930’s required that every means be taken to protect wildlife from further reduction or extinction. General recognition of the problem brought widespread public support for extension of the national wildlife refuge program begun early in the century. This work was greatly accelerated through the transfer of special funds and the passage in 1934 of the Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act. The small nucleus of approximately 100 areas under administration in 1930 has now grown to a system of 282 refuges for waterfowl and other species, including big game, that encompasses nearly 18,000,000 acres in the United States and Territories.
Cost of development and operation increased so rapidly that funds available from the migratory bird hunting stamp for land acquisition were critically reduced. During 1949 the act was amended to provide greater revenue by increasing cost of the stamp from $1 to $2, and the Service was authorized to open not to exceed 25 percent of any newly acquired refuge for regulated public shooting after development has been completed and waterfowl populations warrant. Funds accruing from the sale of the new waterfowl stamps are not available until fiscal year 1951. In the future, new waterfowl areas will be acquired throughout the country at critical concentration points where land costs permit but emphasis must be placed also on proper development of existing refuges.
Favorable wildlife response to conditions created by management on artificial areas, many of which have been developed in connection with irrigation, hydoelectric, or flood control impoundments, indicate a possible solution of one phase of the problem. The waterfowl increases on both breeding and wintering refuges of this type have been spectacular and phenomenal. The Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Illinois, had a wintering population of 486 geese and 1,600 ducks in 1946. Three years later a count revealed 40,000 geese and 184,000 ducks. Bowdoin National Wildlife Refuge in Montana, a multiple-purpose waterfowl refuge, has shown consistently steady gains, from 2,000 geese and 40,000 ducks in 1942 to 6,000 geese and 177,000 ducks for the same 3-month period in 1949. Wintering refuges in other sections of the country provide similar examples. On the Lacassine National Wildlife Refuge, Louisiana, an artificial wintering area, waterfowl increased from 3,400 geese and 45,500 ducks in 1942 to 40,000 geese and 191,000 ducks during the same period.
The farming program accomplished largely by sharecropping land and leaving the rental portion in the fields for waterfowl has been the chief means of increasing the wintering duck and goose population on
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the refuges. Standing grains left in the refuge fields are now being completely utilized. The Service, during the calendar year 1949, had approximately 48,983 acres of refuge land under cultivation by private individuals or refuge personnel. These operations brought a return of 545,934 bushels of grain to 620 cooperative farmers and provided in addition to the green forage an estimated 320,984 bushels of grain to the Government which were either harvested or left in the field for wildlife. In grazing and haying operations carried out during 1949, 394 farmers cut 14,056 tons of hay from 36,681 acres, and 1,057,434 acres provided 351,341 animal-unit months of grazing for 726 permittees, plus a substantial cash return to the Government.
Urgent management problems exist in various sections of the country wherever food production on the refuges has not adequately provided for heavy concentration of birds. Production of food for waterfowl has been increased on the Salton Sea, Colusa, and Sutter National Wildlife Refuges in California, and provisions have been made for intensified farming activities on other refuges along the Pacific flyway. The critical situation along this major migratory route should diminish as progress continues under the California waterfowl management program (Lea Act), a joint endeavor of the Service and the State of California. Obviously, the largest possible food production on refuge lands is necessary to meet wildlife requirements and to prevent damage to farm crops on private land. Some of the refuge land now being farmed, producing only 25 bushels of corn or 10 bushels of grain, has, with good land-use practices, a potential production of 65 bushels of corn or 25 bushels of small grain. There is also a large acreage of depleted or eroded land which can be restored to profitable production for the local farmer and for wildlife through the application of a good land-use program. The Service, during the past year, has just completed comprehensive soil and moisture plans of operation for each refuge and is presently engaged in classifying the land in accordance with its capabilities as a means to better land utilization. Cooperative agreements with local soil-conservation districts have been extended during the past year and the program has been implemented by technical or other assistance through this medium. The Solicitor of the Department of Agriculture has recently ruled that croplands on national wildlife refuges operated by farmers as sharecroppers under permit are eligible for payment for conservation practices under the agricultural conservation program administered by the Production and Marketing Administration.
During 1949, chemical control of weeds was practiced on nine national wildlife refuges. By careful use of this method waterfowl food plants have been increased and nesting habitat has been improved by the eradication of pest plant growths and the substitution of de
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sirable vegetation. Acquisition of modern equipment has aided control of forest fires and protection of wildlife habitat, timber, and other resources.
Economic uses which contribute to the local economy and are not inconsistent with the primary objectives of wildlife management are encouraged on the national wildlife refuges. Forest management practiced for habitat improvement resulted in the removal from refuge lands of 5,193,260 board feet of sawlogs, 4,983 cords of pulpwood, and 4,975 ties and posts during 1949. More than 2,029 individuals cooperated with the Service and participated in the economic use program under special use permit. The revenue resulting from the program, including the sales of furs, surplus big-game animals, or other products of the land, amounted to approximately $439,000. The law provides that 25 percent of the receipts from each refuge shall be returned by the U. S. Treasury to each of the counties in which they are located. Under this provision $109,750 was made available to county governments for the improvement of schools or roads.
Variable conditions prevailed on the four fenced big-game preserves maintained by the Service. A severe drought at the National Bison Range, Montana, necessitated a substantially increased disposal program of surplus animals to protect the range. Optimum conditions prevailed at the other three projects with the result that the herd totals remain about the same as the previous year, as is shown in table 2.
Table 2.—Number of animals on fenced big-game preserves maintained by the Fish and Wildlife Service
ANIMALS AS OF JUNE 30, 1950
Refuge
National Bison Range, Montana___
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife
Refuge, Nebraska______________
Sullys Hill NationalGame Preserve,
North Dakota__________________
Wichita Mountains WildlifeRefuge, Oklahoma________________________
Total_______________________-
Buffalo
483
200
20
798
Elk	Deer		Texas longhorn	Mountain sheep	Antelope	Total
	Whitetailed	Mule				
102	116	438		16	—	1,155
46			132	—		398
19	17		—			56
265	720	------	294	—	63	2,140
432	853	438	426	16	63	3,749
YOUNG BORN IN CALENDAR YEAR 1949
National Bison Range, Montana.... Fort Niobrara National Wildlife	167	i 21
Refuge, Nebraska	.... Sullys Hill National Game Preserve,	52	1 15
North Dakota			 Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge,	7	6
Oklahoma		156	1 75
Total				382	117
i 12	1 100				300 96 20 427
		29			
7 1 100					
	—	74		22	
119	100	103	—	22	843
i Estimated.
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289
At the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge, Austwell, Tex., a pair of captive whooping cranes—2 of the 37 birds remaining nested during the spring of 1950. Incubation of the egg apparently began on April 22, and thereafter constant daylight vigilance and observation from a 20-foot tower were maintained over the nest on a salt grass flat located within a 150-acre fenced enclosure. The chick was hatched on May 25, after an incubation period of approximately 33 days. This was the first known successful attempt to breed whooping cranes in captivity, and it is regrettable that the venture, which gave every promise for success, ended in failure. The chick disappeared 3 days after hatching. The cause of loss could not be definitely established.
Legislation was introduced in the Congress in fiscal year 1950 authorizing the establishment of a wildlife management area on the Florida Keys. A small group of subtropical islands about a hundred miles south of the Florida mainland is the last retreat of the diminutive key deer, the smallest of its kind in the United States. This unique animal formerly ranged over most of the keys between Key Largo and Key West, but is now restricted to Big Pine Key and a few adjacent islands as a result of tourist traffic and commercial developments. Its numbers, which have never been large and were estimated at 70 head in 1947, have been further reduced until possibly not more than 25 remain, and these face a precarious existence. The deer have persisted on the limited habitat of the keys despite increasing obstacles, but immediate provision must be made for their survival if the species is to endure. The proposed legislation has the wholehearted support of national conservation organizations and public-spirited individuals who recognize that the species is on the verge of extinction.
The Service on July 1, 1949, relinquished secondary jurisdiction in the administration of the 658,618-acre Boulder Canyon National Wildlife Refuge on the Boulder reclamation project in Nevada and Arizona, since adequate protection of wildlife is afforded in the National Park Services’ demonstration area.
The 1,588-acre Wilson National Wildlife Refuge, Georgia, secured originally by gift, was returned to the former owner by act of Congress, August 16, 1949. Execution of a cooperative agreement by the Jicarilla Tribal Council, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Fish and Wildlife Service providing for the rehabilitation of lakes on the Jicarilla Apache Reservation, N. Mex., marks another milestone in conservation. Under the program now being carried out former waterfowl nesting habitat is being restored to a productive level and extensive plantings are in process to increase the supply of natural food for migrant ducks and geese.
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Table 3.—Acreage acquired or in process of acquisition for National wildlife refuges under the Migratory Bird Conservation Act and by exchange and act of Congress—Fiscal year 1950
State	Refuge	Acquired other than by purchase	Purchased under Migratory Bird Conservation Act	Total acquired	Pending title conveyance
California	 	 _. _	Colusa.. .. ..		1,095 532	1,095 532	
Do	 ..	Lower Klamath					
Florida. 	 __		Chassahowitzka					2,786 954
Georgia. 	 _ 		Blackbeard Island				
Do		Okefenokee.	1,906	253	2,159	
Do		Piedmont						2,146 34 122 243 434 2 2,104 88 2,560 1,104 789 1,048 22
Iowa... 		Union Slough		64	64 100	
Kentucky	 		Kentucky Woodlands. Moosehorn..	100			
Maine	 							
Maryland 		 _	Blackwater				
Minnesota. 			Tamarac . 					
Missouri		 __ _ ...	Mingo.		647	647	
Do		Swan Lake				
Nebraska		Crescent Lake					
Do		Valentine..	704		704	
New Jersey . _ 	 ..	Brigantine.. .				
New Mexico. 		Bosque del Apache					
New York		 __ ._ ... _	Wertheim				
North Carolina		Mattamuskeet. .. ...		16	16	
North Dakota			LakeZahl.. ... .				640
Do	 ...	Lostwood. ... _		80 6	80 6 221	
Do		Lower Souris.				1 5 551 4, 680 50
Do	 .	Upper Souris	221			
Oklahoma	 			Salt Plains							
Oregon	 			Malheur 					
South Carolina		Carolina Sandhills .				
Texas		Laguna Atascosa.		18, 997	18, 997	
Vermont...	.	Missisquoi					128 138 1,160
Virginia			Chincoteague..				
Washington. ... ... 			Little Pend Oreille					
Do		Skagit				2,351 462 21 80 80	2,351 462 21 80 80	
Do		Turnbull				14
Do		Willapa _ 					
Wisconsin... .	Horicon.				1,207
Do		Necedah					
Total						
		2,931	24, 684	27, 615	23,010
					
RIVER BASIN DEVELOPMENTS AND WILDLIFE NEEDS
Federal programs of river-basin development in 1950 demanded increased activity by the Office of River Basin Studies and resulted in a continuing series of project reports by the Service during the year. Reports have been completed on 12 important representative river basins on which departmental reports were requested by the President’s Water Resources Policy Commission. These detailed statements covered existing fish and wildlife resources, Service properties, such as hatcheries and wildlife refuges, water developments, the impact of dams and diversions constructed by Federal and private agencies on fish and wildlife, and problems arising from conflicts between fish and wildlife interests and those concerned with flood control, drainage, power, and navigation. Investigators in the Dakotas and Minnesota interviewed farmers and Soil Conservation Service district supervisors and Production and Marketing Administration
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representatives in a study undertaken to develop, if possible, measures to preserve marshes that are essential to waterfowl and other wildlife of the country. Federal subsidization of farmers has resulted in many marsh and pot-hole drainage projects involving waterfowl nesting areas.
The first of a series of projects to restore wildlife on water-utilization developments in the Missouri River Basin were initiated during the year at three Bureau of Reclamation reservoirs now in their final stages of construction. The first planting of vegetative cover was started on the Angostura Reservoir in South Dakota with the coming of spring weather and similar work was initiated on the Enders and Medicine Creek Reservoirs in Nebraska’s Republican River Basin. In addition, the first 2 of more than 60 wildlife habitat projects on the Fort Randall Reservoir of the Corps of Engineers in South Dakota were started in the spring of 1950. These plantings will range in size from 5 to 13 acres and will total about 575 acres scattered along both sides of the 154-mile-long reservoir.
During the fiscal year 1950, the Office of River Basin Studies completed 205 reports on water-use projects. Of this total of 205 reports, 118 were made for the Corps of Engineers, 39 for the Bureau of Reclamation, 2 for the Soil Conservation Service, and 46 reports were prepared for the Federal Power Commission on public and private water-power projects licensed by the Commission. The Service’s reports contain recommendations which, if adopted, will lessen damage to fish and wildlife resources and, in many cases, result in enhancing these resources.
RESEARCH IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
The 1950 winter waterfowl inventory conducted in Alaska, Canada, the United States, Mexico, and the West Indies gave evidence that the continental population of wintering waterfowl had again declined. The trend point was 25 percent lower than that of the previous winter. Increases, in varying degrees were apparent in several groups of waterfowl for certain flyways: Among brant in both Atlantic and Pacific flyways, ducks in the Central and Atlantic flyways, and swans in the Pacific flyway.
Although hunting-season bag checks showed a general decrease in the number of hunters in all flyways of the United States, an increase in the seasonal kill of ducks per hunter resulted in about a 6-percent increase in the total legal harvest.
On waterfowl breeding grounds in 1949 the numbers of breeding birds increased slightly but actual production of young was considerably below the potential. A summary of results of the investigations in Alaska, Canada, and 22 States was published in a special report.
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Summer breeding ground surveys for 1950 in Alaska, Canada, and the United States, were under way at the close of the fiscal year. Early season reports showed reduced breeding populations in a number of important sections, but climatic and other conditions affecting the production of young were better than in 1949.
Because of the particular need for information on the status of breeding populations of mourning doves which migrate into the Southeastern States, where they are intensively hunted during the fall and winter, new methods of appraising abundance were tested. A better method was also developed for censusing clapper rails during the nesting season, and this popular game bird of the tidal marshes was studied intensively in its important breeding area on the coast of Virginia.
The banding of North American birds was intensified and reached a postwar high due to emphasis on the use of this medium in the study of the migration of waterfowl, and particularly as a result of increases in State-sponsored banding projects under the Federal aid program. Almost 350,000 birds were banded during the year and 23,000 banded birds were recovered.
Fur-seal investigations were resumed in Japan during the spring and completed by the end of the year. A report on the work is in progress. On the Pribilof Islands, research continued to develop better techniques and methods for estimating and computing the size of the fur-seal herd. Metal tags for identification were attached to the flippers of 20,000 fur-seal pups.
Cooperative wildlife research units were established in Alaska and Montana during the year and authorization was obtained for units in Arizona and North Carolina which would bring to 18 the number of these cooperative projects in which the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Wildlife Management Institute, and the respective land-grant colleges and State conservation departments participate. Approximately 100 technical papers, bulletins, and popular articles were published on wildlife-research findings of unit personnel. Since the inception of the cooperative unit program in 1935, approximately 1,600 such publications have appeared.
Work completed during the year in the Biological Surveys Section includes published contributions on the coyote, puma, and American bison, a report (in press) resulting from the extensive work of the late E. A. Goldman in Mexico, and a study (in press) of the raccoons of North and Middle America. The facilities of the mammal laboratory were utilized by 50 research workers and visitors.
In the country as a whole, little research is being done on wildlifedisease problems, but, through the appointment of a pathologist during the year, the Service acquired the means of investigating
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	293
emergencies. Information on incidence, effects, and control methods are needed for a wide variety of wildlife diseases, including botulism and fowl cholera in waterfowl, tularemia in various birds and mammals, screw worm and other parasites of deer, hemorrhagic septicemia in big game, fungus disease in muskrats, and others.
Investigations of management methods for agricultural wildlife are proceeding at the Patuxent research refuge in Maryland and in the Southeast. This research has already indicated that only a limited list of woody plants are sufficiently dependable to be recommended to farmers. Field borders, contour hedges, and living fences of multiflora rose are practicable ways to provide wildlife cover in a modern farming program, but methods of establishment must be adapted to site and region if a large proportion of failures is to be avoided. Work in Alabama indicates that modern farming practices featuring grass and legumes are more favorable to quail than the older, cotton and corn type of agriculture.
In cooperation with the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, investigations of the effects of DDT spraying for control of Dutch elm disease were conducted at Princeton, N. J. It was determined last year that significant losses to songbirds may occur when spraying is done during the nesting season. In an effort to minimize such losses, spraying operations in 1950 were carried out prior to the breeding season. It was found, however, that losses were even greater during the early spring spraying, and further efforts are being made to modify the spraying program to reduce damage to bird life.
Large operational programs for the control of mosquitoes in salt marshes are under way on the Atlantic seaboard. Preliminary experimental tests indicate that losses to blue crabs and other valuable wildlife may occur when dosages greater than 0.2 pound per acre are applied from airplanes. Further work in progress should lead to recommendations of methods to accomplish the desired control of mosquitoes with minimum damage to other species. The main concern in these low-dosage applications is the possible adverse effect of the chemical on important animal foods of wildlife.
The summer of 1949 marked the completion, at Patuxent, of a 5-year study on the animal life of a forest area sprayed annually with 2 pounds of DDT per acre. By the fifth spring breeding bird populations had declined 26 percent. Other representative animals, such as the wood mouse and box turtle, showed no change in population. Early experiments on another tract sprayed at the rate of 3 pounds of DDT per acre have been carried out to determine the effect of such application on the growth and survival of nesting birds. For certain species, nestling mortality amounted to approximately 50 percent in
907639—51----21
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1949. Laboratory tests on the toxicity of DDT have been made on starlings, pigeons, quail, and pheasants. Findings thus far indicate that the pheasant is far more susceptible to this poison than the other species tested. Further investigations will determine the feasibility of using chemical analysis of tissue as a means of diagnosing lethal DDT poisoning in birds.
Continental waterfowl populations are directly dependent upon the marsh and other acquatic habitats now remaining. An important field of management is the improvement of these areas by methods that will encourage vegetation of greatest value. Studies in TVA impoundments on the use of herbicides to bring about beneficial plant successions have been carried out for several years. A recent report has been published summarizing information on the use of ammate and 2,4-D in the various situations found in these areas.
Progress can be reported on management experiments for waterfowl on two acid-water impoundments at the Patuxent Research Refuge. The manipulation of water levels appears to be a means of greatly increasing natural food supplies and making such dark, relatively sterile, lakes attractive to migrating birds. Such bodies of water are common on the North Atlantic seaboard and effective methods should have wide application where water levels are under control.
COOPERATIVE CONTROL OF PREDATORS AND RODENTS
Reduction of economic losses caused by destructive forms of wildlife was aided during the year by the greater application of improved techniques which permitted highly selective and more efficient control of undesirable species. Consequently, there were somewhat fewer instances of extensive losses to crops and livestock than in former years. There were also direct savings in desirable forms of wildlife, particularly among upland game, birds, deer, and antelope.
Control activities were largely conducted under supervision or guidance of trained biologists of the Service in cooperation with local agencies. Selective control was attained by a variety of methods which included the careful application of lethal agents in specific isolated areas known to be infested with destructive predators but unfrequented by game and furbearers. Potential hazard to animals such as mink and marten, for example, was largely prevented by avoiding placement of lethal stations in or adjacent to timber or along streams. Danger of accidental poisoning was further reduced by shallow burial of baits and by the use of material, such as seal blubber, which is unattractive to some furbearers, but readily accepted by
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	295
wolves or coyotes. The distribution, in carefully selected places, of certain type baits and control devices during winter months similarly avoided danger to herbiverous big-game animals or hibernating bears, but permitted removal of wide-ranging wolves and coyotes with minimum detrimental effect upon foxes and other short-ranging carnivora. The shooting of wolves and coyotes from the air frequently permitted their destruction within a few hours after their depredations were reported by farmers or ranchers.
Successful application of selective control techniques was likewise practiced in the eradication of injurious rodents. Bird-repellent green or yellow dyes were applied to grain baits, and poison formulas were employed which destroyed rodents but did not contain amounts lethal to most other wildlife. Further selectivity was attained by a choice of baits unattractive to some species of birds and animals and by careful placement of such materials in concealed locations frequented by rodents only. The art of selective control for objectionable species is still in its infancy but already promises to be an extremely valuable tool for wildlife management. Its importance will grow with increased demands of civilization and correspondingly greater inroads of agricultural activities into habitats occupied by wildlife.
Postwar development of various control devices and materials continued at an accelerated pace, but because of potential hazards their proper application required extensive training and instruction of field personnel. This was largely accomplished by hunter conferences conducted throughout the Western States during fall months and by discussion among those in charge of control activities. Service findings and recommendations covering many aspects of wildlife control were embodied in several publications, including a standard operating procedure for safe use of the chemical known as Compound 1080; findings on experimental use of the new rodenticide, warfarin (3-alpha acetonylbenzyl-4-hydropy-coumarin) ; and also a policy statement relative to wildlife control practices on public lands, prepared in cooperation with the Forest Service.
Operational efficiency was materially increased by improved control methods and to some extent served to offset partially the higher costs for labor and materials. This factor, combined with expenditures of about $4 in cooperative money for each dollar of Federal funds, made possible the generally adequate control of predatory animals on privately owned land in the West where cooperative projects could be organized. Unfortunately, however, available manpower was spread so thin that relatively little control work could be carried out in some areas of public domain and in rural areas where community efforts remained unorganized. Predators drifting from such breed
296	+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
ing grounds to adjacent farms and ranches marred the degree of control otherwise attained. Likewise, only token rodent control work in these localities was possible.
For the first time in history, satisfactory mole control was attained in portions of Oregon, and this State was also a proving ground for a technique that promises effective control of tree-seed-eating mice which have long hampered the reforestation of logged and. burned-over forest areas. In other States experimental application of the new rodenticide, warfarin, proved highly effective against rats and. house mice, thus providing an additional weapon for combating the tremendous losses caused by these.
Intensified predator control operations were continued in Alaska where, contrary to common belief, a teeming abundance of big game animals does not exist. At the present time herds of caribou, mountain sheep, and semi-domesticated reindeer are seriously decimated and in need of all possible protection. In many instances the situation is critical and their numbers can be increased only by placing limitations upon the human take and by reducing losses through predation. The Service’s program is directed toward preventing excessive kills of all kinds among game herds in these areas. The removal of predators is handicappcl because of remoteness of ranges inhabited by such game herds and also by climatic and transportation difficulties. However, efforts to protect the Melchina caribou herd, which totals about 4,000 animals, were outstandingly successful. During the past year more than 60 wolves have been removed from the range occupied by this small herd. Such reduction of predators should materially aid the survival of both young and adult caribou in this area.
Technical assistance and information concerning control practices were provided many foreign countries, particularly Italy, England, Sweden, Australia, the Philippine Islands, Canada, Mexico, and several South American republics. Representatives from several Canadian provinces visited projects in the Dakotas, Montana, and Colorado to learn methods, techniques, and safety precautions practiced by the Service. Demonstrations of modern control methods were conducted for Mexican ranchers in cooperation with the Mexican Government and the Pan-American Sanitary Bureau. During the year studies were also made along the border in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture to determine movements of wildlife capable of transmitting hoof and mouth disease.
Events of the year included a number of problems which could not be satisfactorily solved. Widespread epidemics of rabies in wildlife continued in New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey as well as in several Southeastern States, while further eruptions took place in east Texas, Arkansas, and southern California. Although effort was
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exerted to remove rabid coyotes and foxes, epidemics frequently exceeded available facilities to prevent further spread of the disease and resulting livestock losses totaled many hundreds of thousands of dollars. Tree-girdling mice also took their toll of fruit trees; and reports from Michigan, Wisconsin, and Washington indicated severe injury during the past winter. The orchardists are in particular need of more economical methods as well as improvements in techniques for the control of pine mice. This latter rodent is now considered the No. 1 enemy of fruit growers throughout a wide area extending from Connecticut south to Georgia and westward to Missouri, the problem being particularly acute in Virginia.
Financial expenditures for control operations totaled $4,567,708.00 of which $1,237,139.00 was contributed by States and $2,293,914.00 by counties, cities, livestock associations, and other cooperating groups or agencies. Federal appropriations in the amount of $1,036,655.00 were largely expended in demonstrating techniques and supervising activities.
The recorded catch of predatory animals included 66,281 coyotes, 1,159 wolves, 10,874 bobcats and lynxes, 753 stock-killing bears, and 236 mountain lions. In rodent control operations 12,159,797 acres of land were treated for the elimination of prairie dogs, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, jack rabbits, field mice, cotton rats, kangaroo rats, porcupines, woodchucks, and moles. In addition 451,18 ( premises were treated in cooperative campaigns for the control of house rats. Special equipment and supplies used in predator and rodent control, and 509,404 pounds of rodent bait materials were distributed to cooperators throughout the country by the supply depot at Pocatello, Idaho.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION IN CONSERVATION
International Conservation Agreements
During the past year, the Fish and Wildlife Service has assumed added responsibilities for collaboration with the Department of State in the drafting and negotiation of international conservation agreements and implementing legislation, in preparing diplomatic correspondence relative to such agreements, and in carrying out certain functions in connection with existing agreements.
The International Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries, concluded at Washington on February 8, 1949, has been ratified by 4 of the 11 signatory countries, the United States, the United Kingdom, Iceland, and Canada, and entered into force on July 3,1950.
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The Convention Between the United States and Mexico for the Establishment of an International Commission for the Scientific Investigation of Tuna, signed at Mexico City, January 25, 1949, has not as yet entered into force. Domestic action toward ratification has been taken by both countries, but the formal exchange of ratifications has not as yet been effected.
The Convention Between the United States and Costa Rica for the Establishment of an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission, signed at Washington, May 31, 1949, entered into force on March 3, 1950. The President has appointed the following three United States members: M. C. James, Assistant Director, Fish and Wildlife Service; Lee Payne, member of the California Fish and Game Commission; and Eugene D. Bennett, attorney, of San Francisco. The first commission meeting will be held at San Diego, Calif., in July 1950. The agreement is open to adherence by other interested governments.
On June 27, 1950, the Senate gave its consent to ratification of the Convention Between the United States and Canada for the Extension of Port Privileges to Halibut Fishing Vessels on the Pacific Coasts of the United States and Canada, signed at Ottawa on March 24,1950. It is constantly expected that the convention will be ratified and enter into force in July 1950.
International Technical Cooperation
The Fish and Wildlife Service continued to give assistance to other American Republics under the program of the Interdepartmental Committee for Scientific and Cultural Cooperation. Because of the many interests and problems common to Mexico and the United States, the fishery mission to Mexico has continued in force since 1942. Early in 1949, on request of the Government of Peru, and in cooperation with the Institute for Inter-American Affairs, the Service sent a short-term mission to Peru to assist in solving numerous problems concerned with administration and management of fish and wildlife resources. In September, the mission was reactivated, and the staff increased by the addition of a fishery technologist and an expert in the management of the fisheries of inland waters. Gratifying progress has been made in attaining the objectives of the project. A large fish terminal is nearing completion in Lima; an experimental technological laboratory at Callao has been completed and staffed; sanitation standards for fishery products established and promulgated; and a management plan for inland waters formulated.
In June 1950, the Fish and Wildlife Service cooperated with the Office of Foreign Agricultural Relations of the Department of Agriculture in carrying out a survey of existing and potential markets
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	299
in Latin America for United States fishery products, particularly canned fish.
The program of training qualified students of foreign countries in several phases of biological science and management in relation to conservation was continued during the war. Only two students were in residence, but preliminary arrangements were made for several others to start training in the near future. The Service again cooperated with the Department of State in making arrangements for visits of foreign specialists and professors to the United States.
Rehabilitation of Philippine Fisheries
The Philippine fishery program, authorized by the Philippine Rehabilitation Act of 1946, was terminated on June 30, 1950, in accordance with provisions of law. As some of the objectives of the program were designed to get up basic data upon which the Nation could build a sound fishery management plan, there were, of necessity, long-range studies that obviously could not be completed in the time allotted by the act. This condition required close cooperation with the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries so that these studies could be continued after termination of the United States mission. The most important of the long-range projects were the fundamental investigations in oceanography, fishery biology, and ecology.
In addition to the long-term investigational projects, there was need for immediate rehabilitation projects to increase the current food supplies. These projects consisted of exploratory fishing to open new fishing grounds, the introduction of new and more effective gear, modern fishing preservation practices, and experiments in the development of byproducts.
Through the medium of news releases, information leaflets, demonstrations, and personal contacts, it was possible to secure immediate results in increasing supplies of fresh-fish products to provide urgently needed proteins. It is estimated that, from a low of less than iy2 ounces of animal protein per person per day at the beginning of the program, the amount nearly doubled and was approaching the point of meeting standard nutritional requirements at the close of the program.
The long-range projects have provided the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries with a knowledge of the basic pattern of the oceanography and fishery biology of the waters of the Philippines and adj acent seas, which will be invaluable in the Bureau’s study of populations and migrations as a basis for formulation of a sound fishery management policy.
Of the 125 trainees selected by competitive examinations for 1 year of training in the United States, 83 have completed training,
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and are now employed either in the fishing industry or by the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries, where they are making a substantial contribution to the rehabilitation of the fisheries. The remaining 42 are expected to return to the Philippines before October 1950. In addition to these trainees, a number of student-apprentices of the Philippine Institute of Fishery Technology were trained in the Philippines by employment aboard vessels or in laboratories and pilot plants of the program, where they worked under direct supervision of technicians of the United States.
During the existence of the program, more than 30 publications of scientific and popular interest were prepared and distributed. One hundred press releases on the work of the mission were issued, and these were printed by outstanding newspapers and magazines, many translated into the several dialects. So well received was the work of the program as evidenced by these publications that the Newswrit-ers Association of the Philippines, an organization of editors and feature writers, cited the Philippine fishery program of the Fish and Wildlife Service as the outstanding marine development of the industries of the Philippines during the calendar year 1949.
Largely through the work of the program, the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries grew from a small division of one of the departments to a full-fledged bureau of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and was recognized by increased appropriations as one of the major factors in food production. With the close of the program on June 30, most of the equipment was transferred to the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries, where it is being used to carry on projects initiated by the United States mission. Although the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries is ably administered, and is manned by trained personnel, there is urgent need for continued assistance by technical advisers from the United States.
The International Whaling Commission will hold its second annual meeting at Oslo, Norway, in July 1950. The following additional countries have become parties to the 1946 convention and consequently members of the Commission: Brazil, Denmark, Mexico, New Zealand, and Panama. The Commission will review current information concerning the stocks of whales, and consider the need for changes in regulations concerning capture and utilization during the next season. The United States will be represented at the meeting by an official delegation of three persons.
ADMINISTRATION OF FEDERAL STATUTES FOR PROTECTION OF FISH AND WILDLIFE
Of the many statutes administered by the Service for the protection of fish and wildlife, which are enforced by six regional super
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visors of law enforcement and ninety-four agents in the United States and Territory of Alaska, the principal ones are the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Migratory Bird Conservation Act, Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act, Lacey Act, Black Bass Act, Bald Eagle Act, the Alaska game law, laws protecting wildlife and property on Federal refuges, and those pertaining to commercial fisheries in Alaska.
In addition to the enforcement of the above-mentioned laws and regulations thereunder, all agents of the Service cooperate with officers of other Federal and State agencies and collect data essential to sound game management. At times, and in some agricultural areas, United States game management agents assist in dispersing and controlling migratory birds that concentrate in such areas and seriously threaten valuable farm crops. Those agents, also, participate in making annual winter estimates of migratory game bird populations and report on nesting conditions, breeding, and brood populations.
At the end of the fiscal year the following migratory-bird permits were outstanding: For propagating, 3,982; scientific collecting, 2,528; scientific possession, 670; scientific possession (special), 3,642; bird banding, 2,897.
Migratory-bird permits issued during the fiscal year were as follows: For propagating, 670 (last year, 356) ; scientific collecting, 423 (last year, 323); taking for propagation, 14 (last year, 24) ; bird banding, 172.
Permits issued by the regional directors to control migratory birds that threatened valuable agriculture crops were as follows: To kill migratory birds, 387; to herd with use of pyrotechnics, 348; to herd with use of airplane, 17.
Among the Migratory Bird Treaty Act offenses prosecuted in Federal court were the following: Two Virginia hunters attempted to capture wild ducks by means of traps and also threatened to assault the agent. One was fined $250 with 3-month jail sentence; the other, $500 with 6-month jail sentence. In Missouri two defendants charged with hunting, killing and possessing wild ducks in closed season were fined $750 each. Four others similarly charged were fined $200 each in addition to jail sentences of 30 days.
The drive against persons trafficking in waterfowl in California was continued. One duck seller, found guilty by a jury, was sentenced to serve 45 days on each of three counts. Two persons who purchased ducks and possessed excess limits were fined $400 each; in addition, one was sentenced to 6 months in jail. Found guilty by a jury on the charge of possessing and transporting over 200 ducks, a defendant was fined $500 and placed on probation for 5 years. Another who pleaded guilty to killing, possessing and transporting more than 200 ducks was fined $500, given a 6 months’ suspended jail sentence, and placed on probation for 2 years. A jury returned a
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verdict of not guilty in six other cases involving the sale of ducks. Other cases obtained during joint operations by State and Federal officers relating to the purchase of ducks were successfully concluded in State court, as follows: $100 each, 7; $300 each, 3; $50 each, 2; 60-day sentence suspended, 1.
An agent and 11 State officers, acting upon information that violations were likely to occur on May 6, 1950, off Cape Lookout, N. C., took up their stations at 4:00 a. m. They observed several boats come in filled with hunters, who proceeded to hunt and kill loons from 4:40 a. m. to 5:00 a. m. More than 60 persons were apprehended and have been filed on in Federal court.
Following a joint investigation by State and Federal agents, evidence was obtained against a fish operator in Washington involving the illegal taking and possession of halibut in closed season, giving misleading information, and failing to pay a privilege tax. Pleading guilty in State court on July 6, 1949, the defendant was fined $3,000 and costs.
Table 4.-—Summary of penalties imposed during the year for violations of wildlife conservation laws, 1949-50
Convictions	Fines and costs	Jail sentences
510 40 58 1 1 10 2,245	$34,471. 57 1,880.00 2,416.00 25.00 25.00 330.00 78,077. 90	Days 1,115
		
		
		
		
		511
2,865	117,225.47	1,626
Act
Migratory Bird Treaty Act..—’_______._____________________
Migratory Bird Conservation Act___________________________
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act__________________________
Black Bass Act____________________________________________
Upper Mississippi River Refuge Act________________________
State prosecution from Lacey Act investigations___________
State laws, cooperative prosecutions______________________
Total_______________________________________________
Table 5.—Cases of violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act disposed of during the year, and cases still pending on June 30, 1950
Disposition	Number	Pending	Number
Conviction	 Dismissal		 Nol-pros	 Closed without prosecution	 Total.			510 41 20 23 594	From preceding year	 New cases	 Total	 Disposed of during year	 Pending at end of year		163 826 989 594 395
National Park Service
Newton B. Drury, Director ☆ ☆ ☆
THE SERVICE AND USEFULNESS to the American public of the National Park System has increased in gratifying measure in the fiscal year 1950. That the Congress is coming more fully to appreciate the part the System plays in American life was attested by the substantial increases in appropriations for the year. These were sufficient, for the first time since the war, to permit adequate maintenance of roads and trails and to provide somewhat more of the most urgently needed physical improvements. Road construction was also carried on at a greater rate than had been possible in any year since the war. This progress, however, was no more than a bare start in catching up with the tremendous backlog of projects for which there is present need.
One problem above all others has faced the National Park Service in its endeavor to protect and preserve the invaluable scenic, scientific, and historic resources comprised in the National Park System. It has stood out in bold relief during the past year. There is a constantly growing demand for commercial utilization of resources in the parks, especially their flowing waters. Enlightened and broad-gage conservation organizations throughout the country share the concern of the National Park Service, and have given voice to it. They realize, as we do, that the future of the national parks is at stake.
We have noted in annual reports of the past several years the increasing number of instances in which projects in the programs of the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation have been based upon the expectation that dams and other water-control structures would be built in national parks and monuments or that even if located outside they would be permitted, in one way or another, to destroy or impair the beauty and interest of these places—the qualities which are the very basis of the special status which has been given them.
This trend highlights the necessity for long-range national planning for balanced use of our resources of all kinds in such a way that the cultural needs of the American people, of today and tomorrow, are not relegated to a subordinate position; that our national thinking is not guided by the false concept that economic benefits must take precedence, as a matter of course, over other benefits not expressible in money terms but of vital importance to the business of living. The American way of life calls for proper proportion between the two
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kinds of demand made upon natural resources—those whose imme-diate purpose is economic and those whose immediate purpose is social and cultural. There is ample evidence that those who have worked for the establishment and protection of the National Park System, including many Congresses, have seen clearly the need of ministering to something more than bodily needs of men. There is need now for reaffirmation, plainly and unequivocally, of the concept that great natural beauty, the product of Nature’s processes at work through eons of time, can and shall be preserved by this Nation as one of the things men live by, essential to fullness of life and not lightly to be destroyed.
Frequently heard are assertions that the construction of a dam and reservoir in a national park will leave it uninjured, or will improve it, scenically; that it will be “improved” for recreation; or that some other area “just as good” can be substituted for the one in which such a development is proposed. Americans long ago learned to be dubious of claims of “just as good.”
Such assertions are based on a misconception of the essential character of these special areas and the purposes which they are designed to serve. The great national parks have been “set aside” to provide for human enjoyment of their natural features and their natural character. When the free flow of a stream is blocked and a valley is buried beneath impounded waters, that natural character is lost, and lost irretrievably. Leaving out of consideration the matter of the national interest—which is another question entirely—the exchange is one of a rarity for the relatively commonplace.
The National Park Service fully appreciates the value of water recreation. It is provided and encouraged in many of the areas of the National Park System. The Service works, wholeheartedly and conscientiously, with both the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers in exploring and appraising the recreational possibilities of the reservoirs they are constructing or planning. But it is not ready to admit—in fact, emphatically denies—that an artificial body of water is ever a satisfactory substitute for a natural scene so extraordinary or unique as to be deserving of national park or monument status. Opportunities for the kind of recreation obtainable from these reservoirs is certainly not going to be rare or hard to come at, in view of the immensity of the programs of the Corps of Engineers and the Bureau of Reclamation. Steadily, however, the greatest works of nature and also many significant sites of history—are being deteriorated or destroyed in the zeal for commercial “progress.”
The parks in wartime.—At the end of the fiscal year it was entirely too early to gage the implications of the international situation. However, the National Park Service, mindful of the great variety of uses to which the system was put during World War II, must be pre-
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pared in case of necessity to devote them to purposes which will contribute to the welfare and safety of the Nation. Their greatest value, in any time of crisis, will always be that of supplying relief from physical and mental and spiritual tensions, of strengthening men and women for difficult and demanding tasks. That value was amply demonstrated in World War II. Eight million men and women in uniform visited the parks. To supply that value to the utmost, and to protect the areas and their facilities from damage or deterioration, it is necessary that the administrative and protective organization be maintained at effective strength at all times. It is possible to economize to an extent that, in the long run, is extravagant because it is wasteful.The system was the victim of such a situation from 1941 to 1945; it should not be again.
DAMS, PARKS, AND MONUMENTS
Dinosavrr National Monument Dam proposals.—The National Park Service opposed the Bureau of Reclamation proposal to construct dams at Echo Park and Split Mountain, in Dinosaur National Monument, in Utah and Colorado. In this they had the unanimous support of the conservation groups of the Nation and of many individuals. The issues involved were thoroughly explored in a public hearing called by Secretary Chapman in Washington on April 3. With the Secretary’s full approval, the National Park Service notified organizations and individuals believed to be opposed to the construction of dams in national park areas, and invited them to present their arguments at the hearing. The Service itself expressed its vigorous opposition, contending that outstanding scenery as well as significant natural and prehistoric features of concern to the Nation would be destroyed; that alternative outside dam sites could be utilized, and that departure from the policy of inviolate protection of the national parks would establish a dangerous precedent.
The building of the dams was supported by the Bureau of Reclamation and by representatives of the States which would benefit from the power to be produced from the two dams and from the storage of water which they would provide.
After full consideration of the evidence, Secretary Chapman decided to recommend to Congress that it authorize the construction of the two dams. On June 27,1950, he stated:
I am not unmindful of the public interest in the inviolability of our national parks, and in the status, only a little less austere, of the national monuments. By no precedent of mine would I wish to endanger these places.
Weighing all the evidence in thoughtful consideration, I am impelled in the interest of the greatest public good to approve the completion of the Upper Colorado River Basin Report, including the construction of the dams in question, because:
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(a) I am convinced that the plan is the most economical of water in a desert river basin and therefore in the highest public interest; and
(&) The order establishing the extension of the monument in the canyons in which the dams would be placed contemplated use of the monument for a water project, and my action, therefore, will not provide a precedent dangerous to other reserved areas.
I ask the National Park Service and the Bureau of Reclamation to cooperate fully in making plans that will insure the most appropriate recreational use of the Dinosaur National Monument, under the circumstances.
Ultimate decision on the proposals rests with the Congress. The Secretary’s assurance that his decision was based upon special circumstances, and his reaffirmation of long-established policy as to the integrity of national park areas, is gratifying to the National Park Service.
Other dam proposals.—Several previous reports have made reference to the Corps of Engineers proposal to construct a flood control dam at Mining City which, under certain flood conditions, would cause water to be backed up into Mammoth Cave. The omnibus rivers and harbors flood-control bill, approved in May, was amended to prohibit construction of this dam “if such construction would have any adverse effect on Mammoth Cave National Park.” Conservationists generally urge rescinding the authorization for the dam.
Several pending bills would authorize development of the full power potential of the Kings River watershed by the Bureau of Reclamation as part of the Central Valley project in California, and would authorize investigation of sites within Kings Canyon National Park. However, the Department has recommended elimination of the park from the provisions of these bills. Although Cedar Grove, containing developments serving park visitors, and Tehipite would still be subject to investigation and possible development, most conservationists familiar with these two exceptional segments of the Sierra country strongly oppose their being utilized for water storage.
Last August, Representative Mansfield, of Montana, introduced H. R. 6153, which would authorize and direct the Corps of Engineers to construct the Glacier View Dam, which would flood about 20,000 acres of Glacier National Park. Previously, the Secretaries of the Interior and the Army had agreed on its elimination from the present plans for the Columbia River Basin. The bill, on which the Department reported adversely, was referred to the House Committee on Public Works, which has not acted on it.
The Department wTas successful in its request that S. 75 be amended to limit the height of the proposed Bridge Canyon Dam on the Colorado River to an elevation of 1,877 feet. The original bill gave this as the minimum elevation. The change was sought in order to minimize the damage to Grand Canyon National Monument and Park.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4-	307
The bill has passed the Senate but the House had taken no action on it at the close of the fiscal year.
Under the terms of a 1945 treaty with Mexico providing for the division of the waters of the lower Rio Grande, the International Boundary and Water Commission has authority to build an international dam in Big Bend National Park or at a site which would back water into it. Fortunately, the Service has found the executive officer of the Commission sympathetic to its desire to protect the park, and eager to find a site which will not involve injury to it.
PLANNING AND CONSTRUCTION
Needed development advances.—The completion of roads and trails and parkway construction and physical improvements throughout the National Park System was delayed by the late passage of the 1950 Appropriation Act. For many of the areas, funds became available too late to accomplish anything during the 1949 calendar year, and the letting of contracts had to be put over until late spring. Thus, though work under such contracts is expected to be largely completed during the 1950 construction season, very little of it was finished at the end of June.
Nevertheless, the past fiscal year has seen more progress in providing needed developments than in any other year since the war. The Congress provided somewhat more liberally for these needs, labor was more readily available, and materials prices were more stable than had been the case during the preceding years.
The physical improvements program consists mainly of campgrounds ; utility systems such as water, sewer, power, and communications; and employee housing. Larger projects include such work as the completion of the museum building at Ocmulgee National Monument, begun several years before World War II; the restoration of Castle Clinton, not started by the end of the year, since the national monument was not officially established until mid-July 1950; extensive redevelopment at the Statue of Liberty; construction of a long-needed water-supply line to Mesa Verde National Park; and the museum building at Custer Battlefield National Monument.
Under the roads and trails program, emphasis has been placed on surfacing or resurfacing of existing roads, and on advancing the construction of roads previously started, in some cases before the war. The parkways program consisted of the normal process of advancing construction as far as funds would permit.
In spite of the somewhat more liberal appropriation for physical improvements for 1950, it would take many years to provide the improvements that are already needed; and the need of spreading avail
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able funds as widely as possible prevents economical expenditure, since it is necessary to handle piecemeal many projects that could be constructed more cheaply if covered by a single contract. In a number of places—Glacier National Park, for example—expensive equipment must still be stored in structures which, if they burned, would destroy equipment worth considerably more than would be required to provide safe storage. Invaluable museum materials—some of them irreplaceable—are also in danger of destruction until they can be safely housed.
Regional reorganization of planning and construction groups.—The union of architecture, engineering, and landscape architecture into a single division, put into effect in the Washington office several years ago, was applied to the regional offices during the past year to establish in each a single division of planning and construction, headed by an assistant regional director. This change was made to provide close coordination of all the types of professional and technical effort which have a part in the planning, construction, and maintenance of physical facilities in the National Park System.
Housing shortage continues serious.—During the past 2 years, 30 employee residences have been completed or started. These, and the few units completed previously, may be expected slightly to alleviate the shortage. However, it is estimated that 591 units are required to provide satisfactory housing, so the amount of alleviation is slight. Of the 479 single residences required (the balance being apartments or dormitory units), slightly less than half should contain either 3 or 4 bedrooms. These cannot be built, however, under the space and funds restrictions presently imposed.
More areas hooh, up with commercial power.—During the past year Carlsbad Caverns, Yellowstone, Yosemite, and Olympic National Parks; Devils Tower, Dinosaur, Effigy Mounds, and El Morro National Monuments; and Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park have established, or undertaken negotiations for, electrical service from local electric companies and REA cooperatives. These replace the expensive, limited, and often unreliable power units previously established in these areas.
Radio communications being extended rapidly.—To reduce the heavy costs of replacing or repairing telephone lines, frequently damaged by storms and floods, and to insure more reliable communications, the installation of radio systems is being rapidly expanded. At the end of the fiscal year, the $74,000 system at Mount Rainier was about 60 percent complete, and will be finished before the end of the calendar year. So also will that at Olympic, costing $84,000. Isle Royale National Park, approximately 70 miles from Houghton on Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is being equipped with the most modern type of FM radio equipment for communicating with mainland park
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headquarters at Houghton and points on the island. These installations will eliminate all telephone-wire lines in the park, except those required for serving the developed areas.
Water.—Construction of the West Mancos water supply system for Mesa Verde National Park, long planned to replace the expensive and unsatisfactory deep-well supply, has at last been assured and is well started. Three contracts for materials and construction, totaling $321,579.70, were awarded. Necessary rights-of-way were obtained from the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management; private lands are being crossed on canal and ditch rights-of-way reserved in patents issued under the act of August 30, 1890. Conditional rights to 107,700 gallons a day were decreed in June 1943.
Statue of Liberty undergoing transformation.—Utilizing the $500,000 earmarked for the purpose in the 1949 appropriation and more than $300,000 of 1950 funds, the Service’s long-planned improvement program for Statute of Liberty National Monument is now well under way. Contracts were awarded before the end of the fiscal year for work to be done during the 1950 and 1951 calendar years. A major improvement will be the substitution, for the pier now in use on the east side of the island, of a new covered pier on the west side, approximately in the same location as the old wooden pier on that side which has long been in disrepair and unused. Among other projects covered are dredging a boat-turning basin and channel near the new pier; riprap and land-fill work at the north end of the island; erection of an addition to the concessions building, on which construction was started before the war; and installation of underground utilities for the new residence area. Other work already completed includes a heating system for the statue; demolition of additional obsolete buildings ; riprap and fill; planting of trees and shrubs; and the installation of lipstick-proof carrara glass informational signs.
Much work remains to be done, the most important being the completion of the protecting sea wall, to extend completely around the island.
Mississippi River Parkway survey begun.—By an act approved last August, the National Park Service and the Bureau of Public Roads were authorized to investigate and report to Congress on the feasibility of constructing a parkway following generally the course of the Mississippi River from its source to the Gulf, and as to the most desirable method of its establishment and administration. Of the $250,000 authorization, $150,000 was appropriated for the 1950 fiscal year.
The survey is being conducted under the joint direction of H. J. Spellman, division engineer of the Bureau of Public Roads, and T. C. Vint, chief of Planning and Construction for the National Park Service. Stanley W. Abbott, formerly superintendent of the Blue Ridge Parkway, is in charge of the Service’s part of the work.
907639—51--22
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An advisory group, the Mississippi River Parkway Planning Commission, with 90 members appointed by the governors of the 10 Mississippi River States, has been set up. It is headed by A. P. Greens-felder of St. Louis. To keep the members of the commission, members of Congress, the press, and interested individuals informed of the progress of the survey, its staff is issuing and distributing a bulletin at intervals of a month or so. Progress during the short period since the staff was set up has been most satisfactory.
Roads and trails maintenance.—This was the first year of operation under the 5-year program of catching up on the backlog of special roads-and-trails maintenance items, deferred because of the war, before they reach such a stage of disrepair as to require reconstruction. With $3,500,000 available for roads-and-trails maintenance, it was possible to do routine work and to liquidate about 21 percent of the backlog.
The equipment amortization program, begun this year, provides more adequately than previously for the replacement of road and trail equipment which had had to be kept in service long past the point of economy. Through it, maintenance costs have been definitely reduced.
Mount Rushmore sculptures floodlighted.—The installation of floodlights for the heads of Washington, Jefferson, Lincoln, and Theodore Roosevelt at the Mount Rushmore National Memorial, for which funds were earmarked in the 1949 appropriation, was completed last November. The installation consists of 54 1,500-watt floodlights placed in two locations approximately 1,400 feet in front of and 400 feet below the images. It includes also the electrical distribution system and trail and parking-area lighting. It is expected that a few additional lights at a third location, to eliminate undesirable shadows, will be installed this summer.
Hot Springs cooling system placed in operation.—The cooling and distribution system for the thermal waters of Hot Springs National Park, for which engineering investigations and surveys were started in 1937, was completed early in 1950, and the cooled-water service was made available to the bathing concessioners last January. Initiation of the project, first postponed because of the war, was again delayed by the 1946 Presidential order postponing all Government construction projects not absolutely necessary.
The need for such a cooling plant, constructed at a cost of approximately $164,000, was recognized for many years, during which the cooling of the spring water was accomplished by its exposure to air passing through cooling towers. Contact with the air caused the loss of some of the radon emanation, considered to be a source of therapeutic value of the water. In addition, the water absorbed pollen and dust, and there was an appreciable evaporation loss.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	311
HISTORY AND PREHISTORY
The basic laws relating to the National Park Service make the preservation of historic sites, structures, and objects and their display for the public benefit one of its major duties. The properties which the Service administers cover an extraordinarily wide range of prehistory and of the history of the Nation from the earliest periods of colonization up to relatively recent times. The past year has seen much progress in rounding out these holdings.
Establishment of Effigy Mounds National Monument, in Iowa, brought into the system an outstanding example of the mound builders’ handiwork in a region not hitherto represented, lhe new DeSoto Memorial in Florida is a reminder of another phase of the history of Europeans in America, the precolonial exploration. The expected acquisition of St. Croix Island, Maine, authorized as a national monument, will add the significant remains of the 1604 settlement established there by De Monts and Champlain. Staffing of San Juan National Historic Site in the Puerto Rican capital has revealed a great curiosity, among both residents and visitors, about those gigantic defense works and their significance in the history of the New World.
Particularly gratifying is the fact that the first, but extremely important, steps have been taken toward establishment of Independence National Historical Park, embracing sites and structures of supreme importance in the Republic’s history. Related to these, is the Deshler-Morris House, in Germantown, which is to have the status of a detached portion of the Independence National Historical Park project.
These and all the other prehistoric and historic properties of which the Service has custody demand the most exacting care; their truthful and fair interpretation to the public equally requires a continuous program of research. In a number of important instances, this involves the use of archeological techniques, which have been applied to such sites as Fort Raleigh, Jamestown and Yorktown, Hopewell Village, Saratoga, Fort Vancouver, and the Whitman Mission. At all those places archeological “digs” have produced materials and brought out facts of importance and significance. Much of the material is still to be studied, classified, and evaluated.
Real progress in historical research.—The past year was a fruitful one in the field of historical research, despite the fact that this work by field historians has to be sandwiched in among many other duties. A ground cover study at the Saratoga National Historical Park, as of the date of the 1777 battle, disclosed the true distribution of fields and woods and made known other physical features of the historic terrain. A similar historical base map was made of the Wilderness Battlefield, part of the Fredericksburg and Spottsylvania County
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National Military Park. A preliminary historical study was made of the layout plan of the 1604 settlement on St. Croix Island, Maine. Test excavations there unearthed stone foundations believed to have been those of one of the principal buildings of the settlement. Historical studies by the historian at Fort Sumter National Monument disclosed the physical appearance of the fort at three critical periods of its wartime history.
At Gettysburg National Military Park, preliminary investigations were made of the origin and past history of the Gettysburg Cyclorama, the famous painting which depicts the battle at the time of Pickett’s Charge. In connection with the Independence National Historical Park project, the site of Franklin Court, historically important as the site of Benjamin Franklin’s residence in Philadelphia, was identified and the boundaries of the estate defined.
Western historical areas likewise received attention. A detailed, well-illustrated survey of the history and physical structure of Fort Vancouver, Wash., was prepared and mimeographed in connection with the national monument project there. Preliminary studies were made of the authenticity of the Elkhorn Ranch site and the Maltese Cross Ranch Cabin of Theodore Roosevelt. A study was also made of his participation in the Stockmen’s Association as a cattle owner in the Dakotas.
Studies have been started on the history and historical source materials relating to the ancient fortifications of San Juan, P. R., of which the principal remaining works are included in the San Juan National Historic Site. A study of the ancient City of Refuge, on the island of Hawaii, proved the desirability of preserving it as a national historic site.
Three important research reports in the field of archeology were prepared. One deals with the Bynum site, on the Natchez Trace Parkway in Mississippi, which is prehistoric. This report is being printed. The other two deal with historical areas—the second season’s excavations at the Whitman National Monument, in Washington, and the excavations at Fort Raleigh National Historic Site, N. C.
One of the most interesting developments of the year was the 3-month study, in Great Britain and on the Continent, of early glasshouse sites and early glass-making technology as known to experts abroad, and as exemplified in European museum collections. This assignment was carried out by Archeologist J. C. Harrington, who had excavated the glass works at Glass House Point, Jamestown; it was financed by a donation of $2,500 by Glass Crafts of America, an association of companies producing handmade glass.
Numerous historic areas dedicated.—The year has been marked by the number of dedicatory ceremonies at sites of historical signifi
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cance. The authorization of establishment of St. Croix Island National Monument was celebrated at Calais, Maine, and on the island, on July 2, 1949, by speakers representing both the United States and the French Governments. Dr. Douglas S. Freeman, noted historian of the Civil War, was the speaker of the day at well-publicised exercises held on August 29, 1949, dedicating the Dogan House at Manassas National Battlefield Park, which had been purchased by the Prince William County Chamber of Commerce and presented to the Federal Government for addition to the park. On March 24, 1950, De Soto National Memorial at Bradenton, Fla., was dedicated. The dedication of the reconstructed McLean House, at Appomattox Court House National Historical Monument, in Virginia, on April 16, 1950, attracted a tremendous throng. The presence of Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant, III, and of Robert E. Lee, IV, lent particular interest to the event. Dr. Douglas S. Freeman again was the principal speaker. The State of Virginia has provided $5,000 to furnish the parlor of the McLean House where Lee and Grant met on April 9, 1865. The Virginia Federation of Women’s Clubs is providing $800 for landscaping the grounds.
The statue of Cabrillo, originally presented to the State of California, was erected on the grounds of Cabrillo National Monument after a somewhat controversial and wandering history, and was dedicated with impressive ceremony on September 28,1949.
Governor Lane of Maryland made the dedication address when Hampton National Historic Site, near Towson, Md., was dedicated on April 30, 1950. The Deshler-Morris House, in Germantown, Pa., was dedicated and formally opened to the public on May 16, with Ronald F. Lee, chief historian of the National Park Service, delivering the dedicatory address. Under cooperative agreements, Hampton is being administered by the Society for the Preservation of Maryland Antiquities, the Deshler-Morris House by the Germantown Historical Society.
Coincident with an address on foreign affairs which made international headlines, President Truman dedicated the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial project in St. Louis, on June 10, 1950, on the occasion of the reunion of the Thirty-fifth Division, of which he is a member.
Interpretation of historical areas.—Like the other areas in the National Park System, the many historical areas administered by the Service have felt the impact of a steady increase of visitors. During the last travel year these totaled 12,362,917. We have reported previously that the staggering number of visitors to such shrines as the Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt and the Lee Mansion threatened the safety of those buildings. This year it has become necessary to rely
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upon self-guiding devices at the Vanderbilt Mansion National Historic Site, at Hyde Park, and at other heavily visited area. Fortunately, the public has liked the printed guide sheets and other devices substituted for more personal guide service.
The new museum exhibits at Manassas National Battlefield Park have proved enormously helpful and continue to elicit much favorable comment. On July 4, 1949, the Governor of North Carolina and other distinguished guests participated in the opening of the new Guilford Courthouse Museum exhibits. Some of these were generously contributed by representatives of the English regiments which participated in the battle of March 15, 1781.
Funds are now available for construction of the museum at Custer Battlefield National Monument. The year has brought progress in planning its exhibits, as well as those in honor of John Peter Zen-ger’s contribution to freedom of the press which are to be placed in the Federal Hall Memorial in New York City.
Chief historian at Paris conference.—The Service was honored by the selection of Ronald F. Lee, its chief historian, as a delegate from the United States on the Committee of Experts on Sites and Monuments of Art and History, assembled in Paris, France, on October 17-21, 1949, by the Director-General of UNESCO. Mr. Lee was chosen rapporteur for the meeting, which included representatives from 12 countries. The committee formulated recommendations to UNESCO regarding the character of the program which it should consider developing to further international cooperation in the preservation of historical and archaeological sites and buildings.
River Basin salvage archeology.—Contracts with State universities and State historical societies and museums to excavate important archeological sites to be inundated by multipurpose reservoirs have made possible great strides in the task of salvage. Under these contracts, the Federal Government supplies funds and equipment while the contracting agencies furnish scientific personnel, additional funds, and laboratory facilities.
Within the Missouri Basin, contracts have been entered into with the following agencies for excavation of the several reservoirs indicated: University of Nebraska Laboratory of Anthropology, Harlan County Reservoir; Nebraska State Historical Society Museum, Trenton Reservoir; Universities of Kansas and South Dakota, Fort Randall Reservoir; North Dakota State Historical Society, Garrison Reservoir; University of Wyoming, Boysen Reservoir; and University of Montana, Canyon Ferry Reservoir.
Elsewhere, the Service has entered into contracts with the University of Texas for work in the Falcon Reservoir, and with the University of New Mexico for intensive excavations in the Chamita Reservoir.
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Congress authorizes national trust.—The National Trust for Historic Preservation in the United States was organized on May 1, 1950, under the chairmanship of Mr. David E. Finley, director of the National Gallery of Art, as authorized in an act of Congress approved by the President on October 26, 1949. Modeled after the National Trust of Great Britain, its purpose is to supplement, on a national scale, the work of the National Park Service in holding intact sites, buildings, or other objects significant in American history. The legislation which authorizes its establishment was sponsored by the Department of the Interior and supported by the National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings.
Other officers of the Trust include Maj. Gen. U. S. Grant, III, Vice Chairman, and Ronald F. Lee, chief historian of the National Park Service, Secretary. The Secretary of the Interior, Attorney General of the United States, and Director of the National Gallery of Art, are ex officio members of its board of trustees. Other members of the Board are Horace M. Albright, Charles S. Bird, John Nicholas Brown, Harry L. Bullis, Mrs. Francis B. Crowninshield, Herbert Hoover, Gen. George C. Marshall, George A. McAneny, H. Alexander Smith, Jr., and Robert Woods Bliss.
Independence National Historical Park moves steadily ahead.— Pursuant to the act of Congress authorizing establishment of the Independence National Historical Park, the Department has entered into a cooperative agreement with the city of Philadelphia under which the National Park Service will take over custody of the Independence Hall structures and grounds in Independence Square, Philadelphia, beginning January 1, 1951. Covered by the agreement are Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Old City Hall, and associated historic objects connected with the adoption of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress, the meeting place of that Congress, the seat of the Government of the United States during the Revolution and the period 1790-1800, and the meeting place of the Constitutional Convention of 1787.
The buildings in Independence Square contain a priceless collection of historic paintings and historic objects, including the Liberty Bell. They attract about a million visitors each year. By the terms of a special cooperative agreement with the Carpenters Company of Philadelphia, historic Carpenters Hall will also be exhibited by the National Park Service as a part of the Independence National Historical Park program.
For the 1950 fiscal year, Congress appropriated $500,000 to enable the National Park Service to begin its acquisition program, and it provided contract authorization in the amount of $3,935,000. A project office was established in Philadelphia by the Service at that time.
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Approval of historical areas.—Preliminary to the formulation of recommendations by the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments on proposed additions of historical properties to the System, it is almost invariably necessary to undertake a certain amount of research in order that the Board may evaluate them properly. That this is a sizable task is indicated by the fact that the Service conducted such research in connection with 78 proposals for additions to existing historical areas or for new areas. Forty-three of these were covered by bills introduced into the House or Senate and reports on all of them were prepared for submission to Congress.
These constitute only a part of the research which Service historians and archeologists must carry on in order that the interpretive program may be brought to its highest effectiveness and the full usefulness of our historical and archeological possessions may be realized. During the 14 months from January 1, 1949, to May 1, 1950, the historical staff prepared 40 research reports. It also produced 12 historical studies relating to surplus forts and military posts to assist in their proper disposition as State historical parks and monuments, and 3 reports on reservoir areas to encourage the preservation of historical values in areas to be flooded. On their own time, the members of this same group produced 14 articles and 3 pamphlets on historical subjects.
Archeologists of the Service prepared 22 archeological reports, of which 11 were printed in professional journals, as were 5 other reports produced in off-duty hours. In addition, 34 archeological reports dealing with river basins were prepared in collaboration with the Smithsonian Institution and in association with colleges and universities cooperating with the Service and the Smithsonian in river-basin archeological salvage.
NATURAL HISTORY
Interpretive activities.—The public’s appetite for greater knowledge and understanding of the natural phenomena of the national parks shows no sign of decrease. The satisfaction of this desire is certainly one of the most constructive functions of the National Park Service, but the performance of the task continues to lag seriously behind need. Though there was a slight increase in employment of seasonal rangers and ranger-naturalists, the percentage of increase in number of visitors utilizing their services considerably outran it. The handicap of increased numbers—or rather of insufficiencies of staff to care adequately for them—is such that much of the effectiveness of the work is lost.
Much thought has been given to methods of dispensing information at entrance stations, particularly in the larger parks and those in
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which the visitor volume has increased at a much greater than average rate. To expedite the handling of visitors, it has been necessary to install cash registers or accounting machines in some parks, and there is no satisfactory opportunity to give out needed information or to enlist cooperation in the protection of the natural features. Real contact with the visitor is highly important.
Parking areas inside the gates, attractive information offices, and, above all, enough competent personnel to man them have been suggested and in some cases have been approved, but their installation must await the availability of funds.
Statistically speaki/ng.—The records of the past year show that the Service’s naturalists have conducted 24,076 guided trips, with 1,144,250 persons participating. They have given 25,987 talks, principally at evening campfire programs, to an attendance of 2,442,834. Other informational contacts by this group brought the total to 4,333,963 persons. Visitors have also been reported at unattended interpretive stations and devices and in museums to the number of 6,741,196.
In the museum -field.—The year has brought very tangible progress in the Service’s museum activities. Three new museums were opened, and work is in progress on the preparation of exhibits for three more. The opening ceremonies at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park have been mentioned elsewhere. Hampton, near Baltimore, completely repaired through the generous provision of funds by the Avalon Foundation, is a house museum. The reconstructed McLean House at Appomattox Court House National Historical Monument was also placed on exhibition with appropriate furniture. At Scotts Bluff National Monument, water colors, sketches, and photographs by the late William H. Jackson were installed in the new Jackson wing to illustrate the Oregon Trail story.
Complete interpretive displays telling the story of the Battle of Chickamauga were in preparation for the headquarters museum on the battlefield. Helped by funds donated by the Hui-O-Pele Society, work was begun on a museum for Hawaii National Park. The Museum Laboratory completed and shipped the first two of seven major exhibits, and work on others was underway. Additional exhibits are being prepared in Hawaii. Work has been started on exhibits for Ocmulgee National Monument, where a contract has been let for completion of the museum building, begun before the war. A contract has also been let for erection of a modern museum and administration building at Custer Battlefield National Monument.
For the second year an in-service training course in museum methods, with a class of 10, was conducted at the laboratory as a combined operation of the Natural History and History Divisions in order to develop a body of field employees familiar with the everyday poli
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cies and techniques required to maintain and use their museums skillfully.
As custodian of many objects of scientific or historical value, the National Park Service has the responsibility of protecting them from all kinds of damage and deterioration caused by such common agents as fire, sunlight, mold, insects, and rodents—a major problem. Reports of surveys undertaken during the year demonstrated the need so clearly that a continuing program of inspection and treatment by experts has been set up to begin during the 1951 fiscal year.
Natural history associations.—Organization of the Olympic Natural History Association during the past year brought the number of these designated cooperating organizations throughout the Service to 21. Additional associations are being organized at Joshua Tree National Monument and Acadia National Park. Because of their official cooperative status these organizations are required to submit annual reports to the Director of the National Park Service, which are analyzed carefully by the Natural History Division.
The associations carry on a variety of money-making activities. One of the most important is the production and sale of literature of various kinds. Earnings are used to advance the interpretive programs in the areas in which they function. Gifts of equipment needed in the conduct of these programs are among the most tangible evidences of their assistance. Motion picture and slide projectors, record players, sound recorders, cameras, lenses, range finders, and many other items of tools, equipment, and supplies are listed among their contributions during the past year. Approximately $2,000 of association funds were spent to purchase books, magazines, pamphlets, and supplies for park libraries. The Glacier Natural History Association expended more than $1,000 for the purchase of private lands and a mining claim. These organizations perform an invaluable service to the interpretive program.
'Wildlife overpopulations.—Though an important principle of national park management is to present wildlife “natural” and with the minimum of manipulation, control measures are necessary occasionally, especially when natural controls or outside hunting fail to hold populations to safe carrying capacity of the range. Elk, mule deer, and moose present problems of this kind in a number of areas.
One of the most serious is that of the northern Yellowstone elk herd. Weather conditions last winter prevented the needed reduction from 11,000 animals to 6,000. The actual reduction totaled less than 1,000—507 killed in the park, 316 live-trapped and shipped elsewhere, and probably not as many as 50 killed by hunters outside of the park. Drastic action will be required next winter to avert almost total destruction of winter browse in the park. At Rocky Mountain,
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legal hunting outside and official killing within produced a needed reduction of 500 elk. Hunting and natural causes have brought the elk of Glacier National Park down about one-third.
Bison reductions were carried out both in Yellowstone and in Colorado National Monument. Enlargement of the range, by throwing the bison on lands formerly in the Custer Recreational Demonstration Area, provided relief for the 400 head at Wind Cave.
The mule deer is a problem species in several areas. Last winter the Service destroyed 100 at Rocky Mountain because of the critical state of the food supply. California parks generally are overpopulated.
Rare species.—The past decade has seen an improvement in health and numbers of bighorn at Glacier, while Dall sheep in Mount McKinley are increasing about 20 percent annually Elsewhere, bighorns are not thriving. The population is stationary at Rocky Mountain, declining in Yellowstone, and apparently extinct in Zion and in Dinosaur National Monument.
Trumpeter swans in Yellowstone had a highly successful nesting season in 1949, the August census revealing 54 adults and 21 cygnets. Results this year will probably be somewhat less favorable.
Fishes and -fishing.—Though there is a tremendous amount of fishing throughout the National Park System, manpower has been generally inadequate to gather even the most elementary information on fishery resources and the drain due to angling. Many areas greatly need personnel to guide fishery and other wildlife programs.
Enlargement of Everglades National Park to include Florida Bay has paved the way to better protection of important fish resources, depleted by commercial overfishing to the detriment of fish-eating birds of exceptional interest. Anglers are finding better sport at Shenandoah under the new policy which prohibits stocking legal-size fish. Fishing pressure at Yellowstone has made necessary a catchlimit reduction to five a day. Total protection is given to grayling because of the alarming decrease in that species.
Axis deer for island of Hawaii opposed.—The proposal of the Territorial Board of Agriculture and Forestry to introduce axis deer on the island of Hawaii for the benefit of sportsmen created considerable apprehension in view of the experience there with other feral animals. So unanimous was the public protest that the Board reconsidered its decision and voted to defer action on the project.
PARK ACCOMMODATIONS
Secretary Chapman approves revision of concession policies.—The need of improvement and expansion of overnight accommodations and appurtenant facilities in many areas became evident immediately
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after wartime controls on travel were removed in 1945, and has become greater each year. Former Secretary Krug late in 1948 enunciated new concessions policies. It was hoped that with a definite statement of policy by the Secretary it would be possible to induce park concessioners to add to their facilities. However, funds for substantial capital investments proved unobtainable; concessioners insisted that the Secretary’s policy did not furnish either the security or the incentive necessary to encourage risk capital. This position was emphasized in hearings held by the House Committee on Public Lands.
On assuming office, Secretary Chapman undertook a restudy of the whole concession situation. A first result was his revision of the regulations governing labor conditions for concessioners’ employees, to place park concessioners on a par with their competitors outside the parks. He established a standard workweek of 48 hours, with time and a half for overtime, for all concessioners except those in States which require more favorable hours and wages for hotel employees.
The Secretary called for the recommendations of the National Park Service, on the basis of its experience in serving the public through concessions contracts, and approved the following principles governing concessions:
(a) Rates shall be approved primarily on the basis of charges for comparable services and in accordance with general custom for similar outside operations, with due regard to a reasonable profit, taking into account the difficulty and risk of the enterprise.
(5) A preferential opportunity will be granted existing concessioners to negotiate a new contract if they have rendered satisfactory service during the life of their expiring contracts.
(c) It will be the Department’s policy to cancel existing contracts prior to their expiration and grant new contracts to the same parties for an additional term (such additional term not to exceed the statutory term of 20 years) in order to attract investments in needed facilities.
(<7) An option to purchase the concessioner’s facilities may be exercised by the Secretary only at the end of the contract period or other termination of the contract; funds shall be available to the Department 12 months prior to the exercise of the option by the Government, and when the option has been exercised a valid contract between the parties shall exist.
(e) The present provisions of the form contract relating to the purchase of the facilities of an existing concessioner by a successor concessioner shall be continued in the form contract.
(/) The Government recognizes the concessioners’ right of possession in structures and facilities erected by them, and appropriate pro
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visions relating to this subject shall be incorporated in the form contract.
(£r) Except as otherwise provided by law, the National Park Service may procure new concessioners without the requirement of public advertising, in accordance with the provisions of existing law. A similar procedure may be followed also in the event it becomes necessary to replace an existing unsatisfactory concessioner.
(A) The requirement that the concessioner set aside 10 percent of the gross receipts from the rental of overnight facilities to be used to maintain and repair such facilities is eliminated, as well as the supplemental depreciation reserve provision.
Regarding the moot subject of franchise fees, Secretary Chapman stated:
As a general policy, it is my desire that franchise fees should be related to gross revenues rather than net profits. Accordingly, I would prefer some franchise-fee provision which would make a flat fee charge in the nature of a reasonable amount for ground rent, with the requirement that the concessioner would pay an additional franchise fee for the privilege of doing business in the parks, and for services and facilities furnished, based on gross revenues in excess of a stipulated amount, such stipulated amount to be the estimated “break-even” point. In some cases, however, it may be necessary for a franchise fee to be charged on some other basis, such as net profit. In such cases, the franchise fee and other related provisions to be incorporated in the contract will be for determination on the merits of the particular case and in the light of the circumstances then prevailing. Moreover, where advisable, a provision should be included in concession contracts, regardless of the type of franchise fee charged, which will permit either party to the contract to reopen the subject of franchise fees each 5 years for renegotiation.
We are encouraged to believe that under these policies the concessioners will feel that they are being given a fair chance to make a satisfactory return on their investment, and that the hazards of their business are definitely understood. We believe it possible now, in most cases, to negotiate new contracts with a promise of improvements and expansion where plainly justified by public demand.
Pending restudy of the concession policy and the decision of Secretary Chapman on the revisions recommended by the Service, all but two concession contracts expiring during the year were extended to December 31, 1950, with the expectation that new contracts will be entered into at that time. By then, contracts will be required for 17 concessioners.
New concessions established,.—Five new concessions have been established during the past year.
At Coulee Dam National Recreational Area, the Grand Coulee Navigation Co., composed of citizens of the locality, entered into a 20-year contract to furnish recreational facilities on Franklin D. Roosevelt Lake. As soon as the Government is able to install the necessary roads
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and utilities, this concessioner will establish facilities at the Old Fort Spokane and Kettle Falls areas.
The other new concessions cover an interesting variety of services. One provides for photographic service at Big Bend National Park, to include lecturing and field trips on photography. Another covers transporation from the mainland to Anacapa and other islands of Channel Islands National Monument, Calif., and boat rental, refreshments, and meals and lodging on a barge at Anacapa. Northern Consolidated Airlines, Inc., was given a contract to establish camps, lodges, and incidental facilities at two bases in Katmai National Monument, and to provide air and water transportation services. A new temporary refreshment concession was authorized on the South Rim at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument.
Rehabilitation and extension of facilities.—There has been steady progress in the rehabilitation of concessioners’ plants. While the principal accent has been on sanitation and safety, much has been done to provide improved accommodations. This has included such betterments as replacement of wood stoves with gas stoves, adding new mattresses and springs, and adding running water and, in some cases, baths.
The automatic sprinkler system and much of the rehabilitation at Lake Hotel in Yellowstone have been completed. The entire hotel, including kitchen and dining room, is expected to be ready for occupancy at the beginning of the 1951 season. An automatic sprinkler system is also being installed in the hotel at Oregon Caves National Monument.
To provide expanded overnight accommodations in Yellowstone as early as possible, it has been decided to delay development at West Thumb and instead to build additional cabins at Fishing Bridge Tourist Camp and Lake Lodge and cottages at Lake Hotel. At the present level of appropriations, it would take 2 or 3 years for the National Park Service to provide utility systems and construct roads, paths, and parking areas at West Thumb. The concessioner would also have to build costly central lodge buildings before any cabins could be used. For the same expenditure, a greater number of lodging units can be provided earlier at existing camps, lodges, and hotels. Of the 266 additional cabin rooms which the Yellowstone Park Co. has programed for the next 2 years, the major portion is scheduled for completion before the 1951 tourist season.
In Yosemite National Park, a new multiple-room unit to provide lodging for 84 persons is nearing completion as a part of the new Yosemite Lodge development. Other units are expected to follow as the Yosemite Park & Curry Co. is able to finance them.
The Virginia Sky-Line Co. expects to have the new kitchen and dining room at Skyland, in Shenandoah National Park, ready for opera
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tion by the beginning of the 1951 season. The Service has completed the road and parking area for it and is well advanced in providing-utility connections.
On the Blue Ridge Parkway, at Doughton Park, N. C., new 24-umt lodging structures were completed and in use last summer. Rough-It housekeeping cabins to accommodate about 32 persons were completed near Rocky Knob, in Virginia.
In Everglades National Park, on Coot Bay, the Service has installed temporary facilities for meals, refreshments, toilets, gasoline sei vice, and boat rentals, which are to be operated by National Park Concessions, Inc. Permanent accommodations will not be provided until the land-acquisition program is further advanced.
New employee dormitory structures have been completed by Degnan’s, the store concessioner, in the New Village at Yosemite National Park, and by the Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Park Co. at Camp Kaweah.
Ski facilities were installed by the Service on a temporary basis at Cayuse Pass, Mount Rainier National Park, last fall in the hope that a solution might be found for the problem of winter use of this park. Snowfall was exceptionally heavy last winter, complicating the problem of access, and the venture was not considered successful. Meanwhile, because winter operation of overnight facilities in the park has so consistently entailed serious losses for the Rainier National Park Co., it has been authorized to close down all its facilities during the coming winter.
The demand for overnight facilities in this park is great, and a considerable part of the present plant has long outlived its usefulness. The problem of replacement must be faced soon.
Plans for development at Hurricane Ridge, in Olympic National Park, include a lodge and a ranger station, both to be constructed by the Service. The lodge is designed in two units. One of these is to be for general public use; the other will be for overnight accommodations. Invitations to bid on the construction of the public service unit of the lodge had been advertised before the end of the fiscal year; no bids were received, however. The first section of the Hurricane Ridge Road is now under construction.
Isle Royale presents puzzling problem.—Isle Royale continues to present the problem of how to obtain satisfactory transportation from the mainland without increased accommodations in the park, and how to finance additional accommodations without reliable and safe transportation. Formerly, many visitors reached the island by one of the large lake excursion steamers or were brought in from Port Arthur, Ontario, by a Canadian boat. Neither service is available this year. Visitors are compelled to depend on two small boats, so small that
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many consider them unsafe, operating out of Copper Harbor, Mich., and Grand Marais, Minn.
Concession audits.—With the establishment of the new Audit Division and the employment of 25 temporary auditors, the past year has, for the first time, brought a decrease in the backlog of unaudited annual reports of concessioners. Beginning January 1, 1950, with 665 annual reports on hand for audit, 265 were audited before June 30. Meantime, 170 additional reports were received. Because the staff will have to be greatly reduced during the 1951 fiscal year, it will probably be unable to continue this gain on the heavy backlog of 570 unaudited reports on hand at the end of the year.
THE LAND PROGRAM
At the beginning of the fiscal year, the in-holdings in the national park system, excluding Everglades National Park, were estimated at 600,000 acres. During the year, by various means, this total was reduced by 64,903 acres. However, there is no possibility that this rate of progress can be maintained, since it cannot be expected that the large donations and extensive exchanges of the past year will be duplicated in the future.
Donations.—Land donations during the year aggregated 34,718 acres. The largest of these, of course, was that of lands in Jackson Hole National Monument and Grand Teton National Park, given by Jackson Hole Preserve, Inc., a corporation financed by John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Reference is made elsewhere to this magnificent gift. Mr. Rockefeller and others also donated 235.94 acres of land in Acadia National Park.
Other gifts included the Gen. Philip Schuyler Mansion, donated by George S. Lowber and others, for addition to Saratoga National Historical Park; 24.18 acres for the DeSoto National Memorial; and 1,000 acres, given by the State of Iowa for establishment of Effigy Mounds National Monument. The State of Virginia contributed $17,000 toward the purchase of the Stone House property at Manassas National Battlefield Park. The State of Louisiana purchased and presented to the Federal Government 36.36 acres of land, an important portion of the Battlefield of New Orleans, for addition to Chalmette National Historical Park.
Purchases.—The purchase of 1,907 acres of land in eight national parks and monuments was completed at a cost of $196,000. Included was a section of land in Glacier National Park, purchased from the State of Montana. At the time agreement was reached on the purchase price of this parcel, a tentative agreement on a program for acquisition of the remaining State holdings, including some of the finest yellow pine timber in the park, was reached with the State Board of Land
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Commissioners. The Service is greatly encouraged by the cooperative attitude of Governor Bonner and the board in the effort to reach a solution of this situation.
Transfers— Additions of lands, by transfer from other Federal agencies, totaled 45,080 acres. The outstanding transfer was that of 44,170 acres from the Tennessee Valley Authority for addition to Great Smoky Mountains National Park.
Everglades National Park.—On February 22,1950, Secretary Chapman enlarged Everglades National Park from approximately 460,000 acres to 1,228,500 acres, including waters and submerged lands. Approximately 128,000 acres of privately owned land within the enlarged park are still to be acquired with the balance remaining from the $2,000,000 donated by the State of Florida for the purpose. Approximately $600,000 has been expended for 231,000 acres.
Last October Congress authorized the use of donated funds in condemnation of lands for the park, and a condemnation proceeding has been filed to obtain the remaining lands. However, numerous small parcels are being acquired through negotiation.
Two estates deeded to Blue Ridge Parkwag.—Some 7,642 acres, in two estates in North Carolina, were proffered to the United States during the past year for addition to the Blue Ridge Parkway. These were the Moses H. Cone Memorial Park, in Watauga County, 3,500 acres, being donated by the Moses H. Cone Memorial Hospital, Greensboro, N. C., and the Julian H. Price Memorial Park, near Blowing Rock, 4,132 acres, being given by the Jefferson Standard Life Insurance Co. Both are to be formally designated as soon as the Attorney General approves title to the lands. These estates will add greatly to the recreational usefulness of the parkway, which traverses them.
Exchanges.—Thanks to splendid Bureau of Land Management and landowner cooperation, exchanges for unreserved public domain under the Taylor Grazing Act reduced inholdings in four western national monuments by 28,253 acres. Other exchanges, involving many thousands of acres, are being negotiated.
Abolishment of areas.—The former Father Millet Cross National Monument has been conveyed to the State of New York to become a part of the Fort Niagara State Park, as provided by an act of Congress approved September 7,1949.
The Department of the Interior has recommended, and the Department of Agriculture and the Congressional Representatives from the districts concerned have concurred in, the proposal to abolish Wheeler and Holy Cross National Monuments, in Colorado. Both are considered lacking in the significance that would justify retaining them in the National Park System. Legislation authorizing their abolishment and transfer of the lands back to the Forest Service was pending at the end of the year.
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Progress on authorized projects.—Two new areas were added to the national park system during the year. These were the De Soto National Memorial, Fla., on August 5, 1949, and the Effigy Mounds National Monument, Iowa, on October 25, 1949. At the end of the year, establishment of Castle Clinton National Monument, in New York City, awaited only the formal approval of title from the city by the Attorney General.
With the revival of interest in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore project, Governor Kerr Scott of North Carolina reactivated the Cape Hatteras Seashore Commission last January, under the chairmanship of George Boss, director of the North Carolina Department of Conservation and Development. Governor Patteson of West Virginia also announced that he planned to appoint a committee to arrange for acquisition of the West Virginia lands to be included in the authorized Harpers Ferry National Monument.
Negotiations with the Department of the Army for the additional lands needed for establishment of Fort Vancouver National Monument, in Washington, appear to be reaching a mutually satisfactory conclusion.
Moccasin Bend.—Lands lying within the Moccasin Bend of the Tennessee River, important terrain in the Civil War campaign around Chattanooga, will be added to Chickamauga and Chattanooga National Military Park, if plans involving participation in the purchase by the State of Tennessee, Hamilton County, the city of Chattanooga, and private donors are successful. City and county would each contribute $50,000, the State $100,000, and private donors the balance of the approximate $250,000 cost. Congressional approval of addition of the lands to the park will be required.
PROTECTION OF FORESTS
Fire prevention and control.—Last year’s fire record was characterized by abnormally severe lightning occurrence, a comparatively large total area burned, and the largest total cost of fire suppression. However, the forest area burned over was much below average as was the total number of man-caused fires. There were 399 fires which started inside or entered areas of the National Park System during the year: 89 percent were held to less than 10 acres. Lightning caused 177 fires. The area burned over consisted of 3,530 acres of forest, 4,054 acres of brush, and 20,497 acres of grass.
Eight fires covered more than 300 acres each. The largest was a 17,000-acre incendiary grass fire in Lava Beds National Monument. Another grass and brush fire, entering the same area from the outside, burned over 2,800 acres. Everglades National Park, which is pioneering protection from fire in that portion of southern Florida and still
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inadequately staffed, had three relatively large fires. Lightning fires in remote sections of Sequoia and Yellowstone National Parks and a large smoker fire in the latter park were responsible for most of the high costs of suppression. The Yellowstone fires occurred when all protection agencies in the Northern Rockies were busy controlling numerous blazes.
The fire records of the Service for the past two decades were critically analyzed in an attempt to discover means for reducing the number, size, and cost, or otherwise to improve future action on fires. The analysis clearly indicated some of the major weaknesses to be the thinness with which staffs are spread for protection of large, rugged and inaccessible areas; the great diversity of activities and responsibilities, in addition to fire control, which must be carried by key personnel; the unsatisfactory communications; the inaccuracy of many existing area maps; and insufficient use of aerial detection and attack on fires in remote areas.
Protection from insect epidemics.—The serious epidemic of the mountain pine bettie which, for several years, has taken a heavy toll of the lodgepole pine forests of the Teton and Targhee National Forests, Grand Teton National Park, and Jackson Hole National Monument continues to threaten the forests of those areas and the 1,350,000 acres of lodgepole in Yellowstone National Park. Intensive control efforts have been continued cooperatively by the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, Forest Service, and National Park Service, but the delay in providing appropriations in 1949 prevented completing the contemplated program. Some additional work was possible during the fall of 1949, and the program is being intensively carried on this year. Additional work will be needed during the 1951 fiscal year to bring this infestation under control.
Adjacent to Rocky Mountain National Park forest insects are causing serious damage. The spruce bark beetle which has ravaged much western Colorado forest is an imminent threat to the fine spruce forests of the park. On the east side of the continental divide the Douglas-fir in and adjoining the park is heavily infested by the Douglas-fir bark beetle.
The pine bark-beetle infestation in Great Smoky Mountains National Park has apparently been effectively controlled. In other parks and monuments the customary maintenance control work has been effective in keeping incipient infestations from developing into serious epidemics.
"White pine blister rust control.—Satisfactory progress was made during the 1950 fiscal year by park organizations, with excellent cooperation from the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, on control work to protect white pine forests from blister rust in 11
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National Park System areas. Through the use of chemicals and hand eradication a total of 3,105,400 ribes were destroyed on 19,504 acres.
Approximately 47 percent of those portions of the 13 areas in which control is being accomplished is now on a maintenance basis. Initial eradication of ribes has been completed in Lassen Volcanic, Acadia, Glacier, Great Smoky Mountains, and Mount Rainier Nat-tional Parks and on the Blue Ridge Parkway.
A very comprehensive reappraisal of blister-rust-control projects in the California parks was made by personnel of the Pacific coast regional office of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine in cooperation with park foresters. Resulting from this appraisal, 58,700 acres were deleted from the control area in Sequoia National Park, and 39,093 acres from that in Yosemite National Park, because the expected cost of attaining control was higher than the values would justify.	...	•	„ ,	-r->
Forest clean-up and rehabilitation at Acadia National Park.—Rehabilitation and clean-up of burned-over areas caused by the disastrous forest fire that swept over portions of Acadia National Park in 1947 continued during the 1950 fiscal year. Since the initiation of the project early in 1948, approximately 7% million board feet of fire-killed timber and 275 cords of pulpwood have been removed from 2,730 acres of park lands. In addition, approximately 2,100 acres have received burned-areas treatment and 50 miles of trails have been cleared of fire-killed debris.
Originally it was thought that considerable forest planting would be required in order to restore vegetation to the burned-over areas. However, nature is providing a vegetative cover, and generally the burned areas are restocking to the same species as were destroyed by the fire.
JACKSON HOLE AND GRAND TETON
An example of extraordinary public service, and an aid to settling the long controversy over Jackson Hole National Monument, was the gift by John D. Rockefeller, Jr., to the people of the United States on December 16, 1949, of 33,562 acres of land in Grand Teton National Park and Jackson Hole National Monumuent. The presentation was made by Laurance S. Rockefeller, president of Jackson Hole Preserve, Inc., and was accepted in a brief but impressive ceremony by Secretary Chapman.
The lands transferred were acquired by Mr. Rockefeller over a period of a quarter of a century with the intention of ultimately placing them under the National Park Service so that they might be protected and made available for public use and enjoyment. This generous
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undertaking, representing an investment of more than $2,000,000, is but one of many related to the national parks for which the American people have reason to be grateful to Mr. Rockefeller.
Senator O’Mahoney, of Wyoming, chairman of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, having expressed to the President his warm approval of the gift of the Jackson Hole Preserve lands, immediately set about the task of resolving the remaining obstacles to settlement of the Jackson Hole controversy. His interest, and that of Senator Hunt and Representative Barrett, is specifically represented in a bill, S. 3409, of which the major provisions are :
(a) Enlargement of Grand Teton National Park to include all but approximately 9,000 acres of the Jackson Hole National Monument.
(&) Transfer of 6,376 acres of land now in the monument to the adjoining National Elk Refuge, and 2,806 acres to Teton National Forest.
(c) Confirmation of existing privileges with respect to rights-of-way and stock driveways and of the status quo of existing leases, permits, and licenses.
(tZ) Full reimbursement to Teton County for loss of taxes occasioned by transfer of privately owned lands to the Federal Government for a period of 5 years after such transfer, with progressive decreases of 5 percent from the original amount for 20 years thereafter.
Of the last of its provisions, covered by section 6 of the bill, Secretary Chapman, in his report to Senator O’Mahoney as chairman of the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs, stated that that section represents what may prove to be the best solution that can be reached concerning the necessary control of the Jackson Hole elk herd. This section provides, in effect, for joint Federal and State agreement as to the necessity for controlled reduction of elk within the park area. It also provides for the deputizing as Federal rangers of such hunters as may be necessary to reduce the number of elk within the area. I wish to emphasize that not only is any form of hunting contrary to the basic national park concept, as well as the statutes enacted by the Congress for administration of the National Park System, but that this Department would much prefer to have an elk herd controlled by some other method if a feasible solution could be found.
There is another point regarding section 6 * * * which might give people some concern. The way the bill now reads would indicate that it is the intent that the entire Jackson Hole elk herd would be under the joint jurisdiction of the Wyoming Game and Fish Commission and the National Park Service. I know that is not the intent and, therefore, feel that some change should be made in order to clarify this point.
COOPERATIVE ACTIVITIES
C o op eration with the States.—Nearly half of the States were given requested assistance by the Service during the year. In five States Service representatives participated in in-service training institutes
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for their State park personnel. Review of master and lay-out plans, site surveys, help in preparation of park manuals, and preparation of a prospectus for a capital improvement program are some of the other types of assistance rendered.
Working under a joint agreement between the Department and the Governor of North Dakota, the Service is cooperating with that State in completing the International Peace Garden State Park for which Congress appropriated $25,000 of a total authorization of $100,000.
Real property disposal.—The National Park Service has continued its cooperation with the General Services Administration and other agencies by investigating applications for surplus properties desired by State and local governments for park, recreational area, and historic monument purposes and formulating recommendations as to disposal, in accordance with the requirements of Public Law 616, Eightieth Congress. Action was completed on applications for 39 separate properties, purchased by the United States for more than $7,000,000. Angel Island (Fort McDowell) in San Francisco Bay, valued at approximately $750,000, was one of the larger properties requested by local authorities for multi-purpose use. Florida has requested the transfer of the St. Joseph’s Bay Military Reservation of approximately 3,600 acres.
Reservoir development and management program.—The joint program of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Service for the development and management of reservoir recreational resources was implemented by the 1950 Interior Appropriation Act. This authorized the transfer of a maximum of $25,000 per reservoir from the Bureau to the Service for the preparation of recreational development plans, and provided $162,150 for development at Medicine Creek and Enders Reservoirs in Nebraska and Angostura Reservoir in South Dakota.
Using detailed plans prepared by the Service, the Bureau proceeded with developments at the two Nebraska reservoirs and is negotiating with the United States Forest Service on details of the Angostura development program. An agreement, now awaiting the Secretary’s approval, was worked out with the State of Nebraska for the management of all reservoir areas in that State.
Alaska recreational resources survey.—Field reconnaissance, launching an investigation of Alaska’s scenic, scientific, historical, and recreational resources, was begun by the Service in May in order to develop a long-range plan for parks and recreation and to augment the development of the Territory’s tourist facilities. An appropriation of $10,000 was available for the work. It is expected that additional funds will be appropriated for 1951. Several years will be required to complete the survey.
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River basin studies.—Cooperation was maintained with the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers in appraising recreational values and planning recreational use of their reservoirs. Investigation and appraisal of paleontological and archeological materials by the Smithsonian Institution under an interbureau agreement is a part of this program.
In 5 years, 379 sites have been investigated and reported on; however, basin-wide surveys, directed toward proper provision for recreation as an important element in river-basin planning, are vitally needed. A start in this direction has been made in the Rogue River Basin in Oregon. The Service’s report on the recreational aspects of this Basin, with recommendations for protecting scenic and other recreational values, was submitted to the Pacific Northwest Field Committee in November 1949. Its report, A Survey of the Recreational Resources of the Colorado River Basin, based on studies begun in 1941, has been published.
PUBLICATIONS
Public demand for the informational publications of the National Park Service has increased in proportion to the increase in visitors; and the issuance of such material must of necessity have first priority on such funds as are available for printing. During the past year, requisitions were issued for 6,239,000 pieces of this literature, which is distributed without charge to visitors and to others who request it.
The year also saw the issuance of the first three of a new series of historical handbooks, dealing with Custer Battlefield National Monument, The Lincoln Museum and The House Where Lincoln Died, and Jamestown. This series, replacing the former series of 16-page brochures dealing with historic and prehistoric areas, makes use of well-designed covers in color and of ample illustration.
Other new sales publications include Franklin D. Roosevelt at Hyde Park, by Mrs. Eleanor Roosevelt; Dinosaur National Monument, Past and Present, by William Lee Stokes, of the Geological Survey and the University of Utah; and Artillery Through the Ages, by Albert C. Manucy. The last of these, illustrated by the author, has attained considerable popularity among military men. The Recreational Areas of the United States, a map produced during the 1949 fiscal year by the former United States Travel Division of the National Park Service, was also placed on sale through the Superintendent of Documents.
Natural history associations and similar cooperating organizations continued to supplement the Service’s program with a variety of publications dealing with natural history, history and archeology. During the calendar year 1949, some 15 items were produced; 8 of these were new; 7 were reprints or revisions of previously issued items.
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PERSONNEL
Park ranger examination.—Important both, as to numbers affected and the improvement of morale, was the park ranger examination held on a Nation-wide basis last August. The first such examination given since 1937, it produced an eligible register of 325 names. Included were 104 of the 128 incumbents of permanent park ranger positions who had been appointed during and after the war with the proviso that they would be separated if they did not establish sufficiently high grades in the first appropriate postwar examination. All incumbents who were on the register have now been given permanent appointments. The removal of uncertainty as to tenure undoubtedly held in the career service many promising young men who might otherwise have left it.
In-service training.—The first series of in-service training courses since the war, aimed specifically at identifying and developing selected employees for more responsible administrative posts, was completed during the year. One course has been given in each region, the last having been in the Region 4 Office, San Francisco, last March.
Approximately 25 employees below grade 9 are carefully selected in each region for these courses. Assembled in the regional office, this group receives 10 days of intensive instruction in all phases of Service policy and administration. Instructors have included the Director, the Department’s Director of Personnel, representatives of the FBI and the Bureau of the Budget, and other administrative and technical experts within the Service. The process has been most successful in identifying and evaluating administrative talent.
SAFETY
Administering many areas which, because of their rugged terrain or their thermal features, invite accidents to the careless or the unwary, the National Park Service is acutely conscious of its responsibility to promote safe public use and to devise and install facilities, within reason, calculated to reduce the chances of injury or death. In addition, its field personnel are continuously schooled both in accident prevention and in rescue work. In the latter connection, it is worth noting that there were no fatalities among Service personnel during the year, in spite of the fact that they were called on to perform a number of hazardous rescues.
During the calendar year 1949, there were 44 fatalities among visitors. The causes, and the number of fatalities from each, were as follows:
Motor vehicles, 18; drowning, 13; falls (mountain climbing), 7; electrocution, 1; skiing, 1; scalding (thermal areas), 2; and unknown,
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2. The number of visitor-accident fatalities during the first 6 months of 1950 totaled 11, compared with 17 during the same period of 1949.
The first use of a helicopter for rescue work in Yosemite National Park was in the most unusual rescue, last July, of Terrence Hallinan, 12 years old. Thrown from a horse near Benson Lake, the boy suffered a severe brain concussion and could not be moved out safely in any other way.
WASHINGTON OFFICE REORGANIZED
The establishment of an additional Assistant Director position and three new divisions, and the reallocation of general supervision, on behalf of the Director, of the work of all divisions to the Associate Director and two Assistant Directors were the most important features of a reorganization of the Washington office, which was made effective during the past year. Conrad L. Wirth, who had headed the Land and Recreational Planning Division, is the new Assistant Director. An Audit Division was established to handle audits both of concession accounts and reports and of the Service’s field accounting offices. James B. Robinson, former Assistant Chief of Public Services, was made Chief of the Audit Division. A Land Planning Division and a Recreational Planning Division were established out of the Land and Recreational Planning Division. Charles A. Richey, who had been Assistant Chief of that Division, became Chief of Land Planning, and Special Assistant to the Director Ben H. Thompson was transferred to the position of Chief of Recreational Planning.
General supervision of the Planning and Construction, Land Planning, Public Services, and Safety Divisions was assigned to Associate Director Demaray; of the Forestry, Legal, Audit, Fiscal, Personnel, and General Services Divisions to Assistant Director Tolson; and of the History, Information, Natural History, and Recreational Planning Divisions to Assistant Director Wirth.
THE PARKS OF THE NATIONAL CAPITAL
The parks of the National Capital, including a considerable acreage lying outside of the District of Columbia, comprise one unit of the National Park System. The office of National Capital Parks also administers several additional units of the System such as the Lincoln Memorial, Washington Monument, Lee Mansion, and Thomas Jefferson National Memorial.
Events of the past year worthy of mention include the transfer of the Suitland Parkway to National Capital Parks jurisdiction; the virtual completion of the Rock Creek Park Amphitheatre, seating 4,000, in connection with the Washington Sesquicentennial; an ex
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tensive program of improvements at Great Falls on the Chesapeake & Ohio Canal; the renovation of the Washington tourist camp in East Potomac Park; the casting of sculptures, through the generosity of the Italian Government, for the Memorial Bridge across the Potomac; and the erection and unveiling of the Artigas statue, facing Constitution Avenue at Eighteenth Street.
All swimming pools operated by the office of National Capital Parks were opened for the season on a completely unsegregated basis and have so operated without incident.
NOTES FROM WASHINGTON AND THE FIELD
1950 eruption of Mauna Loa.—On June 1,1950, exactly a year after its 1949 eruption ceased, Mauna Loa Volcano, in Hawaii National Park, resumed eruptive activity. This had ceased again on or about June 22. In terms of lava produced, this most recent eruption may prove to be the largest in historic times. At the end of June, the North Kona section of the island remained isolated from South Kona by the third or south flow, still too hot for road crews to cut through or over it. The other two flows which crossed the main belt road had cooled enough to permit rough roads to be bulldozed through them.
Ease of access to the flow£ permitted thousands of persons to see the molten lava course its way down Mauna Loa’s flanks and pour into the sea.
Of related interest is the fact that the seismograph at headquarters in Lassen Volcanic National Park during a 3-week period in March and April recorded more than 10,000 earthquake shocks, the area of disturbance being around the peak itself. At least 8 percent of the shocks were of sufficient intensity to be felt.
The challenge of the mountains.—Rocky Mountain National Park continues to register the largest number of mountain climbers. Longs Peak was climbed by 1,416 persons, of whom 74 went up the difficult East Face. Experienced mountaineers continue to gravitate to Grand Teton, which attracted climbers from 39 States and 9 foreign countries. There, 846 persons, in 252 different parties, registered for attempts at scaling one or more of the 10 major peaks, a considerable increase over the preceding year. At Mount Rainier, 57 percent of those who registered for the summit climb were successful. Twenty individuals, in three parties, reached the top of Devils Tower. Winter ascents at Grand Teton, Rocky Mountain, and Lassen Volcanic increased considerably.
In general, mountaineers have accepted the regulations covering ascents of major and difficult peaks, and few exceptions are taken to the registration and equipment inspection requirements. Not a single fatality was reported among the thousands who made regular ap
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proved ascents of major peaks. However, there were three fatalities among unregistered climbers at Yosemite, and two among hikers. Six climbers sliding on snow banks were injured at Rocky Mountain. Seven men who had been cautioned not to attempt the Mount Rainier climb because of insufficient experience and equipment were apprehended and fined for undertaking the climb without permission.
Last October two young men became separated and lost from their Colorado A & M Hikers Club party in Rocky Mountain and have not been found.
Centennial observances at Death Valley.—Attracted by a pageant depicting the Death Valley crossing by the emigrant parties of 1849, and the saving of the Bennett-Arcane party, an estimated 65,000 persons entered Death Valley National Monument on December 3, though only about 35,000 were able to reach the pageant scene on time. Held in Desolation Canyon, the pageant was featured by the 36-piece Hollywood Bowl Orchestra, the 100-voice Redlands Choral Group, and the first performance of “Death Valley Suite,” written and conducted by Ferde Grofe for the occasion. The event was sponsored by the Death Valley 49ers, Inc., a volunteer organization composed of the supervisors of Inyo, Kern, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles Counties, the Automobile Club of Southern California, several prominent historians, and other interested citizens.
As part of the California Centennial observance, three historic landmark plaques, furnished by the State, were dedicated at appropriate locations in the monument.
Advisory Board chooses new officers.—With the resignation of Dr. Waldo G. Leland from the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments, after 4 years of extraordinarily effective service as its chairman, Charles G. Sauers, superintendent of the Cook County (Hl.) Forest Preserve, was elected to succeed him at a meeting of the Board in April. Dr. Theodore G. Blegen, dean of the Graduate School at the University of Minnesota, was chosen to succeed Mr. Sauers as vice chairman. Dr. Frank M. Setzler, head curator of anthropology, United States National Museum, was reelected secretary.
A second vacancy in the membership of the Board was created by the resignation of Mrs. Reau Folk, Nashville, Tenn., former regent of the Ladies Hermitage Association. At the year’s end, neither vacancy had been filled. Dr. Leland will continue his distinguished service as a collaborator of the National Park Service.
Glacier National Park economic survey.—The Bureau of Business and Economic Research of the University of Montana acted as consultant on a pilot survey of Glacier National Park visitation during the summer of 1949, to determine the economic value of Glacier
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National Park to the State. Of particular interest is the fact that 75 percent of all the parties surveyed stated that they came to Montana primarily to see Glacier National Park.
Fort Sumter explored for live ammunition.—The Service cooperated with the War Trophy Safety Committee in a public demonstration of mine detection to uncover still unexploded Civil War ammunition at Fort Sumter National Monument on August 20, 1949. High officials of the armed services, the Treasury Department, and the National Rifle Association participated in the demonstration, which included the detonation, under the direction of a Navy expert, of Civil War shells found on the area. It was designed primarily to focus public attention on the desirability of having live ammunition war trophies deactivated.
Travel records again broken.—Travel to all areas administered by the National Park Service, during the travel year, October 1,1948, to September 30,1949, with a total of 31,864,180, exceeded that recorded for the previous year by more than 2,000,000. For the succeeding 9 months, the total was 16,433,044, an increase of 1,762,023 over the same 1948-49 period. Excluded from this comparison is the count of 1,980,876 visitors at Lake Texoma, since that area reverted to Corps of Engineers administration on July 1, 1949.
Revenues.—The National Park Service total receipts from revenues during the 1950 fiscal year again set a new record. They were $3,527,-606, a gain of $60,000 over 1949. Income from fees collected from visitors was $2,946,202.
United States Travel Division ceases operation.—Reestablished at the beginning of the 1948 fiscal year, the United States Travel Division was compelled to discontinue its operations on October 1, 1949, since the 1950 appropriation act contained no funds for it. Under the direction of J. Lee Bossemeyer, who had been connected with the prewar United States Travel Bureau, the Division had established an enviable reputation for cooperation and usefulness among both public and private travel agencies. Its monthly publication, Travel U. S. A., was in great demand, as were the other excellent publications which it had produced in its brief career.
Airport legislation.—Thanks chiefly to the cooperation extended by the Civil Aeronautics Administration, the Department was successful in obtaining legislation which granted it the authority to participate with other agencies in the development of airports, outside of the national parks, to serve these areas. One of its important results should be to relieve the pressure for the establishment of landing facilities within the boundaries of national park areas, to which, as a general principle, the Service is opposed.
First on the list of locations where adequate facilities are required is West Yellowstone, where existing facilities have proved so unsatis
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factory that scheduled air service is no longer provided there. The planned new airport will be outside of Yellowstone National Park.
Paradise Valley Road left uncleared of snow.—With accommodation at Paradise Valley closed during the winter, and skiing activities moved to the other side of the mountain, the road to Paradise Valley, Mount Rainier National Park, went uncleared last winter for the first time since the war. There were extraordinarily heavy snowfalls— 102 inches in December and 151.5 inches in January at Longmire; these, combined with a cold spring and late snows, made the task of clearing the road for summer operations unusually difficult.
Jurisdiction suit decided.—Exclusive jurisdiction, ceded to the Federal Government by the State of California, applies to privately owned lands within Kings Canyon National Park, United States District Judge William C. Mathes concluded, in a decision rendered on June 22,1950, in a suit brought by the United States against Harry T. Peterson. Peterson had been refused a Federal permit to sell liquor on private property in the Wilsonia subdivision, in the General Grant Grove section of the park, but had sold under a State license.
Judge Mathes refused to enjoin Peterson from continuing the sale of liquor. He stated that “criminal sanctions are provided for violation of National Park Service regulations.” The State of California, which intervened in behalf of the defendant, is expected to appeal the decision on jurisdiction.
Bureau of Indian Affairs
Dillon S. Myer, Commissioner ☆ ☆ ☆
RESERVATION DEVELOPMENT
ONE OF THE PROGRESSIVE STEPS in Indian affairs taken last year by the Congress was enactment of the long-range Navajo rehabilitation bill; and appropriation requests to carry out the first year of the program are included in the budget for the fiscal year 1951, amounting to approximately $14,000,000 in cash and $6,000,000 in contract authorizations. The next large rehabilitation bill being considered is the $23,000,000 program for the 7,000 Indians living on the Papago Reservation in southern Arizona. As in the case of the Navajo, this program calls for roads, irrigation and stock-water development, soil and moisture conservation, construction of educational and health facilities, and relocation projects.
Another significant development during the year was recognition by many tribes of the necessity for programing their economic and social needs. In the Southwest, for example, as a result of the passage of the Navajo-Hopi rehabilitation bill, the Apaches, Pimas, Hualapais, and other tribes evaluated the resources of land and water available to them in relation to their growing populations dependent upon these resources.
The results of these analyses were not encouraging. The San Carlos Apaches, for instance, found that their principal resource, about 1,628,000 acres of range land subjected to the hazards of recurring drought and grasshopper infestations, could not safely support the present estimated grazing capacity of nearly 28,000 cow units. Recognition of this fact induced the San Carlos Apaches to give intensive attention to the formulation of plans and programs for the future of the tribe.
The White Mountain Apaches are in about the same position. Their number is increasing, and the pressure on the available range is mounting. Even though the White Mountain Apache tribal forest is certain to produce an annual safe sustained-yield cut of 28,000,000 board feet, the revenue from this forest goes to the tribe in the form of stumpage, and the individual benefits only by the employment opportunities created in the logging camps and sawmills. Here, also, a beginning is being made in considering the future of the tribe in the light of its available resources.
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On the Hualapai Reservation in northern Arizona, a 10-year drought has compelled a reduction of the tribe’s principal asset, cattle, from 7,400 head to 2,500 head. Even this small number necessitates constant hauling of water to the animals to keep them alive.
On the Colorado River Reservation, extension of the irrigation distribution system, subjugation and seeding of the newly irrigated land, and its colonization by Navajos and Hopis proceeded at a lively pace. On June 30, 1950, there were 174 Navajo and Hopi families operating 40 very productive acres per family in alfalfa. On the northern reserve more than 7,600 acres has been similarly subjugated and seeded for the benefit of the Mohaves and Chemehuevis.
The year was one of progress in planning for resources use as the tribes of the Southwest prepared themselves increasingly to participate in the economic and social life of their communities and the State and Nation.
On August 13, 1949, President Truman signed a bill providing for consolidation of Pueblo Indian land units for grazing purposes through exchanges with non-Indians. The act vested in the Pueblos title to the submarginal lands purchased in the thirties for their use. Over 609,713 acres of Indian-used land were thus put into more effective use and more efficient administration.
During the year congressional authorization was obtained for a joint county-Indian hospital to be built in Albuquerque, Bernalillo County, N. Mex., under Federal-county contract and to be used by both Indians and non-Indians. This hospital is to replace the present obsolete one in Albuquerque, with provision for an increase in Indian beds and a greater variety of medical services to the Indians. The All-Pueblo Council, by resolution, formally approved this forward step for cooperation with non-Indians.
On December 5,1949, Laguna Pueblo adopted its new constitution— drafted without agency participation. Isleta Pueblo, during the year, found agreement for new court procedures, new distinctions between administrative and criminal law, and extended police responsibilities. The Pueblo governor himself arranged for the Federal Bureau of Investigation to give Pueblo police instructions in the law and in their powers.
San Ildefonso Pueblo, after 3 years of discussion about previous compromise agreements as to Pueblo government, found its own new working basis for agreement between the two disputing factions. While that Pueblo still has many details of its business operation to iron out, there is a greater basis of common understanding about that Pueblo’s political procedures than has been true since the early 1930’s, when the factional split resulted in unilateral action first by one faction and then the other.
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United Pueblos Agency, acting to make certain that Indian water rights would be protected, was able not only to achieve its purpose but helped the Atomic Energy Commission at Los Alamos to find more economic sources of water supply than at first seemed likely to be found.
Various pueblos contributed substantially to repair and maintenance of their water-supply facilities. The Mescalero Apaches made possible the continuance of managerial program for their cattle herds by offering to contribute, if necessary, to deficient funds.
Pueblo Indians from as far as Isleta and Zuni, together with Nava-jos and Hopis, answered the Bureau of Land Management call to fight a series of the most critical forest fires New Mexico has ever known.
Land-leasing activities in the pueblos increased through the year, covering a wide range of business projects, ranging from sand and gravel permits to a drive-in theater which the Indians of Tesuque Pueblo may one day, under their contract, themselves be managing.
The era of stock reduction and the sudden upsets in Navajo economy, occasioned both by the conservation measures and the war, left in their wake a distrust of Government on the part of the Navajo people.. At the beginning of the past fiscal year, one of the first problems was that of reestablishing the confidence of the Navajo people in the Government. The degree to which that was done in a period of 12 months is a major accomplishment, and one that has already born fruit in terms of real progress.
As early as the November 1949 tribal council meeting, it was evident that the Navajo people had decided to give the new organization a fair trial. They accepted proposed modified procedures presented as a means for expediting tribal business, and attacked the long-standing impasse between Indian traders and the council in connection with revision of trading regulations. The leaders and the people even took the initial steps in the matter of giving constructive consideration to the issue represented by the necessity for revising the grazing regulations on the reservation.
The advisory committee of the Navajo Tribal Council, functioning as a credit committee, last year granted a total of $203,620.76 in individual loans to Navajos. Loans ranged from less than $100 to sums in excess of $1,000, and were used for such purposes as education, the purchase of seed, machinery, and livestock, refinancing and establishing trading posts, restaurants, and other businesses, and for making various improvements. In all, operating on a capital of $295,-977.28, the revolving-credit fund has made it possible for some 268 individuals to establish themselves in business, or otherwise better themselves economically. Responsibility for making sound loans has
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rested largely on the shoulders of the advisory committee of the Navajo Tribal Council, and at the close of the 1950 fiscal year $27,-180.11 had been repaid. This is a real start in the problem of developing practical substitutes for the old livestock economy, as well as a valuable exercise in economic responsibility.
Development of the latent physical resources of the Indians throughout the country is being hastened. Indian land is being brought under irrigation to protect their water rights, as well as to increase yields and convert large blocks of grazing land into productive crops. They are being provided with increased economic opportunities through industrial and agricultural development of their resources and adequate training programs to fit them for employment in skilled occupations off the reservations. There is opportunity for a wide expansion of cattle herds, establishment of small businesses, initiation of sawmill enterprises to market Indian timber, and many other methods of increasing Indian income.
With a well-rounded program pointing toward these objectives, there appears to be no reason why the Indians cannot adjust themselves to the utilization of their resources at a level which will provide an adequate standard of living and in an environment which will gradually transfer to local agencies many of the responsibilities which the Federal Government is now exercising.
FEDERAL WITHDRAWAL TO BE SURVEYED
One of the significant planning steps during the past year was the introduction by Congresswoman Reva Beck Bosone of Utah, on June 21, of the joint resolution authorizing a study of the country’s approximately 260 tribes, bands, and groups of Indians, to determine their qualifications to manage their own affairs without supervision by the Federal Government.
It was made clear at the time that any proposed solution which would result in exploiting Indian groups by the precipitate withdrawal of guaranties protecting property rights, or the termination of Federal services in advance of others being made available, would be disastrous.
Because of the many different cultural patterns, various treaty provisions, and past history of exploitation, attempts to solve intricate human problems by resorting to hurriedly conceived and unrelated projects, there now exist many complex problems of Indian administration. With our present-day concepts of furnishing basic education for all, minimum health and sanitation standards, the importance of the right of each individual to a decent standard of living, and the numerous other things to encourage individual initiative and independence, the problems are in many ways more complex than ever
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and solution of these problems would not be advanced until the Indian people are moved to accept their status along side their nonIndian neighbors.
These problems require careful marshaling and sifting of available facts, the gathering of new facts where needed, the consideration of these facts and opinions by well-qualified persons in and out of the Government, so that the Government and the Indian groups may work cooperatively for the future. This approach is necessary in order to develop constructive programs generally acceptable to the Indians and others.
Bureau Reorganization
The past year saw placed into effect a great change in the basic organization of the Bureau. The plan now in effect is the result of several years of analysis and discussion. It provides three areas of operation: (1) Washington, headquarters office; (2) area offices; and (3) field offices, see chart on page 344.
Necessitated by many factors, the reorganization was primarily caused by the inability of the Washington office to deal effectively with more than 100 field offices. The first phase of the reorganization has been accomplished and the areas of responsibility and internal relationships have been announced. The second phase, which involves carrying out the plan at the field level, has been accomplished at many of the major installations. It is anticipated that this phase will be accomplished early next year.
NEED FOR EXPANDED INDIAN HEALTH PROGRAM
Comparative morbidity and mortality reports among Indians from decade to decade show that considerable progress is being made in the improvement of the health of Indians as a group. Nevertheless, the efficiency of the Indian health program from year to year, as reflected in mortality rates, fluctuates in direct relation to (	361
was continued. There still remains, however, a backlog of approximately 800 applications for power service that cannot be filled until additional funds are made available.
In all, irrigation projects embrace approximately 845,000 acres of land, of which approximately 555,000 are Indian-owned and 290,000 are owned by non-Indians. During the past year Indian irrigation projects produced crops valued at approximately $39,000,000.
Roads
Good roads are essential to the conservation and development of the natural resources on Indian lands. They are used to prevent forest fires, other forest depredations, and to harvest forest products. Full utilization of land and water resources requires good roads from markets to irrigated Indian farms. The transportation of mineral products is another important link in the Indian economy.
During the 1950 fiscal year the Indian Service graded and drained 130 miles of roads. One hundred and forty-two miles of roads were surfaced with gravel. Nine hundred running feet of bridges were built. Maintenance operations were performed on 20,500 miles of roads.
Arts and Crafts
Many reservations remain essentially underdeveloped; and many Indian groups find it difficult to gain a livelihood from their limited land resources and must increasingly turn to industry. The development of industrial opportunities on and near reservations, and the shift of a portion of the Indian population from agriculture to industry, should bring about a material improvement in living standards and facilitate the adjustment of the Indians to the social and economic life of the Nation.
The work of the Indian Arts and Crafts Board makes several important contributions to this program. Work centers on several reservations give Indian craftsmen experience in organizing production to meet requirements of modern merchandising. Many new and useful items are being made which, while keeping closely to the Indian tradition, are being styled to meet demands of modern interior decoration and modern dress. Production of a wide variety of modern crafts furnishes the basis for a large number of small industries.
During the past year, the Navajo Arts and Crafts Guild moved into the Church Rock Village and began to make this former war housing project into a crafts village. The village was built to house workers at the Wingate Ordnance Depot. No longer needed for this purpose,
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it was turned over to the Navajo Tribe, which immediately authorized the expenditure of approximately $25,000 to rehabilitate the buildings. Silversmiths and rug weavers are now living in the village; a quonset hut serves as a workshop; and a volume of fine silver jewelry and rings are being produced. As with all good Indian crafts, there is no problem in finding a ready market for these products. The Arts and Crafts Board supplies management and supervision for this project under a management contract with the Navajo Tribe. The guild however, pays all of the costs.
The Oglala Sioux Tribal Council, in early June, authorized the tribal officers to apply for a loan of $25,000 from the revolving loan fund with which to finance a tribal arts and crafts project, suggested by the Board in April. This project will expand the purchase for resale of traditional Sioux homecrafts and establish two small industries, one in pottery and the other in hand weaving.
Several years ago a course in ceramics was introduced into the curriculum of the Pine Ridge High School. Adults also were given opportunity to learn pottery making. Local clays and glazes were developed and a characteristic Pine Ridge glazed pottery has emerged, a pottery that is waterproof and ovenproof. The recently authorized tribal project will permit the acquisition of new equipment and the employment of a competent supervisor to organize the production, expand materially the volume, and seek additional outlets.
Hand weaving was also introduced into the Pine Ridge High School in 1937, and there are a number of good weavers on the reservation. New equipment will be obtained, a full-time manager-instructor will be employed, and a line of hand-loomed draperies and upholstery material will be produced.
The $25,000 loan will supplement the present capital of the Pine Ridge Arts and Crafts Association.
The Board will supply the management and supervision on a reimbursable basis and work in cooperation with a local management advisory committee, composed of representatives of the agency, the tribal council, and the craftsmen.
TRIBAL SELF-GOVERNMENT
Considerable progress in self-government was made during the year by Indian tribes, many of which have governing bodies as a result of incorporation under the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, the Oklahoma Indian Welfare Act, the Alaska Act, and other legislative authorizations. The various provisions of these acts were the source of new powers and responsibilities for the Indian tribes and additional policy directions in Indian affairs administration. The inherent powers of Indian tribes were specifically recognized in the sections
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dealing with tribal organization and incorporation, and these powers were defined in an opinion issued in 1934 by the Solicitor of the Department of the Interior.
During the past year, the Pueblo of Laguna in New Mexico ratified a constitution by a vote of 801 for and 75 against. The Umatilla Tribe of the State of Washington likewise adopted a formal governing document by a vote of 113 for and 104 against.
The tribes located in Oklahoma not now organized under formal documents have displayed an active willingness to assume additional political and economic control over their internal affairs, and five are now engaged in drafting constitutions.
The officers of the Five Civilized Tribes have also renewed their interest in tribal affairs and in coordinating their activities under an intertribal council. This council held a meeting in February 1950 and resolved to work with the staff of the Superintendent of the Five Civilized Tribes Agency to speed advancement of tribal matters, looking toward the time when the whole of Indian administration in eastern Oklahoma can be brought to a final conclusion.
Since the autonomy of the tribal authorities has increased, some weaknesses in tribal organizations have come to light, making it necessary for some tribes to revise their charters to bring them more into harmony with their growing activities and responsibilities. The Minnesota Chippewa Tribes, for example, is revising its governmental structure to provide for a much smaller governing body. The Puyallup Tribe of the State of Washington has scheduled a tribal referendum on a proposed amendment to its constitution to extend the leasing period of tribal lands for as long a period as is permitted by law. Existing law permits the leasing of tribal lands for a period not exceeding 5 years.
Many of the tribal charters that have been issued by the Secretary of the Interior limit secretarial review to a term of years, usually 5 to 10. Many of the tribes which adopted charters since 1936 have passed the 10-year mark and are now legally able to terminate secretarial review by vote of the tribe. The Blackfeet Tribe submitted to a tribal referendum the question of terminating the Secretary’s supervisory powers contained in its corporate charter. The measure was defeated.
Although much authority over Indian affairs has been delegated by the Commissioner of Indian Affairs to his area representatives, many tribes still find it necessary to send delegates to Washington to transact tribal business with the committees of Congress and the Bureau. The majority of these tribal delegates have visited Washington in order to confer with their tribal attorneys concerning prosecution of tribal claims against the United States.
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THE LEGAL RECORD
Suffrage
Early in the fiscal year, a Federal court removed another barrier to Indian suffrage. On August 3, 1949, a Federal court held, in the case of Truplla v. Gurley, that a provision in the New Mexico Constitution denying Indians “not taxed” the privilege of voting violated the fourteenth and fifteenth amendments of the Federal Constitution. The court granted a permanent injunction against a county official who had refused to register a member of Isleta Pueblo.
United States v. Ahtanum Irrigation District et al., a case especially important to all Indian irrigation projects, was given a preliminary hearing at Yakima, Wash. This case involved the rights of the Yakima Indians of Washington in the Ahtanum Creek under a purported contract executed by the Ahtanum irrigation district and the Secretary of the Interior in 1908 which divided the water of Ahtanum Creek between Indians and non-Indians. Subsequently, a motion by the defendant to dismiss the case was denied. Government counsel are now awaiting the setting of a pretrial conference date.
In the cases of Arenas v. Preston et al., and United States et al. v. Preston et al., the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California to award fees and expenses to attorneys who had obtained, in prior litigation, allotments of land for members of the Agua Caliente or Palm Springs Band of Indians and to impress the allotments with security liens for the payment of the fees and expenses. Under these decisions, the district court may order the sale of such portion of the allotted lands as may be necessary to satisfy the claims of the attorneys. Application for writ of certiorari has been made to the Supreme Court.
United States of America v. James Marsh involves the rights of several Indian tribs to fish at “usual and accustomed” sites pursuant to certain treaties with the United States. Suit was instituted on June 15, 1950, on the recommendation of the Bureau of Indian Affairs. A final decision has not yet been reached.
Prospective Legislation
House bill 1537, not as yet enacted, recommends a general method of establishing State jurisdiction on reservations where such action appears desirable. Under this plan, the Secretary of the Interior, where it appeared desirable in the public interest, would be empowered to call a referendum on a reservation to determine whether or not the
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tribe wished to be placed under State jurisdiction. In case of an affirmative vote, this action would be taken immediately. Where the vote was negative, the tribe would be permitted 1 year in which to set up a code of Indian offenses, with adequate tribal enforcement procedures, subject to the approval of the Secretary of the Interior. If this should not be accomplished within a year following the referendum, the Secretary may by proclamation place the Indians under State jurisdiction.
The law and order problem, especially juvenile delinquency, as it affected the Klamath Reservation, necessitated the preparation of drafts of specific legislation establishing State jurisdiction over all offenses on this reservation. The bill followed the general policy outlined for House bill 1531, mentioned above.
Bills transferring criminal jurisdiction over Indian reservations in Arizona, Nebraska, and California and a bill to repeal the Federal Indian liquor law were drafted.
The Commissioner, with approval of the Secretary of the Interior, refused to recognize the so-called People’s Committee of the Seneca Nation as its governing body on the ground that the constitution pursuant to which recognition was claimed was invalidly adopted. The alleged president is the plaintiff in the case of Theodore L. Jimerson v. DiUon Myer et al., and has filed suit seeking payment of the lease rental money due under the Ryan Act of February 28,1901 (31 Stat. 819), and to restrain payment to the officers recognized by this Bureau and the Department.
The United States Court of Claims handed down two notable decisions during the fiscal year, which would result in the awarding of some $48,000,000 to several Indian groups. On July 13,1950, the Consolidated Ute Bands received judgments totaling $31,761,207.62. The second decision, delivered January 3,1950, would grant the Tillamook, Coquille, Tootootoney, and Chetco Bands of Indians a total of $16,-515,604.77. This case is now before the Supreme Court on certiorari.
ADMINISTRATION
Reorganization plans for the Bureau were completed during the year. Administrative functions were consolidated into a well-integrated Division of Administration, with five staff branches; functions and responsibilities of each of the branches were documented and organization plans put into operation. It is proposed, for the next fiscal year, through the use of the staff facilities in the Washington office, to improve the field organization and operations through surveys, reports, and detailed analyses of field problems by Washington and area office personnel,
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Management Improvement Plan
The Bureau, in accordance with the directives of the Bureau of the Budget and the Secretary, has prepared a management-improvement plan. This plan sets forth the major objectives of the management improvement in the Bureau with a general outline of the methods for accomplishing these objectives and enumerates some of the most important opportunities for improvement. The following phases of the management-improvement program are expected to be completed within the next fiscal year: (1) development of policy objectives; (2) field organization plans; and (3) manuals of operation.
Property and Supply
Program.—As a part of the reorganization of the Bureau, all property-management functions were consolidated into one organization. Functions and delegations of authorities were outlined and defined with definite responsibilities assigned to the Branch of Property and Supply for a coordinated property-management program. The property-management organization comprises procurement, storage and issue, traffic management, specifications, inspection, property identification, property utilization, and disposal functions. In addition to these specific activities, the Branch has been assigned responsibility for the management of records, the Bureau’s safety program, and office services functions.
Procurement.—Heretofore, the Bureau maintained a combined purchasing and staff advisory service in the Chicago Procurement Office. The Chicago office was disbanded and personnel transferred to Washington headquarters, with activities assigned to employees on a staff basis. In collaboration with the General Services Administration and the Munitions Board Cataloging Agency, the staff is now engaged in the preparation and development of procurement specifications. An Indian service catalog for the field in conducting the Bureau’s supply functions is in preparation.
Negotiations with officials of the General Services Administration were completed during the year, in conformance with the provisions of the Property and Accounting Act of 1949, Public Law 152, Eighty-first Congress. Under this act, the Federal Supply Service will perform the major portion of the actual operating purchasing functions. Results to date indicate that the new purchasing program will produce increased efficiencies and future economies.
Surplus food-commodity disposal program.—Under the provisions of section 416 of the Agricultural Act of 1949, Public Law 429, Eighty-first Congress, surplus food commodities were made available to the Bureau and considerable quantities of urgently needed food items were and will continue to be distributed to needy Indians,
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Budget and Finance
In order to bring about closer coordination and control of financial affairs of the Bureau, the functions formerly exercised by the budget and the fiscal divisions were consolidated under one head in the Branch of Budget and Finance.
Progress was made in the development and installation of procedures that should accomplish major improvements in budget matters. These procedures provide for effective participation of field jurisdiction in the determination of budget making; establishment of workload standards to support justifications and to govern allocation of available funds on the basis of current requirements, financial control of program operations, and progress reports.
With establishment of area offices, there was developed a system of accounts that will operate on a decentralized basis to better meet requirements of Bureau management.
Buildings and Utilities
Dedication of two dormitories at the new Shiprock Boarding School in January marked a tangible step in the Navajo long-range program. Construction of additional dormitories begun during the fiscal year and award of a contract for the central heating plant at Shiprock, for which bids were requested in June, will further this development. Construction is also under way for two new classroom buildings, an auditorium and a gymnasium at the Intermountain Indian School.
Plans were also begun during the fiscal year for construction of a new 400-pupil boarding school on the Navajo Reservation. This school will be constructed at Kayenta, an isolated community in the northwest corner of the reservation approximately 160 miles from railhead.
A tendency for communities with a large Indian population to request Federal funds to assist in the construction of schools was again noted during this fiscal year. Funds totaling $1,294,000 have been obligated for the construction or improvement of 11 schools of this type during fiscal year 1950. All but one of these school projects are designed by private architects employed by local school boards and are being constructed under contracts executed by the local school authorities.
The Bureau has, during the year, placed considerable emphasis on bringing the physical plant into better operating conditions after many years of enforced neglect because of wartime restrictions and shortages of materials. Major repair projects amounting approximately $400,-
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000 were initiated during the year and largely completed. These projects included modernization of schools, hospitals, residences, reduction of fire hazards in old dormitory buildings.
The Bureau faces a maintenance problem greater than that of most Government agencies because of the many old Army post buildings taken over by the Bureau after the Indian wars of the nineteenth century used to this day. The Congress has shown a sympathetic understanding of the problem and the Bureau contemplates continued appropriations to permit a gradual reduction of the more serious cases of neglect.
Personnel
Although restricted by personnel limitations, the Bureau personnel staff has worked to increase the effectiveness of the Bureau program. Personnel administration is a direct responsibility of operating management. To that end staffs of the Washington and area offices devoted themselves to assisting operating officials in solving varied personnel problems. Training programs were conducted for agency employees, and this was followed by inspections of work being performed in order to comply with civil-service rules and regulations.
Emphasis was placed upon evaluation of existing allocations and development of a classification program. A classification survey of all Washington office positions was completed and a comprehensive resurvey of all field positions is well under way which, when completed, will enable the Bureau to standardize the conduct of this important responsibility of personnel management.
The Bureau established a committee of expert examiners, with the approval of the Civil Service Commission, to accelerate the recruitment of nurses and doctors.
Probably the most significant step undertaken by the Bureau, from a personnel standpoint, was establishment of the Department wage board procedure throughout the Bureau. This will bring about the payment of prevailing hourly rates of pay to all construction and operation and maintenance personnel and regularize their functions. This will complete the long-range program of the Bureau in stabilizing the employment of Indians throughout the Bureau and insuring equality of pay in all lines of work.
Office of the Solicitor
Mastin G. White, Solicitor
☆ ☆ ☆
GENERAL —The volume of important legal work requiring attention at the departmental level continued to be disproportionate to the personnel strength of the Solicitor’s Office, which has operated with a depleted staff for the past 3 years. As a result, there was a further increase during the fiscal year 1950 in the backlog of work on hand and awaiting disposition in the Office of the Solicitor,. Whereas there were 484 items of work on hand and awaiting attention at the beginning of the fiscal year, the number of items on hand and awaiting attention at the end of the fiscal year aggregated 586. This loss of ground in our effort to maintain the legal work at the departmental level on a reasonably current basis occurred despite the fact that 12,901 items of work were disposed of by the Solicitor’s Office during the fiscal year 1950.
Opinions.—The following summaries of some of the formal opinions rendered during the fiscal year will indicate the types of legal questions considered by the Office of the Solicitor:
M-36000: Members of the Nez Perce Tribe of Indians who were not granted trust patents to allotted lands prior to May 8, 1906, and who have not received fee patents to such allotments at any time, may engage in hunting, fishing, and trapping on tribal lands or trust allotments within the exterior boundaries of the Nez Perce Indian Reservation in Idaho without observing the provisions of the State conservation laws.
M-36003: The authority of the Secretary of the Interior under the act of May 14, 1948, to issue patents in fee, to remove restrictions against alienation, and to approve conveyances extends to all restricted or trust lands held by individual Indians who are members of tribes that brought themselves within the coverage of the Indian Reorganization Act.
M-36007: An Indian tribe which is organized and incorporated under the Indian Reorganization Act can issue oil and gas leases on tribal lands without competitive bidding if, and only if, the charter of the tribe expressly provides for such leasing on a noncompetitive basis.
M-36009: The Southwestern Power Administration is authorized («) to rent transmission facilities and (5) to purchase electric power 369
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for the purpose of firming up the hydroelectric power distributed by the Administration from Army projects.
M-36012: The coastal waters contiguous to privately owned tracts of land situated within the exterior boundaries of the Karluk Indian Reservation in Alaska constitute part of the reservation.
M-36017: A regulation which requires purchasers of Indian timber to grant to Indians a preference in employment does not prevent a purchaser of such timber, who is operating under a union-shop agreement with a labor union which admits Indians to membership, from requiring Indian employees, as a condition of continuing in his employment, to join such labor union and to maintain their membership in the union.
M-36018: The Secretary of the Interior may delegate to the Assistant to the Secretary powers which involve the exercise of discretion.
M-36020: The function of coordinating the activities of the various executive departments and independent establishments of the Government with respect to petroleum, which the President delegated to the Secretary of the Interior in 1946, was not transferred, in whole or in part, to the National Security Resources Board as a result of the enactment of the National Security Act of 1947.
M-36023: The Department cannot properly set off a sum still owing to a former employee, and covering salary earned and travel expenses incurred while in the employ of the Department, against an amount which the Department has paid to a third person in settlement of a tort claim arising out of the negligent conduct of the former employee during the period of his employment with the Department.
M-36024: The President has implied power, in the absence of statutory authorization, to permit the extraction and use by Federal agencies, for governmental purposes, of gravel from lands underlying navigable inland waters in the Territory of Alaska.
M-36031: Under section 39 of the Mineral Leasing Act, the term of a mineral lease is extended by any period of suspension of operations and production that may have been in effect under section 39 during the life of the lease, irrespective of whether such suspension occurred during the original term fixed for the lease or during the extended term resulting from a prior suspension of operations and production.
Appeals.—The Office of the Solicitor continued during the fiscal year 1950 to render final decisions, under delegations of authority from the Secretary of the Interior, upon formal appeals to the head of the Department from the decisions of bureau officials in public-land proceedings, in Indian probate proceedings, and in disputes arising under contracts between agencies of the Department and private con
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tractors. Some of the more important decisions rendered in these various fields are summarized below:
United States v. Margherita Logomarcini (A-25448).—An application for a mineral patent will be rejected where, although the claim may formerly have been valuable for minerals, it is not shown as a present fact that the land is mineral in character and is valuable for its mineral content.
Ohio Oil Company and M. D. Woolery v. W. F. Kissinger and Yale Oil Corporation (A-25537).—Mining claimants who protest against the issuance of an oil and gas lease on land covered by their claim have the burden of proving that the claim is valid. This burden is not met in a case where the evidence shows that, prior to the discovery of a mineral deposit, the area of the claim was included in a withdrawal order; that the claimants had only piled some lumber on the claim and started the construction of a derrick at the time of the withdrawal; and that thereafter, over a period of more than 2 years, their only activities on the claim consisted in the erection of two incomplete derricks, occasional work on roads, the excavation of a sump, and the performance of intermittent work on the grading and leveling of sites for equipment.
Sydney B. Moeur et al. (A-25548, A-25570).—A State does not, by filing an application to aquire a tract of public land by means of an exchange under section 8 (c) of the Taylor Grazing Act, automatically acquire a vested right in the tract.
Pacific Gas and Electric Company (A-25585).—An applicant for a right-of-way for the construction of an electric transmission line across public land within a proposed reservoir area may be required to stipulate that, if the Government should subsequently need the right-of-way for the construction and operation of a Government-owned electric transmission line, the applicant will relocate its line without cost to, or liability on the part of, the Government.
Alzada C. Carlisle and Parkhill Montana Ranches, Inc. (A-25671).—A person who, as a joint tenant, owns an interest in land that is contiguous to an isolated tract of public land that has been offered for sale has a preferential right to purchase such tract.
Hugo Giomi (A-25672) .—Where compensatory royalty was charged against the holder of an oil and gas lease on Government land because of the supposed drainage of oil or gas from such land by a producing well on adjoining land, and the lessee paid the compensatory royalty, such land must necessarily be regarded as within the known geological structure of a producing oil or gas field, even though there has been no formal determination made to that effect.
Charles H. Hunter (A-25707)A preference-right claim to purchase an isolated tract of public land offered for sale may be asserted
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by a person who acquires the ownership of contiguous land after the date fixed for the sale but during the period of time allowed for the assertion of preference-right claims.
Florence E. Gdllivan et al. (A-25815).—The Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 has no application to the lands which were ceded to the United States by an Indian tribe for disposition under an agreement whereby the proceeds derived from such disposition are to be utilized for the use and benefit of the Indians, and which have not been disposed of by the United States or restored to tribal ownership.
Roy L. Bair <& Company and James Crick <& Sons (CA-54).— The terms “laborers” and “mechanics,” as used in a so-called escalator clause providing for an adjustment in the amount to be paid to the contractor under a Government contract in the event of changes in the wage rates of laborers and mechanics, do not include working foremen.
George Pollock Co. (CA-66).—A claim for extra compensation under a contract for the construction of an electric power transmission line, based on the failure of the Government to provide rights-of-way as needed for continuous construction, constitutes a claim for unliquidated damages and cannot be considered by an administrative official of the Government.
J. A. Terteling  ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
In August 1949, ground was broken for the permanent Government Hill housing project at Anchorage. This project, being built under The Alaska Railroad’s auspices, will cost an estimated $12,000,000 and will contain 682 units. It is Alaska’s largest housing development. Plans were also drawn up for projects to be built at Whittier, Curry, Healy, and Fairbanks.
An agreement for the joint construction of a power plant at Anchorage by The Alaska Railroad and the Chugach Electric Association was concluded during the year. Construction contracts were let after the CEA had received a Rural Electrification Administration loan.
River-boat operation by the Railroad from Nenana on the Tanana River to Fort Yukon and Marshall on the Yukon ceased in October. Passenger service has been discontinued except for local point-to-point service which, with the lapse of the mail contract, has allowed the boats to be operated on irregular freight schedules at reduced operating costs.
Expanding Air Transport
A greatly needed airport construction program is being accomplished under the Federal-aid airport program (Public Law 377, 79th Cong., as amended). In order to expedite this program, an Interdepartmental Airport Committee was established, composed of representatives from the Civil Aeronautics Administration, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, Fish and Wildlife Service, The Alaska Railroad, and the Office of Territories. Construction has started on four airports—Dillingham, Kotzebue, Ninilchik, and Fort Yukon. Many coastline towns and island settlements require seaplane facilities and several applications for such facilities have been received.
Aids to Agriculture
An outstanding contribution to the agricultural development of Alaska was provided by the enactment of a bill making it possible for the Farmers’ Home Administration to make loans for the development of farms on homestead lands before, instead of after, the settler acquires his patent from the Government.
Approval of Public Law 417, October 7, 1949, extended to the Territory full coverage of the provisions of Agricultural Extension Service acts. Future requests for funds will be computed on the same basis as appropriations to the States. This act provides for salaries of “county agents” for Alaska’s four judicial divisions. Under previous law Alaska had been less favorably treated than the States,
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On July 1, 1949, there was returned to the University of Alaska from the Department of Agriculture the administration and operation of the Agricultural Experiment Farms in the Tanana and Mata-nuska Valleys and at Petersburg. The transfer will permit the university to expand its service to Alaskan farmers through programs for diversifying and improving Alaskan agriculture.
Territorial Taxation
During the year, the Territory enacted its first income tax act, which levies a tax on personal and corporate income equivalent to 10 percent of the Federal tax. The act, promptly challenged by the Alaska Steamship Company, wTas upheld by the District Court in Alaska, with judgment affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Judicial Circuit. Because of the importance of the tax law to the Territory, the United States took part in the litigation as amicus curiae.
Alaskans were granted a greater degree of control over tax revenues when the President approved a bill divorcing the Federal Government from the field of business license taxation in Alaska (Public Law 300). Business license taxes were established by Congress in 1899 with the revenue collected going to the “Alaska fund” in the Federal Treasury. Disbursements from this fund have been made to the Territory for public schools, relief of the indigent, and for roads, but only after specific congressional approval. At its 1949 session the Territorial Legislature established a comprehensive business license tax schedule to be in force on the January 1st following repeal of the 1899 Federal law. Revenue from business license taxes will now go directly into the Territorial Treasury.
Toward a Mental Health Program
During the year a study was made of the mental health problem in Alaska, including the possible need to build a complete psychiatric hospital in the Territory. At present the mentally ill are cared for at a hospital in the States under a cooperative arrangement between the hospital and the Federal Government. The results of the field study and the recommendations submitted will be used as the basis for any necessary legislative action.
Planning for the Pacific Northwest
The development of the Northwestern Pacific area requires integrated planning and the closest cooperation between the United States and Canadian Governments, as well as between Government
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and industry. To further this national and international interest, the Northwest Development Committee was formed of members of the Chambers of Commerce of Canada and the United States and representatives of private industry. This committee will study the problems of over-all development, including transportation, natural resources, and the establishment of industries.
PUERTO RICO
The Puerto Rico Constitution
The fiscal year 1950 was one of notable progress for Puerto Rico. The most significant advance in self-government since 1947, when an elected Governor was authorized, was made on June 30, 1950, when the constitution bill was passed by the House, having previously been passed by the Senate. It was approved by the President as Public Law 600, Eighty-first Congress, on July 3,1950. The new law, which is subject to acceptance by the people of Puerto Rico, authorized the convening of a constitutional convention and the drafting of a constitution establishing a republican form of government and containing a bill of rights. Upon ratification of the constitution, and approval by the President and the Congress, it will become effective and those provisions of Puerto Rico’s present organic act which deal with internal matters, such as the composition of the legislature, qualifications for voters, etc., will be repealed and the corresponding provisions of the new constitution will be applicable. Puerto Rico’s political and economic relationship to the United States will remain the same, but the local government will operate in accordance with provisions of law adopted by the people of Puerto Rico, instead of by the Congress. The constitution act had the hearty support of the President, the Departments of Interior and State, the Governor of Puerto Rico, the Puerto Rican Senate and House of Representatives, and the Resident Commissioner for Puerto Rico. It is a foregone conclusion that it will be accepted by the people of Puerto Rico. Its enactment represents a noteworthy example of democracy in practice.
Judicial Advance
Puerto Rico’s judicial system has long been linked with that of the United States. Appeals from the Supreme Court of Puerto Rico are heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the First Judicial Circuit, as are appeals from the United States District Court for the District of Puerto Rico. But the appeals have always been argued in Boston. In 1950, for the first time, the Court of Appeals held a term in San Juan. Many Puerto Rican lawyers took advantage of the
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opportunity to be admitted to practice before the court. An order was issued in the summer of 1950 for another term to be held in San Juan in February 1951, and this may be expected to become a regular practice. It will permit many litigants who cannot afford the expense of a trip to Boston to present their cases to the Court of Appeals.
Industrial Expansion
The Puerto Rican government’s program of industrial expansion showed gratifying progress. In its 7 years of existence, about 60 new industries providing about 8,000 new job opportunities have started operations in the island. All of these are producing articles not previously manufactured in Puerto Rico and represent a wide range of products such as textiles, ceramics, glass containers, shoes, blankets, artificial flowers, fishing tackle, radios, chinaware, refrigerators, hard candies, women’s wear and accessories, and sun glasses. Through its tax-concession program and other forms of assistance, the Puerto Rico Industrial Development Company, an agency of the government of Puerto Rico, is assisting in attacking the serious problem occasioned by the fact that agriculture alone cannot provide an acceptable standard of living for two and a quarter million people on 3,500 square miles of land. The Puerto Rican government is seeking a share of the expansion in United States industry and does not grant tax concessions to industries which would move their plants from the mainland. The industrialization of an agricultural economy is a long and difficult process, but the record of Puerto Rico thus far is an impressive and encouraging one.
The opening of the new $7,200,000 Caribe-Hilton Hotel in San Juan which was constructed by the Insular Government and leased to the Hilton Hotel Corporation attracted considerable national publicity and resulted in a substantial increase in the tourist industry. The stimulus and assistance of the government aided in a marked increase of additional tourist accommodations, facilities, and attractions.
Air Service Needed
Puerto Rico’s needs for additional air service still have not been met. Travel between Puerto Rico and the mainland must be by either water transportation or by air. Because of Puerto Rico’s offshore location the inexpensive mainland methods of travel by rail, bus, or car are not available. It is therefore vital that ample low-cost service be provided by air. The Department has assisted the government of Puerto Rico in presenting its needs to the appropriate regulatory authorities, and it is hoped that the coming year will see improvement in this situation.
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*	Unemployment Still a Problem
Results of the 1950 census indicated a total of 2,205,398 persons residing in Puerto Rico. This represents an increase of 13 percent over 1940 and increases the population density to 645 per square mile. Most heavily concentrated areas of population were San Juan, Rio Piedras, and Ponce. Unemployment during the fiscal year 1949-50 reached a peak of 131,000 in January out of a total labor force of 756,000. As the cane-harvesting season progressed in February, the number of unemployed began its seasonal decline.
Considerable numbers of Puerto Rican workers came to the United States during the year for farm work and, to a lesser extent, for employment in industry. Generally this movement has been beneficial in supplying needed workers on the continent of the United States and in alleviating the seasonal unemployment situation in Puerto Rico. The Insular Government took an active part in insuring that workers would go to areas providing the maximum employment opportunities and would enjoy working conditions equitable both to employer and employee.
Agricultural Production and Processing
Sugar, as in past years, occupied the dominant role in the island's economy. The 1950 yield is estimated to be close to 1,230,000 tons as compared with last year’s record 1,274,000 ton crop. This is 320,000 in excess of the 910,000 ton quota given Puerto Rico under the Sugar Act of 1948. Last year’s surplus tonnage was purchased with the assistance of the Department of Agriculture for disposition abroad. It is hoped that similar arrangements may be made for the disposal of this year’s surplus.
Pineapple culture appears to be an important possibility in the insular government’s agricultural diversification program. Extensive experimental work has been carried on by the Puerto Rico Agricultural Development Company. With the cooperation of the Department of Agriculture, marked improvement was brought about in the canning facilities presently on the island, and Federal grading and inspection was started. Plans are under way for the development of a cooperative plant in which most of the growers will participate. There has also been considerable interest on the part of mainland concerns in the pineapple development on the island. Four thousand acres of pineapple were cultivated, yielding 43,000 tons, an increase of approximately 800 acres and 5,000 tons over last year.
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4	385
Health and Education
The insular government continued its attack on health and education problems by appropriating almost 45 percent of its $91,000,000 budget for health and educational activities.
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration
Operations of the Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration during the fiscal year were financed with allotments out of the Puerto Rico revolving fund for projects approved by the President as follows:
Operation and maintenance of housing projects--------------------$256, 532
Management and operation of federally owned lands at Lafayette---	7,131
Operation of Castaner Farm project------------------------------- 55, 205
Servicing of loans to cooperatives------------------------------- 10, 026
General administration___________________________________________ 242,162
Repairs and replacements, construction of farmers’ houses and latrines- 173, 444
Total________________________________________________________ 744, 500
Receipts from the Housing Units and sale of lots at the Eleanor Roosevelt and Morel Campos developments amounted to $472,904.79, and exceeded maintenance and operation expense by approximately $216,000. As of June 30, 270 urban and 5,492 rural month-to-month rental agreements had been converted into long-term leases with option to purchase, 1,054 units had been conveyed and title vested in urban and rural tenants, while under the liquidation program 4,072 urban and rural units were sold under the deed-mortgage plan during the year.
As in previous years, but on a greatly reduced basis, assistance was given needy resettlers in the raising, harvesting and marketing of subsistence crops. Continued efforts were also made to provide improved housing facilities for a number of underprivileged families. Meanwhile, essential projects for the fiscal year 1951 are being continued with an allotment of $826,300 out of the revolving fund. The net available balance in the revolving fund on June 30, 1950, was $2,913,211.
VIRGIN ISLANDS
Political Achievement
Another forward step in the process of self-government was made on March 24, 1950, when Morris F. de Castro, a native son of the islands, was inaugurated as Governor. This follows a pattern established when the President appointed a native of Puerto Rico as Governor of that island in 1946.
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Social and Economic Progress
While the Virgin Islands still have serious social and economic problems ahead of them, considerable progress was made during the year on all fronts. During the year Congress extended to the Virgin Islands the benefits of the Vocational Education Act of 1946. This will permit a much-needed type of activity that has heretofore been lacking in the educational system of the islands. In addition, the Virgin Islands may now also participate in the Federal airport program and the national housing and slum-clearance program.
The tourist industry, which holds great promise for the improvement of the economic stability of the islands, expanded considerably during the year. Two new hotels are under construction and will be completed for the coming tourist season. A considerable number of smaller guest houses and shops catering to the tourist trade opened during the year. The progress made thus far indicates an important and expanding tourist trade.
Power Needs
The electric power facilities in the islands are still completely inadequate to take care of the present needs, let alone any future expansion. The Department assisted in attempts to improve this condition, but the problem has not yet been solved. Efforts will be continued during the coming year to provide power facilities without which the islands’ economic progress may be seriously handicapped.
Public Works
Supervision of the Virgin Islands Public Works program, Public Law 510, Seventy-eighth Congress, was transferred to the Department of the Interior and assigned to the Office of Territories toward the end of the fiscal year. Contracts have since been let for a sea wall and water-front improvement project at St. Thomas and for new telephone systems for St. Thomas and St. Croix. The former promises to be of great benefit, not only in its utilitarian aspects but as a tourist attraction. The telephone system was vitally needed to replace an obsolete and worn-out system constructed many years ago. Both projects are of considerable importance in the economy of the islands. Funds have been requested for next year for the construction of hospital facilities and school buildings in the islands, both of which are completely inadequate at the present time. Other facilities are provided for in the authorizing act that passed the Congress in 1944.
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387
Agricultural Experiment Station
The Department of the Interior strongly supported legislation pending in Congress to transfer the agricultural experiment station to the Department of the Interior and to provide for a program of extension and experimental work by the Department of Agriculture. Such programs are important in the promotion of self-sufficiency of the islands.
Virgin Islands Corporation
In spite of limitations in important respects on the funds appropriated to the Virgin Islands Corporation, a small credit program was inaugurated for crop production, water and soil conservation, and industrial and commercial loans. This should prove to be a stimulant not only to the development of the tourist industry but to more extensive agricultural diversification and improvement. Credit facilities have heretofore been inadequate to assist materially in the improvement of the difficult economic conditions that the island face. This program should be expanded as an important means toward making the islands self-sufficient.
A combination of unusually good rainfall conditions and improved agricultural practices produced the largest sugar crop in decades. It is estimated that the final yield will be over 10,000 tons of sugar, as compared with 4,500 tons in 1949.
HAWAII
Action Toward Statehood
The fiscal year 1950 brought Hawaii as close to statehood as it could possibly come through its own efforts. Hawaii followed two major paths to reach this goal before the adjournment of the Eighty-first Congress.
First, every effort was made to win passage for the statehood enabling legislation. The House moved quickly and on March 7,1950, the enabling bill was passed 262 to 110. From May 1 to May 5, exhaustive hearings were held by the Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, with almost unanimous testimony for statehood by leaders from every segment of life in Hawaii and the mainland. On June 29, 1950, the committee reported out the bill with only one dissenting vote. The President and Secretary Chapman strongly and repeatedly urged the Senate to take prompt action on this measure.
Second, to demonstrate its ability to govern itself and its desire to accelerate the statehood process, Hawaii held a primary election on
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February 11 and a final election March 21 for 61 delegates to a constitutional convention. Convening on April 4, the convention met for 3 months and drafted a constitution. Generally acclaimed as a concise, forward-looking, and thoroughly practical document embodying the best in the American democratic tradition, it was signed in lolani Palace on July 22.
Economic Conditions
The economic picture, which had been gray early in the year as a result of the shipping strike and drastically curtailed military expenditures, brightened by July 1. Unemployment in the Territory declined from a high of over 35,000 to 25,261 on June 30. The island of Oahu and the cities of Hilo and Wailuki, which had been declared distressed areas in November 1949, were gradually finding their way out of their employment slump.
The basic reasons for unemployment were (1) drastic cut-backs of the civilian force in military establishments, (2) the prolonged water-front strike which extended from May to November 1949, and (3) the continuing increase in mechanization in the sugar and pineapple industries. The Governor appointed a full employment committee consisting of 14 representative citizens to formulate a comprehensive community program to alleviate unemployment. The seriousness of this condition was indicated by the fact that unemployment-insurance payments to industrial workers during the year totaled $4,972,711, a figure exceeding the total sum paid in 11 previous years of the program. However, average weekly earnings remained high and the cost of living in Honolulu showed a decline. Tax collections dropped severely during the year while tax delinquencies soared, but these were offset to some degree by a settlement in the Territory’s favor of tax litigation releasing over $1,000,000 accumulated in a trust fund since 1942, pending appeals to the Supreme Court of the United States (Brodhead v. Borthwick and V catch v. Borthwick').
Education and Health
In education and health the Territory maintained an admirable record. During the year public-school enrollment reached 90,786, compared with 86,835 in 1949. However, inadequate classroom space and school housing remained serious problems. The tuberculosis death rate fell to 21 per 100,000 population—well below the national average. A major administrative change in the health department came with the transfer of the Hansen’s disease program to the health department.
The census taken as of April 1, 1950, placed the population of Hawaii at 493,348, as compared with 423,330 in 1940, with the popula-
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	389
tion of the city and county of Honolulu accounting for all the increase by a rise from 258,256 to 347,440.
PACIFIC ISLANDS
Transfer of Jurisdiction and Basic Planning
During the fiscal year 1950 great progress was made in developing civilian government under law in Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory. While the Organic Act for Guam was not finally passed by Congress and approved by the President until August, all essential preparations for the transfer of the island from the jurisdiction of the Navy Department to that of the Department of the Interior were completed by July 1. This included the inauguration of Carlton Skinner as the first civilian Governor on September 27, 1949. Memoranda of understanding setting forth the transfer procedure in American Samoa and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands were concluded between the Interior and Navy Departments on September 23, 1949. Following the precedents of the earlier understanding for Guam, the memoranda provided for the appointment of a civilian Governor for American Samoa and a High Commissioner for the Trust Territory on or about July 1, 1951.
These legislative and administrative measures have been taken after careful study by responsible officials in consultation with the peoples concerned. In the fall of 1949 a visit to the island area was made by a committee of Congressmen—five from the House Public Lands Committee and two from the Post Office and Civil Service Committee. Headed by Congressman Miles, of New Mexico, the committee studied the feasibility of organic legislation, and held hearings in each island area. Upon its return to the United States the committee recommended the early enactment of organic legislation for Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory. The legislation for Guam has been enacted. Similar legislation has been drafted for American Samoa and for the trust territory.
Realizing the difficult and, in many respects, unique administrative problems raised by the transfer of these islands to civilian responsibility, the Department during the past year requested and received an allocation of $50,000 from the President’s Management Improvement Fund to conduct administrative studies in all three areas.
Administrative Surveys
During February and March a team of experts, drawn from the Government and private industry, made a transportation survey in the Trust Territory to work out a dependable and economical system of 907639—51-------27
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civilian transportation in the area. After this group submitted its report to the Secretary of the Navy and the Secretary of the Interior in April its findings were made the basis of an air- and sea-transportation plan submitted to the President. On June 6 the President approved the plan and requested that the Navy and Interior Departments implement it in cooperation with interested departments.
A group of experts spent May and early June in American Samoa to study and make recommendations on the financial, personnel, and general governmental organization for the government of American Samoa when it is transferred from naval to civilian administration on July 1, 1951. Likewise, a survey team of experts in personnel, administration, finance, engineering, and in social and educational services spent most of May and June in the Trust Territory to make recommendations on the future civilian administrative organization for that area. The reports of these survey groups were being completed as the fiscal year closed.
For Guam the task was less one of projecting plans for the future but rather one of perfecting the organization and procedures of the civil government to meet current problems. As a basis for establishing a sound Territorial civil-service system for Guam, with the goal of equal pay for equal work, the Department engaged for the Guam government the services of the Public Administration Service. The team sent to Guam by this management consultant agency will recommend a personnel classification, compensation, and retirement system. In May a contract was also made with the same agency to send administrative and legal tax experts to Guam in order to improve present tax collection methods and to assess possible new sources of revenue. This study took on added significance with the inclusion by the Congress in Guam’s Organic Act of a Territorial income tax at Federal rates for the island.
In all these surveys, the members enjoyed the closest cooperation from the Department of the Navy and from the officials in the islands.
Medical Personnel Recruitment
Another program which the Department conducted for all the Pacific islands was the recruitment of displaced refugee physicians to serve in Guam, American Samoa, and the trust territory. In the belief that an adequate number of medical officers would be difficult to recruit in the United States, the Secretary of the Interior, after consultation with the Secretary of the Navy, approved a mission to interview physicians in European displaced-persons camps. Capt. Harry C. Oard, chief of medicine at the Oakland Naval Hospital and formerly director of the Guam Memorial Hospital, undertook the interviewing assignment on loan from the Navy in September. He
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	391
returned to Washington in early November with a roster of qualified doctors. Nine doctors were selected for Guam, four for Samoa, and eight for the Trust Territory. From Captain Card’s roster four physicians for Puerto Rico and three for the Virgin Islands were also selected.
Guam Legislation and Civil Administration
The Department was vigorously engaged during the year in supporting congressional enactment of an organic act for Guam and laying the groundwork for the transfer of the island to civilian jurisdiction. A revised bill was introduced in the House by Congressman Peterson on February 13 and reported to the House by the Committee on Public Lands on February 22. House passage by unanimous consent came on May 23, 1950. The Senate Interior and Insular Affairs Committee held hearings on April 19 with Assistant Secretary Warne, Governor Skinner, and representatives of the Guam Congress among the witnesses.
The Office of Territories as well as the people and officials of Guam pay tribute to the diligence and understanding of the members of the committees of the Senate and House of Representatives who were responsible for consideration and passage of this legislation.2
Late in the year an omnibus -agreement covering the post-transfer relationship between the government of Guam and the military forces was concluded between the Department of the Navy and the Department of the Interior. On each of the items included in the final agreement concurrence was received from the Governor of Guam. The agreement covered such matters as public utilities, highways, and the relationship of the military and civilian hospitals.
The Office of Territories sent a liaison officer to Guam to work with the naval government prior to and following the appointment of the civilian governor.
Immediately after his inauguration Governor Skinner turned his attention to the recruitment of civilian replacements for naval personnel in the government of Guam. He found that less than one-third of the 212 naval officers and men assigned to duty in the Guam government had to be replaced by stateside employees. These replacements were completed by June 30. As in the past Guamanians constitute the vast majority of government personnel.
At the request of the Governor, an official of the Department’s Bureau of Land Management was loaned to the government of Guam to assist in the establishment of an effective system for managing the Territory’s public lands.
2 The Senate subcommittee reported out the bill with amendments which was unanimously passed on July 26, 1950, by the Senate. The bill was signed by the President August 1, 1950.
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Among the important steps taken to stimulate local business and growth was the sale to private ownership of the Guam News and the Guam Bank. The number of military personnel on Guam declined prior to the Korea conflict but activity remained high, and the service industries on Guam continued to prosper. A commercial port was placed in operation, managed entirely by civilians. During the year the Governor of Guam and leaders on the island were giving increased attention to the stabilization of the economy through increased agricultural production and development of new enterprises. Much remains to be done but the foundation has been laid for rapid political, social, and economic development of the Territory.
UNITED NATIONS AND FOREIGN COOPERATION
Members of the Office participated in several international conferences at which were considered matters of import to the Territories. These included (1) the Caribbean Commission, of which the United States, Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands are members, and which reports to the member governments on means of improving the economic and social conditions of dependent areas in the Caribbean; (2) the United Nations Trusteeship Council; and (3) the United Nations Special Committee on Information Transmitted Under Article 73 (e) of the Charter, which examines the information transmitted on non-self-governing territories and makes recommendations thereon to the General Assembly. This Office edits the information on the Territories under the Department’s jurisdiction which is transmitted to the Secretary General of the United Nations by the Department of State.
Division of Geography
Meredith F. Burrill, Director
☆ ☆ ☆
THE DIVISION OF GEOGRAPHY was established to discharge the duties of the Secretary of the Interior with respect to the act of July 25, 1947, which established the Board on Geographic Names. The Division performs research and other staff functions relating to the standardization of geographic names.
A major part of the Division’s work during 1950 was concerned with foreign geographic names. Geographic and linguistic research was performed, leading to the standardization of over 75,000 names in more than 50 foreign areas. Gazetteers were compiled containing 134,000 standard names; more than 330,000 names were edited on maps and textual materials for correctness of spelling and application; and approximately 9,000 miscellaneous place-name inquiries were answered. More than 2,000 individual foreign names were prepared for decision by the Board.
The standardization of domestic names was limited to the most urgent requirements of Federal agencies due to the very small appropriation made available for such work. Only slightly more than 900 domestic name cases were prepared for action by the Board and made decisions. A much larger domestic names program is needed if the accumulation of pending cases is to be reduced and the more urgent requirements of the Federal agencies are to be met in the future.
☆ ☆ ☆
United States Board on
Geographic Names
☆ ☆ ☆
The Board on Geographic Names is an interdepartmental organization established for the purpose of standardizing geographic nomenclature for use by the Federal Government. Representatives of 11 393
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Federal departments and agencies make up its membership. S. W. Boggs, representing the Department of State, was elected Chairman in October 1949, succeeding J. B. Hutt, Department of the Navy.
The Board and its committees held frequent meetings during the year to take action on nomenclature policies, to standardize names, and to act upon related matters. The volume of the Board’s activities is reflected in the statistical data described under the Division of Geography.
The Advisory Committees on Antarctic Names and on Names in Alaska continued to be active in their respective fields. A supplement to Special Publication No. 86, the Geographical Names of Antarctica, was published during the year. Cooperation was obtained from several State name committees and from officials in Puerto Rico.
The Board is cognizant of the great need for cumulative publications of domestic decisions, none having been published in cumulative form since 1933. It is hoped that funds will be available for this purpose during the fiscal year 1952.
Division of Budget and Finance
D. Otis Beasley, Director ☆ ☆ ☆
BY DEPARTMENT ORDER NO. 2546, the former Division of Budget and Administrative Management was abolished, and its budget, finance, and investigations functions were transferred to the Division of Budget and Finance established by that order. The organization of the Division consists of an Office of the Director and three branches covering budget, finance, and investigations.
Acting upon the recommendation of the House Subcommittee on Interior Department Appropriations as expressed in the committee’s report on the Interior Department appropriation bill for 1950, the Division was instrumental in effecting a complete revision and simplification of the appropriation structure of the Department and a realinement of the activity breakdown used for budgetary and accounting purposes. While the Division assumed the initiative in this undertaking its accomplishment was made possible through the cooperation and assistance of the staffs of the Appropriations Committee, the Bureau of the Budget, and the bureaus and offices of the Department. This revision establishes a definite pattern of appropriations under the categories of resource management; surveys, investigations, and research; construction and land acquisition; operation and maintenance ; loans and grants; and general administration. It effects, also, a reduction from 167 to 42 in the number of appropriation items and eliminates superfluous appropriation text. It conforms with recommendations of the Hoover Commission for performance budgeting and will facilitate consideration of the appropriation estimates by the Department, the Bureau of the Budget, and the Congress.
In addition to participating in the revision of the appropriation structure, the Branch of Budget devoted its efforts to the development of budgetary policies, procedures, and standards to guide the original preparation of budget proposals within the bureaus, especially for conformance with the principles of the new appropriation structure. The Branch also supervises and participates in the presentation of the Department’s estimates before the Bureau of the Budget and the Congress.
The Department’s appropriations for the fiscal year 1950 totaled $603,062,057, an increase of $139,138,113 over 1949 appropriations. Of the total appropriated $18,963,260 was obtained through supplemental appropriation acts.
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Upon approval of the new appropriation structure, the Branch of Finance, with the cooperation of the bureaus and offices of the Department, completed a chart of allotment accounts for each agency that will effect an integration of the 1951 budget structure with the accounts. The Branch also devised a financial reporting system to establish departmental control over allocations, apportionments, and obligations below the level of appropriations to insure that the funds are used according to the purposes for which authorized by the Congress.
The Branch of Finance continued to participate actively in the joint program of the Bureau of the Budget, Treasury Department, and the General Accounting Office for improving accounting in the Federal Government. The comprehensive study of accounting and financial reporting procedures in the Bureau of Reclamation, started during the fiscal year 1948 and being carried out by the staffs of the Bureau and the Department working in cooperation with the Bureau of the Budget, the Treasury Department, and the General Accounting Office, continued during the current fiscal year. Under the joint auspices of the Department and the General Accounting Office accounting and fiscal problems involving the Bureau of Land Management, Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Bureau of Mines received special consideration.
The Branch of Investigations conducts investigations of complaints of irregularities in the performance of official duties by employees of the Department; investigates the records of guardians of incompetent Indians in cases where information is received indicating the guardians are not properly administering and accounting for the estates of their wards; investigates complaints of fraud or other irregularities in the letting of contracts on construction projects under the jurisdiction of the Department and investigates other miscellaneous matters to obtain information on which to base administrative decisions. Reports of investigations indicating possible criminal offenses are referred to the Department of Justice for decision as to the institution of criminal proceedings. The Branch of Investigations also assists in gathering information upon which to determine whether personnel employed in sensitive positions may be given security clearance.
Division of Personnel Management
Mrs. J. Atwood Maulding, Director ☆ ☆ ☆
During the first part of the fiscal year the
Congress passed more important personnel legislation than had been enacted in several years. Carrying out certain recommendations of the Hoover Commission, the following are among the most far-reaching of these laws: Public Law No. 359 providing increases in salaries for heads of Departments and certain other top positions in the executive branch of the Government; the Classification Act of 1949 setting up a different system of classification grades and pay schedules, combining the previous professional, subprofessional, and clerical, administrative, and fiscal services into one general schedule, and raising the ceiling to $14,000; also, the departments were given broader authority under this act; the Federal Employees’ Compensation Act amendments of 1949, which increases materially the benefits for employees suffering injuries while in the performance of their official duties. Reorganization Plan No. 5 reorganized the Civil Service Commission and vested in its Chairman the responsibility for the administrative direction of its work. Public Law No. 92 modified travel and subsistence laws, increasing the maximum per diem from $6 to $9, and the allowance per mile for use of privately owned automobiles and airplanes from 5 to 7 cents.
The Classification Act of 1949 in particular caused a great deal of activity in the classification work. It was necessary to review all of the top positions of the Department to enable the Secretary to make adequate recommendations for the allocation of Department positions to the new grades GS-16, 17, and 18 established under the act. This act also brought under classification for the first time a number of positions in the Indian service and the Virgin Islands. On the other hand, certain groups of positions heretofore classified were determined to be exempt from the act. Many of these were of the type that do not lend themselves to wage-board treatment. Accordingly, an Interior general schedule was established, paralleling the general schedule of the act, the positions being allocable under the same standards. During the year, the Chief, Branch of Classification made a field inspection trip to several field areas in the interest of uniform application of classification standards.
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As to employment, the dislocations caused by the war and its aftermath have been reaching adjustment. The rate of personnel turn-over lias dropped to normal; agency authority to make interim appointments has mostly been withdrawn; with few exceptions, wartime nonstatus appointees have been separated or converted to probationary status. The Department’s boards and committees of civil-service examiners have operated with success, and the system has been extended to certain additional positions peculiar to the Department. There are now 26 committees and boards of examiners, and during the year they handled upward of 17,000 applications. We have also worked out special recruitment programs for shortage occupations of medical officers and nurses. There has been increased cooperation between the Department and the colleges in recruiting programs, and an increased use of students as trainees prior to graduation.
June 30,1950, brought to a successful conclusion the first year of the operation of the departmental management-training program. The initial group of 17 trainees, composed of promising young employees of the Department and recent college graduates who gave evidence of management aptitude, developed in a very satisfactory manner. The purpose of the program has been to provide the Department with a group of able young men and. women who would be prepared for later assumption of more important stall and operating responsibilities. A ssign merits were designed to meet the individual needs of each of the trainees and the Department while on productive work under competent supervision. That this pattern has proved successful is apparent from the general acceptance of the program and the generous cooperation that has come from all quarters. In line with Department training policy there have been programs in some of the bureaus designed for the development of administrative personnel keyed to the bureaus’ activities; the Director of Personnel participated in two of these conducted by the National Park Service at Albuquerque, N. Mex., and San Francisco, Calif.
The supervisor’s forum continues with excellent results. Since it has not been practical to carry this work out into the field as yet, the Division of Personnel Management during the year sought and found a practical and inexpensive published text on supervision which it was able to recommend to the bureaus for use in the field service, and the bureaus bought and distributed some 1,400 copies. A class in verbatim reporting was begun during the year to qualify a small group of the Department’s stenographers for conference work.
In line with the Department’s policy, wages for ungraded positions have been adjusted periodically to keep in line with private industry, but the trend has been toward stabilization. Several public hearings
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
399
were held during the year in which a member of the staff participated.
Pursuant to the general labor-relations policy statement issued by the Secretary in January 1948, a collective-bargaining agreement between the Department and a group of its employees at Coulee Dam has been signed and is now operating in that area. Steps to effect similar agreements are being taken by employees at Boulder City and the Sacramento Valley district of the Central Valley project.
The Branch of Inspection directed its attention to clarifying the important corelationships of responsibility that are established by decentralization of authority. Through the process of reviewing personnel administration procedures and gathering facts and identifying problem areas, the Branch has made suggestions and offered recommendations for improvement and simplification of personnel work. A complete review was made of the personnel activities in the Bureau of Indian Affairs both in the Washington and field offices with significant results.
Better to serve the bureaus and offices in Washington, and in the interest of good public relations, the central office serves also as a clearing house for applications for employment in person and by mail. During the year, 6,050 applicants called in person and 1,889 written applications were received. One of the placement officers gives one-third of his time to liaison work with the Civil Service Commission central office and other agencies to expedite cases for the various bureaus in Washington. The office also serves as a placement office for promotion and transfer across bureau lines and in enforcing reassignment rights in reductions of force, as well as conducting noncompetitive examinations in promotion cases.
There were 313 retirements during the year, of which 40 were for age, 186 optional, and 87 for disability. By Public Law 601 the Congress liberalized the benefits to those who retired prior to April 1,1948, by allowing both survivorship benefits and the 25 percent increased annuity, where before an election had been required. Public Law 547 provided an order of precedence for payments to beneficiaries.
At the close of the fiscal year the total number of compensated employees was 65,573, of which 4,695 were in Washington, D. C., metropolitan area and 60,878 located in the field. Of the total number, 41,842 are classified by grade under the Classification Act, 19,331 under wage-board procedure, and 4,400 employees of various classes and ungraded. Veterans in the Department continue to increase now numbering 27,437. The number of women is 11,768.
During the year the Director of Personnel served as a member of the Federal Personnel Council and Chairman for the third consecutive year of its Personnel Legislation Committee, as a member of the
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Department Loyalty Board and as a member of the Department Board of Awards.
Pursuant to the approval of Reorganization Plan No. 3, the (Jihce of Administrative Assistant Secretary was created, under which all administrative management functions, including personnel, have been placed. The name of the Division has been changed from the Division of Personnel Supervision and Management to the Division of Personnel Management.
Southeastern Power Administration
Ben W. Creim, Administrator ☆ ☆ ☆
THE SOUTHEASTERN POWER ADMINISTRATION was established by Departmental Order No. 2558, dated March 21, 1950 (15 ER. 291). This order delegated to the Administrator of the Southeastern Power Administration the authority of the Secretary of the Interior, under section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 (16 U. S. C., 1946 ed., sec. 825s) to dispose of electric energy generated at reservoir projects under the control of the Department of the Army in the States of West Virginia, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
The Secretary designated Elberton, Ga., as the location of the headquarters office of the agency. An office was opened on April 1 at Elberton, and the operations of the agency have been conducted from Elberton since May 1.
The Dale Hollow project was in operation during the entire fiscal year, and the power from that project was sold to the Tennessee Valley Authority, pursuant to a contract executed as of December 18, 1948. Revenues accruing from this contract during the fiscal year aggregated $1,081,400.
The Allatoona project commenced operation on restricted basis on February 3, 1950, and the second generating unit at that project was placed in operation on June 10, 1950. Power from this project is sold to the Georgia Power Co., pursuant to a contract executed on August 3, 1948. Revenues from this contract during the fiscal year amounted to $248,191.57.
There are seven additional projects presently under construction. The first of the projects to commence operation will commence during fiscal year 1951, and the last of the projects to be completed will be completed during fiscal year 1955. The administration has been concerned primarily with negotiating arrangements for the sale of power from these projects. It has contacted many of the approximately 400 preferred agencies in its area, and has engaged in discussions with cooperative groups, public bodies, Government agencies, and private power companies.
401
Interior Department Museum
H. L. Raul, Museum Curator
☆ ☆ ☆
THE INTERIOR DEPARTMENT MUSEUM was established on
March 8,1938. It is a unit of the Office of the Secretary, Division of Administrative Services. For more than a tenth part of the century of conservation, during which century the Department of the Interior has served the Nation in developing and conserving vast national resources, the Interior Museum has been active in visualizing to the public the history, aims, and current activities of the Department.
The museum attracts many American tourists, some arriving in large adult groups as well as numerous individual citizens, and visitors from foreign lands. The general public, including many school and college students, finds the museum a valuable place for study and instruction.
The Secretary’s UN Reception
On the evening of September 12 the museum was the scene of an official reception given by the Secretary of the Interior to 147 delegates, from 48 nations, attending the United Nations Scientific Conference on the Conservation and Utilization of Resources.
Attendance and Foreign Visitors
Museum visitors during the past year numbered approximately 32,000 persons. Visitors were listed on the visitors’ register from every State in the Union, and from Alaska, Canal Zone, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands. Foreign registrations were from Argentina, Austria, Belgium, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Chile, China, Colombia, Cuba, Denmark, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, England, Finland, France, Germany, Holland, India, Irak, Iran, Israel, Japan, Luxemburg, Mexico, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkey, Union of South Africa, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Special Exhibits
The special series of monthly centennial exhibits, begun in March 1949 and formerly reported through June, were continued throughout the centennial year, as follows:
403
404
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
July.—Bureau of Indian Affairs.—Jewelry produced by skilled Eskimo craftsmen to be used as models to aid in developing combination of ivory with silver, jade, and other materials found in Alaska.
August.—Division of Personnel Supervision and Management.—Large framed graphic chart indicating the expansion during the past century of the activities of the Department as reflected in the number of employees through the years. This panel also includes portraits of all past Secretaries of the Interior.
September.—Bonneville Power Administration.—Exhibit illustrating Bonneville Dam and power plant, with detail charts and maps referring to electric energy generated at Bonneville and Grand Coulee Dams; and other Columbia River projects authorized for future construction in the Columbia River power system.
Southwestern Power Administration.—Exhibit illustrating Norfork Dam and Fort Gibson and Tenkiller Ferry Dams construction and other hydroelectric projects in the Southwestern Power Administration area, with existing and proposed Government transmission lines.
October.-—Office of the Secretary, Suggestions Committee.—Commendable-service-awards exhibit cabinet with hand-tooled art-leather book, listing names for permanent record.
National Park Service.—Seventy illuminated scenes of the national parks, automatic slide projection.
November.—Bureau of Reclamation.—Large framed exhibit in color illustrating Hungry Horse Dam project, with descriptive material.
December.—Bureau of Reclamation.—Panel exhibit, 22 feet long, with diorama and automatic slide projector, showing multiple-purpose reclamation development.
January.—Division of Territories and Island Possessions.—Exhibition of eight life-size pastel portraits of native Eskimo and Indian subjects done in Alaska by Mrs. Nina Crumrine.
February.—Fish and Wildlife Service.—Collection of 13 large illegal “Scow guns” and “Armada guns” used in wild duck slaughter; confiscated by Fish and Wildlife Service.
Accessions.—Hillers Collection of Indian Materials.
An important accession is the collection of 74 Indian artifacts collected by the late John K. Hillers who was a member of the geological and geographic survey expedition of 1869-72, headed by Maj. J. W. Powell, which explored the canyon of the Colorado River. The Hillers collection was presented to the National Park Service on June 2, 1950, by Mrs. John K. Hillers, Jr., and on the same date transferred by the National Park Service to the Interior Department Museum.
Collaboration With Bureaus
Continuing contact with the bureaus, numerous case installations and revisions have been made, including: Bureau of Land Management— large tinted chart of unusual design indicating Highlights in the History of the Public Domain; Division of Territories and Island Possessions—model, 6 feet long, of native outrigger canoe from Ifalik, western Caroline Islands, territory of the Pacific (loan exhibit from Lt. N. J. Cummings, United States Navy); Bonneville Power Admin
ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +	405
istration—large framed map and graphic chart, Federal Transmission System, including 6-year construction program proposed for completion or under construction by 1955; Bureau of Reclamation— large map illustrated with plastic models, showing Products of Reclamation Projects; another new exhibit of marked interest is a framed display panel exhibiting the Meritorious Service silver medal awarded to “Operation Snowbound” unit, with certificate and citation.
The long-damaged mural oil painting, Signing of the Alaska Treaty, has been successfully repaired and restored. A revised edition of the museum-illustrated descriptive folder was issued during the fiscal year.
Cooperation With Other Agencies
Services of assistance in display programs and consultation in visual education techniques were rendered, upon request, to a number of agencies, including American Automobile Association; Bureau of the Census; National League of American Pen Women; Pan American Union; Geography and Map Division of the Special Libraries Association ; State Department; and Rutgers University.
School Classes and Organization Groups
During the year many school and college classes visited the museum in supplementing their conservation, history, and scientific courses. Guided museum tours were given. These student classes were from local and from distant schools such as Dover, Pa., High School; Cambridge School, of Weston, Mass.; Elizabeth Irwin High School, of New York City. Among the larger single groups were 107 members attending the Washington student citizenship seminar, and the Dolly Madison High School, Arlington, Va., group of 100. It also is noteworthy that, upon advance air-mail appointment, a group of 51 enterprising students of the Port Huron, Mich., High School, accompanied by three faculty members, chartered a large airplane and flew here for a guided lecture tour of the museum and to view other points of interest in the Nation’s Capital.
The museum was held open evenings and Saturdays on several occasions to accommodate special groups not able to attend during regular museum hours.
Publicity
At the information counter inquiries were handled daily and special services rendered whenever requested. References to the museum appeared in several Washington guide books and other publications. The generous assistance and cooperation extended during the year by the offices and bureaus afforded much benefit to the museum and is gratefully acknowledged.
907639—51----2R
INDEX
Page
Bonneville Power Administration. _ 113
Added generating capacity_____ 128
Non-Federal additions_______128
Energy production_____________ 113
New system peak_____________ 115
Energy receipts and deliveries __ 115
Low rates increase power use. _ 121
New customers added_________ 118
Sales exceed 13 billion kilowatt-hours___________________ 116
Management____________________ 113
Transmission economies______ 113
Operation and maintenance_____ 127
Recommendations_______________128
Revenues______________________ 121
Annual audit________________ 123
Power allocations___________ 123
Transmission system___________ 124
Circuit miles added_________ 124
Engineering advances________ 124
Bureau of Indian Affairs_________339
Administration_________________365
Budget and finance__________367
Buildings and utilities_____367
Management improvement plan_____________________366
Personnel___________________ 368
Property and supply__________366
Developing Indian resources___358
Arts and crafts______________361
Forest and range resources__360
Roads________________________361
Schools teach soil conservation 359
Soil and moisture conservation 358
Water development____________360
Enlarging educational opportunities______________________346
Indian educational policy___347
State-Federal relations_____349
Extending economic aid_________355
Indian enterprises___________357
Federal withdrawal to be surveyed______________________ 342
Bureau reorganization_______ 343
Indian land status____________ 353
Alaska______________________ 353
Fort Berthold________________353
Page
Bureau of Indian Affairs—Con.
Indian land status—Continued
Indian tribal claims___:____354
Land legislation___________ 354
Mineral development_________354
Indian welfare and employment. 350
National Indian Institute___352
Legal record_________________ 364
Prospective legislation_____364
Suffrage____________________364
Need for expanded Indian health program___________________ 343
Hospital and medical care___345
Hospital personnel__________345
Reservation development_______339
Tribal self-government________362
Bureau of Land Management_______227
Cadastral surveys basic to resource development_________232
Surveys in Alaska___________234
Surveys in the Continental United States____________232
Federal range vital in national economy____________________237
Grazing administration______238
Interrelationships__________240
Range improvements__________242
Range revegetation__________243
Range studies_______________241
Soil and moisture conservation operation___________242
Weed control________________243
Wildlife management_________241
Forestry program in an expanding economy________________245
Access roads________________250
Forest management produces income___________________245
Functions of forestry staff_245
Improvement of growing stock. 249
Inventory__________________ 247
Management plans____________248
Marketing___________________249
Protection_________________ 246
Watershed management________248
Increased public land use_____228
Mineral deposits on public land. 230
407
408	+ INDEX
Page
Bureau of Land, etc.—Continued
Increased public, etc.—Continued
Potash and phosphate—fundamental to agricultural
Page
Bureau of Mines_________________ 135
Administration summary_________162
Air and steam pollution--------160
Finance________________________ 164
Foreword_______________________ 135
Fuels and explosives----------- 147
Coal and coal products------- 147
Explosives and explosions research and testing-------153
Helium_______________________ 153
Petroleum and natural gas----151
Synthetic liquid fuels--------150
Mineral development----------- 141
Personnel______________________ 164
Property_______________________ 168
Public reports________________ 161
Safety and health activities---154
Bureau of Reclamation_____________ 1
Comptroller_____________________ 77
Design and construction--------- 1
Administrative developments. 9
Construction progress---------- 3
Continuing program------------- 5
Contracts awarded-------------- 3
Cost trends____________________ 6
Design and operating—Criteria developments--------------- 8
Developments in specifications requirements--------------- 7
International cooperation----	13
Principal features completed. _	4
Publications------------------- H
Research----------------------- 9
Work performed with and for other agencies------------ 12
General investigations--------- 53
Comprehensive River-Basin surveys___________________ 54
Definite plan reports-------- 58
Hydrology--------------------- 57
International streams investigations___________________ 58
New projects authorized----- 56
Other planning activities--- 59
Other project planning reports. 56
River compacts--------------- 56
Work with the President’s Water Resources Policy
Commission_______________ 60
Legislation-------------------- 78
Litigation___________________ 81
Management planning------------ 84
economy__________________231
Record shows increased development_______________________230
Selective disposal policy___231
Speeding up action on all cases. 232
Legislation affecting public lands. 250
Cadastral engineering work— 252
Cooperation with other agencies_________________________254
Development of Alaska_______250
General Services Act---------252
Litigation__________________ 255
Mining on the public domain. _ 251
Regulations_________________ 253
Revision of land laws proposed. 253
Looking ahead__________________256
Area studies_________________257
Economic problems____________258
Field examination cases-----258
International activities----258
Planning and research------- 257
Program plans________________257
The Bureau’s goal____________256
Underlying objectives-------259
Other administrative improvements_________________________ 235
Agency averages 1,200 employees__________________________237
Bureau suggestions committee report______________________ 236
Improved management_________ 236
Preserving and modernizing land office records________________ 235
The Microfilm project------- 235
The Records Inventory_______ 235
Regional reports______________ 260
Region I, Headquarters, Portland, Oreg_________________ 260
Region II, Headquarters, San
Francisco, Calif_______ 261
Region III, Headquarters, Billings, Mont_________________262
Region IV, Headquarters, Salt
Lake City, Utah________ 263
Region V, Headquarters, Albuquerque, N. Mex----------264
Region VI, Headquarters, Washington, D. C-----------265
Region VII, Headquarters, Anchorage, Alaska________... 265
INDEX ♦	409
Page
Page
Bureau of Reclamation—Con.
Operation and maintenance______ 18
Amendatory and new repayment and water service contracts_________________ 37
Cooperation with design and construction______________ 40
Crop production_______________ 31
Extension of irrigation service _ 19
Income taxes from Reclamation areas_____________________ 33
Lower coast canal—lining program______________________ 42
Operation and maintenance of irrigation systems________ 30
Payments to school districts-_ 44
Public land openings_________ 35
Recreational use of reservoirs._ 44
Rehabilitation and betterment. 40
Settler assistance___________ 36
Soil- and moisture-conservation operations________________ 42
Sprinkler irrigation__________ 41
Weed control__________________ 43
Personnel_______________________ 85
Power utilization________________ 45
Additional capacity under construction_________________ 47
Electric-energy sales_________ 48
Power contracts_______________ 52
Present installed capacity___ 46
Transmission lines____________ 48
Programs and finance____________ 60
Appropriations________________ 70
Manualization of procedures. _ 61
New accounting system________ 60
Programing coordination______ 62
Reports_______________________ 76
Regional reports________________ 91
Region 1______________________ 91
Region 2______________________ 95
Region 3______________________ 98
Region 4_____________________ 100
Region 5_____________________ 102
Region 6_____________________ 104
Region 7_____________________ 107
Supply__________________________ 87
Airplane operations___________ 87
Office services activities____	90
Procurement activities_______ 88
Property management activities______________________ 90
Division of Budget and Finance___395
Division of Geography____________ 393
Division of Personnel Management. 397
Division of Power________________ 111
Division of Territories and Island
Possessions__________________ 375
Alaska_________________________ 376
Aids to agriculture__________ 380
Expanding air transport______380
Housing_______________________378
Planning for the Pacific Northwest______________________381
Progress toward statehood____377
Public lands_________________ 378
Public works program_________ 377
The Alaska Railroad looks ahead_____________________379
The Alaska Road Commission and the road building program_____________________ 378
Territorial taxation_________381
Toward a mental health program_____________________ 381
Hawaii_________________________ 387
Action toward statehood______387
Economic conditions___________388
Education and health__________388
Pacific islands________________ 389
Administrative surveys_______ 389
Guam legislation and civil administration___________ 391
Medical personnel recruitment. 390
Transfer of jurisdiction and basic planning___________ 389
Puerto Rico__________•_________ 382
Air service needed___________383
Agricultural production and processing_______________ 384
Health and education__________385
Industrial expansion_________ 383
Judicial advance_____________ 382
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration___________ 385
The Puerto Rico constitution._ 382
Unemployment still a problem. 384
United Nations and foreign cooperation__________________ 392
Virgin Islands__________________385
Agricultural experiment station_____________________ 387
Political achievement_________385
Power needs__________________ 386
Public works__________________386
Social and economic progress. _ 386
Virgin Islands Corporation___387
■. ■ ■ ■
410	+ INDEX
Page
Fish and Wildlife Service_________ 267
Administration of Alaska fisheries______________________ 274
Management of the commercial fisheries_________________274
Pribilof Islands fur-seal industry___________________ 275
Administration of Federal statutes for protection of fish and wildlife_______________ 300
Cooperative control of predators and rodents________________ 294
Federal aid to State projects for the restoration of wildlife_283
International cooperation in conservation__________________ 297
International conser v a t i o n s agreements________________297
International technical cooperation___________________298
Rehabilitation of Philippine fisheries_________________299
Maintaining the inland fisheries. 279
Pacific oceanic fishery investigation_____________________ 267
Research in fishery management. 276
Coastal fisheries____________ 278
Inland fisheries_____________ 278
Marine fisheries______________276
Research in wildlife management- 291
River basin developments and wildlife needs_____________ 290
The national wildlife refuge program____________________,------- 286
Utilizing the fishery resources_270
Geological Survey________________ 169
Conservation Division__________ 202
Mineral classification________203
Alining______________________ 204
Oil and gas leasing__________ 207
Water and power classification 204
Funds__________________________ 212
Geologic Division______________ 169
Coal_________________________ 172
Engineering geology__________ 172
Foreign geologic investigations- 179
General geology______________ 174
Geochemistry and petrology __ 175
Geologic investigations in
Alaska__________________ 177
Geologic maps________________ 180
Geophysics___________________ 174
Library______________________ 180
Military geology_____________ 178
Page
Geological Survey—Continued
Geologic Division—Continued Mineral deposits______________ 170
Oil shale___________________ 172
Paleontology and stratigraphy. 176
Petroleum and natural gas___171
Topographic Division__________ 181
Cartography and map editing. 188
General planning____________ 185
Geodetic surveys____________ 186
Map information office______ 188
Mapping accomplishments_____ 182
Photogrammetry______________ 187
Research and development____185
Water Resources Division______192
Cooperation with States and municipalities__________ 194
Federal Government’s interest in water resources__________ 193
Field offices_______________ 196
Ground water________________ 197
International treaties_______202
Interstate compacts_________ 201
Missouri River Basin_________201
Quality of water____________ 199
Reports on investigations___202
Surface water_______________ _ 196
Work on publications__________ 208
Equipment development_______211
Illustrations_______________ 209
Map distribution_____________210
Map reproduction_____________209
Texts________________________208
Interior Department Museum______403
Attendance and foreign visitors. _ 403
Collaboration with bureaus____ 404
Cooperation with other agencies. 405
Publicity_____________________ 405
School classes and organization groups__________________ — 405
Special exhibits_______________403
The Secretary’s UN reception. _ 403
National Park Service____________303
Cooperative activities_________329
Dams, parks, and monuments____305
History and prehistory_________311
Jackson Hole and Grand Teton. 328
Natural history_______________ 316
Notes from Washington and the field_____________________ 334
Park accommodations___________ 319
Personnel______________________332
Planning and construction_____307
Protection of forests__________326
INDEX +	411
Page
National Park Service—Continued
Publications______________________ 331
Safety-----------------------------332
The land program__________________ 324
The parks of the national capital-	333
Washington office reorganized___333
Office of Land Utilization___________221
Forest management_________________ 222
Land classification and land policy-----------------------  223
Soil and moisture conservation _ _ 221
Water resources coordination____224
Office of the Solicitor______________369
Oil and Gas Division_________________215
Resources for our expanding economy---------------------------- in
Minerals___________________________ vu
Fuels______________________________ ix
Water and power____________________ xi
Page
Resources, etc.—Continued
Land resources__________________xvn
National Parks__________________xix
Fish and Wildlife_______________xxi
Indians_________________________xxm
Territories_____________________xxv
Conclusion_____________________xxvi
Southeastern Power Administration___________________________401
Southwestern Power Administration__________________________ 133
Contracts______________________ 134
Energy deliveries______________ 133
Energy production______________ 133
New project____________________ 133
Spa system_____________________ 134
United States Board on Geographic Names_________________________ 393
o
WELLESLEY COLLEGE LIBRARY DEPC SH ED BY THE
UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
FEB 21 1951