[Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, Fiscal Year Ended June 30, 1949]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]
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Annual Report
Annual Report of the
Secretary of the Interior
Fiscal Year Ended June go, 1949
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Oscar L. Chapman, Secretary
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UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON, D. C.
For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office Washington 25, D. G. - Price 75 cents
Letter of Transmittal The Secretary of the Interior Oscar L. Chapman, Secretary
My Dear Mr. President : I am transmitting herewith the reports of the agencies of the Department of the Interior for the 1949 fiscal year. These reports provide a remarkable documentation of the variegated role of government in a democracy. The reclamation of arid land, the production and marketing of hydroelectric power, the inventorying and evaluation of our physical resources, the development of the territories, research in biological resources, the health, education, and welfare of the Indians—these are just a few of the responsibilities of the Department on which we report this year. They are responsibilities fundamental to the well-being of our Nation. They are tasks which, when carried out, respond to needs which individuals are unable to provide for themselves, and yet which must be provided in order to assure the broad base which our national economy requires in order to function properly.
It is unnecessary to recount in this letter of transmittal the measures of progress of the Department of the Interior during the 1949 fiscal year. These are described adequately in the reports of the individual agencies which follow. Of more consequence is a brief account of the growth of the Department during its first century, the end of which was marked during this year, and some of its major contributions during this century. These 100 years have witnessed the unfolding of a new era. The industrial revolution erupted and spread its effects throughout the western world in this century. This Nation has made its contributions to these changes, and has been greatly affected by them. Our territorial growth, the phenomenal expansion of our population, the complexity and efficiency of our economic machine culminating in increase of almost a hundredfold in our national income since 1849 are a few indications of these changes. The evolution of the Department into a large and complex agency charged with the management and integration of a far-flung program of natural resource activities has, in effect, paralleled the growth of
in
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
the Nation. It has been called upon repeatedly to take an active part in the development of this era of progress. Under a long succession of acts of the Congress it is charged with responsibility for administering a major share of the activities of the Federal Government that deal directly with the conservation and development of the resource base of our economy. Consequently, its activities affect directly the adequacy of that resource base to provide the raw materials which this Nation consumes in its expanding role in the political, social, and economic affairs of the world.
THE “MOTHER OF THE CABINET”
To have envisioned in 1849 the world of 1949 would have indeed required a rare facility of imagination. It is not surprising that the Department of the Interior in the administration of President Zachary Taylor, consisting of Secretary Thomas Ewing, a Chief Clerk and 637 employees little resembles the Department of today, with more than 50,000 employees and its wide range of interests. Although this early Department contained the germ of its present mission in its responsibilities for the public lands and the Indians, it was, despite its broad responsibility for promoting “the arts of peace and production,” an administrative receptacle for a variety of public responsibilities—pensions, the census, patents to inventors, and other domestic activities. Through the years, the Department in effect, became the “Mother of the Cabinet.” The Department of Agriculture originated as a bureau of the Department until it was elevated to Cabinet status in 1862. A Bureau of Labor was established in the Department and so existed until it acquired departmental status. Similarly, the Department of Commerce began as an agency of Interior, until it was merged with the Department of Labor into a Department of Commerce and Labor. Other agencies originated in the Department: the Veterans’ Administration, the Office of Education, the eleemosynary institutions of the Federal Government. Suffice it to say that out of the diverse activities which have characterized the Department during the past century there has emerged a clearly understood departmental mission, a significant and comprehensive role for the Department to play in the affairs of the Nation. This mission, although originating in the responsibilities of the Department of 100 years ago for the custody of the public domain and the Indians, has been tempered by the times through which the Department, and the Nation, have passed. This mission has been shaped by the increasing awareness during the years that something must be done to conserve the resources of our vast national domain.
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CONSERVATION ERA AND RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
At about the turn of the century strenuous efforts at conservation began, directed mainly toward slowing up the rate of disposition of natural resources and preventing their monopoly control. As a corollary to these efforts was the development of the sound concept that our renewable resources should be maintained on a sustained yield basis; and more recently the public recognition of the need for all-out development of unused resources to serve the need of an expanding national economy. The Reclamation Act of 1902 is an expression of this philosophy, although it reached its present stature many years later. In the 1920’s and at an accelerated pace in the 1930’s such forward looking resource management laws as the Mineral Leasing Act, the Taylor Grazing Act, and the Bonneville Act were adopted. In the late 1930’s and the 1940’s came the inception of vast multiple-purpose programs such as the TVA, the Missouri Basin, Columbia Basin, and Central Valley projects, programs which envisage the conservation and development of the total resources of great river basins.
ACHIEVEMENTS OF DEPARTMENT
It is appropriate to point out some of the products of the Department’s work in its first 100 years:
Over 5,000,000 acres of arid and semi-arid lands in Western States have been made fruitful with irrigation water.
Hydroelectric plants with installed capacity of nearly 3 million kilowatts, 18 percent of the Nation’s total utility hydroelectric supply, have been built.
Value of crops grown on federally irrigated land last year was more than $555,000,000 and power revenues another $32,000,000.
Federal mine inspection and mine safety programs have brought the death rate in coal mines down to 1.56 per million tons of coal mined. In 1910 when the Bureau of Mines was established the rate was 5.62 per million tons of coal mined.
Methods of making synthetic liquid fuels out of coal and shale have been developed and proven practical at costs approaching present natural liquid fuel costs.
The Department has developed the exclusive production of the national supply of helium in this country, one of the few known supplies in the world. New and important peacetime uses have been developed by the Department in addition to its use in medicine, including welding, and tracing of underground petroleum.
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Extensive metallurgical research essential for industry and military purposes has been completed on hundreds of metals. Typical is the development of metallic titanium, which can be now used for construction equipment, machinery parts, and other uses. It is half as heavy as steel and twice as strong.
Conservation work in irrigation, forestry, and minerals was initiated by the Department. This resulted in later creation of the Forest Service of the Agriculture Department and the Bureau of Reclamation, Bureau of Mines, and the Bureau of Land Management of Interior.
Topographic and geologic maps have been prepared which have served as the basis for virtually all important detailed surveys in this country, and for important construction, public and private.
Accurate records have been maintained for approximately half a century on stream flow which allows prediction of flood conditions and planning of dams and levees. Over 5,000 stream gaging stations are now maintained by the Survey. Ground water studies have permitted cities and industries to locate and construct work for adequate water supplies and have warned of possible disaster in certain areas from a lowered water table.
The affairs of 400,000 Indians have been administered on more than 200 reservations. Education has been improved so that today about 62 percent of Indian children are in their proper school grade compared with 20 percent in 1928. Some 227 schools and 72 hospitals have been built and operated.
Twenty-eight national parks have been acquired and developed, including 11,347,269 acres which are being preserved for their beauty and public interest and recreation, and 146 national monuments, historic sites, and recreational areas.
Two hundred eighty-two wildlife refuges comprising 18,000,000 acres, have been acquired and developed for protection of wildlife and birds which were in danger of extinction.
A research program has been developed and administered for the $100,000,000 Alaskan salmon industry resource, so that future salmon runs would not be damaged.
From 1910 to date, the fur seal herd on the Pribilof Islands has been so managed as to increase it from 132,000 animals to more than 3,380,000.
The existing public domain has been managed for many years so as to make a profit for the Government over its own costs of operation.
Approximately 285,000,000 acres of public lands have been disposed of in Western States under homesteading laws which permitted wide settlement and later development of vast areas.
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Cadastral surveys of 1 billion, 300 million acres of public lands have been made.
Grazing activities on western public lands have been administered through 58 grazing districts which permit orderly use of 154,000,000 acres of public land by private stockmen.
The Department serves as the Federal Government liaison and advisor for the nearly 3,000,000 American citizens who live outside the borders of continental United States. In addition, it has helped to secure equality of legislative treatment for residents of territories and insular possessions.
UNITY OF RESOURCES
In the development of the programs of this Department we have recognized that our land, water, and mineral resources must be regarded as a unity, and managed as a unity. These resources occur in the same land areas. Action taken, or the failure to take action, in one field inevitably affects other resource fields. The despoiling of timber lands in higher altitudes causes serious erosion and damaging floods. Overgrazing these lands may reduce the original capacity of water reservoirs. The development of phosphate deposits on the public lands may be completely dependent on the availability of hydroelectric power.
Although important resource development tasks of the Department are in the West, we have important work to do in every State and Territory of the Nation. Consider the geographic diversity of these functions. The Geological Survey works in every State and in all of the Territories. The Bureau of Land Management functions in 29 States and the Territories, wherever the Department has responsibility for federally owned lands. The National Park Service and the Fish and Wildlife Service serve the public—east and west—north and south. Similarly, the Bureau of Indian Affairs supervises the administration of the affairs of the Indians in the East as well as the West and Alaska.
The Bureau of Mines’ valuable projects are carried out in Alaska, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Alabama—in fact in every State in which there is a present or future prospect of mineral development—east and west of the Rockies. In the public power field progress has been made in the regional agencies—Bonneville in the Northwest, the Southwest Power Administration, and we have begun to market power in the Southeast. Only in the case of our reclamation activities are we restricted to the West by law at this time. All in all—our 50,000 employees work in 1,500 offices distributed through the 48 States and Territories.
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LOOKING TOWARD THE FUTURE
We cannot afford today to look back and predicate our future actions on past accomplishments. It is essential that we look forward, and rely on the past only as the provider of experience with which to anticipate the requirements of the future. We recognize today the vital link between our natural resources and the requirements of our expanding economy and national security. We are attempting to inform the Nation of these relationships of the need for protection of nonrenewable resources and for a sustained yield plan for renewable resources. We have stressed the necessity for developing processes for utilizing lower-grade minerals, and the need for guarding our scenic and historic areas against commercial exploitation, the necessity for expanding our land base b v irrigation, and the urgent necessity for meeting critical expanding energy needs.
You have provided a goal to which our sights must be raised. Your economic report to the Congress discussed at considerable length the prospects for national economic growth and pointed out that national production could increase by 3 or 4 percent each year over the next few years. This amounts to an increase of about one-third over the next decade. This forecast of increase in national output is based on the prospect of gain in output for each individual worker—for, although the number of employed may increase over the next few years*, the average work week may become shorter. This increase in man-hour productivity will come about from equipping workers with more and better tools which use greater volumes of energy.
INTERIOR’S ROLE IN THE FUTURE
The Interior Department bears a heavy responsibility for assuring that technical progress, on which increased productivity is dependent, is made possible. To a considerable extent Interior’s activities determine whether the additional metals, the timber, chemicals, and power from which the tools and energy are produced will be at hand. Interior does not supply all of these products by itself, of course, but it plays an indispensable role in their production. For example, Interior’s geologic mapping and exploration are prerequisite to mineral discovery, its research and development activities are essential to encouraging increased mineral output and to providing substitutes for scarce materials, we must assist in usefully developing the energy in our rivers and must market it wisely if the large increment of necessary electrical energy is to be available, and Interior must see to it that the wealth in public lands is made available for wise use. The programs of the Department directed toward these purposes are truly
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IX
investments by the Nation in its future well-being. It is our job to manage these investments wisely.
In looking forward to the jobs which we are obligated to undertake if we are to realize the national economic and social potentials, a few of the tasks in which the Department of the Interior must share are listed:
To do its part in meeting the long-range energy requirements of the economy, the Federal Government should develop by 1970, 30 million of the 77 million kilowatts of economic hydroelectric power potential contained in our rivers. Despite progress to date, we have developed less than 20 percent of this potential hydroelectric power. In addition, research in long-distance power transmission should be encouraged. A Federal program to produce electric power from atomic energy should be continued, and research to produce heat from solar energy and the heat pump and to produce power from the wind should be accelerated.
Future population growth, particularly in the West, and significantly enhanced living standards will require enlarged output from our agricultural plant. The Department’s program for reclaiming land by irrigation will contribute to this national need. Our long-range program provides for the new irrigation of 17.7 million acres and the supplemental irrigation of 9.1 million acres by 1977. Even this program may fall short of requirements.
The Department of the Interior administers more than 200 million acres of range land in the West. Fully half of this range needs restorative work. Twenty-two million acres need reseeding now; 15 million acres are partially or entirely unusable now without further water development. To do the job within 20 years will require an annual rate of expenditure nearly triple the Department’s expenditures for 1949. This resource, improved, adds to the agricultural plant of the United States, fundamental to the production of meat, wool, and hides. Well managed, with proper conservation of soil and cover, it contributes a supply of clear water, evenly distributed, to multiplepurpose reservoirs. Neglected, it adds to the devastation of floods and rapidity of siltation of reservoirs.
We must complete the geologic mapping of the areas of the country still unmapped.
Develop adequate perpetual reserves of timber for commercial cutting ; replant and reseed hundreds of thousands of acres of forest lands under Interior supervision; increase fire and disease protection.
A rigorous research program should be initiated for making economically feasible the large-scale reclamation of water from the ocean, through distillation or other means.
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These selected objectives are illustrative of the relationship between the work of this Department and affirmative national policies and programs to promote long-term economic growth. It is our intention, as the Department of the Interior enters on its second century, that its record of accomplishment during this century will be measured by the extent to which it participates in anticipating the needs of a healthier, happier, and wealthier America.*
Secretary of the Interior.
★During the period covered by this report J. A. Krug was Secretary of the Interior.
CONTENTS
Page
Letter of Transmittal___________________________________________ in
Bureau of Reclamation____________________________________________ 3
Division of Power______________________________________________ 103
Bonneville Power Administration______________________________ 105
Southwestern Power Administration______________________________ 127
Bureau of Mines________________________________________________ 131
Geological Survey______________________________________________ 165
Oil and Gas Division___________________________________________ 210
Office of Land Utilization_____________________________________ 216
Bureau of Land Management______________________________________ 221
Fish and Wildlife Service______________________________________ 253
National Park Service__________________________________________ 293
Bureau of Indian Affairs_______________________________________ 337
Office of the Solicitor________________________________________ 367
Division of Territories and Island Possessions_________________ 374
Puerto Rico Reconstruction Administration______________________ 391
Division of Geography__________________________________________ 392
Division of Budget and Administrative Management_______________ 394
Division of Personnel Supervision and Management_______________ 396
Interior Department Museum_____________________________________ 399
Suggestions Committee__________________________________________ 401
Index__________________________________________________________ 403
1
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Reclamation
Michael W. Straus, Commissioner
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION
AN ALL-TIME RECORD construction program for development of irrigable lands and expansion of hydroelectric facilities on projects throughout 17 Western States was accomplished by the Bureau of Reclamation during fiscal year 1949. This program, representing a widely diversified undertaking of design and construction of dams, canals, power plants, pumping plants, transmission lines, and other important features intrinsic in the Bureau’s projects, was by far the largest in Bureau history. Embracing an expenditure of almost 250 million dollars, the 1949 program was more than 40 percent greater than the 1948 program.
Included in the 1949 program was the continued expansion of construction on the largest of the Bureau’s basin-wide developments, the Missouri River Basin project; the start of major construction activity at Hungry Horse Dam, largest concrete dam now being built; and the continuance of construction of important irrigation and power features on the Columbia Basin, Central Valley, Colorado-Big Thompson, and other projects.
A significant development during the year was the leveling-off of construction costs and increased rate of accomplishment by contractors’ forces. Notable also was the general willingness of contractors to submit more competitive bids.
Noteworthy progress in research on materials of construction during the last year indicated substantial savings could be realized on structures which are now under construction and on those which are to be undertaken in the future. These savings are accomplished by improved use of construction materials and new methods of construction.
Contract Awards
Major contracts awarded during the year included construction of Canyon Ferry Dam in Montana, Cedar Bluff Dam in Kansas, and Bonny Dam in Colorado. The largest award of the year was made for
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the completion of the Grand Coulee pumping plant and miscellaneous construction work at Grand Coulee Dam in Washington.
The total value of the more than 800 construction, material, equipment, and supply contracts awarded during fiscal year 1949 amounted to about 163 million dollars. Of the total contract amount, construction contracts accounted for 139 million dollars or about 85 percent. By comparison, construction contracts awarded during the previous year amounted to approximately 105 million dollars. A summary of the major contracts awarded during fiscal year 1949 is given in table 1.
Table 1.—Major1 Bureau of Reclamation contracts awarded in fiscal year 1&49
Feature
Project
Amount of award
Completion of Grand Coulee pumping plant and miscellaneous construction work at Grand Coulee Dam.
Canyon Ferry Dam and power plant______________________
Cedar Bluff Dam_______________________________________
Bonny Dam_____________________________________________
16 miles East Low Canal and 6 miles Rocky Coulee Wasteway.
2.5 miles Soap Lake siphon____________________________
27 miles Friant-Kern Canal______________________________
17 miles West Canal___________________________________
Generators for units R-7, R-8, and R-9 at Grand Coulee Dam.
Shadehill Dam_________________________________________
North Coulee Dam and 2 miles feeder canal_____________
15.6 miles Delta-Mendota Canal________________________
14.8 miles Delta-Mendota Canal________________________
Platoro Dam___________________________________________
Turbines for units R-7, R-8, and R-9 at Grand Coulee Dam..
5.5 miles Salt Lake Aqueduct__________________________
7 miles Horsetooth Feeder Canal_______________________
Turbines for units A-3, A-4 for Hoover power plant____
Unit 6, Coachella Valley distribution system__________
Columbia Basin___________
Missouri River Basin_____
____do_____________ ____do__________________
Columbia Basin___________
____do____________________
Central Valley___________
Columbia Basin,__________
----do____________________
Missouri River Basin_____
Columbia Basin___________
Central Valley___________
.....do___________________
San Luis Valley__________
Columbia Basin___________
Provo River______________
Colorado-Big Thompson____
Boulder Canyon___________
All-American Canal system.
$13,348,419
11,896, 425
11,350,735
10,301,653
8, 029, 762
7,614, 728
7,494,372
6,136, 234
5, 250,034
5,116, 796
4,718, 725
4,165, 764
3,679,107
2, 727, 792
2,497,950
2,429, 201
2.369, 654
2,080,100
2,049, 922
Construction Progress
At the end of the year, construction was in progress on 23 storage dams and 1 diversion dam, 9 power plants, 22 pumping plants, 440 miles of main canals, and 1,600 miles of transmission lines.
The rate of construction progress on many projects was greater than had been anticipated. For example, the construction of Jackson Gulch Dam on the Mancos project in Colorado was scheduled for completion by April 1950 but was actually completed in December 1948. By the end of the fiscal year, construction on O’Sullivan Dam on the Columbia Basin project was virtually completed with only 62 percent of the contract time elapsed; thus completion was approximately 18 months earlier than was required by the contract.
A significant increased rate of accomplishment on Bureau of Reclamation projects was made during the year. Notable was the increased rate of progress of placement of earth fill in dams, excavation for large canals, and lining of canals. The trend toward acceleration in monthly placement quantities in earth-fill dams was particularly
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outstanding. This increase in placement quantities was attributed to three major factors: more efficient use of older types of earth excavating and transporting equipment, production of larger capacity models of such equipment, and development of new machines and procedures. The high rate of accomplishment on Bureau projects has required revisions in payment schedules on some projects. As a result, supplemental funds were needed to continue the rapid pace of construction.
During the year, the main embankment of Davis Dam was completed. What is believed to be a record for earth placing operations on a Bureau project was established at this dam during February 1949 with the placement of 770,000 cubic yards of material in the 3,500,000-cubic-yard embankment.
Excavation work continued on Hungry Horse Dam, largest of Bureau dams under construction. Installation of equipment for handling aggregate and concrete was in progress to facilitate initial placement of concrete by the fall of 1949. Work on the principal contract for the construction of Boysen Dam and power plant was about 60 percent complete by the end of the fiscal year as compared with 43 percent of the contract time elapsed.
Principal Features Completed
Principal features completed on Bureau projects this year are shown in table 2.
Table 2.—Principal features completed on Bureau of Reclamation projects in fiscal year 1949
Feature Project State
Jackson Gulch Dam.__ __ Mancos ... _ Colorado. Idaho. Washington. Colorado. Do. Nebraska. Wyoming. Colorado. Do. Arizona-Nevada.
Cascade Dam . _ Boise.- .
Long Lake Dam Columbia Basin
Olympus Dam Colorado-Big Thompson
Horsetooth Reservoir Dams . do... r_ ...*
Cambridge diversion dam Heart Mountain power plant Missouri River Basin Shoshone. _ _
Aspen Creek siphon Prospect Mountain conduit Colorado-Big Thompson ._ .do. ..
Phoenix-Tucson No. 2 transmission line.. Davis Dam
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 1950. Major features of Bureau projects expected to be completed in fiscal year 1950 are indicated in table 4. Approximately 560 miles of transmission lines and over 150 miles of canals now under construction are expected to be completed during fiscal year 1950.
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Table 3.—Major features expected to be placed under construction on Bureau of Reclamation projects in fiscal year 1950
Missouri River Basin project:
Keyhole Dam, S. Dak
Anchor Dam, Wyo.
Tiber Dam, Mont.
Missouri Diversion Dam, Mont.
Trenton Dam, Nebr.
Narrows Dam, Colo.
Red Willow Diversion Dam, Nebr.
Cambridge Canal, Nebr.
Courtland Canal, Nebr.
Boysen-Alcova transmission line, Wyoming.
Thermopolis-Lovell transmission line, Wyoming.
Havre-Shelby transmission line, Montana.
Colorado-Big Thompson project:
Carter Lake Dam, Colo.
North Poudre Diversion Dam, Colo.
Pole Hill and Olympus Tunnels, Colo.
Carter Lake Pressure Tunnel, Colo.
Willow Creek Canal, Colo.
North Poudre Supply Canal, Colo.
St. Vrain Supply Canal, Colo.
Colorado-Big Thompson transmission lines, Colorado.
Central Valley project:
West side transmission lines, California.
Santa Barbara project: Cachuma Dam, Calif. Tecolote Tunnel, Calif. South coast irrigation and water supply conduit, California.
Columbia Basin project : East Low Canal, Wash. Potholes East Canal, Wash. West Canal, Wash.
Laterals to serve 87,000 acres, Washington.
Provo River project:
Murdock Diversion Dam, Utah.
Duchesne Diversion Dam and Duchesne Tunnel, Utah.
Riverton project:
Muddy Ridge Canal, Wyo.
Paonia project:
Fire Mountain Canal, Colo.
Gila project:
Pumping plants 1, 2, and 3, Wellton-Mohawk Canal, Ariz.
Davis Dam project:
Davis Dam, Prescott-Mesa and Mesa-Coolidge transmission lines, Arizona-Nevada.
Davis Dam-Hoover Dam, and Davis Dam-Parker Dam transmission lines, Arizona-Nevada.
Table 4.—Major features on Bureau of Reclamation projects expected to be completed in fiscal year 1950
Feature Project State
Enders Dam Medicine Creek Dam Angostura Dam J Gering-Sidney transmission line Gering-Alliance transmission line Williston-Garrison Dam transmission Missouri River Basin do do do do do Nebraska. Do. South Dakota. Nebraska. Do. North Dakota.
Granby Dam Colorado-Big Thompson Colorado.
South Coulee Dam Columbia Basin Washington.
Rehabilitation of Pathfinder Dam North Platte Wyoming.
Keswick power plant Second Parker-Gila transmission line Central Valley Davis Dam California. Arizona-Nevada.
Fort Peck-Williston transmission line___ Fort Peck ■— North Dakota.
Canals, laterals, drainage Tucumcari New Mexico.
Cost Trends
Costs of both material and labor, which have shown a continuous increase since 1940, appear to have reached a peak during the last half of 1948. Bureau of Reclamation construction cost indexes in most categories, as illustrated in table 5, indicate a slight decline in costs of the principal types of Reclamation work for the period ending June 30, 1949. It will be noted, however, that one type of work actually increased while four others remained the same as in January 1949. An
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Table 5.—Bureau of Reclamation construction cost indexes—fiscal year 19^9
Cost indexes based on January 1940 costs=1.00 July 1948 January 1949 June 1949
Dams: Earth -- -- 2.15 2.25 2.15
Concrete - - 2.00 2.10 2.15
Pumping plants: Building -- - - - -- 2.35 2.45 2.30
Equipment _ __ 1.80 1.80 1.75
Discharge pipes -- - - 2. 25 2. 40 2.10
Canals and conduits: Canals _ __ _ __ _ _ __ _ 2.30 2.35 2.30
Conduits 2.20 2.30 2.30
Laterals and drains 2. 45 2. 45 2.45
Powerplants, hydro: Building - - — 2.30 2.40 2.30
Equipment _ _ 1.75 1.75 1.75
Penstocks -- - 2.25 2.40 2.10
Transmission switchyards and substations __ - - 1.80 1.80 1.75
Transmission lines (wood pole) 2.50 2.40 2.35
Roads and bridges: primary roads surfaced _ __ _ - — -- 2.10 2.20 2.20
Secondary roads un surfaced 2.20 2.25 2.15
Bridges _ __ _ 2.20 2.30 2. 25
Composite index _ _ _ __ _ __ 2.15 2. 20 2.20
easing in the tightness of the supply of materials accompanied by a decline in the cost of some materials and a noticeable increase in labor efficiency and in the number of bidders on Reclamation work were evident during the year. These factors were offset, however, by increases in labor rates as a result of certain classes of labor receiving wage increases and in the readjustment of minimum wage rates. As a result, there was a leveling-off of construction costs rather than a sharp decline.
During the year a definite increase was noted in the number of bidders on most Bureau work. This has resulted in some instances in lower bids being received. Also noted was the smaller spread between the high and low bids, indicating that contractors were computing their estimates more closely. For example, bid openings for construction of transmission lines covering identical work previously advertised showed not only a large increase in the number of bidders but also bids from 4 to 30 percent lower than those received during the preceding year. While this reflects to a large extent the availability of transmission-line materials, it also indicates in general a willingness on the part of contractors to submit really competitive bids. Contractors are now more willing to accept contracts without including in their bids large contingency items to cover every possible expenditure.
Force Account
The amount of force-account work performed by the Bureau was within legislative limitations and represented a negligible proportion of the total construction work accomplished during the fiscal year. However, minor construction activities by means of force-account work
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were carried out on some projects. These activities ranged from operation of a sawmill at Keswick Dam to installation of electrical equipment on various projects after the major construction was completed.
Standard Specifications
This year the Branch of Design and Construction initiated the use of standard specifications for construction of canal systems which has as its objective the elimination of duplicate material and the expediting and review of specifications of structures of similar nature. Specifications for canals, laterals, and similar structures were published and issued under this plan. Also, a volume of standard specifications and drawings for H-frame, wood-pole transmission lines was prepared and used during the year.
As an example of measures taken to attract more and possibly lower bids, the readvertisement for Canyon Ferry Dam and power plant contained a provision allowing the contractor to obtain monthly payment for 85 percent of his investment in special concrete plant and equipment. The payments to the contractor were to be repaid to the Government by deductions from the contractor’s earnings at a specified rate per cubic yard of concrete placed in the dam.
In construction specifications, provisions were included, when practicable, to provide for the contractor to prepare reinforcement-bar detail drawings. This method was inaugurated in the specifications for the construction of pipe lines on unit 6 of the Coachella Valley distribution system.
A procedure for supplying duplicate bidding schedules to bidders on both supply and construction specifications was inaugurated. By use of this procedure, the bidder can retain a copy of the specifications for his records and submit his bid on the duplicate bidding schedule and accompanying forms.
Four hundred and thirty specifications for both construction and long-form supply contracts were reviewed and issued by the Branch of Design and Construction this year.
Staff Development Program
A staff development program inaugurated this year by the Branch of Design and Construction aimed at providing new employees broader knowledge of the Bureau’s activities and giving young engineers an opportunity to obtain diversified experience in the various design, research, and construction functions of the branch. New employees rotate from one assignment to another, receiving valuable training under the guidance of experienced Bureau engineers. Participants remain in this program for approximately 2 years, gaining at least
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6 months of design experience, 3 months of research experience, and 3 months of field experience during the first year. During the second year of the program, the participants are given an opportunity to specialize in the field of work for which they are best qualified. Concurrently with the work experience program, supplementary instruction is given by technical specialists in the Branch of Design and Construction.
To assure the satisfactory service condition and functioning of Bureau of Reclamation structures and facilities at all times, a program of inspection and preparation of operators’ instructions was initiated. Principal objectives of the program are the verification of the safety of the works or disclosure of unsafe conditions; verification of the adequacy of the works in their current condition to meet operating requirements; and the utilization of the service experience for the improvement of design and construction practices.
Engineers in the Branch of Design and Construction participated in many activities of professional engineering societies, including the American Society of Civil Engineers, the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the American Society for Testing Materials, the American Institute of Electrical Engineers, the American Concrete Institute, and the Geological Society of America. Besides serving as members on important committees of these societies, the engineers presented over 35 technical papers at various meetings of the societies.
Bureau engineers actively participated also in the affairs of several international professional organizations. Technical papers by these engineers were prepared for such organizations as the International Assembly of Scientific Hydrology and Geophysics, the Pan American Engineering Congress, and the International Conference on Large Electric High Tension Systems.
Research
Research, geologic investigations, and testing activities of the Denver research laboratories were intensified as many new features of Bureau projects entered design and construction phases. Major activities in the laboratories included the testing of construction materials, such as cement, aggregate, soils, and protective coatings of metalwork, the verification of design through the use of structural and hydraulic models, and the appraisal of foundation conditions and structure sites. Noteworthy progress was made in the fields of special experimentation wherein new techniques and procedures could be utilized in the solution of future research problems.
Hydraulic studies were completed on the determination of the location of the Delta Cross Channel which is to effect the transfer of water from the Sacramento River to the San Joaquin River on the
10 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Central Valley project. Investigations advanced materially in the measurement and prevention of water seepage from canals. Research directed toward the development of more effective and cheaper canal linings culminated in several test installations of buried asphalt membrane and in the development of rapid and inexpensive placement of concrete linings by the use of relatively simple equipment.
Research toward the continued improvement of the protection of metal linings of pipes and conduits was exemplified by the application of 24 test sections of various protective coatings to the penstocks of Shasta Dam. The first Bureau installation using cathodic protection, an electrical method for preventing corrosion on metalwork, was made on two steel water tanks on the Boulder Canyon project.
Research in control of weeds in canals was noteworthy for the development of a new “slug treatment” by which large quantities of weed killer could be applied for a short period to water in the weed-infested canals. Investigations were made for the control of algae infestations of hydraulic works, and tests were performed on the effect of weed killers upon crop growth.
The method devised in the Denver laboratories for measurement of residual stresses in rocks exposed in tunnels and excavations was further developed. Studies made on the pressure of ice on dams and other structures led to increased knowledge that will be of great usefulness in the design and construction of future projects.
Studies of cavitation and protection measures for the avoidance of this damaging effect upon hydraulic structures were continued. Experimentation was directed also toward improved design of reinforced concrete and the better utilization of new types of reinforcement steel. Investigations of the physical properties of loess soils and their possible utilization as foundation and construction materials on structures in the Missouri River Basin were undertaken. Studies were made also on the design of satisfactory concrete mixes that include the inferior aggregates of the Kansas-Nebraska region.
Notable new developments in geological and related studies were made through the application of geophysical techniques in the study of foundations and construction materials available at construction sites. Research was carried out on ground-water investigations, and studies were made of the permeability of rocks and soils as well as of the effect of expansive pressures exerted on structures by certain types of foundation clays.
The effectiveness of the research and testing facilities of the laboratories was greatly enhanced during the year by the installation of special equipment, including a flame photometer for use in the chemical analysis of engineering materials, X-ray diffraction apparatus for quicker and more detailed study of soils, minerals, and other substances, and equipment for the identification of materials by the
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 11
method of differential thermal analysis. Installation of a new 5-million-pound testing machine was begun. This huge machine, when installed, will permit more extensive experimentation and research on large specimens and structure models than was previously possible.
An important research accomplishment was the culmination of studies on the use of pozzolanic materials in concrete structures. Although these studies have not been completed, they have progressed sufficiently to indicate that about 30 percent of the cement in the concrete for Hungry Horse Dam could be replaced by fly-ash (an inexpensive waste product of coal-burning boilers). Not only will an improved concrete result through the use of this material, but substantial savings will be realized on this dam and similar concrete structures to be undertaken in the future.
Work Performed for Other Agencies
As a result of its preeminence in the field of design and construction of structures of unprecedented size and complexity, the Bureau has been called upon for assistance from outside agencies and other Government departments. By agreement with the International Boundary and Water Commission, the Bureau engaged in the preparation of detailed designs and specifications for the Falcon Dam which is to be built by the Commission on the Rio Grande River about 60 miles downstream from Laredo, Tex., as provided by the Water Treaty of 1944 between the United States and Mexico. During the year, alternate preliminary designs and estimates were prepared and presented at a joint conference in Denver, from which a final design scheme was selected. Following selection of final design of the dam, rapid progress was made in preparation of detail designs and specifications to arrive at allocable costs, and a design feature report was furnished to the Boundary and Water Commission. Bureau engineers attended several conferences with the United States section of the Commission, and three joint conferences were convened to implement the work so that the completion of construction as provided by the treaty could be accomplished by 1953.
Under a contract with the city of Seattle, Wash., the Bureau’s Denver laboratories conducted tests on the determination of creep factors in mass concrete specimens from Ross Dam. In connection with this work, field data on temperature, stress, and strain measurements of the mass concrete in the dam were obtained.
Other work performed in the laboratories for outside agencies included concrete investigations for the Corps of Engineers, lightweight concrete tests for the Housing and Home Finance Agency, aggregate and concrete durability tests for the Atomic Energy Commission, aggregate and riprap studies and geologic investigations for the
12 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Bureau of Indian Affairs, tests of wood preservative for the Forest Service, aggregate and concrete durability studies for the Puerto Rico Water Resources Authority, aggregate studies for the Tennessee Valley Authority, and concrete studies and hydraulic model testing for the Salt River Valley Water Users Association. A cooperative program of investigations of lightweight concrete, performed in conjunction with the Housing and Home Finance Agency, was brought to a successful conclusion.
During the year Bureau of Reclamation mapping activities and particularly those using aerial photography were coordinated with the programs of such primary mapping agencies as the Geological Survey to insure that no duplication occurred. Other agencies included the Army Map Service, Coast and Geodetic Survey, and Soil Conservation Service. Contracts for aerial photography and mapping were awarded by the Bureau for areas in California, Montana, New Mexico, Texas, and Utah, where urgent requirements could not be met by the primary mapping agencies.
Coordinative seismological studies with the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey and the National Park Service at Hoover, Shasta, and Hungry Horse Dams were continued and expanded during the year to meet requirements of the Bureau and the Coast and Geodetic Survey.
Twenty new inventions were reported by employees of the Bureau of Reclamation, and patents were granted on three devices which were previously reported.
International Cooperation
Technical assistance to foreign countries given by the Bureau of Reclamation in the various fields of water resources use and development including irrigation, hydroelectric power, drainage, and comprehensive basin development was furnished in four general categories.
Under authority of Public Law 402, Eightieth Congress, in-service training was given to 53 young engineers from seven foreign countries, the period of training averaging approximately one year. These were all class B grants (Public Law 402), each handled individually with costs being borne by the countries concerned.
In response to specific requests or in accordance with established exchange arrangements, approximately 2,000 items of technical data and publications pertaining to Bureau methods and practice were distributed to individuals and agencies of foreign governments.
The Bureau furnished advice and consultation to some 600 engineers, professors, and responsible officials from 56 foreign countries in matters related to development of water resources. Visits by these people
PART II----ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 13
varied in length, from a day or two to several weeks. Advice and consultation were given in respect to specific projects in some cases and in regard to a wide range of subjects in others. Requests for these visits were received through the Department of State and assistance was given under provisions of Public Law 402. Where detailed advice and consultation were given, costs were borne by the country concerned.
Typical of the many requests for Bureau engineering assistance on foreign work was the request from the Economic Cooperation Administration that Bureau engineers review the plans for the proposed Fasideri Dam in Greece. In consultation with two engineers from Greece, engineers in the Branch of Design and Construction suggested changes in the design of the dam and made specific recommendations for modifications in the basic designs.
Through arrangements with a consulting engineering firm in the United States, the Bureau engineers undertook the highly complex problem of analyzing the stresses for the 850-foot-high concrete Kosi Dam which is to be constructed by the Indian Government.
Materials testing, hydraulic model investigations, and other studies made in the Denver laboratories of the Bureau were undertaken for several foreign agencies, including those of India, Colombia, Portugal, and Greece.
The Bureau is receiving increasingly numerous inquiries by mail from individuals in foreign countries requesting engineering data on a diversity of highly complex problems. Questions received concerned such topics as the selection of turbines for hydroelectric generating plants, techniques and methods for lining canals, design of earth dams, and design of irrigation distribution systems.
Experienced engineers were lent to various foreign governments in connection with water resources development. Requests for these assignments were received through the Department of State and were made under provisions of Public Law 402, Eightieth Congress, with recipient countries bearing the costs. Foreign assignments varied from 2 months to 1 year. Countries receiving this type of assistance were Ceylon, Colombia, India, Japan, Southern Rhodesia, and Venezuela. In addition, Bureau engineers were lent to EC A to assist in its reclamation programs in Greece and Italy.
As official representatives of the United States Government, Bureau engineers attended international engineering conferences at Cairo, Egypt; Rotterdam, Holland; Paris, France; and Stockholm, Sweden. Delegates to the Rotterdam and Stockholm conferences also visited Paris where they furnished advice and consultation to the Administrator, ECA, on important engineering problems. One delegate represented the Bureau of Reclamation at an international engineering conference in Rio de Janeiro.
Table 6.—Bureau of Reclamation dams
PART II--ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 15
(<) 1915 1948 1931 00 CO CO s £ £ 1910 0) 1937 1939 1915 1921 1929 1921 1911 0) s 1946 (4) w 1927 1913 1912 1915 1909 1909 1936 1915 1913 CT> CO CT r-4 1937 1891 1894
300 000 000 400 000 000 500 § § 000 000 ggggggSg OOOCOCO^QCOr-iCO g 000 000 200 600 000 100 700 200 300 100 430 O g §§§
CO CO IQ CO »Q CO CT 1Q CO CO CO IQ O CM CM CM CM ct o" co *Q co' O 2g cm’ iq" cm" b-" b^ CT »Q' G CO CM CO O 1Q IQ r-C ICOCOCO^OO O CM CO CO 00 00
Tf r-f o CO COCO r- CM CT CT 1Q CT CM co 00 00 CT CO CO CM CO i-t CO OOCOh Tf IQ
— HNS rH
See footnotes at end of table.
16 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 6.—Bureau of Reclamation dams—Continued
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
17
I*
i seleiHOigl e||e
ggg I §§8§SISisl8s Illi gg §88 g sigs’ ss
o' Hrtrttf w CM w'rH
■B B §8§§§s§3§8§§ §§§s ss §§§ r-T O-rt'rt'o'w'w'M Co'r-T
B-s § sis 33a
§§§ § § §§§§§§§§§§ §§§§ §s §§§ £ < gg?s^-§'g-g' <§T- gy
I*
18 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 7.—Projects in operation—irrigation and crop value data for the calendar year 191^8
PART II-ANNUAL
REPORTS OF
BUREAUS AND OFFICES
19
§ I ft! £ i •
So
8
53
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s
s
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38 § '§
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Oiiis I fflfflQ Qco
See footnotes at end of table.
20 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 21
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 1948—Continued
PART II-ANNUAL
REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 23
t i Hl ! : i ! t 8 i ! 3 j i i i i : • ! 53 3
• i i i i : ; : i i i i s' H H i i i i i i i i i a
1* I1 i i i i l 5 i i i i i E
i ! i ili i i i i i i i i ill! i i §
i ; ; i i i ' ' ' i i ■ § Hi i i i i
j i ! i i i i • i IS 1 is i ; i i i i i i i °S
i i i i ! *} 279, 887 i i i i i i i 1 279,887
; i i i i I i i i IS i i i i i g S'
■ • • • i i| i III i g
i : i i i ■ ; ; ; • i is i i : ■ ■ 1 ! 1 ! i ! • B 2
i S' °r S8 086 ‘1ST g i i 8S°° a'a" 42, 316 g
r- I E s° E I i i i gj°° S
sss 8S % g§ SB 56.54 38.31 35. 52 § E 3
sgs ggag § sg as g g 68 y 2, 765, 307 296, 951 2,031, 537 g s BISS 8sSs I 3,427,233 118,161,484
S s gg cog § s§ Ss' 48,909 7,751 57,188 g sf g|g§ s's'^'s g E S
§§§ a- 1 q i-V s s gfs 48,909 7,216 39, 272 s d § 8 g
sSBs sss" bI ss as s S 68 B'S' 57, 200 7,915 72, 431 1 it 1548,921
mping unit (Milk 1 I division ivision mds Milk River project— iw division Ids division Sun River project .na-North Dakota wstone: No. 1 (Montana) No. 2 (North Dakota) Lower Yellowstone forth Dakota iton3 'outh Dakota tie. Wyoming division fountain division 4 division , Shoshone project i
See footnotes at end of tabh
863238—50----3
24
+ ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 7.—Projects in operation—irrigation and crop value data for the calendar year 1948—Continued
PART II-—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 25
Special and Warren Act contractors receiving water from Bureau constructed works Crop values Per acre $106.03 134. 46 197. 29 75.08 233. 04 44. 42 65.88 132. 76
Total $102, 761, 752 37, 539,605 103,042,956 1,435, 785 3,997,381 67,158 8,618,030 257,462,667
Net area in cultivation 969,160 279,196 522,286 19,124 17,153 1,512 130,810 1,939, 241
Irrigated area 971,178 262,042 503,225 19, 067 17,153 1,512 119, 959 1,894,136
Irrigable area 1,046, 382 304,035 626, 683 20, 013 20,301 1, 512 139, 625 2,158, 551
Projects furnished supplemental storage water from works constructed by the Bureau Crop values Per acre $71.94 0 0 73.84 95. 56 18.24 0 71.76
Total $13,005,078 0 0 23, 463,797 682, 704 279,887 0 37, 431, 466
Net area in cultivation 180, 765 0 0 317, 787 7,144 15, 342 0 521,038
Irrigated area 179, 565 0 0 314, 725 7,144 9,342 0 510, 776'
Irrigable area 1 195,985 0 0 374, 517 10, 550 10, 735 • 0 591, 787
Summary i । i i i i i r-4 C9 CO IO CO b- O o o o o .o .o ’bp’bn’br/bn’bn’bn bn q o o o o o o
Projects entirely constructed by the Bureau
cartc s
See footnotes at end of table.
26 +
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 7.—Projects in operation—irrigation and crop value data for the calendar year 1948—Continued
PART II--ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 27
Table 8.—Cumulative crop values—1906-1948
1 Includes projects constructed by the United States and those for which supplemental water is furnished from storage works built by United States. 2 Estimated.
28 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
Operation and maintenance is the phase of Reclamation most closely integrated with the Bureau’s entire program from the very first time an irrigation project is considered for construction until long after water has begun to flow down the ditch.
Operation and maintenance means providing irrigation water for more than 100,000 settlers on over 5 million acres of land, preparing lands for settlement where ultimately many times the present number of settlers will become Reclamation farmers, and last but not least to see that thousands of miles of irrigation facilities throughout the 17 Western States are kept in good working order to conserve and use the water to the greatest advantage and assure service to the people of that area.
Operation of the 60 irrigation projects, or divisions of projects, completed by the Bureau, including the use of water, maintenance of irrigation systems, the production of crops and livestock, and the general welfare of the water users on the land are problems of primary concern to every Reclamation employee from the man on the ditch to the Commissioner.
The Government has invested large sums of money in these projects and it is of paramount importance that they be maintained on a sound financial, agricultural and economic basis if the settlers are to succeed and the Government is to realize full return on its investment.
Noteworthy operation and maintenance accomplishments during the year were the large number of repayment and amendatory contracts which were executed in compliance with a directive from Congress. A report on this situation was made to Congress and to irrigation groups in February 1949.
A considerable amount of work was completed under the newly launched rehabilitation and betterment program, progress was noted on the lower cost canal lining program, sprinkler irrigation studies, as well as continuing improvement in weed-control activities. Hundreds of veterans-settlers profited from the new development farms, as well as from the various agreements executed by the Bureau with the United States Department of Agriculture and State agricultural colleges. Through these agreements assistant county extension agents help advise in matters relative to crops and livestock, and advise on numerous other problems which confront new homesteaders.
Crop Production
Crops valued at $534,623,541 and averaging $113.76 per acre were produced in 1948 on 60 Federal Reclamation projects or divisions of
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 29
CROP RESULTS
on Federal Reclamation
n 1948
30 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
projects. This was the third consecutive year in which crop values exceeded one-half billion dollars despite some decline in prices. Of the value of crops produced, approximately 42 percent were food crops, 32 percent grain and forage, 11 percent cotton fiber, 10 percent seed crops (including cottonseed) and about 5 percent of the value was represented by miscellaneous crops and payments to water users by the Government and commercial agencies. The cumulative value of irrigation crops grown on Federal Reclamation projects since 1906 totals slightly more than 6 billion dollars.
The volume of crops harvested in 1948 totaled 13,258,688 tons. Prices received by farmers averaged somewhat lower and production costs continued at a high level. Significant shortages of surface water supplies were experienced on the Salt River, Rio Grande, Carlsbad, and Moon Lake projects.
The population on the 69,146 farms on regular Bureau projects and storage projects is estimated at 235,100 and the population on 23,322 farms served under Warren Act or special contracts is estimated at 93,400, making a total of about 328,500 people on 92,468 irrigated farms. Towns in and adjacent to these irrigation project areas, numbering about 370, have a population of approximately 1,298,000. The Reclamation area population therefore totals about 1,626,500.
Irrigated farms served by Federal Reclamation have increased from 86,181 in 1941 to 92,468 in 1948 and the over-all population of the farms and adjacent towns has increased during this same period from 1,088,500 to 1,626,500. In 1941, there were about 126 banks in which 237,600 depositors held about $269,000,000. In 1948, 563,400 depositors held $1,143,000,000 in 181 banking establishments.
The inventory value of livestock and equipment on Federal Reclamation projects as of November 1,1948, was $221,273,287 which exceeded the previous year’s value by $35,965,191. Livestock were valued at $99,253,237, and equipment, including motor vehicles, at $122,020,050.
Extension of Irrigation Service
Irrigation facilities were extended in 1948 by the Bureau whereby irrigation service could be provided for 5,380,015 acres, an increase of 213,232 acres over that of the previous crop year.
The area irrigated in 1948 totaled 4,458,755 acres, an increase of 97,053 acres over that of the previous crop year. Projects reporting the principal amount of this increase in acreage irrigated through facilities constructed by the Bureau include the following:
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 31
Irrigated Farms Acres
Tucumcari project, New Mexico____________________________________ 123 9, 823
W. C. Austin project, Oklahoma___________________________________ 227 14,160
Riverton project, Wyoming_________________________________________ 65 4, 200
Shoshone project, Wyoming_________________________________________ 30 1, 535
Buffalo Rapids project (second division), Montana__________________ 2 243
All-American Canal project, Coachella division, California_____ 13 1, 275
Gila project, Yuma Mesa division, Arizona__________________________ 8 11, 460
Kendrick project, Wyoming_________________________________________ 15 682
Mirage Flats project, Nebraska____________________________________ 16 2,152
Colorado-Big Thompson project, Colorado__________________________ 290 23, 000
Newlands project, Nevada_______________________________________ 372
Boise project, Payette division, Idaho____________________________ 65 1, 861
Deschutes project, north unit, Oregon-------------------------- 213 13, 200
Deschutes project, Arnold irrigation district, Oregon____________ 189 2, 964
Minidoka project, Idaho___________________________________________ 41 2,736
Yakima project, Roza division, Washington------------------------ 255 6, 408
Rathdrum Prairie project, Post Falls unit, Idaho------------------- 7 1, 083
Central Valley project, California_______________________________ 208 7, 422
Total2_________________________________________________ 1, 821 94, 576
1 Does not include area irrigated by Bureau prior to 1948 which was divided into 54 farm units.
2 Does not include area irrigated under lease prior to 1948 comprising 8,283 acres, on which 86 farm units were opened for homestead settlement on Klamath project in 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 and, to a lesser degree, to the need for completion of distribution systems.
Operation and Maintenance of Irrigation Systems
During the year, activities relating to the operation of storage, regulation, and distribution of irrigation water supplies were the prime business on operating projects. Irrigation water was delivered to the water users during fiscal year 1949 without a major break in the distribution system of any Bureau-operated project. Crops were profitably matured on all operating projects during the year despite some water shortages which occurred in the Southwest. On some projects where surface water was not adequate, ground water was pumped to supplement surface water supply. Programs for the control of irrigation transmission losses, sprinkler irrigation, reuse of return flows, project rehabilitation, and other items of water conservation were aggressively pursued so that the full utilization of our water resources might be accomplished.
In accordance with established congressional and Bureau policy, three projects were transferred to the waters users for operation dur
32 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
ing the year. These were Grand Valley in Colorado, Belle Fourche in South Dakota, and Vale in Oregon. Negotiations are now under way for the transfer of the Carlsbad project in New Mexico to the water users.
Additional drains were constructed to relieve areas of high ground water, and surveys were made to determine the extent and solution of future drainage problems.
Cooperation With Design and Construction
As cooperation is a “must” between experienced operation and maintenance personnel and the planning and designing forces in any large construction organization, the Chief Engineer has taken positive steps to make certain members of both branches cooperate in ironing out possible future problems which may arise in the design stage of any structure.
He is arranging for the appointment of an engineer experienced in both design and operation, whose chief duty will be to find examples of unusually good or bad operating results and pass this information along to the designing staff. In some regions, groups of designers have inspected operating projects with operating personnel, who point out the salient favorable or unfavorable features of the development. A start has been made toward the collection and analysis of recent water records for use in checking past plans and making new ones.
Sprinkler Irrigation
Sprinkler irrigation gives promise of making possible the satisfactory irrigation of lands which can be irrigated by surface methods only with great difficulty, if at all. Since certain Bureau projects contain large areas of land of this character, the Bureau initiated a rather thorough investigation of the possibilities. Upon the conclusion of this investigation, an extensive report was prepared. It is titled “Sprinkler Irrigation” and copies are now available to the public. These may be purchased for 20 cents each. Requests should be sent to the Superintendent of Documents, Government Printing Office, Washington 25, D. C.
Sprinkler systems have been installed by the Bureau of Reclamation on the Columbia Basin project in Washington, the Missouri River Basin project in both North and South Dakota, and the Gila project in Arizona. In these areas many types of systems are being used on a large variety of crops and under a wide range of conditions.
These systems will be operated long enough to provide definite results. The preliminary reports are favorable. Conclusions so far are that sprinkler irrigation is well-established as a successful practice
PART II--ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 33
with most crops and on most arable lands. It does not yet appear to be as economical or otherwise superior to surface methods on lands well-adapted to the latter.
Income Taxes From Reclamation Areas
Income-tax revenues from Federal Reclamation projects areas represent a return on the Federal investment above and in addition to the return of the construction costs by the irrigators and from power revenues.
Estimates have been made of the Federal individual income taxes paid from seven selected project areas, including the territory and town adjacent thereto. These seven Federal Reclamation areas paid almost 63 million dollars of individual income taxes in 1948 and more than 300 million dollars have been paid since 1916, when Federal income taxes were initiated. The construction costs through June 1948 for these projects total about 132 million dollars. Thus, the individual income-tax revenue has already amounted to almost 2% times the Federal project costs. The estimates for the individual areas are as follows:
Project area
1948
Total
Salt River project area, Arizona_____________________
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___________________________________________
Thousands
$26, 700 2,600
10,850 21, 500 309 419 395
62, 773
Thousands $136, 600
14, 700
46, 800
120,300
2, 360
2, 543
3,435
326, 738
The individual income taxes paid from these areas in 1948 amount to about $50 per irrigated acre, and the total taxes paid since 1916 equal almost $300 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 depends upon 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 $27,000,000 of individual income taxes, would raise the total Federal tax revenue from that area in 1948 to over 60 million dollars. The inclusion in the estimate of all Federal taxes would raise the above figure for the seven project areas to more than 80 million dollars
34 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
for 1948 and to more than 400 million dollars for the period 1916-48.
It is roughly estimated that about 1.2 billion dollars of individual income taxes or more than 1.6 billion dollars 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 less than 500 million dollars. These estimates do not include projects under construction such as Columbia Basin, Central Valley, and Missouri Basin, nor power developments at Hoover, Fort Peck, Parker, and Davis Dams.
Amendatory and New Repayment and Water Service Contracts
During the fiscal year 1949 notable progress was made in developing standards and procedures for repayment contract negotiations, in sorting out and classifying repayment problems, and in identifying and evaluating basic considerations in determining project payment ability.
Negotiation and execution of repayment contracts for new projects and units of projects exceeded the pace set in fiscal year 1948 to keep up with the accelerated construction program.
Under the authority of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, investigations were continued into the repayment problems of operating projects. Fiscal year 1949 saw the first substantial harvest of amendatory repayment contracts from investigations initiated in prior years as part of a coordinated program of investigations of the financial and repayment status of operating Reclamation projects. These amendatory contracts are designed to eliminate inequities in existing contracts and put the water users on a sound financial base. In most cases the significant change involved an adjustment of annual payments from an arbitrary basis to one which conforms more closely to the water users’ ability to pay based on economic analyses of the projects. Two important principles recognized in most of these contracts are: ( 500,000
Examples of some of the work performed are as follows: On the Fort Shaw unit of the Sun River project in Montana a 6-mile drainage system was completed, resulting in the rehabilitation of 600 acres of land; work on the replacement of a high-line flume on the Orland project in California was nearing completion. The entire project will benefit from this repair along with the planned replacement of gates for Stony Gorge and East Park Dams, and other general improvements either under way or planned; on the Willwood division of the Shoshone project a new drainage system was nearing completion which would guarantee protection to the entire acreage of the Willwood division, and work was progressing rapidly on the replacement of deteriorated wooden structures that have been in service for over 20 years.
Public-Land Openings
Ever since the first postwar public-land opening was held on the Klamath project in Oregon and California at the close of 1946, Nation
38 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
wide interest has been expressed in the remaining Reclamation publicland units.
While the number of remaining farm units is relatively limited, each time the Bureau announces a new public-land opening, a flood of applications pours in. As an example of the interest shown, an announcement of the homestead drawing held on Minidoka project on March 3, 1949, resulted in requests for 9,601 copies of the public notices, for which 1,112 ex-servicemen qualified and 46 public-land farm units embracing 4,465 acres on the Hunt unit were awarded to lucky veterans.
Five land openings covering public land on four projects and private land on one project were held during the past fiscal year. Inquiries regarding the first three of these (latest figures available at the time the report went to press) exceeded 36,000. The total area involved, public and Government acquired, was 30,728 acres, which were to be divided into 296 farm units. Of these, 846 acres comprising 10 units were Government-acquired lands on the Columbia Basin project in Washington which were sold to prospective settlers. These marked the first lands served by the irrigation facilities of this 1,000,000-acre project. Gradually the number of acres which will be irrigated will increase and the number of units available for resale to individuals will rise accordingly.
The Bureau will have 87,000 acres of this, its biggest individual irrigation project, available for settlement by 1952.
Veterans, under existing law, in all cases involving public lands have a 90-day preference period in which to apply for homestead units.
So far, most veteran homesteaders, at the close of the first year that they have been on the land, have reached the stage where they are building homes, establishing residence on their entries, and have cleared, leveled, and cultivated a portion of their land.
Land openings for the fiscal year 1949 and those scheduled for 1950 are:
Irrigated farms
Project
1949
1950
Acreage Units . Acreage Units
Columbia Basin1 __ - - 846 10 1,300 20
Klamath ___ _____ 8,283 86
Minidoka - - - 3i 618 46
Shoshone _ - ___ 12,070 104
Riverton _ _ - 5,911 50 14,400 103
Boise-Payette division _ _ __ 4,489 50
Yakima Roza _ - 723 11
Total 30, 728 296 20,912 184
i These lands are not made available to individuals in the same manner as public lands. The Bureau of Reclamation is acquiring them for resale to prospective homesteaders. The veterans’ preference will prevail in the resale of these lands the same as in the case of public lands.
PART II---ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 39
Settler Assistance and Land Development
The Bureau of Reclamation has both a moral and legal responsibility for seeing that settlers on Bureau of Reclamation projects have adequate technical assistance. It is concerned with the financial success and the consequent level of living of farm families on its projects. Furthermore, the Bureau is responsible for obtaining repayments of construction costs allocated to irrigation. It thus cannot escape its responsibility for seeing that everything necessary is done to enable settlers to obtain sufficient income to support their families at an adequate level of living and repay their obligations to the Government.
It is the policy of the Bureau, however, to encourage other agencies—local, State and Federal—to render the maximum amounts of the required assistance which their programs and facilities will permit, with the Bureau rendering only that assistance within the limitation of its program and facilities not rendered by other agencies. Such cooperative relations in settler assistance work may be provided for by either formal or informal agreements.
Cooperation in Settler Assistance
Settler assistance in many cases is provided for through formal agreement with State colleges of agriculture providing for the employment of assistant county agents who give special assistance to settlers on specified Bureau of Reclamation projects. Under the terms of these agreements the State agricultural extension service employs assistant county agents who are approved by the Bureau of Reclamation, but who work under the supervision of the State extension service. The extension service pays the salaries and office expenses of these assistant county agents, but the Bureau of Reclamation reimburses the extension service for the salaries paid.
Memoranda of understanding are now in effect with the respective State colleges of agriculture providing for the employment of assistant county agents on the following projects: Columbia Basin, Yakima, Owyhee, and Deschutes in Washington; Boise in Idaho; Shoshone, Riverton, and Kendrick in Wyoming; Vale in Oregon; and Milk River in Montana.
Much of the cooperative settler assistance work is provided for through informal agreements with various local, State and Federal agencies. Where several agencies such as the Farmers Home Admin-istration, Soil Conservation Service, Production and Marketing Administration, Rural Electrification Administration, and the extension service are in position to cooperate in settler assistance work, representatives of these agencies formulate a program outlining the type of assistance which each agency is in position to render. This
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40 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
program usually is prepared in pamphlet form and made available to the settlers in order that they may be informed where to go for the several types of assistance needed. Programs of this type have been carried out on the Shoshone, Minidoka, Yakima, Klamath, Gila, and Yuma projects where farms have been opened to settlement during the past 3 years.
Development Farms
As a part of its settler assistance program the Bureau is conducting development farms for the purpose of demonstrating approved practices in farm layout, irrigation methods, cultural practices, weed control, etc. In all cases the site for such development farms is selected in cooperation with the respective State agricultural colleges. The annual program for the development farm is formulated in cooperation with the State colleges. In some cases, such as on the Columbia Basin Project, the Bureau of Plant Industry and the Soil Conservation Service of the United States Department of Agriculture also cooperate in the development farm program. In most cas,es a portion of the development farm is set aside for experimental work conducted by the State college and/or Department of Agriculture agencies.
Eight development farms are now in operation. Three of these, namely, Moses Lake, Winchester and Pasco are located on the Columbia Basin project in Washington; one is on the Milk River project in Montana while four are on the Missouri River Basin project, two of which are in North Dakota at Bowbells and Mandan, and two in South Dakota at Huron and Redfield. The program on some of these farms is just getting under way, this being the first year of operation. These demonstrations will be of increasing interest as the program continues. All of the farms, with the exception of the one at Milk River, are located in new areas where irrigation is just getting under way or will be initiated during the next few years. In addition to demonstrating approved irrigation practices the farms will serve to show the results which may be expected from irrigation.
Land Development
In addition to technical assistance as outlined above, settlers on many projects are in need of actual assistance in land development including clearing, rough leveling, and the roughing in of farm irrigation and surface drainage ditches. Such assistance is furnished either by the Bureau itself or through informal agreements with Department of Agriculture agencies. On several projects consisting primarily of privately owned land, arrangements have been made whereby the Soil Conservation Service is giving special assistance to new irrigation farmers in the lay-out of the farm irrigation system, arrangement of
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 41 farm fields, clearing and leveling of land and establishing crop rotations. In such cases Bureau of Reclamation representatives cooperate with Soil Conservation Service personnel by supplying them with all available information such as land classification data, topographic maps and engineering plans.
On public land projects the Bureau, in appropriate cases, gives direct assistance on a reimbursable basis in the development of farm units including clearing and rough leveling the land and roughing in of farm irrigation and surface drainage system beyond the farm turn-out. In these cases the individual settlers make application for land development work and agreement is reached as to the nature and extent of the work to be done. The Bureau performs the work with its own equipment and the settler makes payment for this work over a period of years.
Weed Control
One of the most important functions of the Branch of Operation and Maintenance is its weed-control program. Special investigations concerning the water losses and operation and maintenance costs created by weed growths on irrigation distribution and drainage systems and project farms as well as the ditchbanks adjacent thereto were completed this year. These studies provided the basis for a publication entitled “Control of Weeds on Irrigation Systems” which is now available to the public. It might well be termed a “Weed” manual and will be of interest and assistance to every irrigation farmer, county agent and all various State and Federal officials who have to deal with the weed problem in any way. Copies may be obtained for 35. cents by writing to the Superintendent of Documents, United States Government Printing Office, Washington, D. C.
This publication was prepared with the full cooperation of numerous Federal and private irrigation districts, experimental stations, the extension service, and various other Federal, State, and county agencies, along with the Bureau of Plant Industry, and Soils and Agricultural Engineering, Department of Agriculture.
The publication describes the combined investigations which led to the finding of and adapting of new chemical methods for solving various weed problems. One such method developed in the Bureau’s Denver Chemical Laboratory has reduced the cost for chemicals to about one-tenth of those previously used for the control of water weeds. These pests often prevent efficient delivery of water, cause excess seepage, necessitate costly dredging of silt deposits and reduce the effectiveness of drains.
The introduction of methods, determined through research, for controlling canal bank weeds and willows has materially reduced maintenance costs and has allowed more extensive control operations. This
42 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
is resulting in the more effective elimination of these types of weeds which cause operation problems and transpire an estimated million acre-feet of water per year on Federal and private irrigation projects.
The educational weed-control program carried out for the benefit of project farmers through cooperation with Federal, State, and county organizations is resulting in more effective weed control on croplands. This, in turn, increases farmers’ profits and helps protect the Government’s investment in Reclamation projects because of the increased repayment ability. In addition to the program for controlling existing weed infestations, special consideration is given to prevention of weed growths, especially on new projects.
The research work, together with a regional weed-control program, is changing weed-control activities from costly, temporary and haphazard guesswork to an orderly program based on scientific methods.
Soil and Moisture Conservation Operations
The Bureau of Reclamation participates in the Department’s soil and moisture conservation program, looking toward effective control of accelerated erosion on the 14,500,000 acres of public lands under Reclamation’s jurisdiction; protection of its reservoirs, canals, and other irrigation works from siltation; and prevention of water losses detrimental to irrigation projects. Within the limit of the funds made available to the Bureau for these purposes, surveys to delineate our worst problem areas and enable programming of remedial measures to be taken thereon, and an action program for restoring some of the depleted lands and affecting a reduction in water losses, were continued during the past fiscal year. More specifically, the work consists of: (a) Revegetation of overgrazed or denuded lands; (Z>) the development of water diversions and water spreading devices designed to provide flood irrigation of otherwise dry lands and to eliminate water losses; (c) gully control through planting of trees, shrubs, and grass, together with the construction of check dams and water drops; and (
P co z O O
ft H G Z G
tn
§
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 49
AUTHORIZED TO BE CONSTRUCTED BY BUREAU OF RECLAMATION
V
50 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Additional authorized plants not presently under construction will consist of 22 power plants with a total installed capacity of 809,960 kilowatts. Additional power plants authorized for construction by the Corps of Engineers, from which the Bureau of Reclamation is responsible for marketing power, will total 630,000 kilowatts in three plants on the Missouri River.
Transmission Lines
At the close of fiscal year 1949, the Bureau of Reclamation had approximately 3,300 miles of high-voltage transmission lines in operation. During the fiscal year the principal lines placed in operation were approximately 25 miles of 230-kilovolt transmission line from Shasta power plant to the Shasta substation of the Pacific Gas & Electric Co.; 72 miles of 115-kilovolt line from Elephant Butte to Sorocco, N. M., on the Rio Grande project; initial operation at 33-kilo-volt of the 100-mile Fort Peck to Bainville, Mont., section of the 115-kilovolt Fort Peck-Williston line; and initial operation of the 37-mile Beulah to Garrison section of the Williston-Garrison 115-kilovolt transmission line. Approximately 2,000 miles of additional high-voltage transmission lines were under construction during fiscal year 1949. These additional lines will be placed in operation during the next 2 or 3 years.
Electric Energy Sales
The Bureau of Reclamation operated 17 power plants during the fiscal year, and, under the provisions of the Fort Peck Project Act of 1938, marketed the output of the Fort Peck power plant operated by the Corps of Engineers. During this year the sales of electric energy, not including transactions between Bureau projects, totaled approximately 18,144,000,000 kilowatt-hours. The revenue from these sales reached an all-time high of approximately $32,000,000. This compares to a total of sales of 15,191,150,147 kilowatt-hours, and revenues of $25,342,811 during fiscal year 1948. Revenues for fiscal year 1949 exceeded previous estimates by approximately $6,000,000. A large part of this increase in revenue resulted from heavy demands for electric power, and integration of the Bureau 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.
PART II-ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 51
Table 10.—United States Department of the Interior, Bureau of Reclamation power systems, power sales and revenues by projects, fiscal year ending June 30, 1949 1
Project Sales of electric energy (kilowatt-hours) Revenues from sales of electric energy Project Sales of electric energy (kilowatt-hours) Revenues from sales of electric energy
Region I: Boise 38, 085,432 9,108,463,600 120, 503,022 21,791,008 1,624, 006,921 5,668,155,482 837,348,212 9, 216,184 74,891,173 $44,504 9,175, 034 430, 779 58,229 6,523, 222 9, 259,599 2,985,906 42,517 388, 525 Region VI: Fort Peck 327, 261,644 28, 237,924 57,246,622 38,959,104 109, 710,598 80, 515,874 $950,392 189,538 314,886 419,890 558,938 697, 706
Columbia Basin Minidoka Riverton .
Shoshone. ....
Yakima Region VII: North Platte
Region II: Central Valley. Region III: Boulder Canyon..
Kendrick ..
Colorado-Big Thompson __ _
Parker -
Yuma .. Total
18,144, 392,800 32, 039,665
Region V: Rio Grande...
1 Does not include energy sales and revenues in transactions between Bureau projects. Note.—Data shown are preliminary and are subject to revisions.
Power Contracts
During fiscal year 1949, power was delivered to numerous major and minor users of power. Major deliveries were made to 26 municipalities, 7 State government agencies, 52 rural electric cooperatives, 3 Federal agencies, 45 public authorities, 24 commercial and industrial users, and 37 privately owned utilities. A summary by classification of customers for the 12 months ending June 30, 1949, is contained in table 11.
Table 11.—Summary by classification of customers for 12 months ending June 30, 1949 1
Number of customers
Sales of electric energy (kilowatt-hours)
Revenues from sales of electric energy
Privately owned utilities_________________________________
Municipal utilities_______________________________________
State government utilities_______.________________________
Cooperative utilities_____________________________________
Other Federal utilities___________________________________
Residential and domestic__________________________________
Rural_____________________________________________________
Commercial and industrial_________________________________
Public authorities________________________________________
Interdepartmental_________________________________________
Other sales_______________________________________________
37
26
7
52
3
484
4
24
45
28
1
4,641,092,434
3,084,206,424
609,415,194
88,483,666
9, 111, 691, 622
5,019,537
72, 771
61,302,343
445,482,100
97,611,349
15,360
$12,964,070
5,063, 509
1,974,875
659,209
9,272,521
33,402
868
400,642
1,445,014
225,335
220
Total, all customers.
18,144,392,800
32,039,665
1 Does not include energy sales and revenues in transactions between Bureau projects.
During the year, 80 contracts for delivery of power were executed. These include 7 contracts with irrigation districts, 5 with other Federal bureaus and agencies, 2 with public power districts, 2 with State authorities, 17 with private utilities, 24 with rural electric coppera-tives, 16 with municipalities, and 7 with other customers. A number of these contracts were renewals of expiring contracts or revisions
52 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
resulting from changed conditions. The decrease in commercial and industrial customers shown in table 11, from 45 last year to 24 this year, resulted from consolidation of accounts. They occurred principally on the Rio Grande project where 21 accounts were merged into 2 accounts.
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, especially cooperatives in the Dakota system of the company. 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. Similar wheeling arrangements are now under negotiation with other utilities in the Missouri River Basin area.
The Bureau of Reclamation, at the beginning of fiscal year 1949, had 114 contracts for delivery of power under negotiation. These include 58 with rural electric cooperatives, 16 with private utilities, 15 with municipalities, 9 with irrigation districts, 4 with State authorities, 4 with Federal agencies and bureaus, and 8 with other customers. A number of these are to renew existing contracts or to revise them to reflect changed conditions. Included in the above summary of contracts under negotiation are contracts w.ith 20 cooperatives and irrigation districts to be served through arrangement with the Montana-Dakota Utilities Co. 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.
PROJECT PLANNING
Investigations and Planning
Three events of major significance to the planning of water resource development occurred in the past fiscal year. Complete agreement between the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers was reached on a coordinated plan of water resource development for the Columbia River Basin and upon principles and responsibilities to guide the accomplishment of this plan. A compact between the States of the Upper Colorado River Basin on the division of their share of Colorado River water was consummated, thus clearing the way for development of specific plans for utilizing the water resources in the Upper Basin States. The Bureau of Reclamation initiated a program of water resource development in Alaska. All three of these events are ones that will lead to important water resource development programs over the next half-century or more.
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Elsewhere the investigation and planning of water resource development proceeded along anticipated lines. Each succeeding year, however, emphasizes that investigation and planning are becoming more and more involved. During the first few decades of water development in the West, the inexpensive, easily developed projects were almost completely exhausted largely by privately financed development. The remaining potentials are, in the main, long-range basin developments of exceeding complexity which only the Federal Government has the ability to finance. A reduction in the funds appropriated for the planning program was made by the Congress in fiscal year 1948, and this reduced program was necessarily continued through fiscal year 1949 not only because of lack of ample funds but because of personnel and administrative restrictions placed on the Bureau by the Congress. Good progress was made on those investigations which could be financed during the year.
Comprehensive Basin Survey Reports
The most significant development in basin planning during the fiscal year was the coordination of the plans of the Bureau of Reclamation and of the Corps of Engineers for the comprehensive development of the Columbia River Basin, formalized by the “Agreement on Principles and Responsibilities for the Comprehensive Plan of Development—Columbia River Basin” signed on April 11, 1949, by the Secretary of the Interior and the Commissioner of Reclamation and by the Secretary of the Army and the Chief of Engineers. At the end of the year there was pending before the Congress legislation which would authorize a program to develop water and related resources of the Columbia River Basin in accordance with this agreement and with the recommendations of the “308 Review Report” of the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, and the “Report on Comprehensive Plan of Development of the Water and Related Resources of the Columbia River Basin” of the Bureau of Reclamation, Department of the Interior. The two reports supplement each other. Together these reports contain both long-range plans for the ultimate complete control and conservation of the basin’s water resources, and recommendations for authorization of an immediate program of construction as the next step towards full development. The plans also provide for the integration of related programs of land and other resource improvements that are the primary responsibilities of other Federal and State agencies.
At the end of the fiscal year the report on the Central Valley Basin was under review by the Bureau of the Budget. Later, upon completion of this review, the report was transmitted to the Congress.
54 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
New Project Authorized
A project planning report was completed on the Solano County project in California. The project was authorized for construction by a finding of feasibility by the Secretary of the Interior. Also, the enlargement of the power plant at Grand Coulee Dam of the Columbia Basin project in Washington to include additional power units R-7, R-8, and R-9 was authorized by a finding of feasibility by the Secretary in a planning report.
Other Project Planning Reports
Project planning reports on The Dalles project, west unit in Oregon and the central Arizona project in Arizona, New Mexico, and Utah were submitted to the Congress by the Secretary with recommendations for favorable action on authorization of the projects. Reports on the Snowflake and Chino Valley projects in Arizona were forwarded to the Congress also, but without recommendation for authorization at this time. A similar report on the Emery County project in Utah was forwarded to the President.
At the end of the fiscal year, reports on the Lyman project in Wyoming, the Vermejo project in New Mexico and the Big Creek project in Texas, were under review by the affected States and other agencies.
Supplemental reports supporting the findings in the Bureau’s report on the Columbia River Basin were prepared on the following projects which are proposed for authorization in the next step in the development of the basin:
Bitterroot Valley project, Mont.
Cambridge Bench project, Idaho.
Canby project, Oreg.
Council project, Idaho.
Crooked River project, Oreg.
Hells Canyon project, Idaho, Oreg.
Mountain Home project, Idaho.
Upper Star Valley project, Wyoming, Idaho.
Vale project, Bully Creek extension, Oreg.
River Compacts
A second important development in basin planning was the consummation of a compact between the States on the use of the waters of the Upper Colorado River. This compact entered into by the States of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Wyoming, and Arizona was approved by the President on May 6, 1949, and became Public Law 37 of the Eighty-first Congress. For years the lack of this Compact prevented the formulation of the comprehensive plan for the complete and efii-®ient utilization of the waters of the Upper Colorado River. With the situation with respect to water rights thus clarified, it is now pos
PART II----ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES ♦ 55
sible to proceed with the planning for the comprehensive development of this basin.
A compact between the States of Colorado and Kansas on the Arkansas River was completed and was approved as Public Law 82, Eighty-first Congress, and another compact on the Pecos River was completed by the States of New Mexico and Texas and approved as Public Law 91, Eighty-first Congress.
Alaska Investigations
In the appropriation act for fiscal year 1949, the Congress made an initial appropriation of $150,000 to the Bureau of Reclamation for investigations in Alaska relating to water power resources as a basis for legislation. Field investigations were started immediately and the Bureau completed a report on the Eklutna project which was transmitted to the President. It also made a general preliminary reconnaissance and report on the water resources of the Territory of Alaska. The Bureau is completing another report on the Lake Dorothy project, but so far only the surface has been scratched in investigating the possibilities of water resources development in the Territory.
The reconnaisance report points out that there has been virtually no organized effort on the part of any agency, public or private, to develop or stimulate expansion of industry, community life and agriculture in Alaska. This report reveals that there is a need and that there are vast opportunities for development in the Territory. For example, although only the major streams have been reconnoitered, already the Bureau’s engineers have found hydroelectric power sites which could produce nearly 50 billion kilowatt-hours of energy annually. This is equal to nearly one-fifth of the entire electric power production by utilities in the United States last year.
Development of the natural resources of Alaska is essential. It will provide impetus for the industrial expansion and settlement of Alaska and in the ultimate sense, for the defense of the Territory by the prudent development of power, irrigation, and drainage projects. However, before a public works program of any size could go ahead in Alaska, considerable investigation work will have to be undertaken and completed.
Hydrology
In addition to the normal hydrologic studies required for planning and operation of projects the Bureau of Reclamation participated with other Federal agencies through the Federal Inter-Agency River Basin Committee in publishing a revised edition of river basin maps
863238—50----5
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
showing hydrologic installations in the United States, an inventory of sediment sampling stations in the United States and quality of water stations in the 17 western States and the Proceedings of the Federal Inter-Agency Sedimentation Conference.
Sedimentation studies were made in connection with specific investigations, particularly in the Middle Loup River Basin in Nebraska, the Colorado River Basin in Arizona, Colorado and Utah; the Angostura unit and the Moorhead unit of the Missouri River Basin project, the North Platte project and the Lower Platte River Basin. Sedimentation surveys were made of Guernsey, Altus, Tongue, Buffalo Bill, and Mason Reservoirs and Sheridan County Lake. The survey of Lake Mead in cooperation with the Geological Survey and the Navy was completed.
These surveys provided valuable information needed to develop the means for attaining maximum efficiency in the operation of projects concerned and to aid in preparation of plans for projected work.
In the instance of Guernsey Reservoir on North Platte River, Wyo., for example, the survey disclosed that the storage capacity of the reservoir was reduced 33.41 percent by sedimentation representing the loss of 24,660 acre-feet, which at $25.48 per acre-foot of storage capacity means a loss of $628,336.80 against an investment of $1,881,036, or about 30 percent. For Tongue Reservoir on the Tongue River, Wyo., the survey disclosed that sedimentation had reduced storage capacity 4.2 percent representing a loss of 3,071 acre-feet, which at $17.93 per acre-foot of storage capacity means a loss of $55,000 against an investment of $1,300,000 or in excess of 4 percent.
The research being conducted by the Army, Navy, and Weather Bureau on artificial precipitation was studied by the Bureau of Reclamation. Liaison on this work with those agencies was established enabling the Bureau to keep abreast of the research of those agencies, and to be advised on the work to the extent that it may effect western water supplies.
International Investigations
As a result of negotiations between Canada and the United States, the two governments jointly sent a reference to the International Joint Commission requesting that a study and advisory findings be made of the present and future uses, and apportionments between the two countries, of certain international streams between the continental divide on the west to and including the Red River of the North on the east.
The International Engineering Boards with their Field Engineering Committee, which included representatives of the Bureau of Reclamation, conducted field studies of available water supplies, the
PART II--ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 57
present water uses, and potential future water uses in the vicinity of the international boundary. These determinations are required under the reference as one basis upon which an apportionment between the two countries of the waters under the reference may be recommended.
PROGRAMS AND FINANCE
New Accounting System
After an exhaustive inquiry by the Congress, a Senate Committee emphasized the importance of an early revision of the Bureau’s accounting system and related procedures, and instructed the Comptroller General of the United States to work out with the Secretary of the Interior an improvement of the Bureau’s accounting system. In accordance with these instructions, representatives of the Bureau of Reclamation and the General Accounting Office have revised the Bureau’s accounting system and related procedures.
The Bureau of Reclamation as a governmental agency is required to keep accounts to meet the accounting and reporting requirements of the Congress, the General Accounting Office, the Treasury, and the Bureau of the Budget. As a producer and distributor of electric power, it is also required by law to keep accounts to meet the accounting and reporting requirements of the Federal Power Commission, which include annual financial statements covering each year’s operations of all power projects.
As distinguished from the statutory and regulatory requirements discussed above, other important purposes are:
To provide control of expenditures and application of funds for all activities through a coordinated system of accounting, programing, and budgetary reports.
To provide standard and uniform financial statements and reports to summarize the information which is required regularly by the Bureau’s administrators for managerial purposes.
To provide for the recording of financial information in a consistent and uniform manner to make possible the compilation of data in such form as to be comparable with similar data for other periods and other projects.
To facilitate the determination of fidelity of persons administering public funds and properties.
Most of the principles used in commercial accounting are incorporated in the Bureau’s system of accounts. The Bureau, as a governmental agency, is financed from appropriated funds and is required also to use many of the accounting principles developed for Government, particularly those that relate to budgetary procedures. Cer
58 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
tain other principles that are peculiar to the Bureau stem from reclamation laws. The following are essential principles of the system:
The project is considered as the “accounting entity” or the level of operation for the maintenance of the books of accounts. Each project is considered as a basic unit and accounts for its assets, liabilities, income, expenses, the amount appropriated to the project, and the investment of the Government and facility users.
A decentralized system of accounting has been established which results in independent accounts being kept by each project. The control of funds is provided by means of branch office accounts maintained in the Commissioner’s office and regional offices.
Properties are accounted for at original cost. Cost accounts for operation and maintenance are on an “applied” or “consumed” basis. Elements of such costs are assigned in the accounting period to which such costs are applicable regardless of the sources of such charges or the time when obligations are incurred or expenditures made.
A system of budgetary control is integrated with the general ledger accounts by the use of subaccounts and special accounting procedures. The budgetary accounts reflect the unliquidated obligations, accrued expenditures, and the unobligated balances of appropriated funds.
The classification of accounts is uniform for programing, budgeting, accounting, and subsequent reporting.
Expenditures are accounted for on the accrual basis, i. e., expenditures are recorded in the allotment accounts when work or services are performed of materials and property received, regardless of whether the vouchers for such items have been paid.
The system of accounts effectively distinguishes between capital and expense.
The following accounts have already been incorporated in the Bureau’s new accounting system: General ledger accounts, plant in service accounts, construction work in progress accounts, allotment ledger accounts, electric operating income and expense accounts, and irrigation operation and maintenance accounts.
The general ledger accounts are the basis of the new accounting system, and include all of the control accounts required for the preparation of balance sheets and supporting schedules. The general ledger accounts are so designed that any type of appropriation can be accounted for irrespective of whether the money is to be spent for construction, investigations, operation and maintenance, or other type of activities. Fund control accounts are provided which interlock all offices (project, regional and Washington). These are termed reciprocal accounts and conform to accepted principles of branchoffice accounting. The following types of general ledger accounts have been prescribed:
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The Commissioner’s fund-control accounts control the distribution of appropriated funds and repayments (refunds and reimbursements). A record is kept of all unappropriated funds administered by the Bureau of Reclamation. The accounts also provide the controls which are necessary with the Treasury Department and the Chief Disbursing Officer. The Commissioner allocates the appropriated funds to the various regions for allotment by them to the projects and/or activities. Funds for disbursements are transferred within the amounts allocated to the project and regional offices.
The regional fund control accounts control the distribution of allocated funds which are allotted to the projects and/or activities. The accounts also reflect any unfunded balances due the projects under any appropriation or allotment. The Commissioner’s Office of Programs and Finance also maintains regional-type accounts for salaries and expenses, centralized project activities, investigations, and all other Bureau-wide appropriations except Missouri River Basin, rehabilitation and betterment, and the emergency fund.
Several types of general ledger accounts have been prescribed for the projects or Bureau activities, as follows: Project proprietary and fund accounts (for construction and operation and maintenance activities), Commissioner’s Washington and Denver Offices and regional offices financed from direct salaries and expenses appropriation, Commissioner’s Denver offices financed from transfers to the salaries and expenses appropriation, centralized project activities in regional offices, and investigations. It was considered necessary to prescribe individual types of accounts for projects and activities because the project is the accounting entity. Each accounts for its assets, liabilities, obligations and expenditures as well as reflects the Government’s investment, income and expenses, and its general financial condition.
Several groups of subsidiary accounts are required which furnish detailed information. The essential accounts prescribed are: Plant in service accounts: Multipurpose plant, irrigation plant, electric plant, municipal water, other plant; construction work in progress (cost accounts); clearing accounts; allotment accounts; operating income and expense accounts—electric; operating income and expense accounts—irrigation; and other.
Classification of expenditures (on an accrual basis) between capital and expense is important because it has a vital bearing on the financial statements, and eventually influences charges for water and power. Accordingly, plant and property acquired, as well as additions and betterments, whether by construction or purchase and regardless of the source of funds are capitalized at actual cost to the Government and classified to the appropriate plant in service accounts on the basis of the physical characteristics.
60 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Reclamation laws require that the investment in a project be allocated to the various purposes or functions authorized to be carried on by the project. Such allocations are necessary for rate-making purposes, establishing repayment contracts, determining interest payable to the Government on power facilities, pay-out schedules and for the determination of the total reimbursable and nonreimbursable costs of the project.
To assure conformance of work in progress with the Commissioner’s approved program and the intent of the Congress in appropriating funds, subsidiary construction cost accounts and a work-order system have been prescribed to accumulate cost data by identified and classes of properties. Control is exercised over construction expenditures through the work-order system as major changes in the program must be approved by the Commissioner of the Bureau.
Clearing accounts have been prescribed to accomplish two important purposes: (1) to accumulate costs by activities which benefit several functions, features or units of a project and which must be distributed on the basis of benefits received by each, and (2) to accumulate costs which cannot be assigned to the appropriate function at the time the expenditure is incurred.
The allotment accounts are designed and maintained for one basic purpose, which is to make certain that the Bureau conforms with the Antideficiency Act. Departments are prohibited from incurring obligations and spending more than has been appropriated. All transactions involving expenditures or obligating the Bureau for future expenditures are recorded on a current basis. The unencumbered and unobligated allotments, unliquidated obligations, and expended and unexpended balances of the allotments are also shown.
The operating income and expense accounts, electric, are designed to show the amount of money earned by the projects from furnishing electricity and services incidental thereto. The expense accounts show the detailed cost of furnishing these services. The classification of accounts conforms to the system prescribed by the Federal Power Commission.
The operating income and expense accounts, irrigation, are designed to show the different types of income from furnishing water under contracts and miscellaneous receipts incidental to irrigation operations. The expense accounts show the detailed cost of furnishing the irrigation water. The classification of accounts is set up on the same general principal as is provided for under electric-operating expenses.
Separate accounts are established for: (1) operation and maintenance charges financed by advances: (2) operations under section 9 (e) of the 1939 Reclamation Law where the annual rates for service is to return the cost of operation and maintenance and the construction costs over the period of the water contracts; and (3) for operations paid
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from Reclamation Fund appropriations and reimbursed by water users.
Other subsidiary accounts are established for such items as repayment contracts, contributions in aid of construction, and special deposits where the detail work involved justifies subsidiary accounts.
All financial and operating statements, including the fund statements, are prepared from the general ledger and related subsidiary accounts. The basic financial statements and reports which will be submitted either monthly, semiannually, or annually are: Balance sheet, income and expense statements, construction work in progress statement, plant in service statements, report on status of appropriations, analysis of operating surplus or deficit, and sources and application of funds statement. These statements constitute the source of all financial data. Any other financial information shall be certified correct by the regional programs and finance officers.
The new accounting system has been completely installed in all projects of the Bureau of Reclamation as of June 30, 1949, with the exception of the work-order system, which has been partially installed on all major construction projects.
M anualization of Procedures
During the fiscal year, a basic system was developed to control the programing, budgeting, accounting, and reporting of Bureau activities. The primary emphasis has been on construction activities; and, although much work remains to be done on many of the detail elements of the system, and on its complete application to investigations, operation and maintenance, rehabilitation and betterment, and other substantive activities, the essential system is now in operation.
During the early months of the year, key personnel of the Office of Programs and Finance, in collaboration with representatives of the General Accounting Office, the Bureau of the Budget, and the Treasury Department, conducted a series of trial installations of a new system in several field offices in region 1. The offices were carefully selected to provide a representative cross-section of all types of Bureau activities.
The new program system covers control schedules, cost schedules, budget documents, and a system of program reports which reconcile with the financial records and accounts and provide complete integration of the budget documents with the program schedule and reports. A preliminary draft of procedures for construction activities has been issued and will be used as a prototype for extending the system to all other activities.
Major segments of the accounting system have been printed in final Manual form which includes the completely integrated system of
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general ledger accounts, the procedure to control funds at all organizational levels, the allotment accounting system which will insure against the overobligation of funds and appropriations, integrated billing and collection procedure, and a complete system of financial statements and reports based on the new general ledger accounts.
With the co-operation of the Treasury Department, a modified disbursing procedure was developed, which eliminates the transmission of bulky documents to the Treasury Disbursing Offices, but retains all elements necessary for a thorough audit of disbursements by the General Accounting Office.
During the development of the new system, more than 50 forms and reports have been eliminated, and it is anticipated that at least 200 more will be eliminated by the time the new system is completed.
At the end of the year, work was in progress on the development of procurement and property accounting procedures, a simplified pay-roll and retirement accounting procedure, and the refinement and manualization of all of the program, budget, and reporting procedures.
Program Coordination
Programing operations which provide for the proper coordination of all phases of the Bureau’s activities into a sound construction program and the maintenance of the necessary administrative control to keep the program advancing along a prescribed path toward stated objectives was firmly entrenched during the year.
By the beginning of the fiscal year, a coordinated program and finance organization had been established throughout the Bureau and programing procedures, built up primarily around the control schedule, PF-2, and the annual project schedule, PF-3, had been promulgated and placed in service. While these procedures and documents have proved extremely valuable, the programing personnel has devoted considerable effort during the fiscal year to refining and improving those procedures in the light of actual experience in their preparation and use for the development and control of the project programs and for budget presentations. The instructions for the preparation of the various programing schedules have been revised to achieve greater uniformity in presentation, greater flexibility in programing so as to accommodate changing conditions and budgetary requirements, and more adequate presentation of the project content and scope. In addition, special attention has been given to coordinating the programing procedures and operations with the revised accounting system of the Bureau.
Coordination of programing and budgeting has been achieved by avoidance of hairsplitting definitions of functions and jurisdiction
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Table 12.—Bureau of Reclamation schedule of advance construction program, fiscal years 1950-56—authorized projects
1 Includes $784,700 contractors claims not included in total estimated cost.
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1 Includes $784,700 contractors claims not included in total estimated cost.
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F = Full S = Supp
66
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Table 12.—Bureau of Reclamation schedule of advance construction program, fiscal years 1950-66—authorized projects—Continued
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P^H CO Pq CO pA CO pq CO pq CO pt| CO pH CO pn CO pq CO pq CO CO CO CO pA CO P^h CO
Utah------------1------,---1---1---1---1---|---1----1-----1 S |-----1 46.2
Ph co
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and by maximizing the interchange of information between the two processes. While the programing precedes budgeting in point of time and the processes have independent courses, requirements and timescheduling, a close working relationship was maintained between the two functions to achieve a well coordinated operation for the development of sound realistic programs and the translation, in a limited amount of time, of those programs into budgetary forms.
The financing and programing problems arising from the continuation of construction on the remaining nearly completed Water Conservation and Utilization projects was examined. Completion of some of these projects requires substantial additional expenditures and the remaining construction cannot be undertaken without additional authority, either because of provisions contained in the basic authorization relating to the total cost or because of the disproportionate repayment arrangements brought about by increased costs.
Appropriations
The regular and supplemental appropriations for 1949 of $266,763,-964 were the largest ever received by the Bureau. With an unused balance of $32,318,077 from the previous year, the money available for Reclamation totaled $298,982,041—the largest annual program in the history of the Bureau.
Due in large part to unexpected delays in the passage of supplemental appropriations amounting to over 20 million dollars (such appropriations being made available in the latter part of the fourth quarter), at the end of the fiscal year there was an unobligated 35% million dollars carried over into fiscal year 1950. On the same basis, obligations for fiscal year 1949 totaled 264.5 million dollars, representing 88.5 percent of work programed in 1949 compared with 88 percent accomplished in fiscal year 1948 and 82 percent for fiscal year 1947.
Certain restrictions in the 1949 Appropriation Act, as in 1948, handicapped the Bureau during the year in its construction program. One restriction was the limitation placed on construction work by Government forces (“force account” work), whereby not to exceed 8 percent of the appropriation of any project could be so used. Although most Reclamation work is done by contract with private construction firms who build according to Bureau design and under the supervision of Bureau engineers, some activities are outside the general contracting field, risks are great, and contractors either are not interested or feel that they must protect themselves by higher bids.
Another restriction was a limitation during the greater part of the fiscal year of $7,800,000 on design work for the projects performed by
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the Bureau’s central design office at Denver. While this limitation was increased to $9,250,000 in the last quarter of the year, it still had the effect of limiting service at a time when construction work was being accelerated. It was necessary to continue a large part of the design work in the project offices where difficulty to recruit and retain experienced personnel was encountered.
A $50,000 restriction upon expenditures for General Offices public informational services again materially impaired the ability of the Bureau to respond to increased requests for information from the Congress, the press, and the public, resulting from added interest caused by the expanded construction program. The burden of this work fell to a great extent on an overtaxed technical staff and on officers responsible for the prosecution of the construction program, hampering performance of regular work for which they were responsible.
Restrictions limiting the amount which could be expended for personal services of all kinds to $48,000,000 and the number of employees in grades CAF-9 and P-3 and above to 3,500 were important factors in the Bureau’s inability fully to execute the program scheduled. The limitation for all personal services was increased to $54,500,000 in the last quarter of the year, but here again the relief came too late to have any real salutary effect on the Bureau’s program, and as a result the unobligated balance carried over into 1950 was considerably increased.
Finally, a restrictive clause setting forth the qualifications required for persons holding the offices of Commissioner, Assistant Commissioner, and Regional Director resulted in the Commissioner and the Director of Region 2 serving without pay from January 31 to June 30. Request for a supplemental appropriation to cover the salaries of these officials thus withheld has been submitted.
Reclamation construction work in the West was originally financed from the Reclamation fund, which consisted of money received from the sale of public land supplemented by small loans from the Treasury and, later, oil royalties. In 1916, Congress began to make annual appropriations out of the fund for the work and the Bureau was required to budget its needs for the coming fiscal year’s operations and justify the appropriation requested in the same manner as all other Government agencies.
Funds made available to the Bureau from its inception to date are shown in the following table. From 1902 to 1915 the amounts shown were authorized by Secretarial action. Subsequent amounts were appropriated by Congress.
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Table 13.—Allotments from Reclamation fund, 1902-15, appropriations from Reclamation and general funds, 1916-49, and emergency fund allocations (NIRA, PWA, and ERA)
Fiscal year Allotments from Reclamation fund Appropriations (including revenue authorizations) Emergency fund allocations Total
1902 } i $855,000 1 18, 200,000 i 8, 758,000 i 2-9, 711,173 i 15,211,407 1 10, 011, 765 1 10, 378,950 1 8, 504, 050 24, 722, 790 7, 286,000 6,229, 000 9, 764,166 11, 742,042 1 $855,000 1 18,200,000 1 8, 758,000 12-9, 711,173 i 16, 211, 407 110, Oil, 765 1 10, 378,950 1 8, 504, 050 24, 722, 790 7,286,000 6, 229, 000 9, 764,166 11, 742,042 13, 530,000 8,902, 557 8, 537, 213 9,840, 277 7,848,927 9,124,177 20, 601,871 15,359, 530 12,564,067 13,640,809 12,363, 240 7, 556, 320 12,203,800 14, 443, 400 8, 743,000 20, 242,000 22, 371,000 25,866,953 98,661,433 31. 700, 537 52, 321,846 58, 090,962 73, 507,115 47, 787, 254 80,880,632 74, 547,114 102, 800,855 91, 663, 670 41,610, 575 27, 434, 000 120,943, 650 119, 631,088 143,185,038 266, 203, 767
1904
1905
1906
1907 $1,000, 000
1908. ...
1909
1910
1911
1912
1913
1914
1915 .
1916 13, 530,000 8,902, 557 8, 537,213 9, 840,277 7, 848,927 9,124,177 20, 601,871 15, 359, 530 12, 564, 067 13, 640, 809 12, 363,240 7, 556, 320 12, 203, 800 14,443, 400 8, 743,000 20,242, 000 22, 371,000 25,866,953 11,456, 335 1,176, 750 15, 438,100 56, 444, 600 42, 417, 600 45, 410, 600 78,165, 600 74, 533, 600 102, 776,031 91,663,670 41, 610, 575 27, 434, 000 120,943, 650 119, 631, 088 143,185,038 266, 203, 767
1917
1918
1919
1920
1921
1922
1923
1924
1925
1926 .
1927
1928
1929
1930
1931
1932
1933
1934 $87, 205,098 30, 523, 787 36,883, 746 1, 646,362 31,089, 515 2,376, 654 2, 715, 032 13, 514 24, 824
1935
1936
1937
1938 _
1939
1940
1941
1942
1943
1944
1945 .
1946
1947
1948
1949
i Calendar year.
2 Negative amount reflects partial invalidation of previous allotments.
The amount appropriated, including all suppiementals for fiscal year 1949 for each activity, is as follows:
Table 14.—Condensed statement of appropriations, fiscal year 1949, exclusive of trust funds
Appropriation Amount
Reclamation fund, special fund: Salaries and expenses . _ _ _ $3,860,000 3, 500, 000 18, 250, 810
General investigations - —
Construction1 - __ - - - - ---
Operation and maintenance—direct appropriation (irrigation) $1,841,853 Operation and maintenance—power revenues 6,999,601
Operation and maintenance, total 8,841, 454
1 In addition, Appropriation Act permits contract authorization of $1,600,000 for Santa Barbara County project, California (Caehuma Unit) and $2,000,000 for Palisades project.
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Table 14—Condensed statement of appropriations, fiscal year 1949, exclusive of trust funds—Continued
Appropriation Amount
Reclamation fund, special fund:—Continued Emergency fund Rehabilitation and betterment of existing projects - $1,000, 000 1, 500,000
Total, Reclamation fund, special fund (includes appropriation from power revenues)... General fund: 36, 952,264
Alaskan investigations Construction 150, 000 227, 211, 700
Total, general fund Colorado River Dam fund: 227,361,700
Colorado River development fund (expenditure account) Boulder Canyon, operation and maintenance 900,000 1, 550,000
Colorado River Dam fund, total 2,450, 000
Total, general and special funds (includes appropriation from power revenues) 266, 763, 964
Funds available for appropriation from the Reclamation fund, and actual and estimated appropriations therefrom for fiscal years 1949-51, are shown in the following tabulation:
Table 15.— The Reclamation fund, 1948-50, funds available for appropriation
Item Actual 1948 Actual 1949 Estimate 1950
Unappropriated balance brought forward (as of June 30) . $14,173,102 $34, 759, 576 $41,136, 791
Accretions to fund: Public land sales . . - 412, 654 1, 014, 906 450,000
Mineral Leasing Act .. Potassium royalties and rentals . _..... 10, 070, 710 133,352 18,347,297 17,876 14,000,000 150, 000
Federal power licenses . . . 33,134 1,417 35, 000
Rights-of-way, withdrawn lands . 197 1,000
Income from accretions.. 10,651, 267 19, 380, 276 14,636,000
Repayment income: Construction charges collected . ..... _ 3,258, 592 513, 661 3, 481,372 3, 500, 000
Operation and maintenance collections _ .. 566,961 575, 000
Power revenues . .. 29,492, 540 425, 922 15,921,773 17,000, 000
Water rentals ... . . _ .. ... _ . 1,410,327 1,500,000
All other (rental from grazing and farming lands, reimbursements, etc.) 1, 921, 242 2, 568, 770 2,600,000
Total repayment income . . .. _ 35, 611,957 23,949, 203 25,175, 000
Total available for appropriation. . 60, 436,326 78,089,055 80, 947, 791
Deduct appropriation or estimate for: Salaries and expenses 3,130, 000 2,000, 000 3, 860, 000 4, 300, 000
General investigations Investigations, Upper Colorado River Basin 3,500,000 3, 700,000 500, 000
Advance planning 50, 000 20,977, 463 11, 702,872
Construction Operation and maintenance Rehabilitation and betterment of existing projects 13, 558,250 6, 988, 500 18, 250,810 8,841,454 1,500, 000 1, 000, 000
Emergency fund
Total appropriation or estimate 25, 676, 750 36, 952, 264 41,230,335
Balance carried forward 34, 759, 576 41,136, 791 39, 717, 456
863238-50-----6
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Reports
The submission to the Senate and House Appropriations Committees of quarterly reports on the status of funds appropriated for construction was continued during fiscal year 1949, following the pattern developed in the previous year. Similarly, recurring reports continued to be prepared at the project level to reflect current, cumulative, and anticipated contractors’ earnings. A modified system of reports, geared to the newly streamlined accounting system of the Bureau, took form as the year progressed. The new reports, aiming particularly at a more immediate comparison of program and progress, serve as a specific instrument in management control. By June 30, most projects had submitted test runs in compliance with revised procedures then approved. Fiscal year 1950 submissions are to be prepared under the modified reports system as progressively developed.
Special monthly tabulations provided a means for close surveillance during the year of prospective year-end carry-over of unobligated funds and of unliquidated obligations. Program attainments could thereby be more accurately gaged and encouraged, and planning emphasis more precisely directed.
In accordance with provisions in the Interior Department Appropriation Act of 1949, the amounts of accrued contractors’ earnings retained as hold-backs became unavailable for obligation for any purpose, no matter when payments of such withheld percentages were to be made. To give effect to the legislation, hold-backs were deposited in special accounts.
To meet administrative and operating needs for frequently used, single-source statistical data, a set of four ready-reference books was compiled, consisting of (1) a volume entitled “Bureau of Reclamation Appropriation Acts and Allotments,” containing exact copies of all appropriation acts relating to the Bureau from its establishment in 1902 to 1949; (2) a volume entitled “Bureau of Reclamation Project Feasibilities and Authorizations,” presenting project findings of feasibility and authorizations for projects during this period; (3) a volume entitled “Bureau of Reclamation Public Notices,” consisting of a collection of notices issued; and (4) a volume entitled “Bureau of Reclamation Project Finance Data” in tabular form, exhibiting basic statistical finance data on each project progressed by the Bureau during its existence through fiscal year 1949.
The restrictions imposed by the 1949 Appropriation Act which limited expenditures for personal services to $48,000,000 and the number of personnel in grades P-3, CAF-9, and above to 3,500, was administered by means of allocations, controls, and reports. The dollar limitation necessitated the reduction in personnel from a total of 16,862 full-time employees in July 1948 to a total of 13,002 by January 1949—
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a reduction of 3,860 representing 23 percent. This low level of employment continued under the limitation into May 1949. With relief given by the First Deficiency Appropriation Act of 1949 which, among other items, revised the personal-services dollar limitation to exclude Public Law 900 and trust and contributed funds, recovery in total full-time employment in June reached 15,401 at the year end. Throughout the year employment in grades P-3, CAF-9, and above was maintained within the limitation of 3,500 positions in this category.
The consolidated statement by projects of construction cost of irrigation and power works, other items reimbursable with construction, and deductions for fiscal year 1949, similar in presentation to that appearing on pages 88—91 of the 1948 Annual Report of the Secretary, has been omitted pending completion of revision of the Bureau’s accounting system.
COMPTROLLER
The Office of the Comptroller continued on an expanded basis the consultative and advisory assistance to the Commissioner and his top staff; the review and approval of proposed accounting procedures and other system elements; and the performance of independent financial audits of Bureau projects, water users’ associations, contract settlements, and other features of Bureau operations.
In the field of policy development and advisory assistance, this Office has played a conspicuous role in 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.
The over-all program of water users’ audits reflected substantial progress. All urgent requests for audit and advisory assistance adjunctive thereto were filled. This work involved removal of a backlog of several years. Auditing policies and procedures for this activity were improved for more significant results both from a practical and technical standpoint.
In terms of satisfaction of Bureau requirements and Comptroller’s office objective, the fiscal year 1949 marked the first really concrete accomplishments in the important program of project financial auditing. Auditors were equipped with specific performance standards and job instructions. Audits of major projects were undertaken for the first time. While intensity of audit activity varied as between regions, at least one project in each region was covered.
The financial audits were adjusted by the installations of the Bureau’s new accounting system which were concentrated largely in the 1949 fiscal year. It was considered desirable to audit following
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account conversions, and since the audit program had been initially constructed around the old account structure, a substantial burden of training and reprogramming was required.
On the basis of more representative evaluation factors provided by this year’s performance by the Office of the Comptroller, technical instructions are being amplified, more rigid time performance requirements are being instituted, and organizational changes aimed at maximum accomplishment are being directed.
LEGISLATION
Several bills of far-reaching significance to present and future water and power users on Reclamation projects were introduced in the Congress during the fiscal year. One of the bills of most importance to the Bureau’s program to be enacted by the first session of the Eighty-first Congress is Public Law 37 (S. 790), granting the consent of the United States to the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact. The compact makes an equitable division among the States of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming, of the waters of the Colorado River System, the use of which was apportioned to the Upper Basin by the Colorado River Compact of 1922. There was also enacted Public Law 82 (H. R. 4151), granting the consent of the United States to the Arkansas River Compact, which relates to the use of the waters of the Arkansas River by the States of Colorado and Kansas, and Public Law 91 (H. R. 3334), granting the consent of the Congress to the Pecos River Compact, which provides a division of the waters of the Pecos River between New Mexico and Texas. All three measures were reported on favorably by the Department.
Another bill of vital interest to the Bureau to be enacted is Public Law 56 (H. R. 4152), the first omnibus amendatory repayment contract measure to be passed by the Congress. This measure authorizes the execution by the Secretary of the Interior of amendatory repayment contracts negotiated, pursuant to section 7 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939, with the Bitter Root irrigation district, the Shasta View irrigation district, the Okanogan irrigation district, the Willwood irrigation district, the Uncompahgre Valley Water Users’ Association, and the Kittitas reclamation district. There is now pending House bill 5184, which would authorize the Secretary to execute amendatory repayment contracts negotiated under section 7 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 with the Belle Fourche irrigation district, the Deaver irrigation district, the Westland irrigation district, the Stanfield irrigation district, the Vale Oregon irrigation district, and the Prosser irrigation district. Favorable action by the Congress on this bill is anticipated.
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Public Law 132 (S. 55) provides the necessary authorization to permit the Bureau of Reclamation to complete the construction of the irrigation facilities of the Eden project, Wyoming, as originally authorized by the President on September 18, 1940, as a Great Plains project, with such modifications as the Secretary may find will result in greater engineering and economic feasibility.
The enactment of Public Law 102 (S. 690) authorizes the delivery of water to the Yuma auxiliary project through the irrigation system of the Yuma Mesa division of the Gila project, a reduction in project lands by excluding lands which cannot successfully be irrigated under present conditions, and the effecting of related physical and financial adjustments.
In addition to the public laws set forth above, a number of private bills arising out of Bureau activities were enacted for various purposes.
Several measures introduced in Congress were still pending as of the close of the fiscal year. They are discussed briefly because of their importance, inasmuch as their enactment would make basic changes in the reclamation laws and the Bureau’s program. They have received extensive consideration in the Office of the Chief Counsel and other branches of the Bureau.
A measure having greatest interest to the Bureau is House bill 1770, which would provide for certain revisions in section 9 of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939. One objective of this bill is to give statutory recognition to the fact that multipurpose Federal Reclamation projects frequently serve various purposes in addition to those now covered by law (principally, irrigation and the production of hydroelectric power), and to provide that the whole cost of facilities which serve these additional purposes need not be borne by the water users and consumers of electric power. This objective would be achieved by writing into the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 authority to make nonreimbursable allocations of capital and operation and maintenance costs to flood control, navigation, fish and wildlife propagation, recreation, general salinity control, sediment control, the improvement of public transportation, protection of the public health, promotion of the national defense, and the fulfillment of international obligations. Only the first three of these items are now provided for by statute and, as to them, present law covers only allocations of capital costs.
The second objective of the bill is to afford the basis for an improved contract relationship between the Bureau of Reclamation and its irrigation water users. Amendments of section 9 (d) of the Reclamation Project Act of 1939 would ( 91
100,560 acre-feet were diverted to the Madera Canal, 3,000 to the Friant-Kern Canal, and 1,178,670 were released through the river outlet valves for the downstream users. Diversions by the Contra Costa Canal system to supply industrial, municipal, and irrigation requirements totaled 18,640 acre-feet. Total revenues from sale of agricultural water for irrigation of 250,000 acres and from municipal and industrial water sales are estimated at $700,000.
Land classification activities during fiscal year 1949 included completion of mapping on approximately 204,000 acres of land, 36,000 acres of land were mapped in detail and semidetail surveys were made on 168,000 acres.
The Annual Crop and Livestock Census for Klamath, Orland, and the Central Valley projects was completed. Crop returns from the total irrigated area of 390,000 acres were: Klamath, $17,540,000; Orland, $1,410,000; and Central Valley project, $31,200,000. The regional total of $50,150,000 was $6,600,000 less than the figure for the preceding year. Average crop value declined from $149 to $129 per acre.
Public Notice No. 47, dated August 27, 1948, opening 8,283 acres in 86 units, located in parts 1 and 2 of Tule Lake division, Klamath project, was prepared and issued. The drawing for the 86 units was held on February 23, 1949. A total of 258 candidates and alternates were selected.
On the Central Valley project, contract negotiations were carried to completion and contracts executed with the Lindsay-Strathmore, Lindmore, and Orange Cove irrigation districts, and the Shasta Dam area and Summit City public utility districts.
Region 3
Project planning.—Congressional committees considered bills to authorize the Central Arizona project. Project planning investigations of several years culminated in the near-completion of reports on the Dixie and Santa Margarita projects. The Moapa Valley investigation is advanced so that conclusions can soon be drawn. Region 3 field forces, cooperating with region 4, completed a major part of the investigations of the preferred dam site in Glen Canyon on the Colorado River just above Lee’s Ferry.
Approval of legislation authorizing delivery of water to the Yuma Auxiliary project through the Gila project works was obtained. Negotiations with the North Gila Valley irrigation district for delivery of water to district lands in the North Gila Valley were continued. Intensive investigations of sprinkler irrigation possibilities on the Yuma Mesa division of the Gila project were undertaken. A rehabilitation survey on the Valley division of the Yuma project was com
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pleted and work initiated under the water users’ annual budget. Rock was placed in Palo Verde Temporary weir intermittently as required. Field work on the Lake Mead sedimentation survey was completed and a preliminary survey of necessary levee improvements in the Yuma area made.
Construction.—The construction and planning programs throughout the region moved forward with these high lights: (1) completion of the Davis Dam embankment; (2) completion of portions of the major Davis transmission system features; (3) turning over of Coachella Canal to water users; (4) construction progress on Coachella distribution system; (5) opening of bids for initial construction on the Wellton-Mohawk Canal; (6) beginning of dredging on the Colorado River; (7) settlement of homesteaders on Gila project; (8) consideration by the Congress of the Central Arizona project; (9) ordering of two main generating units for the Hoover power plant.
Late in June 1949 bids were opened for the construction of the first 8% miles of the Wellton-Mohawk Canal on‘the Gila project. The contract was awarded the Fisher Contracting Co. of Phoenix, Ariz., at a price of $1,335,463.70. Contracts were awarded earlier in the year for pumps and motors for each of the three pumping plants to be built on the canal.
Contracts were awarded for generating units A-3 and A-4, each of 82,500-kilovolt-amperes rating. The units will be installed in the Hoover power plant to supply Arizona’s allotment of Hoover energy. The site for the new 230-kilovolt States’ switchyard at Hoover Dam w’as selected and design work started.
The State of Nevada requested the installation of a 62,500-kilovolt-ampere unit in the Hoover power plant to make available to Nevada a portion of its allocation of Hoover energy. Specifications for this unit were issued.
Some 4 million cubic yards of earth and rock had been placed in the Davis Dam embankment up to the close of the year to bring that feature of the project to completion. Powerhouse foundation concrete was placed and the five turbines and generators were delivered and are awaiting installation. The second Phoenix-Tucson 115-kilo-volt transmission line, the third synchronous condenser at Phoenix, and the second Gila-Yuma 34.5 kilovolt transmission line were completed and placed in operation.
Power production.—Hoover, Parker, and Siphon Drop power plants generated over 6y2 billion kilowatt-hours, exceeding the previous year’s output by about 5.7 percent and coming within 8 percent of the 1944 record. These plants accounted for more than a third of the power produced at all Reclamation projects and furnished nearly 42 percent of the total power consumed in the region. All water released from
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Hoover and Parker Dam, except 240,000 acre-feet bypassed at Parker Dam for flood control purposes, was utilized for power production.
Operation and maintenance.—Farmers grossed $153,110,228 on 787,565 acres irrigated by Reclamation facilities for a per acre value of over $194. This was a 13 percent increase over the 1947 crop income. Operation and maintenance of the Coachella Main Canal, below Station 2604, was assumed by the Coachella Valley County water district on March 25, 1949. With construction pushed on the first six of the ultimate nine units of the 76,000-acre concrete-pipe water distribution system for the Coachella Valley, irrigation deliveries were begun through the laterals as they were completed.
Approximately 1^4 miles of main channel were dredged between Needles and Topock by the Bureau’s new Colorado River 20-inch hydraulic suction dredge, placed in operation on January 31. More than a million cubic yards of river-bottom material were removed.
Fifty-four farms on the Yuma Mesa division of the Gila project, ranging in size from 40 to 160 acres and comprising 4,940 acres, were settled by war veterans. Plans were initiated for the opening of additional public land in the Gila and Coachella Valleys. The Secretary advised the Imperial irrigation district that the public lands on Imperial East Mesa under the All-American Canal system were not practicable of irrigation and would not be opened for homestead entry under Reclamation law.
Region 4
Project planning.—Eight project planning reports, including emergency production of a report enabling authorization by the Eighty-first Congress of the $69,500,000 Weber Basin project, were issued.
Ratification by the Congress of the Upper Colorado River Compact early in 1949 eliminated uncertainty concerning water rights and cleared the way for an extensive program of water-resources development in the Upper Colorado River Basin. Since the compact terms became known the general plan of development as outlined in “The Colorado River,” prepared in 1946 and printed as House Document No. 419, has been refined and amplified under the Colorado River storage project investigation. A preliminary report was prepared, tentatively outlining a desirable combination of reservoirs and an operation schedule to provide the greatest over-all benefits in river regulation, irrigation, power production, flood and silt control, and recreation. Detailed investigations were completed at the Glen Canyon storage site on the Colorado River and at the Echo Park site on the Green River, with investigations under way on other sites for the nine principal multiple-purpose reservoirs described in the report. The project plan provides for financial assistance to other irrigation
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projects that meet certain criteria. Power revenues not required to pay the cost of power-plant construction would aid the participating projects. It is essential that the incidental hydroelectric power production from all potential main-stem plants would total more than 9 billion kilowatt-hours annually. Potential participating projects for which preliminary reports were prepared during the fiscal year include the Collbran and Florida in Colorado, the Pine River extension in New Mexico and Colorado, and the Seedskadee, Eden, and Lyman in Wyoming. Other potential participating projects on which reports were nearly completed include the LaPlata, Smith Fork, and Silt in Colorado; the Central Utah in Utah; the LaBarge in Wyoming.
The Weber Basin project report, on which congressional authorization in August 1949 was based, outlined a plan for the full use of remaining undeveloped water in the river system. It, together with the Bear River project and the Central Utah project, comprises the principal plans for basin-wide development described in the Bonneville Basin report, completely revised and rewritten during the year. Formulation of a definite plan of development on the Bear River was retarded by disagreement among the States of Utah, Wyoming, and Idaho concerning division of water.
Investigation work in the Lahontan Basin was confined largely to a study of the existing Newlands and Humboldt projects. Further planning work on the Truckee and Carson Rivers awaits completion of the Newlands project studies.
Construction.—Approximately $6,000,000 of a $7,500,000 scheduled program was accomplished; rejection of bids received early in August for the construction of Duchesne Tunnel, Provo River project, Utah, and the Spring Creek Dam, Paonia project, Colorado, accounting for the carry-over. Despite unusually severe winter weather other construction was carried out as programed. The region’s seventeenth dam, on the Mancos project, Colorado, was completed.
Seven sets of specifications were issued for canals and structures, small reservoirs, pipe lines, and a tunnel as result of delegations from the Chief Engineer to expedite preparation of designs.
A major contract awarded in August provided for completion of the 41.7-mile Salt Lake aqueduct, Provo River project, Utah. Completion of the Jordan Narrows siphon and pumping plant in May 1949 enabled delivery of water to west Salt Lake Valley lands heretofore dry farmed. Jackson Gulch Dam and inlet and outlet canals, Mancos project, Colorado, were completed by contract in December 1948, more than 18 months ahead of schedule. The Preston Bench project, Idaho, was started from preconstruction and pushed practically to completion within the year through cooperation of the water users, project
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personnel, and the contractors. The Congress, on June 28, 1949, reauthorized construction of the Eden project in southwestern Wyoming.
Operation and maintenance.—Completion of Jackson Gulch Dam increased the number of reservoirs in the region to 17. Operation and maintenance of the Gravity division of the Grand Valley project, Colorado, and of the Scofield project, Utah, was transferred to the water users organization on January 1 and April 1, 1949, respectively. Reduced yields and lower prices decreased gross crop values to $37,-056,326 from 536,325 acres, off $7,697,000 from the record high 1947 crop returns. Water supplies varied from fair to excellent, Nevada’s being the most unfavorable.
Pursuant to Public Law 462, amendatory contracts were completed with the water users of the Provo River project, Utah, permitting the rental of project water and works on a year-to-year basis until costs in excess of existing contract obligations have been paid to the Government, rates to be fixed by the Secretary. An amendatory repayment contract with the Uncompahgre Water Users Association was completed in accordance with Public Law 56 authorized by the Eighty-first Congress. A supplemental contract with the South Ogden conservation district, Ogden River project, Utah, was also completed, as was a report on the Humboldt project outlining a plan for alleviating drainage and flood control problems on the project.
Region 5
Project planning.-—Investigations were completed and final drafts of feasibility reports on the Vermejo, New Mexico, and Big Creek, Texas, projects were transmitted to the Commissioner’s office. The preliminary draft of a report on the Canadian River project, Texas, was also forwarded to the Commissioner. Investigations of the authorized Valley Gravity project, Texas, and a report thereon seeking amended authorization of the project were completed. Program reports on the Robert Lee, Texas, and the Balmorhea, Texas, projects were completed. A feasibility report on the Canton project, Oklahoma, for irrigation development was completed and transmitted to the Commissioner, but the report was returned for consideration of facilities to provide a municipal water supply for the city of Enid, Okla. Studies of the San Juan-Chama project, Colorado and New Mexico, and field work on comprehensive inventories of land and water resources in the Red and Arkansas River Basins and Gulf Basin were continued during the year.
Construction.—Construction work was in progress on four projects. On the W. C. Austin project, the radial gates on the controlled spillway and operating bridge across the dam were installed, thus complet
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ing the dam. Construction was completed on the last portion of the lateral system in October 1948. Work was performed in connection with a contract awarded in February 1949 for the construction of a portion of the drainage system. On the Rio Grande project, construction work was completed or well advanced on the following items: paving camp roads at Elephant Butte; Socorro and Alamogordo substation structures; residence at Alamogordo substation, and fencing of Caballo Dam outlet works. On the San Luis Valley project, notice to proceed with work was issued in June 1949 for the construction of Platoro Dam, and actual construction was initiated. On the Tucumcari project, the construction of canals and laterals was continued so that facilities serving unit No. 6 were almost complete and facilities serving unit No. 7, the last unit, were well on the way towaid completion. Construction work was completed on the riprap for laterals and five ditch-rider residences with facilities. On the Carlsbad project, work was completed in connection with the drilling of blasting holes in the compacted earth filled embankment of Alamogordo Dam for the emergency flood plan.
Power production.—A part of the Rio Grande project, the hydrogenerating plant at the top of Elephant Butte Dam, consisting of three 8,100-kilowatt generating units, and a transmission system from this plant, constitutes the existing power facilities in region 5. Total energy sold in fiscal year 1949 was 74,891,173 kilowatt-hours, which produced a revenue of $388,524.02. Generation was below normal due to the low water conditions in Elephant Butte Reservoir. Proposed additions to the Rio Grande transmission system in the near future are a 72-mile, 115 kilovolt transmission line from Socorro to Albuquerque with a substation at Albuquerque, and a 50-mile, 115 kilovolt tap transmission line from Bernardo to Willard with a substation at Willard.
Operation and maintenance.—The operation and maintenance activities involved two projects in full operation, two in partial operation, and one water conservation and utilization project in full operation, and one Warren Act contractor. On these projects about 233,681 acres in 8,704 farms supporting a population of 49,892 were irrigated in 1948. Total gross crop income was $52,563,573.
On the Rio Grande project, the 155,715 acres irrigated in 1948 produced a total crop value of $42,820,056 or $273.70 per cropped acre. On the Hudspeth project, water being delivered under a Warren Act contract, 17,153 acres produced a total crop value of $3,997,381 or $233.04 per cropped acre. On the Carlsbad project, the 20,167 acres irrigated in 1948 produced a total crop value of $2,727,119 or $135.23 per cropped acre. On the W. C. Austin project, the 17,433 acres irrigated in 1948 produced a total crop value of $1,558,691 or $89.41 per cropped acre. Irrigation facilities are now complete to
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serve all of the project’s 49,972 irrigable acres. On the Tucumcari project, the 16,069 acres irrigated in 1948 produced a total crop value of $777,572 or $48.39 per cropped acre. As of June 30, 1949, facilities were complete to serve about 29,000 acres of the project. On the Balmorhea project, about 7,570 acre-feet of water was delivered from the Bureau-owned Phanton Lake Spring. The 7,144 acres irrigated in 1948 produced a total crop value of $682,704 or $95.56 per cropped acre. The soil and moisture conservation program for fiscal year 1949 included: the construction of five detention dams and 5,600 lineal feet of diversion terraces on the Lake Altus Reservation, W. C. Austin project; and salt cedar spraying and mechanical clearing and a channelization work for water conservation in McMillan Reservoir delta and inflow area, Carlsbad project.
Repayment contracts on the Fort Sumner project and Platoro unit of the San Luis Valley project were negotiated; negotiations were continued with the cities of El Paso and Tucumcari for water supplies from project sources; and contracts on the Tucumcari project for the sale of water under the Warren Act were negotiated.
Region 6
Project planning.—Investigations to obtain material for basin reports were carried forward on 20 basins and divisions. Preconstruction work necessary to ready units for construction progressed on 31 units. At the close of the year, detailed unit reports were complete on the Cartwright, Lower Marias, Owl Creek, N-Bar-N, and Fort Clark units.
Construction.—Despite some continued shortage of materials and, in some cases, a shortage of labor, the construction program in the region made excellent progress. The following construction contracts were completed: Clearing of reservoir area for Angostura unit; camp buildings and access road for Bixby unit; camp buildings for Boysen unit; road relocation and camp facilities for Canyon Ferry unit; camp facilities and transmission line relocation for Heart Butte unit; prefabricated buildings for Keyhole unit; camp buildings for Moorhead unit; camp facilities for Shadehill unit; Lost Wells lateral system, portion of Wyoming Canal, most of the North Pavillion lateral system, and Pilot Canal laterals for Riverton project; Heart Mountain Canal and laterals, Ralston laterals, concrete chute on Willwood Canal, Heart Mountain power plant and Heart Mountain-Garland transmission lines for Shoshone project.
Satisfactory progress was maintained on those contracts continued from fiscal year 1948 which will not be completed until after fiscal year 1949. Among these construction jobs are Angostura Dam where
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the contract is 86.2 percent complete despite delays caused by flash floods on the Cheyenne River; the Boysen Dam, power plant and railroad relocation where operations were handicapped by uncertainties as to appropriations, by unusually difficult geological conditions in the railroad tunnel, and by the destruction of the contractor’s concrete batching plant by fire; the Heart Butte Dam; canal and lateral work at Riverton; and the Glendive-Miles City and Fort Peck-Garrison transmission lines.
New construction contracts totaling $20,722,159 were awarded on Dickinson, Shadehill, and Canyon Ferry Dams; the Savage pumping plant, canals and laterals; the Watford City, Wolf Point, and Savage substations; groundwires for the Glendive-Miles City transmission line; Heart Butte reservoir clearing; access road for Bixby Dam; relocation of county road approaches to Canyon Ferry Dam; relocation of Fort Peck-Rainbow transmission line; canals and laterals at Riverton ; camp facilities for Keyhole, Shadehill, and Moorhead Dams; and housing facilities at Fort Peck. Additional contracts for major equipment totaling $1,184,430 were also awarded as follows: Powerplant transformers, tunnel ventilating equipment, radial gates, circuit breakers and switches for switchyard, penstocks and outlet pipe for the Boysen Dam and power plant; penstocks for Canyon Ferry Dam and power plant; equipment for the Thermopolis, Miles City, Forsyth, and Sidney substations; carrier current telephone apparatus; steel structures for the Williston-Garrison transmission line; and new gates and hoists for the Belle Fourche Dam.
Most contractors have made satisfactory starts on those major contracts let in fiscal year 1949. Labor and materials are becoming more readily available and the period of rising construction costs seems to have ended.
Planned construction on several major jobs did not get under way. The issuance of specifications on Anchor Dam was held up pending clearance of water-right questions on the unit. Issuance of construction specifications for Tiber Dam was delayed pending determination of the attitude of the landowners relative to repayment of irrigation costs. Designs for Cannonball Dam were delayed pending further study of the land available for irrigation so that designs can be drawn for the correct storage capacity. Design work for Bixby Dam was stopped to permit a more thorough analysis of the quality of the water to be impounded for irrigation. Additional design data required for Keyhole Dam and studies of alternate plans delayed the issuance of construction specifications.
Power production.—The addition of a second generating unit of 15,000-kilowatt rated capacity at Fort Peck late in fiscal year 1948
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and the completion of the 5,000-kilowatt Heart Mountain power plant early in December increased the generation of Federal hydroelectric power plants in the region, for which the Bureau markets the power, from 294 million in fiscal year 1948 to 446.7 million kilowatt-hours in fiscal year 1949. Over 220 million kilowatt-hours of this energy was delivered to the Montana Power Co. for ultimate use in meeting the critical power shortage in the Pacific Northwest. Five new REA cooperatives were given service, bringing the total served by the Bureau in this region to 22.
Operation and maintenance.—The 11 operating irrigation projects in the region produced a gross crop value of $18,161,000 during calendar year 1948. One hundred and four units, comprising 12,073 acres of irrigable public land, were opened to settlement on April 13 under Public Notice No. 58 on the Heart Mountain division of the Shoshone project. Public Notice No. 28, Riverton project, was issued May 4 and opened to settlement 50 units, comprising 5,912 acres.
Drafts of amendatory repayment contracts were prepared for the Deaver irrigation district (Departmental approval received February 28 and water users’ approval April 9); the Belle Fourche irrigation district (Departmental approval received April 4 and water users’ approval May 3) ; the Midvale irrigation district; the Lower Yellowstone irrigation district No. 1; the Lower Yellowstone irrigation district No. 2; and the Huntley irrigation district. Drafts of repayment contracts were prepared for the Heart River irrigation district (Departmental approval received May 3) ; the Willwood irrigation district (Departmental approval received October 22, water users’ approval December 18, and authorization for execution by the United States by act of Congress of May 6) ; the Buffalo Rapids irrigation district No. 1 and Buffalo Rapids irrigation No. 2; the Malta irrigation district and the Glasgow irrigation district; and the Buford-Trenton irrigation district. The repayment contract with the Savage irrigation district was executed in behalf of the United States on December 10.
Contracts for the repayment of rehabilitation and betterment work were prepared for, and execution secured by, the Malta, Harlem, Paradise Valley, Alfalfa Valley, Zurich, and Fort Belknap irrigation districts of the Milk River project; the Willwood irrigation district of the Shoshone project; and the Fort Shaw irrigation district of the Sun River project. Resolutions were secured from the Belle Fourche irrigation district of the Belle Fourche project and from the Midvale irrigation district of the Riverton project. By the spring of 1949, a total of five development farms were in operation in Montana, North Dakota, and South Dakota.
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Region 7
Project planning.—Investigation reports have been coordinated by the region to allow the maximum efficiency in the preparation of the various basin reports. During the year the Lower Platte River Basin report and interim reports for the Blue-South Platte and Gunnison-Arkansas project were completed, reproduced and submitted to all interested State and Federal Government agencies for their review and comments. The two projects, dependent upon transmountain diversion of Colorado River water, will depend for completion of the reports and subsequent construction on the division of water made available under the Colorado River Basin Compact between the eastern and western slopes. Construction of the project facilities will tend to solve the problem posed by irrigation and municipal water deficiencies in Colorado east of the Rockies, provide generation of a large block of sorely needed hydroelectric power as well as flood control and sedimentation benefits.
Work was initiated on the Kansas River Basin report which consists of combining reports already under way on the Republican River and Smoky Hill River Basins together with additional studies on the Blue River and the lower Kansas River area. Water supply studies were revised in compliance with restrictions of the Republican River compact.
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 educational institutions to provide much of the technical personnel in making the various classifications desired. Additional topographic surveys and drilling to determine character of subsurface formation have been made at various dam sites, reservoir areas and along the expected reaches of canal lines.
Assistance was given to local interests in the promotion and formation of irrigation districts in all parts of the region, that in the end, repayment contracts might be more easily executed.
Work continues on the Niobrara, North Platte and South Platte comprehensive plan investigations with the objective of completing basin inventory reports.
Construction.—Construction activities were carried forward in all parts of the region. On the Mirage Flats project only a small amount of force account work remained which will be completed prior to transfer of the project to an operation and maintenance status. On the Colorado-Big Thompson project, 21 construction contracts were in force totaling $35,000,000. Work was completed on the Aspen Creek siphon and Prospect Mountain conduit, four tunnels of the Horsetooth feeder canal, and two of the four dams of the Horsetooth
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Reservoir; construction was virtually complete on Olympus Dam and the other two dams of the Horsetooth Reservoir, and was well advanced on Granby Dam, pump plant and canal, and Marys Lake and Estes power plants. During the year new contracts were awarded on the canal portion of the Horsetooth feeder canal, on four transmission lines and two substations. The project is approximately 50 percent complete.
Construction of the vast Missouri River Basin project has progressed rapidly since May 1946 when the first blast was set off to start clearing of the Kortes Dam site. At the beginning of the year contractors were busy on the Kortes Dam in Wyoming; on Enders and Medicine Creek Dams, the Cambridge Diversion Dam, and Cambridge Canal of the Frenchman-Cambridge division in Nebraska; on four transmission lines in Nebraska and Wyoming and on housing units for the Narrows, Cedar Bluff, and St. Francis units. During the year the housing units, three of the transmission lines and the diversion dam were completed, concrete placement was well under way at Kortes, the earth fill for Enders and Medicine Creek Dams was fast taking shape, and the first section of the Cambridge Canal was 67 percent complete. New work started on the project included Bonny and Cedar Bluff Dams, Superior Courtland Diversion Dam, the Superior Canal, two large transmission lines, and two substations.
In addition to the construction activities which were under actual construction, several features were under invitation to bids, for which awards wotdd be made immediately after the end of the year. These include the Pole Hill and Olympus Tunnels on the Colorado-Big Thompson project, Trenton Dam of the Frenchman-Cambridge division, and the Courtland Canal of the Bostwick division.
While most construction projects showed reasonably good progress, others were unable to proceed with scheduled operations because of difficulties beyond their control. The Glendo and Narrows units, scheduled for a start of construction in the spring of 1949 are further delayed until the spring of 1950 and 1951, respectively, because of the uncertain support of State groups over the amount of water available for the reservoirs. The Courtland Canal, Republic Diversion Dam, and other features on the Bostwick division did not reach the design stage because of questions raised on the legality of the present Kansas irrigation laws.
Power production.—The power activities of the region have consisted of the operation and maintenance of the Seminoe, Guernsey, and Lingle power plants in the North Platte River district, and the Green Mountain Dam in the South Platte River district.
The four hydroelectric plants in the region generated 261 million kilowatt-hours of electrical energy, 259 million kilowatt-hours of
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which were sold to municipalities, REA cooperatives, industrial plants, and public utilities for a gross revenue of $1,713,436.
The outstanding problem the region is confronted with at this time is the rapid rate of load growth to be cared for by the existing power plants. Little relief can be expected until May 1950 when two units of the Kortes power plant with 24,000 kilowatts installed capacity will be put into operation. The Estes power plant with its 45,000 kilowatts installed capacity and the Marys Lake with 8,000 kilowatts are scheduled for completion about August 1950, and the third unit at Kortes in October 1950.
Operation and maintenance.—No group of new facilities were completed on the various projects within the region that would allow irrigation of additional acreages. However, preparation of farm units in the Mirage Flats project allowed the distribution of water to the full 12,000 acres of the project and on the Kendrick project, 2,000 additional acres were placed under irrigation, making a total of 6,000 acres.
At the close of the fiscal year, irrigation in region 7 reached a total of 220,000 acres. Approximately 200,000 acres were irrigated on the Bureau’s North Platte project in Wyoming and Nebraska, 6,000 on the Kendrick in Wyoming, 12,000 on the Mirage Flats project and 2,000 on the Frenchman-Cambridge division of the Missouri River Basin project in Nebraska. In addition, supplemental water was delivered to 30,000 acres of the Northern Colorado conservancy distil ct lands and to 110,000 acres of Warren Act lands in the North Platte project.
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 of the Interior.
The principal power marketing agencies in the Department are the Bureau of Reclamation, which also produces electrical energy at its own projects; the Bonneville Power Administration, which markets power in the Pacific Northwest; and the South western Power Administration, which markets power in Arkansas and Louisiana, and parts of some of the adjoining States. These agencies market power produced at projects of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers of the Department of the Army in the Western States. In the Southeast, the Division of Power has had similar power marketing responsibilities for projects of the Corps of Engineers.
In addition to these power marketing activities, other agencies of the Department have power problems which the Division has helped to solve. These include the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Division of Territories and Island Possessions, the Bureau of Mines, the Bureau of Land Management, and the National Park Service.
The electric power business of the Department of the Interior has grown substantially during the past few years. In the fiscal year 1949, the Department’s power agencies marketed over 22.6 billion kilowatt-hours, with revenues from these activities of over $53,700,000, an increase over fiscal year 1948 of 15.5 percent in generation and 20.3 percent in revenue, with corresponding increases of 38.7 percent and 29.8 percent over fiscal year 1947. With the completion of projects now under construction, this power business will continue its rapid rate of growth.
In the Southeast, the Division of Power has been responsible for the preliminary marketing arrangements for the power output of the Allatoona, Dale Hollow, Center Hill, Wolf Creek, Buggs Island, Philpott, Clark Hill, and Jim Woodruff multiple-purpose water-control projects being constructed in the Southeast by the Corps of Engineers of the Department of the Army. These eight projects, which are now under construction, will have an initial capacity of 945,000 kilowatts.
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During the year, negotiations were completed and a contract signed with the Georgia Power Co. for the sale of the power to be generated at the Allatoona project on the Etowah River in Georgia. Allatoona will be completed early in 1950. This contract will bring in about a million dollars a year in revenues. The contract provides that the Government may withdraw energy for sale on a firm basis to preference customers in excess of the firm energy capability of the project.
A contract was completed with the Tennessee Valley Authority for the sale to TVA of the output of the Dale Hollow, Center Hill, and Wolf Creek projects of the Corps of Engineers. These projects are located in the watershed of the Cumberland River, which lies adjacent to the northern edge of the Tennessee Valley. The Dale Hollow project began producing power in December 1948 and produced 92,-000,000 kilowatt-hours up to June 30, 1948. Revenues accruing from TVA from this operation during the fiscal year were about $300,000.
Bonneville Power Administration
Paul J. Raver, Administrator
MANAGEMENT OF THE ENTERPRISE
POWER sales of the Bonneville Power Administration and net revenues continued a steady growth during the fiscal year and power generation on the Federal system reached new highs. Extension of transmission facilities to carry new generation to power deficit load centers progressed at an accelerated pace but remained inadequate in terms of reserve capacity. Deferred maintenance remained a serious problem on the system.
Energy Production
Electric energy produced at Bonneville and Grand Coulee power plants during fiscal year 1949 totaled nearly 13 billion kilowatt-hours. At present, the Federal Columbia River power system is the second largest producer of power in the nation, exceeded only by the Tennessee Valley Authority.1
The total generation of 12,925,788,000 kilowatt-hours exceeded the peak war year of 1944 by 40 percent and represented nearly two-thirds of total energy produced in the States of Oregon and Washington, and over 50 percent of the total produced in the Pacific Northwest region during the 12-month period.
Table 1 and chart 1, Generation at Bonneville and Grand Coulee Plants, show energy production from the beginning of operations to the end of fiscal year 1949, and table 2, Electric Energy Account, presents a summary of total energy receipts, sales, deliveries, and losses.
Table 1.—Generation at Bonneville and Grand Coulee plants for Bonneville Power Administration, fiscal years 1939-49
Fiscal years ending June 30 Bonneville generation Grand Coulee generation Total generation for BP A
1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1 1946 1947 l 1948 1949 Megawatt-hours 34,874 208,426 894,177 1,807,309 2,801, 480 3, 488,874 3,391,128 2, 674,834 3,695, 255 3,991,860 3, 868, 558 Megawatt-hours 7,455 741,844 2,816,956 5,750,950 5,660, 446 3, 561,329 5,058,482 6, 894,047 9,057, 230 Megawatt-hours 34,874 208,426 901,632 2, 549,153 5,618,436 9, 239,824 9,051, 574 6,236,163 8,753,737 10,885,907 12, 925,788
Total 26, 856, 775 39, 548, 739 66, 405, 514
1 The largest producer of power among private utility systems in the United States was Consolidated Edison Co. of New York, with generation of 11,177,201,000 kilowatt-hours for the calendar year 1948.
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1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1946 1949
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Table 2.—Bonneville Power Administration electric energy account, fiscal year
ended June 30, 1949
Energy received (megawatt-hours) :
Energy generated for Bonneville Power Administration :
Bonneville -------------------------------------------- 3, 868; 558
Grand Coulee------------------------------------------- 9, 957, 230
Total-------------------------------------------------- 12,925,788
Power purchased and interchanged in__________________________ 302 950
Total received-------------------------------------------- 13,228,738
Energy delivered (megawatt-hours) :
Sales------------------------------------------------------ 11,977,612
Power interchanged out_____________________________________ 172 108
Used by Administration______________________________________ 73 88i
Total delivered_______________________1___________________12 103 601
Energy losses----------------------------------------------- 1, 065’ 137
Percent of total energy received____________________________ 8>1
Maximum demand on Bonneville and Grand Coulee plants (kilo-
watts) June 27, 1949, 12-1 p. m., Pacific Standard Time___ 1, 797, 000
Load factor—total generated for Bonneville Power
Administration ___________________________________________ 82.1
The tenth generating unit at Grand Coulee, which was the first unit in the right bank powerhouse, was added by the Bureau of Reclamation during May 1949. The addition of this unit brought the total installed generating capacity at the two Columbia River plants to 1,598,400 kilowatts nameplate rating, with safe continuous capacity under favorable operating head conditions of 1,764,000 kilowatts. Three more generators were scheduled for service during July 1949, October 1949, and April 1950.
Chart 3 shows the installed generator capacity at the two plants.
Even with these additional generator installations at Grand Coulee Dam, there will not be enough firm power to relieve the serious deficit. Only by accelerating the construction of new power-producing plants in the region can a dependable supply of power be made available to meet requirements of the Pacific Northwest by 1957-58. Even the most rapid construction, physically possible, of such authorized projects as Hungry Horse, McNary, and Detroit will not meet on a dependable basis the full requirements of cumulative load growth and new industrial uses of power under normal circumstances.
Energy Deliveries
Energy sales by the Bonneville Power Administration during the fiscal year 1949 amounted to almost 12 billion kilowatt-hours and represented an increase of 16.4 percent over the preceding year. Sales
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during fiscal year 1949 represented 19.2 percent of all power delivered since the beginning of operations.
During the Administration’s 11 years’ operation ending June 30, 1949, the system delivered 62,337,467,000 kilowatt-hours of energy at a composite average rate of 2.46 mills per kilowatt-hour. Sales to publicly owned utilities for the full period were 7.5 billion kilowatt-hours, at an average rate of 2.75 mills. Privately owned utilities received 16 billion kilowatt-hours at an average rate of 2.42 mills, and industries 38.8 billion kilowatt-hours at an average rate of 2.41 mills.
Aluminum plants established in the Pacific Northwest primarily to meet production needs of World War II, have continued in operation to supply domestic requirements as well as those required for the national security program. Power sales to the aluminum industry over the 11-year period totaled 33.3 billion kilowatt-hours. Total sales to industry other than aluminum, including sales to military establishments, were 5.5 billion kilowatt-hours at an average rate of 3.33 mills.
Electrical energy sales by class of customer for each of the years is shown in table 3.
Table 3.—Electric energy sales hy class of customer, fiscal years 1939-49 (megawatt-hours)
Class of customer 1941 and prior 1942 1943 1944 1945
Industry: Aluminum Other industry Military establishments Publicly owned utilities Privately owned utilities 522, 982 4, 811 18 35, 242 536, 555 1,845,249 76, 580 2,575 142, 491 357, 704 3, 588, 848 464,309 42,887 435, 289 739,076 5,453, 893 934, 588 87, 889 727,642 1,467, 304 4,667,381 878,896 85, 828 823, 822 2,057, 203
Total 1, 099, 608 2,424, 599 5, 270, 409 8, 671,316 8, 513,130
Class of customer 1946 1947 1948 1949 Total to June 30, 1949
Industry: Aluminum Other industry Military establishments Publicly owned utilities Privately owned utilities 2,492,985 739,408 59,970 635, 531 1,902, 990 4, 212,413 600,131 26, 557 1,045,199 2, 377, 887 4,902,465 609, 534 37,379 1, 561,199 3,176, 732 5,665, 746 849, 209 30,791 2,081, 819 3,350,047 33,351,962 5,157,466 373,894 7,488,647 15,965,498
Total 5, 830, 884 8, 262,187 10, 287, 722 11,977, 612 62,337,467
Table 4.—Energy deliveries to customers of the Bonneville Power Administration, fiscal year ended June 30, 1949
Customers Energy deliveries
for year 1
Publicly owned utilities, municipalities : (kilowatt hours)
Bandon, Oreg------------------------------------------------- 2, 681, 958
Canby, Oreg-------------------------------------------------- 5, 635, 800
Cascade Locks, Oreg__________________________________________ 6, 739,200
1 Includes energy deliveries carried on exchange accounts.
110 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 4.—Energy deliveries to customers of the Bonneville Power Administration, fiscal year ended June 30,19^9—Continued
Customers Energy deliveries
for year1
Publicly owned utilities, municipalities—Continued (kilowatt Hours)
Centralia, Wash__________________________________________ 915, 000
Cheney, Wash_________________________________________________ 2, 022, 900
Drain, Oreg__________________________________________________ 4, 806, 000
Ellensburg, Wash____________________________________________ 15, 977, 000
Eugene, Oreg________________________________________________ 64, 850, 709
Forest Grove, Oreg__________________________________________ 19, 500, 000
Grand Coulee, Wash__________________________________________ 15, 227, 280
McMinnville, Oreg________________________________________ 32,132, 240
Milton, Oreg_________________________________________________ 6, 717, 600
Monmouth, Oreg_______________________________________________ 5, 668, 417
Seattle, Wash______________________________________________ 164, 303, 000
Tacoma, Wash_______________________________________________ 347, 995,000
Total municipalities (15)__________________________________ 695,172,104
Public utility districts:
Benton County public utility district No. 1-------------------- 51, 781, 036
Central Lincoln people’s utility district---------------------- 35, 212,152
Chelan County public utility district No. 1-------------------- 109, 543,180
Clark County public utility district No. 1--------------------- 255, 456, 735
Clatskanie people’s utility district--------------------------- 6, 937, 828
Cowlitz County public utility district No. 1------------------- 252, 648, 434
Douglas County public utility district No. 1___________________ 7, 473, 500
Ferry County public utility district___________________________ 72, 420
Franklin County public utility district------------------------ 34, 234, 520
Grant County public utility district No. 2--------------------- 65, 669, 612
Grays Harbor County public utility district No. 1-------------- 124, 351, 200
Kittitas County public utility district________________________ 3,120, 000
Klickitat County public utility district No. 1----------------- 22,157, 000
Lewis County public utility district___________________________ 53, 703, 897
Mason County public utility district--------------------------- 21, 405, 669
Northern Wasco County people’s utility district---------------- 172, 800
Okanogan County public utility district No. 1------------------ 49, 291, 065
Pacific County public utility district No. 2------------------- 37, 633, 888
Pend Oreille County public utility district No. 1-------------- 4,192, 345
Skamania County public utility district------------------------ 10, 383, 500
Tillamook County people’s-utility district--------------------- 3,967,088
Wahkiakum County public utility district No. 1----------------- 8, 043, 600
Total public utility districts (22)------------------------------- 1,157, 451, 469
Cooperatives:
Benton-Lincoln Electric Cooperative----------------------- 16, 448, 232
Benton Rural Electric Association------------------------- 14, 882, 614
Big Bend Electric Cooperative_____________________________ 6, 533, 726
Blachly-Lane County Electric Cooperative__________________ 2, 836, 400
Central Electric Cooperative______________________________ 2, 559, 560
Chelan County Electric Cooperative________________________ 402, 880
Clearwater Valley L&P Association_________________________ 13, 859, 404
1 Includes energy deliveries carried on exchange accounts.
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111
Table 4.—Energy deliveries to customers of the Bonneville Power Administration, fiscal year ended June 30,191f9—Continued
Cooperatives—Continued (kilowatt hours)
Columbia County REA_______________________________________ 6, 244, 800
Coos-Curry Electric Cooperative___________________________ 4, 347, 000
Douglas Electric Cooperative______________________________ 10, 777, 600
Eastern Oregon Electric Cooperative_______________________ 46, 500
Hood River Electric Cooperative___________________________ 7, 478, 400
Idaho County L&P Association______________________________ 2, 532, 550
Inland Empire REA_________________________________________ 31,258, 000
Kootenai County REA_______________________________________ 8,103, 390
Lane County Electric Cooperative__________________________ 12, 327, 685
Lincoln Electric Cooperative______________________________ 8, 698, 260
Nespelem Valley Electric Cooperative______________________ 3,181, 503
Northeast Clackamas Electric Cooperative__________________ 1, 074, 000
Northern Idaho RERA_______________________________________ 3,663,990
Okanogan County Electric Cooperative______________________ 1, 525, 200
Pend Oreille Electric Cooperative_________________________ 2,184, 995
Salem Electric Cooperative________________________________ 21, 282, 200
Stevens County Electric Cooperative_______________________ 10,109, 362
Tanner Mutual P&L Association_____________________________ 192, 814
Umatilla Electric Cooperative_____________________________ 9, 653, 844
Wasco Electric Cooperative________________________________ 9, 316, 609
West Oregon Electric Cooperative__________________________ 6, 076,167
Total cooperatives (28)___________________________________ 217,597,685
Other:
Oregon State College_________________________________________ 1, 845,168
Vera irrigation district No. 15______________________________ 9, 752, 400
Total other (2)_________________________________________ 11,597,568
Total publicly owned utilities______________________________________ 2, 081, 818, 826
Privately owned utilities:
B. C. Electric Railway Co--------------------------------- 37, 349, 714
Mountain States Power Co__________________________________ 143, 727, 719
Pacific Power & Light Co.—Astoria_________________________ 59, 345, 000
Portland General Electric Co------------------------------ 1,114, 926, 000
Puget Sound Power & Light Co------------------------------ 794, 327,100
Washington Water Power—Pacific Power & Light Companies____________________________________________________ 354,240, 831
Four Company Pool2________________________________________ 846,130, 000
Total privately owned utilities_____________________________ 3, 350, 046, 364
Military establishments (5)--------------------------------- 30,791,252
1 Includes energy deliveries carried on exchange accounts.
2 Includes Washington Water Power Co,, Pacific Power & Light Co., Puget Sound Power & Light Co., Portland General Electrical Co., and Mountain States Power Co., nonfirm energy scheduled to Washington Water Power Co.
112 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 4.—Energy deliveries to customers of the Bonneville Power Administration, fiscal year ended June 30,19^9—Continued
Energy deliveries „ . for year1
Customers (kilowatt hours)
Industries:
Aluminum:
Aluminum Company of America_________________________ 1, 401, 281, 836
Permanente Metals Co:
Spokane Aluminum Fab____________________________ 212, 358, 000
Spokane Aluminum Red____________________________ 1, 894,084, 083
Tacoma Aluminum Red_____________________________ 386, 206, 000
Reynolds Metals Co.:
Longview _______________________________________ 554, 886, 000
Troutdale_______________________________________ 1,216,930,000
Other industries:
Carborundum Co__________________________________________ 23, 600
Electro-Metallurgical Co________________________________ 133, 740, 000
Pacific Carbide & Alloys________________________________ 23,107, 600
Pennsylvania Salt Mfg. Co.:
Plants Nos. 1 and 2_________________________________ 82, 329, 600
Miscellaneous (10) _____________________________________ 610,008,553
Total industries____________________________________________ 6,514,955, 272
Total sales of electric energy_____________________________________11, 977, 611, 714
1 Includes energy deliveries carried on exchange accounts.
At the end of fiscal year 1949, the Administration served 96 wholesale customers, of which 67 were publicly owned utilities or cooperatives, 19 were industrial customers, 4 were military establishments, and 6 were privately owned utilities. Eleven customers were added during the year—1 municipality, 4 public utility districts, 5 cooperatives, and 1 industry. Service to 3 military establishments was discontinued during the year.
The maximum coincident demand of the Administration’s system on the Bonneville and Grand Coulee plants was 1,797,000 kilowatts occurring on June 27, after addition of the first unit in the Grand Coulee right powerhouse. This demand represented a 12 percent increase over the system peak during the preceding fiscal year.
Revenues
Gross operating revenues of the Administration for fiscal year 1949 were $27,821,000 exceeding those for the previous year by more than $3,300,000. This is a new high in power sales.
Revenues increased in all customer categories. Sales to aluminum and other industries, including military establishments, increased $1,592,040 or 12.9 percent; to publicly owned and privately owned utilities $1,698,566, or 14.2 percent.
Sales to industries accounted for 50.18 percent of the gross, publicly owned utilities for 21.18 percent, privately owned utilities 27.88 percent, and other electric revenues for 0.76 percent.
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 113
Annual Audit
The books and accounts of the Administration were audited for the fifth time by Arthur Anderson & Co. The report confirmed the Administration’s records which show a net operating revenue for fiscal year 1949 of more than $10,600,000 after deducting all expenses of operation, maintenance, depreciation and interest. Gross operating revenues from the beginning of operations to June 30, 1949, amounted to $157,600,000 leaving a cumulative net revenue of $42,700,000 as of that date after provision for all expenses, including depreciation and interest on power investment.
The statements show that the total original construction cost, including interest during construction on power investment of all types of plant, i. e., power, irrigation, navigation, multipurpose, etc., for Columbia Basin project, the Bonneville Dam project and the Administration’s transmission system was in excess of $512,000,000 as of June 30, 1949. Of this amount, $358,000,000 wTas allocated to power, including river regulation, and the remainder, $154,000,000, was allocated to irrigation, navigation, flood control, and other nonpower purposes.
The gross investment of the United States Government in the power phases of the operations of the three projects totaled a little more than $457,000,000 as of June 30, 1949. The Federal investment account as used here includes all funds appropriated and requisitions for both construction and operation, together with indirect items such as WPA expeditures, amounts representing the fair value of property transferred from other Federal agencies, and the gross amount of interest imputed on the unpaid balances of the investment. This interest accumulation alone amounted to more than $62,000,000 as of J une 30,1949.
The gross Federal investment is reduced by repayment of all cash receipts from power operations, inasmuch as the projects cannot retain and use in their operations the amounts collected from power sales with the minor exception of a small emergency fund. The cumulative gross repayments to June 30, 1949, were approximately $149,000,000, leaving a net Federal investment of a little more than $308,000,000 as of June 30, 1949, to be returned from future power operations.
Hoover Commission Report
The Hoover Commission task force report on Revolving Funds and Business Enterprises of the Government stated with respect to the financial statements of the Columbia River power system that the pres-
114
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE
SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
S11VMOTIX 30 SONVSnOHl
1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 115
116 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
entation of the investment of the Federal Government is considered open to criticism and subject to improvement in two respects, namely:
(a) The presentation of the gross Federal investment and the gross repayments, both including amounts for current operating and interest expenses, is misleading in that the percentage ratio of the gross repayments to the gross investment might lead the reader to conclude that the project had repaid a greater proportion of the capital investment than is the fact. For example, the gross repayment of $149,000,-000 as of June 30, 1949, is approximately 33 percent of the gross investment as of that date. However, a much smaller proportion of the capital investment, more nearly in the neighborhood of 15 percent, has been repaid.
(&) Power revenues are required to repay a substantial portion of the investment allocated to irrigation but the financial statements do not indicate the amount of that repayment obligation.
The Administration has been well aware of the first point and has dealt specifically with that problem in its pay-out reports. Unfortunately, the projects must finance both operations and construction from appropriations, unlike a regular business enterprise that would finance operations from revenues. It is not possible to determine accurately from the normal accounting processes a segregation of the Federal investment as between operations on the one hand and construction or capital costs on the other. This arises out of the fact that accounts are kept on an accrued cost basis but the Federal investment account is a cash investment. In our pay-out reports we are able to present an approximation of the break-down of the repayment as between current expenses and capital costs. Such a break-down can be accomplished statistically with sufficient accuracy for the purpose but the break-down cannot be developed directly from the accounts. For example, the operating expenses shown in the certified financial statements include accrued noncash items such as exchange account power purchases, depreciation on equipment used in operations, provision for deferred maintenance, and amortization of loss on abandoned property. The principal noncash items can be identified and eliminated statistically but the many small items cannot. Therefore, we have handled the reporting on this matter in our pay-out reports rather than our certified financial statements.
The second criticism by the task force has also been covered by the Administration’s pay-out reports which have discussed and set forth the fact that a substantial portion of costs allocated to irrigation must be repaid from power revenues. This is purely a matter of the requirements of Reclamation law for the repayment of construction costs and is not a part of the cost of power as determined in accordance with the cost accounting system prescribed by the Federal Power Commission, In other words, the power operations will have to show a
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 117
substantial net return above straight power costs in order to meet the irrigation subsidy repayment obligation. As already noted, the combined net revenues as of June 30,1949, were more than $42,700,000.
Whether or not the two points noted by the task force are properly matters for treatment in the cost statements of the power phases of the projects’ operations is debatable and their past omission should not be a matter of concern inasmuch as they were fully covered by
the pay-out reports of the Administration. In any event, however, our auditors have indicated that they will refer to these two points appropriately in their report this year, either by footnote or by the captions used in the financial statements.
Power Rates Encourage Growth
Continuance of the basic wholesale rate of $17.50 per kilowatt-year for Bonneville-Grand Coulee power delivered anywhere from the transmission system has proved very effective in encouraging growth of industries and in insuring wide distribution to residential and commercial customers in the region. Power rates are especially important
118
ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
to industries using electricity at a high load factor and in such quantities as to make it a substantial item in their manufacturing costs. Several optional rates, consistent with the basic $17.50 rate, are available to municipal, cooperative and other public agencies serving primarily residential and commercial loads.
All long-term wholesale power contracts with distributors of Bonneville power contain provisions regarding resale rates and principles of operation to the end that power purchased from the Administration shall be distributed for the benefit of the general public, and particularly of domestic and rural consumers. The direct relationship of increased use of electric energy to the influence of lower rates is well illustrated in table 5. This shows the trends from 1938 to date on an average use and price for residential home and farm service in the Pacific Northwest as compared with the national average.
Table 5.—Residential and rural service—average use per customer and average price per kilowatt-hour
United
States total
Oregon and Washington
United
States total
Oregon and W ashington
Kilowatt-hour per customer:
1938_______________
1939_______________
1940_______________
1941_______________
1942_______________
1943_______________
1944_______________
1945_______________
1946_______________
1947_______________
1948_______________
902 953
1,006 1,044 1,088 1,135 1,225 1,305 1,418
1,546 1,674
1,410 1,467
1,589 1,776 2,024 2, 279 2,504 2,801 3,219 3,696 4,160
Price per kilowatt-hour:
1938_______________
1939_______________
1940_______________
1941_______________
1942_______________
1943_______________
1944_______________
1945_______________
1946_______________
1947_______________
1948_______________
1 4.02
3. 87
3. 74 3.65
3.57 3.50
3.41
3. 32 3.13
3.00
2. 92
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 Partially estimated from State commission data. Source: Edison Electric Institute.
Table 6.—Actual generation l)y the electric utility systems of the Northwest power pool, fiscal year 1949
Utilities Billions of kilowatt-hours Percent of total generation
Publicly owned: Bonneville Power Administration _ 12.9 1.2 .8 54.6 5.1 3.4
Seattle City Light _ ___ _
Tacoma City Light _ - .
Total publicly owned .
14.9 63.1
Privately owned: Pugent Sound Power & Light Co
1.7 1.4 .6 .7 2.5 .8 1.0 7.2 5.9 2.6 3.0 10.6 3.4 4.2
Washington Water Power Co _
Pacific Power & Light Co
Portland General Electric Co.. -
Montana Power Co _
Utah Power & Light Co
Idaho Power Co _ _ -
Total privately owned - -
8.7 36.9
Total Northwest power pool--. _
23.6 100.0
Note.—The above utilities are members of the Northwest power pool. Although British Columbia Electric Co., which serves Vancouver! and the surrounding areas in Canada, became a member of the power pool during the fiscal year, figures for this company are not included because data relating only to the area within the United States are believed to be of more interest.
PART II---ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 119
Transmission System
During the 1949 fiscal year, 178 circuit-miles of high-voltage lines and 7 substations were added to the Federal transmission system, comprising a total network of 3,461 circuit miles and 93 substations serving Washington, Oregon, northern Idaho and western Montana. The system has 1,436 miles of 230,000-volt line, 1,678 miles of 115,000-volt line, and 347 miles of lower voltage line.
During the year, 146,125 kilovolt-amperes in substation transformer capacity were added, bringing the total to 2,462,625 kilovolt-amperes under self-cooled conditions and a maximum capacity of 2,969,791 kilovolt-amperes under forced-cooled equipment. An additional 215,380 kilovolt-amperes of static capacitors during the fiscal year bring the total capacity to 337,480, with synchronous condenser capacity remaining the same, or 287,500 kilovolt-amperes.
Numerous customer service substations were energized during the year, the largest single addition being a third transformer bank at Midway Substation. This bank has a self-cooled capacity of 150,000 kilovolt-amperes and a forced-cooled capacity of 250,000 kilovoltamperes.
Transmission lines to areas where critical power deficits continue or serious distribution problems exist, were given a high priority in the fiscal year’s construction program. Important lines energized during the year included the 1.3-mile Columbia-Ellensburg 115,000-volt line, July 8, 1948; the 30-mile Chehalis-Olympia 230,000-volt and the 19-mile Olympia-Shelton 115,000-volt lines, August 5, 1948; Salem-Albany 27-mile 115,000-volt line, December 23, 1948; Eugene-Mapleton 38-mile 115,000-volt line, December 24,1948; Grandview-Richland 28-mile 115,000-volt line, January 1, 1949; and Franklin-McNary 29-mile 115,000-volt line, May 8,1949. A 115,000-volt wood-pole line was also completed from Kerr Dam to Hungry Horse Dam to transmit construction power.
863238—50----9
120 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
PACIFIC NORTHWEST REGION
PART II-ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +
121
Table 7 — Generators scheduled for installation in the Pacific Northwest by non-Fed&ral utilities 1950-58—Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and western Montana (thousands of kilowatts)
Type of installation Year Name-plate rating Peaking capability
Privately owned utilities: Idaho Power Co.: Bliss No. 3 - - -- Hydro. .. 1950 23.0 23.0
do 1951 23.0 23.0
do 1952 30.0 30.0
__do - 1953 65.0 65.0
do 1955 70.0 70.0
do 1958 80.0 80.0
291.0 291.0
California-Oregon Power Co.: do 1950 13.3 14.2
do -- 1951 17.0 17.0
do --- 1951 12.0 12.0
do _ 1952 13.0 13.0
t riiuor fAlcorwiitor do 1952 15.0 15.0
do 1952 6.0 6.0
do 1953 20.0 20.0
do 1953 20.0 20.0
116.3 117.2
407.3 408.2
Publicly owned utilities (plants): Seattle City;Light: do 1951 60.0 40.0
_ ...do 1952 90.0 90.0
do 1953 180.0 180. 0
do 1954 90.0 90.0
420.0 400.0
. . do . 1952 60.0 60.0
JtvOCK ISianu/ 1NO. o, inu. v, av. i- -- - t> nnir Toinnd 1 NTn ft NTn Q 10 do .- 1953 60.0 60.0
xtocK isianu, i\u. o, au.
120.0 120.0
Total publicly owned distributors 540.0 520.0
4-^.1 oil ntilifv installations 947.3 928.2
JL Oiai ail nOIl-reCLclcH lALUiuj —
i Contingent upon acquisition of this plant by a publicly owned distributor from the Puget Sound Power & Light Co.
Table 8.—Revenues by class of customers through fiscal year 1949
Class of customers 1944 and prior 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 Total to June 30, 1949 1949 percentage (dollar revenue)
Industry: Aluminum Other industry1. Publicly owned utilities Privately owned utilities Other electric revenues $24,350,433 5,185,494 3, 768,642 7,152, 532 130,123 $11,838,156 4,171,469 2,141,635 4, 752,021 86, 737 $7,987,226 3,108,749 1, 711,822 5,209,344 21,867,144 $9,045, 540 1,836,349 2, 778,765 6,127,669 32,102,606 $10,453,425 1,915,884 4,318,120 7,633,051 193,230 $11,741,530 2,219,819 5,893,436 7,756,301 209,943 $75,416,310 18,437, 764 20,612,420 38,630,918 4,589,783 42.20 7.98 21.18 27.88 .76
Total operating revenue- 40, 587,224 22,990,018 19,884,285 21,890,929 24,513,710 27,821,029 <157,687,195 100.00
2 Includes $L789,443 oTcontract cancellations applicable to fiscal year 1946. (The total of $3,802,415 was aP3PI°ncludes $2,012,97^of*contracTcancellations applicable to fiscal year 1947. (The total of $3,802,415 was aPPAs S June 30ri94P9Tthe AdmXration had collected and deposited in the United States Treasury power revenue receipts’totaling $144,167,008 and general fund receipts of $5,146,044. Accounts receivable, accrued unbilled revenues unbilled exchange sales, miscellaneous adjustments and minor items accounts for the different' be& total re4Xs Ind total receipts deposited by the Administration with the United States Treasury.
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Table 9.—General specifications—existing, authorized and proposed projects—installations and capabilities correspond to a coordinated system operation of all plants shown
Average head (feet)
Usable storage (aere-feet) § i £ § § ? B §§§ «<■ ! ! 000'002 ‘I i i i §1 i I Lg i i 3,880, OCO i§§ :§§ i :
Pool elevation (feet) OOOOO OOOOOO 1 g i 'OOOOO 0*0000000000000 'gsoss l>o" oici w i
Nominal prime power 2 (average kilowatts) §§S§8 8SSSSS §§§§§§SS §§§8§SS§§8§§§§
3
,c3
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
123
Construction work was being rushed to completion on two of the most important 230,000-volt circuits in the Federal system, the 166-mile Grand Coulee-Snohomish and the North Bonneville-Troutdale steel tower lines. Both are scheduled for energization in late 1949 to make new generation at Grand Coulee Dam available to major coast load centers in the Puget Sound and lower Columbia areas.
Considerable work was done during the year in technical system improvements to increase carrying capacity and provide more economical transmission. These developments include plans for using 1,272,000 circular-mil steel reinforced aluminum cable on the third Grand Coulee-Columbia line. This is believed to be the largest conductor ever used on 230,000-volt lines. Use of 115,000 and 230,000-volt auto transformers with lower insulation levels instead of the conventional type has made possible substantial increases in capacity at lower cost. Plans for several large synchronous condenser installations incorporate new features that will promote system stability and permit heavier line loadings.
PROBLEMS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
One of the most important problems of the year from a policy standpoint was the need for making a determination as to whether wholesale power rates would have to be increased for the coming 5-year period beginning December 20, 1949. Operations problems, centered primarily in maintaining service with major transmission facilities critically loaded to carry the added generation at Grand Coulee Dam to load centers, and lack of sufficient funds to bring system maintenance up to a status approximating acceptable standards for the industry.
Current Wholesale Rates
The Bonneville Power Administration’s wholesale power contracts permit equitable rate adjustments at specified 5-year periods if the Administration has adopted increased wholesale power rate schedules prior to the adjustment date and the national index of wholesale commodity prices for the 6 months preceding such date is 25 percent higher than in specified periods during 1939 or 1945. The current adjustment date is December 20,1949.
Determination to continue present wholesale rate schedules for another 5-year period is based on extensive studies of construction costs on new facilities and total pay-out requirements. Several years will elapse before substantially increased costs are realized through additions to the Federal power supply and transmission systems. The Administration will also continue to realize surplus revenues for at least 2 or 3 more years under existing wholesale rates.
Financial status of the Administration to date demonstrates that
124 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR present wholesale rates are paying all costs of power operations in accordance with standard cost accounting principles, including interest and depreciation. Sufficient additional net revenues are being realized to make possible a substantial contribution to the irrigation works of the Columbia Basin project.
Critical Loading of Transmission Lines
Present critical loading of existing high-voltage transmission lines, especially those carrying power from Grand Coulee Dam, continues to harass the Administration and will be a serious problem during the coming 1949-50 winter season. Normal transmission reserves to insure system stability during emergencies would require at least two additional high-voltage circuits on the basis of present loads being carried. Present 230,000-volt circuits from Grand Coulee Dam to Spokane and coast load circuits are each carrying loads up to 220,000 kilowatts, while existing 230,000-volt circuits from Bonneville Dam to Portland load centers are being loaded to approximately 300,000 kilowatts each. An outage on any one of these critically loaded circuits could seriously disrupt power service of large areas.
A comparison of transmission facilities and generation at Grand Coulee Dam 5 years ago and today, graphically illustrates the situation. Six Bonneville power administration 230,000-volt lines carried an average load of 134,000 or a total of 900,000 kilowatts from the 8 generators installed at Grand Coulee Dam in the fall of 1944, to coast areas and Spokane. These loadings were considered a maximum even under wartime conditions. Only one additional 230-kilovolt line, scheduled for completion November 1949, will be available to carry a total generation of 1,440,000 kilowatts when the Twelfth generator is installed at Grand Coulee in October 1949.
To meet even minimum transmission demands in taking power from Grand Coulee Dam, the seven transmission lines will have to carry nearly 70 percent more power than six 230-kilovolt lines carried in 1944. During the coming winter each 230,000-volt circuit will carry an average load of 190,000 kilowatts and from 210,000 to 220,000 kilowatts on key circuits to coastal areas.
Even though the administration has been able to increase carrying capacity of 230-kilovolt lines by almost a third since 1944 through installation of capacitor banks and other technical advances, critical load of the lines will continue to be acute in terms of transmission reserve. One additional 230,000-volt circuit, the North Bonneville-Troutdale line, is scheduled for completion next fall to relieve transmission to Portland, Oreg., load centers.
Scheduled installation of three new generators at Grand Coulee Dam each year until the nine right powerhouse units are installed
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +
125
makes a recognition of the transmission problems imperative if the rapidly increasing load requirements of the Federal system are to be met.
Deferred Maintenance
Maintenance continues to be below the standards necessary for a utility operation of the size and character of Bonneville Powei Administration. Appropriations for maintenance have not kept pace with rising costs and growth of the system.
Deferring maintenance not only results in operation hazards that would otherwise be avoided, but is costly in terms of equipment bi eak-downs that could have been prevented by earlier detection. Defei red maintenance is particularly critical where rapid growth and limited construction appropriations prevent the normal accumulation of reserve capacity in lines and substation equipment. Because present critical loading of lines and equipment makes the effect of any major outage more extensive, the need for keeping maintenance current cannot be too greatly emphasized.
A recent inspection of a synchronous condenser at the Troutdale, Oreg., substation revealed the need for extensive insulation work to avoid electrical failure. Earlier checking might have avoided the necessity for removing the condenser from service for 20 days with repair costs in excess of $12,000. Six other condensers on the system where inspection has not yet been possible may need similar treatment and failure during heavy load periods could result in a loss of over $20,000 a month in power revenue because of the reduction in load carrying capacity. In addition load curtailment may be necessary each time a condenser unit is taken out of service.
Equally costly are transmission line failures where lack of adequate funds for brush clearing and cutting of danger trees on older rights of way are an important factor. Deferment of maintenance on damaged insulators, wood pole cross arms and other transmission items can easily double the cost to the system in the event of severe lightning striKes on the lines. Maximum system stability and economical operation can only be achieved through a program of adequate maintenane.
Summary of Recommendations
Major problems worthy of extended consideration and action by the Congress and the executive branch, in the opinion of the Department, are to a large extent identical with those faced during fiscal year 1948. Essentially they are:
(a) Approval of continued system extensions on the major Federal transmission grid in the Columbia Basin, to meet generation scheduled for the remaining units to be installed in the left powerhouse at Grand
126 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Coulee Dam, and to provide reserve capacity for relieving the growing system instability due to overload.
(5) Clarification and revision by the Congress of Federal fiscal policies to establish a more flexible and efficient operation of reimbursable public works without weakening controls by the Federal legislature. Further clarification is also imperative in allocation of costs to power and extent of subsidy to irrigation and other purposes, as the basis for rate determinations and advance-operations planning.
(c) Importance of a policy that will continue to accelerate the Federal generation in the Pacific Northwest until power supplies meet current needs is mandatory to the welfare of the Columbia Basin. This is particularly true with reference to projects now under construction or authorized.
(tZ) Recognition of the need for a program of operations and maintenance that will recognize the growth of the Federal system, and bring maintenance up to at least minimum standards required by comparable utilities.
Table 10.—Pacific Northwest region1—estimated potential requirements compared with capabilities of scheduled generating plants, December of each year 1949-58
• [Thousands of kilowatts]
Year
Total regional peak resources2
Eestimated peak requirements
Year
1949_______________________
1950_______________________
1951_______________________
1952_______________________
1953_______________________
4, 232 4,683 5,174
5, 425
6, 045
4,259 4,745
5,194
5,643
6,073
1954_______________________
1955_______________________
1956_______________________
1957_______________________
1958..;____________________
Total regional peak resources 2 Estimated peak requirements
6, 656 6, 514
7,180 6,955
7,810 7,413
8, 813 7,864
9,449 8, 317
1 Including power requirements and resources of all electric utilities, Federal and non-Federal, in the States of Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and Montana west of the Continental Divide.
2 Assuming minimum-year hydroelectric conditions (year 1936-37) and installation of all currently scheduled additions to generating capacity.
Table 11.—United States Columbia River power system—estimated potential firm power requirements compared with capabilities of scheduled generating plants, 1949-58
[Thousands of kilowatts]
Operating year Potential requirements Capabilities of scheduled plants 1
December peak Average energy over storage season 2 December peak Average energy over storage season 2
1949-50 2,031 1,550 2,004 1,303
1950-51 2,438 1,822 2,376 1,362
1951-52 2', 756 2j 033 2,736 1,397
1952-53 - - - -- - --- - 3, 049 2,224 2,831 1,594
1953-54 . 3,238 2,382 3,210 1,927
1954-55 3, 570 2,673 3^ 712 2,312
1955-56 - 4,000 2,955 4,225 2,705
1956-57 4,457 3,238 4; 854 3i 051
1957-58 4,927 3, 523 5,876 3,797
1958-59 5,348 3,791 6,480 4i 541
1 Based on generator installation schedule S.
2 Water storage control periods 1949-50 through 1958-59 under minimum hydroelectric conditions.
Southwestern Power Administration
Douglas G. Wright, Administrator
DURING the fiscal year 1949, under the authority of section 5 of the Flood Control Act of 1944 and responsibility delegated by the Secretary of the Interior, the Southwestern Power Administration continued its functions of constructing transmission facilities and distributing and marketing hydroelectric power and energy generated at the multiple-purpose reservoir projects built and operated by the United States Army in the area served by this Administration.
Major activities were the construction of transmission facilities authorized by the 1947 and 1948 appropriations for this Administration, the administering of power and energy sales from the Norfolk and Denison plants, negotiation of contracts with cooperatives and public bodies, and practically continuous negotiations with the private utilities for a satisfactory and equitable contract of integration.
Congressional appropriation for this Administration for the fiscal year 1949 provided only for operation and maintenance and for engineering and supervision of the construction under contracts executed prior to June 30, 1948; no additional transmission facilities were authorized. However, in the latter part of the year, the President approved a $37,500,000 program to construct additional lines and substations to bring low-cost Federal power and energy to load centers of preferred customers and to connect future hydroelectric projects to the Southwestern Power Administration system. In line with this, for the fiscal year 1950, the House appropriated $4,000,000 cash for construction and operation and maintenance, $5,000,000 for contract authorization, and increased the continuing fund from $100,000 to $300,000.
The appropriation bill for fiscal year 1950 was pending in the Senate at the close of fiscal year 1949.
NORFORK DAM PROJECT
This project, located on the North Fork River—a tributary of the White River in Arkansas—was designed and built by the United States Army, and is being operated by them. The first of a possible 127
128 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
ultimate of four 35,000-kilowatt generating units has been in commercial operation since March 6, 1945, and the second 35,000-kilowatt unit is expected to be ready for commercial operation during the last quarter of the calendar year 1949.
Revenues from the sale of the electric power and energy generated at the Norfork project during the fiscal year 1949 were $865,184.18 and were deposited in the United States Treasury.
DENISON DAM PROJECT
The Denison Dam project, also designed, built, and being operated by the United States Army, is located near Denison, Tex., on the Red River and the Texas-Oklahoma border. It is designed for a possible ultimate of five 35,000-kilowatt generating units. The first unit has been in operation since March 9,1945, and the second unit is scheduled for completion and commercial operation during the third quarter of the calendar year 1949.
Revenues from the sales of the electric power and energy generated at the Denison Dam and sold to two private utilities and six rural electric cooperatives for the fiscal year 1949 were $795,948, which amount was deposited in the United States Treasury.
CONSTRUCTION
Construction work contracted for under the 1947 and 1948 appropriations was continued during the fiscal year 1949. The 11 contracts covered approximately 259 miles of 154-kilovolt and 114 miles of 132-kilovolt transmission line connecting the Norfolk and Denison projects, approximately 134 miles of 66-kilovolt feeder transmission lines and a 154/132-kilovolt substation located near Weleetka, Okla. There were completed in the fiscal year 1949 approximately 44 miles of 66-kilovolt line, 20 miles of 132-kilovolt line, and 51 miles of 154-kilovolt line. AH of the balance is anticipated to be completed by the last quarter of the calendar year 1949.
These facilities connect the Denison and Norfork generating plants and give two 66-kilovolt outlets to transmit and dispose to preferred customers the electric power and energy from these Federal hydroelectric projects, whose present capacity is 70,000 kilowatts.
The second generating units at both of these plants, and the two units at the Narrows project, will be in operation in 1950 and will increase the amount of power to be sold by this Administration to 157,000 kilowatts. Additional outlets will be needed to dispose of this power, and funds have been requested to build them.
The total Federal hydroelectric capacity in this area from projects
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now in operation, being constructed, and authorized is 903,900 kilowatts.
The United States Army is constructing six more multiple-purpose dams in this area, with a total generating capacity of 294,000 kilowatts. All of these plants, with a total capacity of 451,000 kilowatts, are expected to be in operation in 1953, and this Administration has requested funds to start building the facilities necessary to interconnect these new units with the present system and to dispose of the additional power.
Further, six additional dams have been authorized and several more generating units will be installed in operating plants to bring them to capacity.
MARKETING
Continued, but unsuccessful efforts, were made during the year to reach agreement with the private utilities for interconnection and integration of facilities.
One new cooperative and several new delivery points to old customers were connected to the Texas Power & Light System under the contract between that company and the Administration.
A contract has been made with the Brazos River Transmission Electric Cooperative for the delivery of power to the co-op from the Texas Power & Light System. Initial delivery of 6,000 kilowatts and ultimate of 10,000 kilowatts will start as soon as the necessary transmission facilities are completed. Another contract with Brazos River Transmission Electric Cooperative covers purchase, by the cooperative, of the full capacity of Whitney Dam. This project, which is scheduled for completion in 1952, will have 30,000-kilowatt installed capacity.
Several other contracts were executed with rural electric cooperatives under which service will start as soon as interconnection facilities can be obtained.
LOOKING FORWARD
The calendar year 1949 will see completed the construction initiated as a result of the appropriations for fiscal year 1947 and 1948. This will give this Administration approximately 373 miles of 154/132-kilovolt transmission line and the substation connecting the Norfork and Denison Dam projects, and approximately 134 miles of 66-kilovolt feeder lines in Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma.
Since no provision was made in the appropriation for the fiscal year 1949 for necessary equipment and tools to operate and maintain completed facilities, this work had to be delayed until provision could be
130 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
made in the 1950 fiscal year appropriation. This has been a serious handicap, as field organizations should have been established with the necessary personnel, equipment, and tools. When this is authorized it is planned to create a field headquarters at Muskogee, Okla., at approximately the geographical center of operations and to establish outlying depots with crews, equipment, and tools to handle various sections of the system.
It is well recognized that to obtain the maximum benefit from hydroelectric generating plants in the area, they must be integrated with fuel-burning generating plants in the area, and this can only be accomplished by: (1) Interchange contracts with private utilities, cooperatives, public bodies, or industrial establishments having fuelburning generating equipment; (2) Federal purchase of electrical energy generated by others; (3) Federal sale of all its hydroelectric energy to the private utilities or others having fuel-burning generating capacity with which it can be integrated; or (4) Federal construction of fuel-burning generating plants. It is believed the first method would be the most beneficial to the Government, the companies, and the customers of both systems.
Regardless of whether the Government obtains fuel-burning capacity by construction or by contract, it will be necessary to interconnect the generating facilities of hydroelectric projects in the area as they near completion. This will require the construction of additional transmission facilities unless interchange and integration contracts can be consummated to provide for the use of privately owned transmission facilities by the Government where such facilities exist.
Bureau of Mines
James Boyd, Director
FOREWORD
SAFEGUARDING America’s precious mineral heritage through conservation and more effective utilization and promoting maximum safety and efficiency in the domestic minerals industries were the major objectives of a many-sided program of exploration, research, and safety education carried on by the Bureau of Mines last year. Although these goals had been traditional with the Bureau since its organization nearly four decades ago, a growing need for strengthened national security in a troubled world, as well as the responsibilities of international leadership, gave added impetus to the Bureau’s activities during the year.
Two World Wars had taken a heavy toll of the Nation’s rich mineral reserves. But the continuing heavy demands of an expanding domestic economy and large-scale foreign requirements further strained the country’s already depleted resources. To meet this challenge, the Bureau, through a corps of highly trained personnel, worked unceasingly on the problems of producing superior products from increasingly leaner ores, adding to the known reserves of mineral fuels, both natural and synthetic, and protecting the lives of workers in all branches of the minerals industries.
Throughout the Nation, in quiet laboratories, in pilot plants, and in the field—the latter frequently under adverse conditions of climate and terrain—the undramatic but vital struggle to assure the country’s economic future continued. And while immediate objectives were not always attained, much valuable information was accumulated which would be useful in the solution of future problems.
To help expand domestic mineral frontiers, Bureau engineers carried out 44 development projects, of which 17 added substantially to known reserves of critical and essential minerals. As a part of its program for “taking stock” of the Nation’s mineral resources, the Bureau established three additional core libraries, bringing the total to seven. Collected during governmental and private investigations, these drill cores, along with geologic and mine maps and coredrill data, are becoming increasingly important mineral reference
131
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libraries. In Alaska, America’s strategic northernmost Territory, the Bureau broadened its mineral development program.
Traditionally interested in the development of efficient mining techniques, the Bureau made available to industry much valuable information in this field. In experimental mining studies, special emphasis was placed on the exploitation of marginal and low-grade deposits of such strategic minerals as chromite, manganese, and vanadium. Bureau scientists also developed and applied physical theory in the solution of the roof-sag and blasting problems with effective results.
To help reduce the dependence of the United States on foreign manganese, the Bureau intensified its investigation of domestic sources of this essential component of steel. In cooperation with the American Iron and Steel Institute, a program was initiated in search of a technically feasible method of extracting manganese from open-hearth slags. In another effort to replace foreign ore, battery-grade manganese was produced in cooperation with the Signal Corps on a small test-plant scale. Meanwhile, studies of metallurgical and mechanical processes for upgrading domestic chrome ores and research on the beneficiation of low-grade iron-ore taconites and titaniferous magnetites were continued.
Studies of nonferrous metals were pushed vigorously, and Bureau metallurgists produced a magnesium-manganese-nickel alloy possessing a higher tensile strength per square inch than that reported for the strongest commercial alloys of this type. Investigations looking toward the economic processing of oxidized copper ores and improving the deposition of zinc by electrolysis also made substantial headway. The Bureau-developed metal titanium—a highly desirable construction material because of its lightness, strength, and resistance to corrosion—was brought closer to the point of commercial application, while the development of ductile zirconium, another new metal offering many promising possibilities, advanced to the pilot-plant stage. Continuing its research on improved methods of gold and silver recovery, the Bureau, in cooperation with the Atomic Energy Commission, also investigated the production of uranium and vanadium from a large group of domestic ores. Of benefit to the armed forces and to the electrical industry were the Bureau’s studies in the development of synthetic mica. Successful .completion of these investigations may help to relieve the domestic shortage of this essential insulating material.
Recognizing that America’s strength and economic well-being depend in large measure upon ample supplies of fuels, the Bureau again directed its efforts toward assuring adequate reserves of all types of fuels, including special-purpose coals, petroleum, and natural gas.
PART II----ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 133
Serious depletion of metallurgical-grade coking coals gave special significance to the Bureau’s program for upgrading coals for use, alone or in blends, in producing metallurgical coke, and to the search for new reserves of coking coal. As part of this same effort, the new methods of increasing the utilization of large deposits of lignite and subbituminous coal were studed; and at Schuylkill Haven, Pa., and at Grand Forks, N. Dak., new laboratory facilities for anthracite and lignite neared completion. A Bureau-developed process for the highspeed drying of lignite was successfully employed in pilot-plant tests, and the new technique may provide a wider geographic market for this fuel.
Studies aimed at raising the output of bituminous coal and anthracite through the use of specially designed machinery also formed a part of the Bureau’s coal-research pattern, which included investigations of improved methods of recovering fine coal previously lost in washing and work on coal combustion.
Spurred by a declining rate of discovery of new oil reserves and the mounting requirements of America’s oil-thirsty industry, the Bureau drove closer to its goal of developing commercially usable processes for producing synthetic liquid fuels from coal and oil shale. With the dedication of two new coal-to-oil demonstration plants at Louisiana, Mo., the Bureau brought to a successful climax its pioneer work in this vital field. The new plants, completely modern and incorporating the latest features, may provide the basis for an industry which may eventually make America self-sufficient in oil. At Bruceton, Pa., and Morgantown, W. Va., significant progress was made in developing cheaper and more efficient methods of producing synthetic gas, an important cost item in the manufacture of oil from coal. The high cost of mining oil shale, long a major barrier to the utilization of this vast potential oil reserve, was substantially reduced at the Rifle, Colo., experimental mine by completely mechanizing operations, and studies at the nearby laboratory further proved the feasibility of extracting oil from shale. Facilities at Rifle were also expanded by the establishment of the Nation’s first continuous shale-oil refinery, while experimental studies at Laramie, Wyo., provided valuable information on the processing of shale oil.
Searching for new reserves of petroleum, the Bureau studied improved secondary methods of increasing the recovery of oil from established fields in Texas, Oklahoma, and Colorado. In addition, Bureau scientists investigated the protective value of various chemical compounds in reducing the corrosion of equipment in high-pressure gascondensate wells, studied the development of an effective process for recovering hydrocarbons from bituminous sandstones in California and Utah, and continued their research in Diesel fuels. Helium gas of
134 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
99.9 percent purity was produced at Exell, Tex., and a substantial percentage was distributed for commercial and medical uses.
Pledged to the protection of the life and health of America’s irreplaceable human resources—the millions of workers in the Nation’s minerals industries—the Bureau last year intensified its safety campaign based on: (1) Research and investigation, (2) safety education and training, and (3) inspection. That workmen and officials in the coal industry are becoming increasingly safety conscious is evidenced by the fact that coal-mine fatalities per million tons of coal mined declined to the lowest average in the recorded history of the industry, while safety advances were made in many other segments of the minerals industries.
Because of the wide variety of safety problems confronting the minerals industries, the Bureau’s research and investigation activities in this field covered a similarly wide range. In combating the hazards of falling rock in mines—largest single cause of deaths and injuries in underground mines—the Bureau adapted to coal-mine use a suspension-type support used in some metal mines. Thousands of dust and air samples were analyzed and recommendations offered for reducing hazards. Certificates of approval were awarded electrical equipment and component parts designed for use in gassy coal mines after they successfully met the Bureau’s rigid “permissibility” tests, which are respected throughout the minerals industries. Mine operators again utilized the Bureau’s extensive experience in mine and tunnel ventilation in the solution of specific problems. To help reduce respiratory hazards in coal mines, field studies were made to determine the effects of silica dust on workmen exposed to this hazard, and research was continued on the development of effective emergency mine communications apparatus. Development of new and improved methods of dispersing rock dust to help prevent coal-dust explosions represented an important advance in coal-mine safety.
Recognizing that the value of a safety program depends largely upon its complete acceptance by employees and officials, the Bureau continued its efforts to widen the scope of its safety-education activities. In addition to training thousands of supervisory officials in the principles of coal-mine safety, the Bureau familiarized minesafety committeemen with established safety standards to assure closer cooperation with management in reducing hazards. As during previous years, courses in first aid, mine rescue, and accident prevention were given to workers in mines and plants, and the Bureau continued to work closely with local chapters of the Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association and presented awards for outstanding safety achievements to plants and individuals.
Under authorization of the Coal-Mine Inspection and Investigation
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 135
Act of 1941, more than 6,670 coal-mine inspections were made—the largest number since the establishment of the Federal inspection program. Results of these investigations were made available to mine operators, mine workers’ organizations, and the public. Although the program is purely voluntary, it has been an important factor in correcting some of the more hazardous conditions and practices in the Nation’s coal mines. Other factors contributing to the more optimistic safety outlook in the coal industry are intensification of State and Federal safety-education programs and acceptance of Federal safety standards for bituminous-coal and anthracite mining in contracts between operators and employees.
Reappraisal of America’s mineral resources in the light of rising domestic requirements and large-scale foreign commitments was the goal of most of the Bureau’s statistical services. Throughout the year, the Bureau was called upon by Government and industry to furnish information pertinent to national-defense planning, foreign relief and rehabilitation, and mine-safety progress. Among the agencies served were the Economic Cooperation Administration, the National Security Resources Board, and the Munitions Board. In spite of these unusual demands, the Bureau continued most of its normal statistical coverage of the production, distribution, and consumption in all phases of the minerals industries.
Making available to industry, Government, and the public the results of technologic, scientific, and economic research, the Bureau released a large volume of all types of publications. However, in the interest of economy, only limited numbers of each publication were printed.
Bureau of Mines educational films last year were exhibited before an audience of 17,453,423 persons, the largest number in the history of this unique program. Financed by private industry and produced under the supervision of the Bureau, the films show the uses and methods of producing various mineral commodities. They are available for free showings before business and civic groups, scientific associations, colleges, and other organizations.
MINERAL DEVELOPMENT
Through laboratory research, with pick and shovel, and in pilotplant tests, the Bureau continued its efforts to determine the Nation’s mineral potential and to increase it through advanced technology. Always in view were the twin goals of conservation and national security.
Mine examinations, development projects, experimental mines, equipment design and testing, mathematical analyses and model
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136 > ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
studies, and a variety of other procedures contributed to greater knowledge and new invention in the minerals field. The Nation’s known reserves of strategic and essential minerals were increased substantially. Preparations were made to expand knowledge of the mineral resources of Alaska and give greater service to the Territory’s mineral industries as construction of a mining experiment station at Juneau got under way.
The Bureau’s mining engineers and metallurgists cooperated to assure the Nation an adequate supply of manganese, spurred on by curtailment of shipments from the Soviet Union. Engineers began a thorough investigation of a large deposit in Maine and drafted plans for a similar project in Arizona. Metallurgists, while preparing to seek effective and economical methods of treating these ores, began a cooperative search with the American Iron and Steel Institute for a method of recovering manganese from open-hearth slags. They also undertook fundamental research to determine the role of manganese in steel.
Studies of nonferrous metals were responsible for the production of a magnesium-manganese-nickel alloy stronger than any hitherto reported and yielded progress toward utilization of oxidized copper ores. Meanwhile, in the field of new and light metals, one Bureau-developed metal, ductile titanium, reached the threshold of commercial development and pilot-plant production. Another, ductile zirconium, was stepped up to increase the supply available for research. As the year closed, the Bureau prepared to penetrate the entire field of titanium alloys as rapidly as available funds permit. Each of these metals has special physical and chemical qualities that make it valuable to the armed forces, the Atomic Energy Commission, and private industry. Titanium, because it is the fourth most abundant metallic element in the earth’s crust, promises to replace a number of critical structural metals as improved techniques bring down production costs and desirable alloys are developed.
In many other fields, Bureau engineers and metallurgists sought ways to utilize more fully those mineral resources that are found in abundance, to develop substitutes for those that are scarce, and to synthesize those that cannot otherwise be produced in this country.
MINING ACTIVITIES
Investigation of mineral deposits.—Continued investigation of domestic mineral deposits yielded information of great value in terms of future prosperity and security. This program was devoted chiefly to critical and essential commodities, to noncommercial or marginal deposits, and to those believed to have national significance. Its benefits will be reaped years hence or in time of emergency; it is neither de
PART II—-ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 137 sired nor expected to reduce the need for development of today’s ores by private industry.
Of 44 development projects under way during the year, 17 added substantially to known reserves of critical and essential minerals. Included were approximately 4,300,000 tons of low-grade copper ore, with a gross copper content of about 46,000 tons; 1,200,000 tons of lead-zinc ores, with a gross metal content of 101,000 tons; 1,100,000 tons of low-grade graphite ore; 200,000 tons of good-quality gypsum (in Alaska) ; 34,200 tons containing 2,000 flasks of mercury; 260,000 tons of talc; several million tons of low-grade rutile-bearing ore; and small tonnages of ilmenite, tin, tungsten, and nickel-copper ore. These investigations involved 65,820 feet of diamond, churn, and other drilling; 25,000 feet of trenching; 235 feet of shaft, drift, and crosscut; nearly 8 miles of access roads and trials; many hundreds of channel and drill samples taken and analyzed; and a number of metallurgical tests to determine possible mineral recoveries and quality of products. Information obtained from these and earlier projects was published as rapidly as possible for the benefit of the mineral industries.
The Alaskan staff of the Bureau was increased during the year to handle an enlarged minerals-development program in the Territory, and at Juneau construction began on a building to provide office, laboratory, and shop facilities as the start of a new mining experiment station. Examination of mines and prospects designed eventually to provide a reasonably complete appraisal of the Territory’s mineral resources was centered in southeastern Alaska. The immediate importance of construction materials in the Territory led to the examination and development of gypsum, limestone, and shale deposits.
The monazite content of various western gold placer deposits was investigated for the Atomic Energy Commission.
Construction during the year of three more core-storage warehouses or libraries brought the total to seven, situated at Fairbanks, Alaska; Albany, Oreg.; Reno, Nev.; Salt Lake City, Utah; Tucson, Ariz.; Rolla, Mo.; and Bluemont (Mount Weather), Va. These permanent collections of drill cores from Government and private investigations become more useful yearly.
Bureau engineers made 755 field examinations during the year. These not only indicate eventual development and utilization of the more promising deposits but help in evaluating the national critical and essential mineral situation and the local industrial mineral potential of specific areas.
Experimental studies.—Experimental mining projects included one in the Montana chromite district, one on a vanadiferous phosphate deposit in Idaho, one on the southern Wisconsin shallow lead deposits, and one on an eastern pegmatite deposit.
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Plans were drawn up for development and metallurgical research on two of the major domestic manganese deposits, one in Aroostook County, Maine, and the other in Mojave County, Ariz. Preparatory work began on the former. Reserves in these deposits are large enough to justify strenuous efforts to overcome technical difficulties that now prevent their exploitation.
While driving a necessary ventilation raise at the Mount Weather, Va., experimental adit, the Bureau studied the possible underground applications of the millisecond, delay, electric blasting cap recently developed by explosives manufacturers and used to some extent in quarrying. As the unexpected result of an unconventional hook-up followed by a series of confirming tests, it appears that under some conditions the cut holes can be eliminated from blasting rounds with a considerable saving in drill footage and explosives cost.
Dynamic strain analysis was emphasized in research on the application of physics to mining. As a result of the invention of gages that make it possible to measure dynamic strains in a solid body of rock, progress was made in solving fundamental problems of generation and preparation of strain waves and breaking rock by explosives. The instruments and techniques are being used experimentally in shooting oil wells and in dam-construction blasting—the latter in connection with the Missouri River dams at Picktown and Pierre, S. Dak.
Research on static stress analysis was continued in the Bureau’s experimental oil-shale mine at Rifle, Colo., where the results are applied directly to the mining program. Strain gages, microseismic recorders, photoelastic and other model studies, physical-property determinations, and mathematical analyses make it possible to evaluate stresses met in room-and-pillar mining, thus suggesting preferred development lay-outs.
An experimental diamond-drilling project, undertaken in cooperation with the Geological Survey, paved the way for obtaining good core recovery in the southeastern Idaho phosphate-rock formations. Difficulties formerly encountered in drill-sampling these important phosphate reserves were at least partly overcome.
Mining-method reports.—Eleven reports prepared by Bureau engineers on outstanding developments in mining methods and equipment were made available to the industry during the year. These reports, prepared in cooperation with mining companies, are designed to encourage the rapid adoption of improved methods. Often, they include information about operating costs.
Missouri Basin studies.—Numerous investigations on behalf of the Missouri Basin program were in progress during the year, and 28 reports were made available to the field committee. These covered a wide range of mineral commodities and related industrial problems.
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139
METALLURGICAL ACTIVITIES
Ferrous metals.—The curtailment of shipments of manganese ore by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics early in 1949 led the Bureau to begin more investigations of domestic sources of this essential ingredient of steel. In cooperation with the American Iron and Steel Institute, a program was initiated in search of a technically feasible method of extracting manganese from open-hearth slags. These average about 8 percent manganese, and their volume is so great that they constitute a source of the metal more than adequate to compensate for the supplies formerly obtained from Russia. In an effort to reduce the need for manganese, fundamental studies of its role in steel were initiated. In addition, research on the utilization of domestic manganese ore deposits is being intensified.
In another effort to replace foreign ore, battery-grade manganese dioxide is being produced in cooperation with the Signal Corps on a small test-plant scale. An excellent-grade product can be made by electrodeposition of manganese oxide on graphite anodes. However, it is necessary to investigate other anode materials, owing to the rapid deterioration of graphite.
Studies of metallurgical and mechanical processes for upgrading domestic chrome ores are in progress. One that selectively reduces the iron and magnesium content of chromite has proved successful with some ores.
Research on beneficiation of low-grade iron ores, including taconites and titaniferous magnetites, to make them usable was continued. Studies on the effects and control of sulfur in iron also are in progress.
Nonferrous metals.—During an investigation of the magnesium-manganese-nickel system, an alloy was produced that has a tensile strength 5,000 to 7,000 pounds per square inch higher than that reported for the strongest commercial alloys of this type.
In cooperation with the Navy, copper-manganese alloys are being prepared for fabrication into turbine reduction gears. The primary purpose is to lower noise level and reduce the transmission of vibration.
Substantial progress was made during the year in an investigation looking toward the economic processing of oxidized copper ores and in another aimed at improving the deposition of zinc by electrolysis.
New and light metals.—During the year the Bureau produced 5,600 pounds of ductile titanium for experimental purposes. This new Bureau-developed light metal—a highly desirable construction material because of its abundance as a natural resource, its most favorable weight-strength ratio, and its marked resistance to sea-water, atmospheric, and other chemical corrosion—has reached the threshold of commercial development. One company, already turning it out at
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the rate of 300 pounds a day, is stepping up its production, and several others are keenly interested in producing the metal. Still other companies are mastering the technique of rolling and fabricating titanium.
The development of such a metal opens a broad field for further research. The present production process should be improved so as to reduce costs, much additional information on corrosion resistance is needed, and the entire range of titanium alloys remains to be explored. There is the possibility of developing new alloys with superior properties.
In addition, several research projects are under way on the beneficiation of titanium ores and the production of titanium dioxide or chloride intermediates in manufacturing the metal. One method utilizes titaniferous magnetite and produces titanium dioxide while recovering iron and vanadium as byproducts. Another depends on the chlorination of titanium mattes.
Bureau development of ductile zirconium, another new metal, has advanced to a pilot-plant production of about 300 pounds a week, all of which is being used in research. Like titanium, zirconium has special physical and chemical properties that make it interesting to the armed forces, the Atomic Energy Commission, and private industry. Pilot-plant operations produced 2,700 pounds of the metal during the year. Future research will be directed toward process improvement, the development of alloys, and the study of their physical and chemical properties.
Abrasive-grade bauxite is being produced commercially by a process of roasting and magnetic separation. The Bureau recently attempted to produce an abrasive-grade product by crushing and tabling raw Arkansas bauxite, but the pilot-plant test showed that this method does not compete commercially with present plant practice. A procedure is now being investigated that utilizes a two-stage roast, by which an abrasive-grade product, a Bayer-gracle (metallurgical) bauxite, and an iron concentrate are obtained.
Rare and precious metals.—During investigations concerned with gold and silver recovery, the simultaneous extraction and electrolytic deposition of gold from activated carbon was demonstrated to be commercially feasible.
In cooperation with the Atomic Energy Commission, substantial progress was made in a program that has as its primary objective the determination of optimum conditions for the recovery of uranium and vanadium on a commercial scale from a wide variety of domestic ores.
Nonmetallic minerals and their products.—Investigations on the production of synthetic mica were continued in cooperation with the Army and Navy. Crystals up to an inch in diameter have been produced. They have excellent transparency, cleavability, and flexibility.
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However, much larger single crystals are the goal. As a byproduct of this investigation, a ceramic body consisting of a polygranular synthetic fluorine mica has been prepared. This product is expected to be useful for electrical insulation, and as such it is a possible substitute for block talc. Bodies of the material can be machined.
The Benjamin Franklin graphite mines at Chester Springs, Pa., were operated under contract, and 7.5 tons of flake graphite was produced. This is to be used in tests to determine the acceptability of domestic graphite for crucibles and allied bodies.
Considerable progress has been made in the development of a commercial method for the production of high-grade aluminum silicate (mullite) refractories from domestic sources to replace foreign material.
Substitutes for industrial diamonds are being sought through the synthesis of hard materials.
Miscellaneous.—In addition to the specific problems mentioned, the Bureau’s metallurgical activities include many other diversified research projects and services. As an aid to the mining industry, field laboratories identified or analyzed for radioactivity several thousand rocks and minerals for prospectors, ran hundreds of concentration tests on local ores, conducted fundamental studies on electrostatic separation, carried on the highly important project of determining the thermodynamic properties of metallurgical substances, and further investigated methods for treating and recovering waste metals.
FUELS AND EXPLOSIVES
A far-reaching program of fuel development and research—designed to assure the Nation enough fuel supplies for future needs while promoting maximum safety and conservation—was conducted by the Bureau last year.
To help improve the metallurgical coking coals situation, the Bureau eiqbarked on a survey to determine known minable reserves, upgraded marginal coking coals, and conducted blending studies to use noncoking or poorly coking coals. Increased laboratory facilities for anthracite and lignite research approached actuality at Schuylkill Haven, Pa., and at Grand Forks, N. Dak. New, improved methods of dispersing rock dust in coal mines to prevent the spread of coal-dust explosions were developed.
Synthetic liquid fuels research forecast eventual freedom from dependence upon imported oil supplies, as two new coal-to-oil demonstration plants at Louisiana, Mo., were dedicated. Low-cost volume production, coupled with advances in retorting and refining techniques, placed the production of oil from shale in a competitive position with
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other sources of liquid fuels. Petroleum studies yielded information that will mean many more million barrels of oil recovered. Helium production took another step forward, as the purity of the gas was increased to 99.9 percent. The use of unsafe black powder in coal mines dropped to 16 percent of all explosives employed.
COAL AND COAL PRODUCTS
Coal mining and investigations.—An investigation to determine known minable reserves of coking coals was well under way in seven Pennsylvania counties, eight southern West Virginia counties, and eight eastern Kentucky counties. Bureau studies to increase coal output through the use of mechanical equipment were made in bituminous-coal mines in Arkansas, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and Wyoming. In Pennsylvania anthracite fields, shearing machines for recovering pillars from thick beds and a machine for pneumatically stowing mine waste into roof-supporting pillars and barriers were tested. Progress also was made in constructing a vibrating-blade coal planer, designed to “plow” coal from the face without drilling or blasting.
Coal deposits in south central Alaska and the Kenai Peninsula were investigated, and core drilling was conducted in the Matanuska field. In Gunnison County, Colo., an investigation disclosed recoverable coal reserves estimated at 624,800,000 tons, but unsuitable for present-day metallurgical coke making. In the Coosa coal field of Alabama, an investigation revealed recoverable coal reserves estimated at 11,000,000 tons. Diamond drilling also was done in Colorado, Maryland, and North Carolina. Abroad, Chilean coals and mining conditions were studied at the request of the Chilean Government, and Greek lignite mines were investigated to help the Economic Cooperation Administration make recommendations for improving mining conditions and increasing output.
Coal preparation.—Progress was made in upgrading coking coals through coal-preparation methods, with an intensive study of#the Pittsburgh bed in southwestern Pennsylvania and northern West Virginia. Washability and screening tests on various Illinois coal beds demonstrated that two more beds could yield clean coal suitable for metallurgical use. As a result of Bureau research, several commercial preparation plants installed the cyclone thickener to clarify water and recover marketable coal previously discharged as refuse. The Bureau also assisted the Brazilian Government in preparing coal in the Santa Catarina field, resulting in increased production of metallurgical fuel for steel, and studied the performance of an Alaska washing plant handling considerable refuse material.
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Coking, gasification, and drying studies.—In tests, the Bureau found that West Virginia coals not extensively used for coking were suitable for making metallurgical coke if used in appropriate blends. A low-volatile coal was blended with 12 high-volatile coals, and the properties of the resulting coke were studied. Continued research on the complete gasification of partly carbonized coking coals in the Lurgi pressure generator resulted in improved operation and increased gas production.
Pilot-plant tests were made on the high-speed drying of lignite and subbituminous coals to demonstrate the technical success of the process and provide information for the design of larger, commercialscale plants. To help the Economic Cooperation Administration develop Greek natural resources, Greek lignites were dried. Design improvements in Bureau lignite-gasification pilot plants also were tested.
Coal combustion.—To aid householders and industries in selecting fuel-burning equipment, the Bureau determined the performance and efficiency of burning various coals on domestic stokers and compared hand and oil firing. In power-station boilers, improvements were made in instruments and methods of measuring heat flow in big, pul-verized-coal-fired furnaces.
Research facilities.--—jYt Schuylkill Haven, Pa., construction of the Anthracite Research Laboratory was begun in November 1948. At Grand Forks, N. Dak., plans for design of the Lignite Research Laboratory were completed, bids for construction were received, and building contracts were awarded.
Services to Government.—Over 24,000 samples of coal and related materials from coal research were analyzed by the Bureau, including samples from Government coal purchases and coal-mine dusts submitted by Federal inspectors. The Bureau made boiler-plant operating-cost comparisons for the use of oil, gas, and coal and recommended suitable-type fuel-burning equipment for 37 projects of the Veterans’ Administration and 6 of the Army Department. Boiler-plant surveys were made for various Federal agencies, resulting in annual operating savings of $1,600 to $54,000 a plant. The Bureau helped 34 Government agencies solve 125 special fuel problems, conducted schools for coal samplers for the Army Air Force in New York, Ohio, Georgia, and Utah, and sampled 500,000 tons of coal for shipment to Japan.
In serving Federal boiler plants, the Bureau analyzed over 8,700 samples of boiler water and made recommendations. Research in the corrosion of boiler-room equipment continued, and a new, less costly chemical for preventing corrosion was discovered. Under Presidential directive, the Bureau passed on more than 425 pieces of oil- and gasburning equipment for Federal agencies. Twenty different cities also received smoke-abatement advisory services.
Gas- and dust-explosion research.—To reduce the damage of coal
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mine explosions, the Bureau studied an effective way of dispersing rock dust from bags underground in front of an on-coming coal-dust explosion. This method stops the explosion and extinguishes it. In place of inefficient hand methods, the Bureau also developed a rapid way of applying rock dust on mine floors through the use of permissible explosives.
A theory of the ignition of firedamp and the stabilization and quenching of firedamp flames was developed, research on methods and materials for putting out coal mine fires was continued, investigations to detect explosion hazards of static electricity in operating rooms were made in Pittsburgh hospitals following a series of fatal anesthetic explosions, and a method of predicting burner performance when mixing gas fuels was developed for the gas industry.
To assure greater safety in manufacturing and using hazardous chemicals in industry, the Bureau demonstrated that gaseous explosions at high pressures could be extinguished by adding inert gases and by controlling the oxygen content. Inflammability limits and ignition temperatures for numerous combustible gases and vapors of industrial importance also were determined. Testing of 72 samples of various kinds of dusts increased the total number examined to about 1,375 and provided more information for use in preparing national and State safety codes.
SYNTHETIC LIQUID FUELS
Continuing a vast synthetic liquid fuels research program, the Bureau made tremendous strides in reducing the cost of producing motor and aviation gasoline from coal, and of mining oil shale, long a deterrent to oil-shale development.
Oil from coal.—At Louisiana, Mo., two new coal-to-oil demonstration plants—first of their kind in this country and incorporating numerous innovations as forerunners of a new basic industry that ultimately may free the United States from dependence on foreign oil—were dedicated on the fourth anniversary of VE-day, May 8, 1949.
The coal-hydrogenation plant, a 200- to 300-barrel-a-day unit, employs pressures up to 10,300 pounds per square inch in two major operations: Liquid-phase hydrogenation, which liquefies the coal; and vapor-phase hydrogenation, which converts the liquefied coal to gasoline and byproducts. The gas-synthesis plant, an 80- to 100-barrel-a-day unit, will gasify pulverized coal with oxygen and superheated steam and then convert the resulting synthesis gas—a mixture of carbon monoxide and hydrogen—to liquid fuels. Remaining units of this plant will be completed in 1950. Trial runs in the coal gasifier
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4- 145 yielded an acceptable synthesis gas. Both plants were operated to a limited extent before the dedication.
Based on commercial-size operations, the most significant cost estimates disclosed that a 30,000-barrel-a-day hydrogenation plant using Illinois bituminous coal as raw material could produce motor gasoline for 10.2 cents a gallon and aviation gasoline for 15 cents a gallon.
At Bruceton, Pa., in the Bureau’s coal-to-oil laboratories and pilot plants, fundamental process improvements were under development. With synthesis gas the most expensive cost item in the Fischer-Tropsch process, significant progress was made in developing two promising methods for more efficient conversion—the internally cooled, fixed-catalyst-bed method and the oil-catalyst, slurry method.
To cut major costs, the Bureau studied the rapid conversion of coal to distillable oil, gas, and coke at moderate pressures and relatively high temperatures. Two pilot plants for coal hydrogenation were placed in operation during the year—one for the liquid-phase and the other for the vapor-phase operation.
At Morgantown, W. Va., where processes for the low-cost production of synthesis gas were under development, a pneumatic feeder was perfected that increases by some 30 times the quantity of pulverized coal that may be conveyed to a gas generator by 1 cubic foot of air. A new coal-gasification pilot plant achieved efficiencies of better than 85 percent in the initial runs. Improvements in a laboratory-scale unit made it possible to gasify continuously the most strongly coking coals, as well as the cheapest low-grade coal with high ash and sulfur content.
At Gorgas, Ala., the Bureau touched off its second experiment in underground gasification of coal in cooperation with the Alabama Power Co.
Oil from shales.—At Rifle, Colo., progress was made in mining shale, retorting it to produce oil, and refining crude shale oil into useful products. Mining costs, long a major hindrance to oil-shale development, were largely solved in the Bureau’s experimental mine on the naval oil-shale reserves near Rifle. Low-cost volume production was achieved through complete mechanization. In a test run, more than 29,000 tons of oil shale were mined at a direct cost of 32.9 cents a ton, and the average production for each underground worker per shift was increased to 111 tons. The average output for all labor was 92.7 tons a shift for each man, as compared to an average of 5.4 tons a man in coal mines. Unique practices and equipment used in the experimental mine were demonstrated to industry. These included a four-drill jumbo, which breaks 1,500 tons of stone, special equipment used in charging explosives into blast holes, and other drilling equipment for sinking vertical holes.
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Two new installations were completed and placed in operation at the oil-shale demonstration plant at Rifle, Colo.: A continuous pilotplant retort for extracting oil from shale, known as the gas-flow retort; and an experimental refinery, the first continuous unit in this country for treating crude shale oil to obtain finished products—gasoline, Diesel fuel, heating oils and fuel gas.
At Laramie, Wyo., research and development studies established further basic essential information on the processing of oil shale and shale oil, while experimental retorting yielded encouraging results. Laboratories turned to chemical treating to improve product quality. Low-pressure hydrogenation showed promise as a method for processing shale oils. Numerous analyses and determinations were made upon oil shales from the Bureau’s experimental mine and from foreign countries. A procedure was developed for separating nitrogen compounds from shale-oil distillates, and methods for determining nitrogen in shale-oil materials were modified to obtain more accurate values.
PETROLEUM AND NATURAL GAS
With petroleum consumption at peak levels, the Bureau stepped up research to increase petroleum resources and the efficiency of using the products derived from them.
A petroleum-engineering study of the New Hope field, Franklin County, Tex., was completed—first Bureau study in which pressure maintenance was applied by water injection to oil-bearing reservoirs before depletion. The Bureau investigated the North Lindsay field, Okla., and outlined the best production practice to obtain maximum recovery of oil. New studies were begun on the Dove Creek field in Colorado, and engineering information which gives promise of recovering many more million barrels of oil was obtained from laboratory research and study of the reservoir fluids from the Rangely field, Colo. To determine the water and petroleum content of oil-bearing rocks, studies were made on drill cores from wells in the Mercy, Tex., Rangely, Colo., and South Coles Levees, Calif., fields, and from wells in the Gulf Coast and Appalachian areas.
Of 40 materials tested, the Bureau found that industrial wastes from domestic lumber and wine industries were the most promising substitutes for quebracho, imported for use in controlling the viscosity of drilling muds in oil wells. To minimize corrosion of equipment in high-pressure gas-condensate wells, the protective value of certain chemical compounds was established in field tests, while laboratory experiments determined the comparative resistance of 32 steels to corrosion. Improvements in techniques of measuring subsurface pressures also resulted in greater accuracy in measuring the productivity of high-pressure oil and gas wells.
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To recover oil now left behind in reservoir rocks, the Bureau studied forces acting at the rock-water, rock-oil, water-oil, water-gas, and oilgas interfaces in petroleum reservoirs. New petroleum-engineering studies got under way in Texas, Oklahoma, West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Arkansas. In California, the Bureau studied the operations of 23 gas-injection projects in 19 fields and 3 water-flooding operations. Other secondary recovery work included research in the channeling of injected fluids introduced into a formation to displace oil, studies to determine if more oil can be obtained from sand by tunneling into the sand and applying heat at the exposed sand face, research to develop a hot-water separation process for recovering hydrocarbons from bituminous sandstone in California and Utah, and an investigation of oil- and gas-well shooting.
In chemistry and refining, the Bureau continued to study the composition of Diesel fuels and their combustion characteristics, uncovering information that may have an important bearing on the ignition characteristics of hydrocarbons and their mixtures that go to make up Diesel fuels. Techniques for separating and determining organic sulfur compounds in petroleum were devised and are now being applied to seven high-sulfur domestic crude oils. The Bureau also accelerated its program on the synthesis and purification of sulfur compounds, analyzed 115 crude oils, including 10 from important foreign fields, studied the suitability of Rocky Mountain crude oils for making asphalts, and completed a 3-year study of the availability of fuels for military aircraft.
Last year, the Bureau again made studies to determine accurate values for the thermodynamic properties of hydrocarbons and related substances, began a program to determine the thermodynamic properties of organic sulfur compounds, and studied the- thermodynamic properties of hydrazine, a potential rocket propellant of special interest to the armed services.
HELIUM
At the Bureau’s Exell, Tex., Helium Plant, 54,062,443 cubic feet of helium were produced. Of this amount 29 percent, or 15,797,968 cubic feet, was sold for commercial and medical use—about the same volume as sold in the previous year. Helium demand from Federal agencies increased iy2 million cubic feet over 1948.
Last year, the Bureau increased to 99.9 percent the purity of helium needed for use in helium-shielded arc welding. Research also progressed in the use of helium for shielded-arc welding of aluminum, magnesium, stainless steel, and other alloys. Three tracer projects, using helium to determine characteristics of oil and gas reservoirs,
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were completed for industry, and the search for fields suitable for the production and conservation of helium continued.
EXPLOSIVES TESTING AND RESEARCH
To reduce explosives hazards, the Bureau conducted 1,791 tests on permissible explosives, special and new explosives, detonators, and hazardous chemicals. The list of active permissible explosives was increased to 197 by adding 6 new products. Through education and demonstrations, the Bureau noted that the use of black powder in coal mining had been reduced to 16 percent of all explosives used underground—lowest on record.
Bureau research revealed that the formation of a pocket or trapped mass of fire damp by hot gaseous products from an explosive was one of the most important causes of ignition. The time required to analyze commercial explosives was cut from days to hours through a new method of analysis.
Further investigation of the explosibility of ammonium nitrate, cause of the Texas City, Tex., disaster, disclosed that by adding 25 percent of ground limestone to ammonium nitrate fertilizer, the mixture is relatively safe from explosion by heating.
SAFETY AND HEALTH ACTIVITIES
A gratifying reduction in the American coal-mine-fatality rate in 1948 and the first 6 months of 1949, together with definite evidences of progress in conserving human life and preventing accidents in many segments of the mineral industries, again attested to the soundness of the Bureau’s threefold approach to this problem developed over the past four decades.
As the only agency of the Federal Government charged with the responsibility of promoting health and safety in the mining and allied industries, the Bureau continued its work in the following fields:
(a) Research and investigation, to determine the hazards and learn the most effective ways of countering them.
(5) Education and training of workers and officials, to impart the knowledge and skills thus gained to all throughout the industries.
( 153
als, use of electricity, ventilation, haulage, explosions and fires, and other hazards.
During the fiscal year, 32,305 employees of the mining and affiliated industries were trained in first aid and mine rescue, bringing the total number of persons who have completed such courses since the establishment of the Bureau in 1910 to 1,737,794. With the training of 297 instructors, more than 18,000 persons throughout the country have become qualified to teach the Bureau of Mines first-aid courses. During the year, 87 more mines and plants were awarded certificates showing that their entire personnel had been trained in first aid.
Metal-mine accident-prevention training was given during the year to 1,019 persons who completed the course and to 213 who received partial training. Also during the year, 17 persons received training in the use of explosives, while 296 completed and 288 received partial training in the petroleum-gas safety course.
The Bureau continued to maintain contact with local chapters and district councils of the Joseph A. Holmes Safety Association. The association gave safety awards to numerous plants, supervisors, and individuals in all branches of the minerals industries, presenting them at meetings where Bureau of Mines personnel participated.
Coal-mine inspections.—During the year, exactly 6,674 Federal inspections of bituminous and anthracite mines were completed, bringing the total number of inspections since the inception of the program to 25,000. These inspections have covered 5,898 coal mines in the United States and Alaska, leaving about 4,000 small mines yet to be inspected.
With the addition of several new Federal inspectors in the 1949 fiscal year, the staff was increased to 250 men. Most of these are engaged in regular inspections, but some are constantly on duty as teachers of various accident-prevention and safety courses and as consultants on special mine problems that arise from time to time.
The Federal Mine Safety Code for Bituminous and Lignite Mines of the United States is the criterion used by Federal inspectors in examining bituminous mines. For anthracite mines, the inspectors follow the Federal Safety Standards for Anthracite Mines.
Federal inspections have revealed many hazards that had been overlooked or ignored previously, and the widespread publicity given the results has stimulated interest in coal-mine safety. In a sense, the publicity is another facet of the Bureau’s educational efforts. The contracts between the majority of the coal-mine operators and the United Mine Workers of America have provided for compliance with Federal inspectors’ recommendations for correcting hazardous conditions and practices while making routine inspections. These contracts also provide for recognition of mine-safety committees composed of
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United Mine Workers personnel, the members of which are authorized to inspect any mine development or equipment used in producing coal, and to report their findings and recommendations to the management.
Such influences have brought about a more rapid improvement in accident rates during the 7 years of Federal inspections, and it is likely that they will continue to have a favorable influence. Additional impetus is necessary to maintain and possibly increase the current interest in mine safety, and the Bureau of Mines intends to carry forward its work with even greater zeal.
ECONOMICS OF THE MINERAL INDUSTRIES
Heavy demands for economic and statistical data needed by industry and Government in planning vital national security programs, together with an increasing public interest in promoting safety in the mineral industries, underscored the importance of the Bureau’s statistical services during the past year. Ranking high on the list of special services rendered by the Bureau were studies basic to the determination of stock-pile objectives, current stock-pile procurement schedules, conservation legislation, mobilization planning, and ECA procurement policies.
In addition to providing the Munitions Board and the National Securities Resources Board with information on domestic and foreign economics of metals, the Bureau also supplied the Economic Cooperation Administration with actual and potential metal production and consumption rates and surveyed metal-production capacities for the Council of Economic Advisors. Internationally, Bureau representatives participated in the third and fourth meetings of the International Tin Study Group convened at The Hague. At home, Bureau specialists served on numerous departmental committees.
Although the Bureau’s statistical research programs were shaped largely by special and urgent requests of industry and Government, most of the normal statistical services were maintained. These included canvasses of commercially important mineral commodities, preparation of information circulars, issuance of Mineral Trade Notes (a monthly compilation of foreign mineral-commodity information), reviews of developments in the nonmetallic mineral industries, studies of petroleum, natural gas, and oil shale, along with statistical surveys of the coal, coke, and coke byproducts industries, and compilation of accident data. However, since the Bureau’s facilities were inadequate to meet all demands, some essential routine services, including publication of the authoritative Minerals Yearbook, were curtailed or delayed.
Metals.—To help provide Government and industry with the latest
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economic and statistical information on conditions and developments in the metal industries at home and abroad, the Bureau published more than 280 annual, quarterly, and monthly reports. Assisting the renewed drive to conserve America’s mineral resources and strengthen the national defense, the Bureau prepared special reports on a variety of subjects, including data for determining strategic stock-pile objectives and geographic localization of strategic metal consumption as a basis for locating storage depots. Numerous services were rendered upon request to members of Congress and congressional committees, and Bureau metals specialists served on committees of the Munitions Board and were consulted by the National Security Resources Board. Facilities for collecting basic data in the field were extended with establishment of a branch office at Juneau, Alaska.
Nonmetdllics.—(Statistical canvasses of all of the commercially important nonmetallic minerals, including building materials, chemical raw materials, mineral fertilizers, abrasives, and ceramic raw materials, were conducted; and annual reports, supplemented in some instances by monthly, quarterly, and semiannual reports, were published. A book on the commercial utilization of blast-furnace slag, a cooperative project of the Bureau and a trade association, was released, and the Bureau also completed several chapters for a volume titled “Industrial Minerals and Rocks,” which will be issued by the American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers. The Graphite, Mica, Phosphate Rock, Potash, and Sulfur chapters for a cooperative geographic publication of the Bureau and the University of Maryland were completed, and two general reviews of developments in the nonmetallics minerals industries were prepared by the Bureau and published in trade journals.
Petroleum.—As oil is becoming an increasingly important factor in national defense and industrial planning, requests for information on this vital commodity were unusually heavy. To help expand its statistical coverage, the Bureau initiated a series of analytical studies of the petroleum, natural-gas, and shale-oil industries of certain foreign countries under a cooperative agreement with other Government agencies. As a further service to industry and Government, efforts were made to obtain periodic operating statistics and other information relating to petroleum in foreign countries and to permit publication of a monthly supply-and-demand balance for the world, by principal countries. Monthly petroleum statistics covering the domestic industry were expanded to increase the usefulness of the information; and the annual survey covering fuel consumption at petroleum refineries, suspended during the war period, was resumed and the statistics for 1942-47 released. Because of growing interest in foreign oil operations, tables were added to the Petroleum chapter
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of the 1947 Minerals Yearbook to show exports and imports by source and destination in greater detail.
Coal.—A declining rate of coal production and changes in the stock and consumption position of major classes of consumers stimulated many requests for information. In response to these demands, the Bureau made numerous and varied statistical and economic studies, and reports on production, distribution, consumers’ stocks, consumption, and use of bituminous coal, anthracite, lignite, and coal chemicals. Data were kept up to date, and continuing analyses were made regarding changes in coal production and the impact of changing conditions on the national economy.
With full industry support, the Bureau continued its comprehensive statistical surveys to provide statistical and economic data pertaining to the anthracite, coke, and byproducts industries, including special analyses regarding productive capacity in the coke industry. During the early part of the year, members of the staff served as advisers to both the United States Commerce Department and members of industry in connection with the establishment of steel allocations for the mining-machinery and anthracite industries. 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. The Bureau also cooperated closely with committees and members of the National Bituminous Coal Advisory Council in preparing reports pertaining to the bituminous-coal industry which were of special interest to Government and industry.
Foreign minerals.—With growing dependence of American industry on foreign sources of supply and increasing participation of the United States in world affairs, the services rendered by the Foreign Minerals Section assumed added importance.
The scientific and technical cooperative program conducted by the Bureau under Public Law 402 was extended during the year to Afghanistan, the first country in the Eastern Hemisphere to receive such assistance since the passage of the law in January 1948. Siam and India have officially requested assistance under the act, and a study is now under way to determine the most effective type of technical aid that the Bureau can render to these two countries.
During the year, a Bureau metallurgist was assigned to Brazil to serve as technical adviser to its National Department of Mineral Production. The Mexican program is now firmly established, and accomplishments during the year clearly indicate that this project may become a model for work in other countries. After 3 months’ study in Argentina by a coal-processing specialist of the Bureau, a program has been approved for the next fiscal year. Similarly recommended
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projects have been approved in Peru and Venezuela and will soon become part of the Bureau’s program under Public Law 402.
Accident and employment data.—Promotion of the safety of workers in America’s mines and industrial plants continued to be a major industrial and governmental objective. As a result, the Bureau’s injury statistics on the mineral industries became correspondingly important as an effective yardstick of the progress of safety work in the mines. The new monthly series of reports on coal-mine injuries filled an important gap in current information on safety. Following initiation of the benefit payments to coal miners under the industry’s welfare fund, more detailed tabulations and analyses of coal-mineinjury records have been demanded by industry and labor groups. In addition to regular compilations, many special tabulations were supplied to congressional committees, Government agencies, employee unions, operator groups, and others interested in mine safety. In the safety competitions conducted by the Bureau, enrollment in 1949 reached a record total of 808 mines and quarries, while in the 1948 competitions, the Bureau awarded 1,145 certificates of achievement to men and companies for outstanding safety work.
PUBLIC REPORTS
The volume of publications prepared and issued by the Bureau increased over the previous year as a result of continuing demands from industry, Government agencies, and the public for information on all phases of the minerals industries. In addition many technical papers and reports that were withheld during the war were released for publication.
To fulfill its responsibility for keeping the minerals industry and the public informed of trends and developments, the Bureau disseminated its technologic, scientific, and economic information among those to whom it would be of value. At the same time, the number of copies of each publication was held to a minimum to conserve funds.
Results of the Bureau’s investigations were distributed in the form of printed and processed reports, in speeches before scientific and trade organizations, and in articles published in technical and trade periodicals. In summary, 753 manuscripts were edited during the year, compared with 690 last year. These included 8 bulletins, 16 technical papers, 83 chapters of Minerals Yearbooks, and 16 miscellaneous publications—a total of 123 printed reports. In addition, there were 237 reports of investigations, 49 information circulars, and 16 mineral trade notes—a total of 292 processed reports. A total of 338 speeches and articles were prepared for technical societies and the trade press. Galley and page proofs were read and indexes pre
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pared for the printed material. The cumulative list of all printed and processed publications issued by the Bureau since its creation in 1910 was completed and indexed. Many special services were rendered the Department in the course of the year, including indexing the Correspondence and Style Handbook and indexing the Senate hearings on the Interior appropriation bill.
During the year, 3,723 books and pamphlets were added to the Bureau’s Washington reference library, bringing the number of items to 76,042. As the year ended, 484 periodicals were being received and recorded, and 245 of them were circulated to Bureau staff members as soon as received. For use outside the library 28,872 books and periodicals were lent or routed. A total of 3,687 readers used the library, and there were 4,571 telephone inquiries. Exactly 6,852 cards were added to the card catalog.
Another all-time record was established in the number of showings of films from the Bureau’s free loan library of educational motion pictures during the year. Bureau films were exhibited 151,897 times, up 14 percent over the previous year, and an increase of 18,867 over the former high of 133,030 showings reached in fiscal year 1948. The attendance at these showings totaled 10,515,423, plus an estimated attendance of 6,938,000 at television showings, which had increased considerably during the year. This brings the total attendance to 17,453,423, which exceeds last year’s record by 4 percent.
A total of 1,070 new copies of films were added to the library, and 705 copies were withdrawn because of obsolescence and ordinary wear. At the end of the year, the library had 6,247 copies of films, totaling 13,985 reels, in circulation. This was a net increase of 6 percent in copies of films and 4 percent in the number of reels.
Eight new films became available for distribution during the year. They were The Story of Gasoline; Arizona and Its Natural Resources; Wyoming and Its Natural Resources; Nevada and Its National Resources ; The Story of Tinplate; The Story of Lubricating Oil; Zinc— Its Mining, Milling, and Smelting; and The Story of a Spark Plug. The last-named film was a revision of an earlier picture.
These and other Bureau of Mines educational films are in 16-milli-meter width, all in sound except a few of the earlier ones, and many in full color, including most of the films added in 1949 fiscal year. Like all films in the Bureau’s loan library, the 1949 films were sponsored by industrial concerns, which defrayed the costs 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 the films, but the borrower pays transportation costs and for any film damage other than normal depreciation.
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ADMINISTRATION SUMMARY
The decentralization to the field service of the functions of purchasing, disbursing, and property accounting was continued during the fiscal year. The purpose of this particular type of decentralization is to speed up the delivery of material and supplies to the point of use as well as to expedite the payment of vendors’ bills and invoices. This was accomplished by certain changes in the organization of existing administrative units and the setting up of one new unit. The ultimate goal is to decentralize all of the administrative work now conducted from Washington, D. C., so that the responsibility for accounting and personnel functions as well as purchasing and disbursing will be placed in regional offices in the field.
This work of decentralization will proceed as rapidly as possible during the fiscal year 1950. The first step will be the delegation of personnel authority to the principal field stations so that they will have authority 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 will be delegated to the field for all positions in CAF-1 through CAF-7; P-1 through P-2; CPC-1 through CPC-10; SP-1 through SP-8; and all ungraded jobs.
Reorganization plans are proceeding for the establishment of eight regional offices in the United States and Alaska.
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 of the Bureau of Mines. With direct responsibility to their immediate supervisors, there are now four safety engineers in two of the three plants of the Office of Synthetic Liquid Fuels with a vacancy in the third plant which is being filled.
Of the 67 stations or groups of the Bureau of Mines exceeding 10 employees in number, 25 groups had no disabling injuries in the calendar year 1948. Many of the remaining groups had only a single disabling injury. Steps are being taken to improve the experience of those groups which continue to contribute a sufficient number of disabling injuries annually to hold down the statistical improvements of the Bureau as a whole.
The severity rate of the Bureau of Mines with the exception of that for the calendar year 1948, when 3 fatalities were suffered, has been extremely low. While it is desirable to reduce the number of losttime injuries, many authorities in safety work believe that low severity rates, which are the number of days lost time per thousand man-hours of employment, are much more important than the number of disabling injuries without considering the seriousness of them. If
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that is to be taken as a criterion the Bureau of Mines has achieved a very important goal.
PERSONNEL
On June 30,1949, there were 3,970 full-time employees in the Bureau of Mines, distributed as follows:
Table 1.—Classification and number of appointees
P&S SB2 CAP CPC 2 Total
Departmental- - -- 75 1,036 3 634 408 927 16 771 502 3, 368
Field
Total _ -
1, 111 637 1,335 787 3,970
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, 1949, including direct appropriations, departmental allotments, reappropriated balances, and sums transferred from other departments for service work, were $30,759,657. Of this amount, $28,292,269 was expended, leaving an unexpended balance of $2,467,-388. On the regular work of the Bureau, $25,996,102 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, 1946-50.
Table 2.—Bureau of Mines appropriations and expenditures, fiscal years ended June 30, 1946-50
Fiscal year Appropriated to Bureau of Mines Departmental allotments 1 Funds transferred from other departments 2 Total funds available for expenditures Unexpended balances Total expenditures Expenditures, exclusive of service item3
1946 $17,846,838.69 16,000, 515.00 18, 741,181.00 27, 020,990. 00 25,065,800.00 $6, 500 7,800 6, 500 6,000 6,000 $2,384,271 1,641,243 3,068,284 3, 732,667 1,853,170 i $25,301,457.69 5 26,052,579.00 « 21, 788,965.00 7 30,759,657.00 s 26,924,970.00 5 $8,050,809.69 8 10,114,009.00 7 1,623,519.00 s 2,467,388. 00 $17,250,648 15,938, 570 20,165,446 28,292, 269 $16,009,760 14,885,652 18,769, 286 25,996,102
1947
1948
1949
1950
1 Includes stationery and contingent funds.
2 Includes proceeds from sales of residue gas.
2 Service items include helium and other investigations and services for other departments.
4 Includes $4,678,164 unexpended balance reappropriated, and balance of $385,684 receipts from sale of helium and other products.
5 Includes $3,176,386 unexpended balance reappropriated, and balance of $457,684 receipts from sale of helium and other products.
6 Includes $6,501,988 unexpended balance reappropriated, and balance of $800,727 receipts from sale of helium and other products. .
7 Includes $81,471 unexpended balance reappropriated, and balance of $720,155 receipts from sale of helium and other products.
2 Includes $913,300 unexpended balance reappropriated, and balance of $672,322 receipts from sale of helium and other products.
Table 3 gives a statement of the distribution of congressional appropriations to the divisions and branches, and the expenditure of these funds in 1949 by Bureau divisions.
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Table 3.—Bureau of Mines expenditures, fiscal year 19Jf9
Mineral mining investigations 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 $26,998 147,991 245,855 1 1 1 1 1 1 ! 1 ! 421,300 420, 844 456
§ o .2 ■g W O S W B S S g® •B—. x 2 tfl.floE o’g ® ft£- Ph § w 1 1 I IJ ! ! ! $735,000 | » 735,000
Synthetic liquid fuels $131 105,810 105,941 1 467,302 1 1 t i N । iC i O i • CM i r- । »cc ; ! ! c* 1 1 1 LC 1 1 1 i i i CM 10,994,030 13, 576,063 14,150,000 14,149,306 ’ 694
Construction and equipment of lignite laboratory i CM 1,352 42, 738 42,738 J : : 200, 000 44,090 2155, 910
Coilstruc-, A-i tion and Anthracite- eqUjpment .mining oqfaAthra- mvestiga- cite tions research laboratory । । 13,762 ! o • ! i CO 1 I 1 66- 1 I I I i Ci i i 1 Ci ■ 1 i io" i i 1 00 I ■ i Ci 1 CO • CO 1 : io 1 05 i Ci 1 00 1 < 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 177,721 177,721 396,100 1,369 277,483 1,369 | 1 118,617
Testing fuel ! CM 1 Ci i 00 !U 7,892 31, 950 ; 347,635 134,736 482,371 1 1 1 1 1 1 522,400 522, 213 187
Coal-mine inspections and investigations ! 00 । a 110,088 I 48, 574 102,415 102,415 1 1 1 c I 1 ' ! (S 1 ! Ci ! ' 2,047,486 11,425 2,144, 513 2,431,500 2,426, 088 5,412
Control of fires in inactive coal deposits $15, 290 234,125 234,125 250,000 249,415 585
tf “ B m © m 53 fl 2 2 •.5 « 6» fl fl S3 C fl .fl .2 2 o 22-d fl*S ftw'O rt b£>o O £ fl §33 “ Ets c s fl $ fl 05 ft $28,145 9 KQR 30,741 93, 230 50 I?! 1,733 212 38,166 O 090 L 277 1,120 44. 737 37 84 197 318 169, 750 169,460 290
Division or branch Office of the Director nffinn nf TK/Ti-nornl a Ponnrfc Total Administrative Division Mining Division Metallurgical Division Fuels and Explosives Division: Coal Branch Explosives Branch Fuels Utilization Branch Petroleum and .Natural Was Brancn Synthetic Liquid Fuels Branch Total Economics and Statistics Division: Coal Economics Branch Foreign Minerals Branch.. Metal Economics Branch zvvuiuvi.il zviiuijoia ui aiiun Nonmetal Economics Branch Petroleum Economics Branch Total Health and Safety Division: Coal Mines Inspection Branch Safety Branch Health Branch Total Total appropriations Total expenditures Balance
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Table 3.—Bureau of Mines expenditures, fiscal year 19^9—Continued
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Property records of the Bureau of Mines, as of June 30, 1949, show accounts as follows:
Automobiles and trucks--------------------------$1,179, 008.19
Canvas and leather goods________________________ 19, 784.11
Drafting and engineering instruments------------ 76, 478. 71
Electrical equipment____________________________ 275,145.19
Hardware and tools______________________________ 349,163. 75
Household equipment_____________________________ 84, 616. 21
Laboratory equipment____________________________ 4, 721, 504. 07
Medical equipment------------------------------- 38,442.19
Office furniture and equipment------------------ 1, 324, 209. 84
Photographic apparatus--------------------------, 120, 008. 40
Machinery and power plant equipment_____________ 4, 966, 414. 43
Land, buildings, and improvements--------------- 27, 801,198. 85
Rescue cars and specialized apparatus___________ 521, 298. 45
Total______________________________ 41, 477, 272. 39
This property is in Washington and at the various field stations and offices of the Bureau.
Geological Survey
W. E. Wrather, Director
THE Geological Survey is the focal point of many activities concerned with the discovery, evaluation, development, and conservation of the Nation’s mineral and water resources. With ever-increasing standards of living inherent in our modern civilization, the metals and minerals for machines, the fuels for power and heat, and the water for power, irrigation, industry, and the home, must be found in ever-increasing amounts. These resources come from the earth, and a thorough knowledge and application of the principles of geology and engineering is required to meet the demands upon our supply of these materials. The hundreds of projects carried on throughout the year on surveys, investigations, mapping, gaging of streams and the measurement of underground waters, coupled with an exhaustive research program designed to achieve new and improved methods and tools for doing the job, have taxed to the limit the available facilities of the Geological Survey.
GEOLOGIC DIVISION
The program of geologic mapping and mineral resource investigations continued during the fiscal year with increasing emphasis on the search for and the evaluation of mineral deposits.
For many years this country was more than self-sufficient in nearly all mineral resources, but the drafts made on our supplies during the last World War have taught us a bitter lesson. Intensive but hurried studies prior to and during the war considerably increased our supplies of some strategic minerals, but in spite of our efforts we became increasingly dependent on imports, largely sea-borne. The discovery of new oil reserves and new mineral deposits have both become increasingly difficult. Probably nearly all the deposits which show valuable mineral at their outcrops have already been discovered. Hope for the future lies (1) in the study of producing districts, in cooperation with operating companies, so as to enlarge known reserves; (2) in the intensive study of districts once productive but now thought to be exhausted, on the chance that geologic study may reveal structures and ore not apparent to the early miners; and (3) the
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study and geologic mapping of regions where geologic indications are favorable but in which no discoveries have been made. Study of the surface and underground geology is the primary requisite, but these investigations are aided by the examination of plants and soils for trace elements, by geophysical work, and by the use of other specialized techniques.
Recent Survey work, at a cost of $20,000, has revealed thick beds of talc justifying the erection of a $1,000,000 treatment plant, and studies of iron ore have resulted in the discovery of 15,000,000 tons of ore at a cost to the Government of less than a cent a ton.
Long-range projects without immediate economic results must not be neglected, however. The primary function of the Survey is exploration of the unknown parts of this country. Less than 10 percent is covered by adequate geologic maps, and no area can be written off as worthless for mineral production until its geologic structure is thoroughly known. Details of the activities of the Geologic Division are outlined in the reports that follow.
Mineral Deposits
The discovery of new mineral resources is now the responsibility of the scientist. Past discoveries of valuable minerals at the surface of the ground were the starting points of the major mining districts. Now the depths of the earth must be probed for hidden mineral wealth and we must enlist the skill, techniques, and imagination of specialists in many fields of science. In mineral deposits studies the combined efforts of many specialists working in the field and in the laboratory are focused on mineral deposits problems, with special emphasis on areas where the search for new resources offers the most promise. The studies also include ore producing districts where basic geologic studies are needed to serve as a foundation for further exploration by industry. These studies may not produce tangible economic results until several years after the project has been completed, but the knowledge, techniques, and theories which have been developed in one area form the basis for discoveries in other areas. For example, during the past 8 years such studies in New York concerned with the geology of iron deposits have resulted in the discovery of more than 15,000,000 tons of iron ore at a Federal expenditure of $150,000, or less than 1 cent per ton.
Another main objective of mineral deposits studies is aimed at the appraisal of the Nation’s known mineral resources in the ground and the chances of finding new deposits. A more precise understanding of our scarcities is needed if our major efforts are to be directed, toward the relief of our most vital deficiencies,
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167
During the fiscal year 1949 comprehensive studies of the resource position of the United States with respect to certain strategic minerals was begun. The Survey with other Government agencies is making appraisals of world resources of a number of strategic minerals, at the request of the National Security Resources Board and for the use of the Economic Cooperation Administration.
Other activities in this field continued at an accelerated rate. Detailed reports were published on the mineral resources of the Libby area, Montana, containing descriptions of silver-lead, copper, and gold deposits; and on the Boise Basin, Idaho, containing descriptions of pyrite, base-metal, and gold deposits. Several short, detailed reports on various mineral resources in different states were also issued.
Other publications issued include a report on potential iron deposits in Michigan; 10 reports on copper and copper-zinc deposits in California ; two short reports on small quicksilver deposits in California; a compilation of the geological resources of the Trinity River tributary area in Oklahoma and Texas; a preliminary report on the mineral resources of the Kirby area, Oregon; a comprehensive report on the chromite deposits in part of California; and a guide for an appraisal of the national mineral resources. Fourteen brief scientific research papers were also released including descriptions of new geochemical methods of research that may be used in the discovery of hidden ore bodies. In addition 23 preliminary reports or maps of mineral deposits were made available for public inspection at Geological Survey offices and libraries in various States.
Field work was completed on 6 projects and begun on 2 new ones. Field work on 39 long-range projects of geologic mapping and related investigations begun prior to July 1, 1948, continued throughout the year 1949.
The Geochemical Prospecting unit which is engaged in developing prospecting methods using chemical studies of soil, vegetation, and water, carried on experimental field work in search for ore in three mining areas in Arizona, two in Colorado, and one each in Utah, New Mexico, and Wisconsin. The results are encouraging and the techniques developed by this unit are now being tried elsewhere by the mining industry.
Petroleum and Natural Gas
The continuing objective of the Geological Survey work in the field of oil and gas investigations is to provide a flow of the needed basic geologic data in petroleum provinces and in those regions in which the character and thickness of the rocks are such that there is promise that petroleum or natural gas may be found. The data needed are principally stratigraphic, such as the presence or absence of source beds
§0——12
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and reservoir rocks, the position and magnitude of regional changes in formations that might, at depth, cut out oil-bearing beds or produce stratigraphic traps, or lateral changes in the characteristics of foi mations that will have a bearing on the porosity of reservoir rocks.
It is the further objective of the Survey to make promptly and widely available the data resulting from these regional geologic investigations, so that they can be of use to all who are engaged in oil exploration and discovery. This objective is being achieved by the issuance of preliminary results in the form of maps and charts of the oil and gas investigations series as rapidly as possible, announcing their availability by press notices and by placing them on sale at a number of points throughout the country. At the end of the fiscal year, more than 115,000 copies of the maps and charts printed to date had been distributed by mail and over-the-counter sale, 25,000 of this number during fiscal year 1949. During the fiscal year 16 maps and charts were published in preliminary form and 30 reports were published by state surveys or in technical and trade journals.
At the end of the fiscal year 30 projects were in operation in 19 States including Oregon, California, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Arkansas, Michigan, New York, Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida.
Oil Shale
The Geological Survey has continued its investigations of oil shale. Although this activity is small its future importance is large. Currently available knowledge of the quantity and quality of oil shale is still largely based on reconnaissance studies that were made by the Geological Survey 30 years ago. Because of the enormous potential importance of this large resource, improved knowledge is needed of the quality and availability of oil shale suitable for processing as a possible source of liquid petroleum products.
During the year detailed mapping and investigations of the rich deposits in the Parachute Creek-DeBeque area, Colorado, adjoining Naval Oil Shale Reserves 1 and 3 on the west were continued. One report was published, namely the results of a detailed study of Reserves 1 and 3, conducted in cooperation with the Navy. This report provides data for a reliable estimate of the oil reserves in oil shale in those reserves.
Coal
The Geological Survey is currently engaged in two closely integrated programs of geologic investigations of our coal resources, with the ultimate objective of obtaining a sound, complete, and adequate knowledge of our coal deposits. The first program consists of
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regional appraisals of coal reserves. These appraisals provide data on coal reserves in individual beds, and in several categories according to the thickness of the minable coal, amount of overburden, and reliability of information. The second program consists of detailed studies and mapping in selected areas where specific information is needed to facilitate mining or to locate new sources of coal, and to provide basic geologic data on which adequate resource data are founded.
During fiscal year 1949, reappraisal of the coal reserves of Montana was completed on the basis of published and unpublished data in our files, by rank of coal, by thickness of bed, and by counties. Similar reappraisals of New Mexico, Michigan, and Wyoming coal reserves were begun. Detailed geologic mapping of coal deposits was started in the San Juan Basin of New Mexico, in the Durango and Trinidad coal fields of Colorado, the Spotted Horse coal field of Wyoming, in Leslie County, Ky., and in Lewis County, Wash.
An extremely detailed map of the Coalwood coal field in Montana was completed, and maps of the Coosa field in Alabama and the Deep River field in North Carolina were published. Each of these is accompanied by detailed and accurate estimates of coal reserves by bed, by thickness of bed, and by depth of overburden where needed. A report on the Haskell County coal area, mapped under the joint auspices of the Oklahoma Geological Survey and the Federal Geological Survey, was printed and a similar report on Le Flore County, Okla., was in preparation for the press.
Exploratory drilling was begun in parts of the Yampa coal field, Colorado, where large areas remain as part of the public domain. This drilling may lead to new sources of good quality coal.
A notable accomplishment of the year was the completion of plans for a new coal geology laboratory at Columbus, Ohio, established with the generous cooperation of the Ohio Geological Survey and the Ohio State University. This laboratory will provide the facilities required for the highly technical paleobotanical and petrographic examinations of coals by specialists of the Geological Survey. These studies are needed as a guide to and a correlation of the geologic factors controlling variations in the quality of coals.
General Geology
Work in general geology by the Geological Survey includes not only the preparation of detailed geologic maps of quadrangles which contribute to the completion of the geologic map of the United States, but it also provides consulting service and research for the benefit of other Survey organizations in several distinct geological fields, such as structural geology, volcanology and related igneous phenomena,
170 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
sedimentation, glacial geology, and agricultural geology. Compilation of comprehensive geologic maps of States and the preparation of State indexes to published geologic maps are also included in this activity.
During the fiscal year 1949 a geologic map of Idaho was completed and published, and maps of Montana and Oklahoma were nearly completed. Ten State indexes to published geologic maps and a report on the results of a detailed regional survey in Rhode Island were published. Thirty-five field projects were in progress at the end of the fiscal year, most of which are expected to continue through fiscal year 1950. Although these projects are not directed toward the investigation of specific mineral resources, many of them have yielded important data of immediate practical value, and the resulting maps and data are being used by various Government departments, State agencies, and the general public.
The operations of the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory, recently transferred to the Geological Survey from the National Park Service, continued with little change. Plans have been made to integrate the research activities of the observatory with volcanologic research being conducted by the Survey in other areas, including the Aleutian Islands and the Colorado Plateau. Such studies of volcanoes and related phenomena will eventually yield data that will permit the prediction of eruptions and certain types of earthquakes. A knowledge of volcanic processes and the ways in which all types of molten rock become emplaced in the earth’s crust are essential to an understanding of many kinds of mineral deposits, and such knowledge can be used to locate additional deposits.
Geophysics
Geophysical methods of exploration are being used more and more as deposits of minerals and mineral fuels, most of which are not detectable by surface indications, become fewer. Applications of geophysical methods to geological exploration must be still more widely used if we are to maintain an adequate rate of discovery.
During the fiscal year 1949, geophysical surveys were made in connection with geological surveys in many areas of the United States and Alaska. These surveys included magnetic surveys primarily concerned with deposits of magnetic minerals or minerals associated with them, electrical surveys, gravity surveys, seismic surveys, radioactive surveys, and geothermal surveys. A vigorous program of research and development aimed at producing increasingly sensitive, precise, and powerful geophysical instruments and improved methods is being continued.
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Production of aeromagnetic maps was increased some twentyfold during the past year. This was accomplished by further systematizing and standardizing the compilation of aeromagnetic data, by increasing the compilation staff about threefold, and by introducing a training program for new employees. The increased production has greatly reduced an accumulated backlog of aeromagnetic data and will permit prompt publication of current surveys. As examples, the greater part of the compilation of the State-wide survey of Indiana and of large parts of the Lake Superior and Adirondacks iron regions were completed. These surveys will furnish basic information to aid in exploring for oil and iron.
Other activities were subordinated to some extent because of the urgent need to organize and staff the aeromagnetic section as a balanced operational unit. The program of geophysical research and development and of ground geophysical surveys is therefore still inadequate to meet many requirements.
Of special interest was the geophysical ground-water program. Electrical resistivity surveys conducted by the Survey were successful in locating the depth and extent of water-bearing beds and of gravel deposits in a number of localities, thereby permitting a great reduction in the amount of drilling required to test these areas. This program was carried out in cooperation with geologists of the Water Resources Division.
Also of interest was an experimental electrical survey in southwest Colorado'. Results indicate that geophysical methods can detect uranium-ore bodies in that area and thereby eliminate some costly drilling.
The field program carried out during the year included 12 aeromagnetic surveys in 10 States and covered 30,865 square miles. Twelve gravimetric and electrical surveys were made in 7 States and in Alaska.
Geochemistry and Petrology
Work in geochemistry and petrology, carried on largely in the laboratory, is an essential part of the Geological Survey’s program of geologic mapping and mineral-resources investigations. Its function is to determine for the field geologists the mineralogical and chemical composition of the rocks, Ores, and minerals being investigated; to conduct researches into methods of analysis and mineral identification, physical and chemical properties of minerals and rocks and their relationship ; and to study their modes of origin in the field and in the laboratory. An outstanding accomplishment during the year was the modification of the flame-photometer method, making possible rapid and accurate quantitative determinations of alkalies in rocks and minerals.
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Working in concert with the field unit engaged in geochemical prospecting, the geochemical laboratory is developing methods for determining in the field minute amounts of various elements. Already satisfactory methods for the determination of zinc, copper, molybdenum, vanadium, nickel, and lead have been developed. A new and simple device for making semiquantitative spot tests, named the “chromograph,” was designed, tested, and found to give good results With this device, it is now possible to make in the field rapid and sufficiently accurate analyses for minute traces of copper and nickel, giving the results in a form that can be preserved as a permanent record. The use of the chromograph eliminates the delay and expense of sending samples to the laboratory and permits immediate concentration of field effort on promising areas. Chromographic methods for Other elements are also being devised. It is expected that this method will have important applications not only in prospecting for ore. but also in agricultural studies of soils.
The spectrographic method of analysis has become increasingly useful, and research in our laboratory has improved its accuracy. During the past year, it has been the mainstay of our search for beryllium, and the standards set by our laboratory have aided commercial laboratories to improve their analytical results.
The laboratory identifies and studies samples that require special techniques using optical, chemical, X-ray, and spectrographic methods. Our library of X-ray powder patterns now contains over 4,000 films, hence almost all naturally occurring materials can be identified quickly. Differential thermal analysis curves are another new and useful means of determining the composition of many minerals that are otherwise difficult to identify. All of the methods developed in the Geological Survey laboratories to identify the components of rocks and ores are made available to industry, research scientists, and to the public. During the past year, important contributions to mineralogy were made, including descriptions of seven hitherto unknown minerals, and new data have been made available on many others. Three of the minerals were new uranium compounds, and they represent an important addition to our knowledge of the forms in which this element occurs.
Paleontology and Stratigraphy
During the fiscal year 1949, supporting research was continued on a consulting basis for other branches and divisions of the Geological Survey, and in addition a program of basic research was continued.
The paleontological staff of the Geological Survey in the last few years has not been increased at a rate commensurate with the growing need for its services, and a large backlog of requests for consult
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173
ing services has accumulated. At present, every effort is being made to increase this activity and to bring it into balance with the rest of the program.
Direct contributions were made to the solution of many problems arising during the investigations for oil and gas, coal, and various metalliferous and nonmetalliferous mineral deposits through the visit or assignment of specialists to some 30 field parties.
Engineering Geology
Production of geologic maps and the interpretation of those maps in terms that are understandable and useful to engineers is one of the functions of the Geological Survey. The civil engineer builds his structures on or below the earth’s surface; pait 01 all of his foundation structures are made of natural materials which he must find locally. It follows that the more he knows about his part of the earth’s surface, the better his structure will fit into the limitations imposed by nature and the better, safer, and cheaper will be his final product. This is true whether he is building a farm access road or a super highway, a skyscraper or a dam, a tunnel or a levee.
The Geological Survey did not begin this work in engineering geology until fiscal year 1946. The next several years were ones of slow growth and of trial and error in an effort to determine the proper scope of engineering geology in the Geological Survey. Fiscal year 1949 saw the fruition of much of the earlier work and the crystallization of many of the ideas developed during this period. The existing lack of basic data on topography, geology, hydrology, and soils m planning major Federal construction activities has been highlighted recently by the Hoover Commission in its report on natural resources, and indicates the urgency of increasing this small program developed by the Geological Survey in the last few years.
Some of the results obtained by the program of engineering geology are briefly described. It has been found that a device originally designed to rivet plates to damaged hulls of ships may be a useful field tool in measuring the engineering properties of rock. Tests that have been made indicate that the device will measure quickly and accurately the toughness, porosity, and even weight per cubic foot of dry and water-saturated rocks. It is hoped that further work now in progress will eventually serve to do away with some of the costly laboratory tests on rock now used by engineers.
Since 1946 a continuing investigation of the construction materials of northern Kansas has been carried on in cooperation with the State Highway Commission. By the end of fiscal year 1949, 17 counties had been mapped, and reports on most of these were published or made available to interested Federal and State agencies. The maps
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ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
that accompany these reports are on a scale of 1 mile to the inch. They show all the rock units in the county, including overburden and other unconsolidated materials, and describe them in terms of their use for concrete aggregate, road material, riprap, and many other construction purposes.
During fiscal year 1949, the Geological Survey entered into a cooperative agreement with the Corps of Engineers to make a survey along the Snake River in Washington. The immediate objective is to produce highly detailed geologic maps of a strip along the river, 80 miles long and 3 miles wide. As the Corps of Engineers expects to build several large power and navigation dams within this strip, detailed knowledge of the rock conditions is needed, not only in planning the dams and power plants, but also in relocating many miles of railroads and highways. As soon as the strip mapping is completed, it is planned to expand the area covered by preparing standard geologic maps (with subsurface interpretation) of four 15-minute quadrangles. Here, as elsewhere, it is the aim of engineering geologic mapping to produce maps and engineering data that will have permanent, rather than transitory value. Therefore, these maps will contribute to the industrial development which will certainly follow the development of the river.
In addition to the projects outlined above, the Geological Survey carried on 17 projects in engineering geology in 11 States, Alaska, and Puerto Rico during the fiscal year.
Geologic Investigations in Alaska
In spite of the fact that the mineral industries rank second among all the industries in the Territory of Alaska, the geologic mapping and mineral investigations program of the Geological Survey in the Territory is small and must be greatly increased if the best interests of the Territory are to be served. Only about 49 percent of the Territory has been geologically mapped by reconnaissance methods, and only a fraction of 1 percent has been mapped in detail. For example, the area in which petroleum may possibly be found is more than 250,000 square miles, and yet only 11,000 square miles have been mapped geologically on an adequate scale. Greater deficiencies in geologic information can be cited with respect to coal, platinum, chromium, and most other minerals.
In fiscal year 1949, three reports on the geology of mineralized areas in Alaska were completed and transmitted for publication in bulletin form. These reports describe investigations of garnet deposits in southeastern Alaska, copper deposits in the Prince William Sound area, and the geology and miscellaneous mineral occurrences of the eastern Alaska Range.
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In addition, several memorandum reports on limestone, raw material for cement manufacture, the Alaskan continental shelf, and general mineral commodity information have been made available to other governmental agencies.
In southeastern Alaska, field work was concluded on the northwestern Chichagof area, where deposits of copper, gold, molybdenum, and tungsten are known, and on the limestone deposits of Heceta Island. Petroleum investigations were concluded in the Iniskin Peninsula area of the Alaska Peninsula, and further investigations were begun northward along the Alaska Peninsula from Iniskin Bay to Tuxedni Bay, to delimit additional specific areas favorable for oil accumulation and warranting further detailed studies.
New projects were begun in Mt. McKinley National Park and in southeastern Alaska in the Juneau-Chichagof area, and on the southern portion of Prince of Wales Island. Both areas contain known mineral deposits of potential significance.
Investigations were continued in the Juneau gold belt, the Kenai and Nenana coal fields, the central Kuskokwim region which contains a number of mineralized areas, the Willow Creek mining district, and on petroleum possibilities in the Gulf of Alaska area.
Investigations of the limestone deposits of Heceta Island, undertaken to obtain partial coverage of part of the extensive belt of limestone in southeastern Alaska, have now been completed. The results of these investigations are of particular importance because of the scarcity of high-grade limestone on the Pacific coast and the easy accessibility of these deposits to Seattle and other Pacific ports.
A manuscript report on the coal reserves of the Homer district of the Kenai coal field was completed at the close of the fiscal year and is now being prepared for release to the public in mimeograph form for use by those engaged in land-leasing and settlement problems, and by those interested in the development of coal deposits.
The latter report contains the results of almost two decades of investigations in the eastern Alaska Range. During that period, field studies of individual localities within the area were completed, and this knowledge has now been incorporated into one volume. As in Bulletin 862, The southern Alaska Range, this will mean that a geologic picture of a significant unit of the Territory can now be presented, not only for the use of the scientist interested in the geologic background of the Alaska Range, but also for the benefit of the prospector and engineer interested in the development of the mineralized areas described in the bulletin or in the search for additional deposits in areas that appear geologically favorable.
In southeastern Alaska, field work was concluded in the northeastern Chichagof area, where there are known deposits of copper, gold, molyb
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denum, and tungsten. These studies show that prospecting for lode gold should be extended far beyond the vicinity of the three developed mines. A preliminary report now in preparation will afford a guide for more extensive prospecting in the area. Similar detailed studies being continued in the Juneau gold belt promise to reconcile many of the discrepancies existing after earlier and separate investigations at opposite ends of the area were made. Many facts concerning the apparent control of mineralization that previously have not been available will be placed on record to guide further prospecting in this once highly productive area.
Military Geology
*
The Military Geology branch conducted an intensified program of research and report preparation and field work in the fiscal year 1949. Its activities were centered mainly in a research group working in Washington, an Alaska permafrost section, and a staff engaged in geologic surveys in the Pacific islands. The military geology program is conducted principally under a cooperative agreement with the Military Intelligence Division, Office of the Chief of Engineers, and operates wholly on funds transferred from the National Defense Establishment.
The Washington group produced 13 comprehensive intelligence reports for the Corps of Engineers, and prepared, in addition, 24 special reports. These reports deal with such subjects as terrain analysis, water supply, construction materials, airfield sites, construction of underground installations, and the bearing of geologic factors on various military operational problems.
In Alaska, field studies on permafrost and other terrain features were conducted on Seward Peninsula, St. Lawrence Island, Yukon River, Kuskokwim River, and in the Fairbanks area. Three reports on permafrost investigations in Alaskan areas were completed. Investigation of airfield sites were conducted in six areas, and reports were prepared on each area.
The Pacific island program saw the completion of field geologic mapping of Okinawa, Palau, and Saipan. Substantial progress was made in the preparation of military geologic folios on these areas. Nine reports on general geology, mineral resources, subsurface conditions at airfields, engineering geology, and earthquake effects in the Pacific region were completed. Four further reports were near completion at the end of the fiscal year.
Other activities included work on the preparation of a military geologic folio of Fort Benning, Ga. All data have been gathered and completion of the folio is expected during the fiscal year 1950. A field and office project was begun in the western United States, with the
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 177 purpose of preparing a military geologic folio of the Sixth Army Area. Three geologists were assigned to the Engineer Division, European Command, United States Army, as special consultants. Their assignments were completed during the fiscal year.
Foreign Geologic Investigations
Geologic investigations in foreign areas, carried on by the Geological Survey under the sponsorship of the Department of State, result from mutual cooperative agreements between this Government and the various foreign governments. The projects under this program are determined by mutual national or scientific interest or the needs of local (foreign) industries. Projects range from first reconnaissance in underdeveloped areas to the detailed study of partly developed areas and are aimed at the discovery of deposits, the extension of reserves of known deposits, or the opening of new deposits in developed mineralized areas.
During the fiscal year 1949 the foreign geologic investigations resulted in the completion and publication of nine foreign mineral studies as follows: Talamantes manganese deposits, Chihuahua, Mexico; a country-wide survey of Mexican optical calcite deposits; a study of the Guadalcazar tin-bearing placer deposits in the Mexican State, San Luis Potosi; the Soyatai antimony deposits in the Mexican State of Queretaro; Camamu Bay barite deposits in the Brazilian State of Bahia; and a study of tungsten deposits of north-central Chile. Other mineral-deposit investigations were carried out during the year in Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Philippine Republic, and Afghanistan, the results of which will be available during the coming fiscal year. Groundwater investigations in Panama and Haiti were completed, and the resulting reports are on open file in the Geological Survey.
A second phase of the Geological Survey’s foreign program is designed to train the more promising young technicians from the underdeveloped mineral areas of the world. The organization from which these men are drawn are usually in the formative stage and somewhat lacking in both technical and administrative experience on which to build. While scientific and technical aspects of their inservice training are given the most attention, they are also given a thorough review of the Survey’s administrative practices and organizational procedures in long-range planning for country-wide geological surveys and mapping. Therefore, these young technicians, as a result of this training, will be able to take advantage of much of this experience in forming their own geological institutes. A total of 10 in-service trainees from 6 foreign countries served their internship with the Geological Survey’s field parties in the United States and in the laboratories at Washington, D. C.
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Geologic Maps
During the year the Office of Geologic Cartography in Washington, D. C., in conjunction with 5 of its field units operating in Boston, Denver, Knoxville, Salt Lake City, and Spokane, prepared 1,822 geologic maps, charts, diagrams, and other illustrations for multicolor and black-and-white reproduction. Preliminary work was started on the preparation of the Brockton and Mount Toby, Mass., geologic quadrangle maps, showing surficial and bedrock geology for each, as well as the Antler Peak, Mount Tobin, and Winnemucca, Nev., quadrangles. All of these maps will be published as part of the new series of geologic quadrangle maps.
The map editor reviewed and edited 410 maps and figures prepared for Geological Survey publications, and 266 maps and figures for trade and technical journals. In addition, more than 450 maps and figures were given preliminary review, and 82 maps and figures for circulars and open file reports were edited.
The new list of map symbols printed in June 1948 was widely distributed among geologists; an edition of 4,000 copies was exhausted and 6,000 additional copies were printed in November. The new rockcolor chart for field use, prepared in cooperation with other geologic organizations, was published in July.
Library
The fiscal year 1949 was the most active in the history of the library, as reader use and loans to members of the Geological Survey exceeded the peak war year. Nearly 16,000 readers used the library personally, an increase of about one-fourth over last year. This increase was entirely by Survey personnel, as non-Survey readers decreased slightly.
As in the past 2 or 3 years, a larger number of volumes were sent to men in the field, which has hampered the service in Washington. Some progress has been made in building up the collections in the Denver and the Spokane offices to ameliorate this situation, but a great deal more needs to be done, and plans for the expansion of facilities in the field are being made for next year.
Accessions for 1949, a total of 24,067 pieces, exceeded those of any previous year, and indicates the revival of geologic publication following the curtailment during the war. It also reflects the receipt of material from abroad in greater quantity, but is also evidence of the broadened scope of the Survey’s work.
While the quantity of geologic publications from abroad is not so large as before the war, we have, with the one notable exception of Russia, received what is published. Correspondence with each former exchange has reestablished those exchanges now publishing reports.
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Our current material is going forward regularly, but a part of the wartime accumulation remains to be sent to foreign exchange.
The Bibliography of North American Geology for 1946ALT was delivered in May after some delay due to printing difficulties. In May 1949 it was determined to publish the bibliography annually, and the bibliographic staff, by putting their full effort on this work, had the 1948 bibliography ready for the printer at the close of the fiscal year. It will be ready for distribution by late fall.
TOPOGRAPHIC DIVISION
Topographic maps provide fundamental information which is needed in intelligent study and planning for the conservation and development of our natural resources, the expansion of our industrial facilities, and many problems relative to the Nation’s military security and economic welfare. The availability of accurate, up-to-date topographic maps for these purposes usually results in saving of time, effort, and funds so great that the original cost of their preparation is. outweighed many times.
Government and State agencies, industrial concerns, educational institutions and organizations, local government units, and a considerable segment of the general public are becoming increasingly conscious of the fact that it is plainly good business to have adequate topographic maps. Consequently the demand for mapping, which necessarily includes the revision of old outdated maps as well as the preparation of new ones, continues to increase.
Topographic mapping completed up to the present time covers only about half of the United States. Much of this coverage is so old or unsuitable for present-day requirements that adequate maps are available for less than 25 percent of the country. Furthermore, as the maps become older, they become more obsolete and, unless they are revised, must be relegated to the unsuitable category. A long-range, coordinated mapping program must, therefore, include provisions not only for new mapping but also for overcoming the obsolescence of existing maps. A plan for completion of the topographic map of the United States during a 20-year period and the maintenance of the maps through periodic revision has been prepared. The achievement of this objective is dependent on the availability of adequate funds.
Operations of the Topographic Division are principally conducted through the Atlantic, Central, Rocky Mountain, and Pacific regions, with regional headquarters at Arlington, Va.; Rolla, Mo.; Denver, Colo.; and Sacramento, Calif., respectively. The Rocky Mountain region includes Alaska. Staff activities and special projects are con
180 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
ducted in Washington. The responsibilities of the various staff sections and the over-all accomplishments of the division are described as follows.
Plans and Estimates
The Plans and Estimates Section is responsible for the preparation of over-all work programs, involving general plans for the distribution of funds and detailing personnel between the regions in order to balance capacities with work load and allotments, and the preparation of the annual budget for carrying on immediate and long-range mapping programs.
An analysis was made of map needs as submitted by 15 Federal agencies through the Bureau of the Budget, and the results of this review were integrated with special requests as received from various map-using State agencies and other sources for the preparation of the 1950 mapping program. Information on mapping programs was exchanged with various departmental field committees, and information received from the committees regarding topographic mapping needs were integrated with other mapping requests. Estimates and plans for various proposed State cooperative programs were prepared in conjunction with the region offices. These efforts resulted in the establishment of new cooperative programs in Kentucky, Tennessee, Minnesota, and Iowa. 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 is being coordinated with the National Military Establishment, civilian agencies, and the Alaskan Field Committee. At the request of the Governor of Hawaii, preliminary steps were taken toward revision of some of the maps of the Territory which were made two or three decades ago.
Production Control
The Production Control Section, which is generally concerned with production has three major responsibilities: (1) To chart and follow production schedules and status; (2) to chart and analyze work loads and capacities, and to recommend appropriate action in connection therewith; (3) to assemble, analyze, and distribute data on operational costs. Cost data based on 2 years of mechanical tabulated data were made available for all phases of mapping. Regional studies on level rates of production were accomplished and used in recommending redistribution of personnel and equipment.
This year the section strengthened existing policies on status and scheduling, and formulated methods for the measurement of workload and phase capacities. An assembly of the Plans and Production Sections chiefs from the four region offices was held during the year to unify plans and production policies and procedures.
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Geodetic Surveys
The Geodesy and Control Surveys section is responsible for the establishment of uniform standards for control surveys and for research in new control-survey methods. During the year these objectives were furthered by the preparation of technical instruction manuals, by inspection trips to current control projects in the regions, by numerous visits to research laboratories maintained by other Government agencies and private industry, and by experiments with new instruments and field procedures.
Geodetic surveys completed in the four regions included approximately 9,700 miles of transit traverse, 21,300 miles of spirit leveling, and an amount of triangulation sufficient to provide horizontal and partial vertical control for 24,500 square miles of topographic mapping. Triangulation projects were successfully conducted in Alaska and in the Rocky Mountain region with the aid of helicopters to transport men and instruments to the station sites. Lists of the adjusted results of control surveys were published for transit traverse on thirty-six 15-minute quadrangles, for levels on one hundred and sixty-one 15-minute quadrangles, and for triangulation on five 15-minute quadrangles.
A circular entitled “State Coordinates and Polyconic Maps” was published for general distribution. Tables and instructions for quick conversion of geodetic coordinates to State plane coordinates were computed and published for areas representing about 20 percent of the continental United States. Computation of these tables will be continued until they are completed for the entire country and they will substantially decrease the cost of this phase of computing. Tables for the projection of poly conic maps for the two new series of maps to be issued for Alaska were computed and reproduced.
The polastrodial, an instrument which offers a quick mechanical solution for astronomic azimuths based on observations of Polaris, was constructed and placed in operation in the geodetic unit of the Atlantic region. Tests of two commercial elevation meters were made in actual field operations. These instruments, which are transported in an automobile or trailer, are used for the rapid determination of many of the fourth-order elevations required for map control. Extensive experiments were conducted to determine the relative speed and economy of several new or improved methods of measuring distances for transit traverse. Continuous effort was made to keep abreast of new developments in the use of shoran so that this electronic method of distance measurement may be applied to control surveys as soon as advancement in its techniques attains the required precision.
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Photogrammetry
The Photogrammetry section has four primary responsibilities: The development of new photogrammetric instruments and equipment and the investigation of existing equipment; the procurement, distribution, and installation of this equipment, with instructions when necessary for its use; the investigation of existing photogrammetric methods and the development of new methods, including the formulation of techniques and procedures; and the procurement of aerial photography, including the preparation of specifications, administration of contracts, and the inspection and acceptance of materials.
The Kelsh plotter has been modified to incorporate the use of wide-angle photography. A few of these plotters have now been distributed to the region offices for production trials and are proving most satisfactory in the preparation of maps from aerial photographs. Tests have been made of certain features of a new plotting instrument, using special photography, and the results to date are favorable. The final pilot model incorporating several improvements is now under construction. A captured German lens of near distortion-free characteristics has recently been duplicated successfully by a commercial firm as a result of a cooperative agreement involving a development contract to be awarded by the United States Air Force. This lens, when produced in quantity, is expected to have a marked influence on all mapping activities of the Topographic Division. New developments in camera and lens testing which are performed before the award of aerial photography contracts and also during the execution of the contract have resulted in more accurate photographs.
During the year much effort was directed toward a more thorough understanding between the aerial photographic contractors and the Geological Survey in an attempt to solve many mutual technical problems. This has also resulted in photography of higher precision and quality which should further insure greater economy in mapping. All of these efforts in devising new plotting instruments and methods have been directed toward decreasing the cost of mapping while maintaining approved accuracy standards.
A cooperative project with the Department of the Navy resulted in the procurement of 59,000 square miles of photography suitable for standard mapping. Of this total, 40,000 square miles was in southeastern Alaska, 5,000 square miles in central Alaska, and 14,000 square miles in Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 4. Liaison with the United States Air Force, in connection with photographic coverage areas in Alaska, was maintained throughout the year.
Approximately 72,000 square miles of photography in continental United States was delivered during the year, and contracts were placed for approximately 57,000 square miles of new photography.
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Topographic Surveys
The Topographic Surveys Section continued the preparation of new or revised instructions intended to achieve all practicable standardization of the procedures and products of the four field regions. Technical memoranda covering public-land lines, contouring special features and elevations for publication, were issued. Also issued in provisional form were instructions for map-accuracy test surveys, a manual on supervision and training, and a topographic mapping training manual. Considerable progress has also been made in the first draft of a revision of section E, Bulletin 788, Topographic Instructions.
A series of universal plotting scales was designed to cover all mapcompilation needs of the Topographic Division. For the purpose of standardizing topographic maps, inspections of field-completion operations were made in two of the four regions. A member of the section has served as chairman of a committee on map classification. During the year the committee has appraised and classified all other-agency maps received by the Geological Survey for distribution. About half of the Survey’s maps have also been reclassified in accordance with the same appraisal standards.
Cartography and Map Editing
The section of Cartography and Map Editing has two broad responsibilities: (1) Technical control of cartography in regard to mapfinishing procedures and the determination of style, symbolization, and quality of the finished product; and (2) inspection, in the form of review editing, to assure that all maps produced conform to approved standards. The accuracy and completeness of copy, as well as suitability for reproduction, are examined.
Reorganization of the cartographic activities to fulfill current program requirements was concluded during the year. The expanded mapping program made it necessary to decentralize map-finishing work and have these operations accomplished in the regional offices where the preceding phases of map production are performed. A group of staff cartographers in Washington now reviews all maps prior to reproduction and advises regional offices regarding their findings of error or departures from adopted standards and established conventions. The standardization of map treatments, styles, and symbolizations, recently accomplished in collaboration with other agencies, has been incorporated in Geological Survey practice. Considerable progress has been made in preparing and publishing the topographic mapping originally accomplished by other agencies for special purposes. Such map data as are useful to the public is now published and dis-
863238—50----13
184 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR tributed by the Geological Survey for the convenience of map users who may now look to one agency for their topographic map requirements.
Research for improvement of cartographic techniques and drafting mediums is a continuing project. Various plastic sheetings, as well as special inks required for these drafting surfaces, were tested. Investigations were continued for possible improvement of map-lettering facilities and other elements affecting the refinement of the finished product. Copying camera facilities are now available for each regional office. This will make it possible in the near future to discontinue the practice of printing press-plate proof and will, in turn, considerably extend our map reproduction capacity and shorten the elapsed time required for map printing.
Map Information
The Map Information Office was confronted during the year with an increasing volume of requests from Federal and State agencies, as well as the general public, for information regarding maps of all kinds, aerial photography, and control data. The volume of mail increased by 30 percent. A commensurate increase was noted in personal visits and telephone calls. While all segments of the public were represented, a major proportion of requests originated from scientists and engineers engaged in research, exploration, and development projects. Numerous inquiries were received for map information to be included in papers, bulletins, and technical journals. Also in evidence was an increase of requests from colleges, universities, and various other educational and institutional organizations. In addition to distributing information outside of the Survey, one of the principal functions of the office is that of providing other units of the Geological Survey with map data needed in their normal operations.
Publications prepared by this office for free distribution now include status index maps covering the five main subjects—topographic mapping, aerial photography, aerial mosaics, horizontal control, and vertical control in the United States, its Territories, and possessions.
Indexes of horizontal and vertical control were published for the first time during the year. A master series of State index maps showing horizontal and vertical control has been prepared for nearly all States. Photostatic copies of these indexes are available for a slight charge. The fourth edition of the index showing the status of topographic mapping was issued as two maps—one showing large-scale mapping, i. e., mile-to-the-inch and larger, and the other showing reconnaissance mapping. Such treatment was necessary since it is
PART II---ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 185
practically impossible to show detailed information concerning nearly 10,000 quadrangles on an index of the size now in use. Material was prepared for printing the fourth edition of the map showing status of aerial photography. A revised edition of the status map showing aerial photography of Alaska was prepared for printing. This index is available only to Government agencies for official use.
The series of master base maps of aerial photographic coverage was increased to 13—10 for the holding of Government agencies and 3 for showing the photography held by State agencies and commercial concerns. There was considerable increase in voluntary reports from the State and commercial groups. This series represents a complete cumulative inventory of aerial photography of the United States which (including duplications) now totals well over 6,000,000 square miles of coverage. The date of photography, focal length of lens, scale, and area covered are shown. Photostatic or photographic reproductions of these base maps are available.
The supplying of photographic or photostatic copies of map manuscripts and various master base maps mentioned above, as well as other office records, has become a major item. The increasing demand for such data in advance of publication is attested by the fact that during the year 1,665 requests involved 11,350 prints. The sales amounted to $9,793.02. Requests for reproductions from aerial photographs held by the Geological Survey have increased considerably. During the year, total sales amounted to $42,143.73. The volume of sales in 1948 was $24,326.55. Prints are now processed in the four regional laboratories—Arlington, Va.; Rolla, Mo.; Denver, Colo.; and Sacramento, Calif.
The effectiveness of the service rendered by the Map Information Office to the Geological Survey, Government and State agencies, and the public is wholly dependent on two factors—a reliable system whereby all groups promptly and accurately report their new holdings in the subject activities and adequate methods in the Map Information Office for receiving, collecting, and classifying the data and assembling them into suitable form from which status indexes can be compiled and from which the more detailed data for specific requests can readily be furnished. Much was accomplished during the year to further perfect the flow of reports from all sources which prepare or acquire maps, aerial photography, and control. Conversely, in order to avoid duplication of effort, all agencies are now looking to this office for comprehensive information before new work is undertaken in topographic mapping, aerial photography, aerial mosaics, and control work.
The scheduling of motion-picture films on mapping and the preparation of mapping material for display at technical gatherings have
186 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
continued to be important items. During the year the training film “Topographic Mapping by Photogrammetric Methods” was shown 88 times before technical and educational societies, colleges and universities, and service groups. It is estimated that the film was viewed by nearly 10,000 persons.
Continuing interest is shown by foreign engineers in Geological Survey mapping methods. During the year the Survey was host to visitors from China, India, Siam, the Philippines, Turkey, Switzerland, France, Belgium, Scotland, England, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Canada.
Mapping Accomplishments
During the year topographic mapping was carried on in 44 States, Alaska, and Puerto Rico. Cooperative projects were conducted with 23 States, the Tennessee Valley Authority, and Puerto Rico.
The mapping of eighty-one 15-minute quadrangles and three hundred and twenty-two 7%-minute quadrangles was completed, and field compilation was in progress on thirty-one 15-minute quadrangles and one hundred and seventy-three 7%-minute quadrangles. In addition, work on 1,130 quadrangles was progressing in phases preliminary to field compilation. Subsequent phases of mapping were in progress on 670 quadrangles. In all, mapping was carried forward on 2,407 quadrangles.
Of the 651 maps reviewed and forwarded for reproduction, 635 were prepared for multicolor photolithography and 16 for copperplate engravings; 416 quadrangle maps, 13 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 19 for copperplate engraving and 165 for multicolor photolithography. Maps being reviewed, or awaiting review by the editors at the close of the year, totaled 107; and 978 maps were being carried on the agenda for reprinting. Of these maps, only 32 were actually out of stock, and these are now on the priority list for immediate reprinting.
For the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, mapping of Camp Carson, Colo., Fort Leavenworth, Kans.-Mo., and Fort Francis E. Warren, Wyo., was completed, and basic control was completed on the Fort Bragg Extension, N. C.-S. C., and Fort Sill, Okla. Sixty-two quadrangles, compiled by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey, were drafted and prepared for reproduction.
The Trimetrogon Section has continued mapping and charting by the trimetrogon method for the United States Air Force. This method, developed at the beginning of World War II by the Geological Survey in cooperation with the Air Force, has been so satis
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factory that several million square miles of planimetric and topographic charting has been accomplished in the areas which previously were either partly mapped or entirely uncharted. The work is performed on a reimbursable basis. The over-all program, of which this work forms an important part, is one of maintenance of adequate world coverage of aeronautical charts, primarily in the interest of national defense. It calls for a periodic review of all existing aeronautical charts with a view to progressive revision or recompilation of those charts which current world affairs indicate are of primary importance. In the current charting program, the development of new weapons and new military strategy requirements has continued to demand increased precision.
While chart priorities are established by the United States Air Force, as are all detailed specifications and other technical requirements, the Geological Survey conducts the editorial review and evaluation of charts and, upon request, prepares by photogrammetric methods revised or recompiled base charts preliminary to photolithographic reproduction.
The section also maintains the only existing world-wide reference library of trimetrogon photographs. This library contains several million oblique and vertical photographic prints from which is obtained the basic information for its charting wTork, as well as reference data required by other organizations whose activities include geology, forestry, water resources, construction, engineering development, or national defense.
During the year, the section completed more than 538,000 square miles of entirely new photo compilation. It also completed photorevision of nearly 226,000 square miles of charts and more than 118,-000 square miles of cartographic compilation, making a total of more than 882,000 square miles. This charting covered areas of practically every part of the world involving a total of 146 charts, as follows:
Preliminary charts at scale 1: 250,000 (foreign)______________ 85
World aeronautical charts at scale 1:1,000,000 (foreign)______ 15
Pilotage and preliminary charts at scale 1: 500,000 (foreign)_ 14
Approach and landing chart at scale 1: 250,000 (foreign)______ 1
Photomosaics (foreign)__________,_____________________________ 4
Special charts________________________________________________ 16
Charts at scale 1:100,000 (foreign)___________________________ 11
In addition to these, there are 205 similar charts in various stages of completion currently under way.
Special photo-mosaics were prepared for the use of the United States Navy Task Force 39 in their procurement of geographic control in Antarctica; and the compilation of 33,825 square miles of photography was completed for Operations Highjump.
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Throughout the year, assigned research was carried on for the military and naval forces with a view to establishing the limits of accuracy of present operations and evaluating the effectiveness of certain modifications in instruments and procedures. One of the outstanding research assignments demonstrated that radar-scope photography could be used to establish horizontal control and that for areas where aerial photographs cannot be obtained, useful cartographic information could be extracted from radar photographs to produce a map. Another special research project was the compilation of a large-scale topographic map of the Grassy quadrangle, Utah. Successful completion of this project demonstrated the feasibility of producing inch-to-the-mile maps, using a photo-alidade to establish supplemental control with oblique photographs.
The Special Map Projects Section is 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 smaller scales.
Compilation and inking on the international map of the world, scale 1:1,000,000, has been temporarily suspended. Miscellaneous work prior to publication was done on the following sheets: Lake Erie (K-17); Cascade Range (L-10) ; Mount Shasta (K-10); Austin (H-14) ; and Los Angeles (1-11). The Los Angeles sheet was transmitted for publication. In addition to these, there are seven sheets in various stages of reproduction in the Branch of Map Reproduction. The Chicago (K-16) sheet was published.
The preparation of transportation maps for the Bureau of Public Roads was continued. Work was in progress on these maps for the States of Alabama, Indiana, Missouri, Mississippi, Louisiana, Kentucky, and Tennessee; eight sheets of Alabama, eight sheets of Indiana, and nine sheets of Louisiana were forwarded for reproduction; eight sheets in Virginia, one sheet of Washington, D. C., and vicinity, and five sheets in West Virginia are in various stages of reproduction.
The revision of State base maps, scale 1: 500,000, for Illinois, Iowa, Oklahoma, Indiana, Mississippi, and New Hampshire-Vermont was in progress during the year. Base maps were published for Wyoming, Massachusetts-Rhode Island-Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland-Delaware. Highway and shaded-relief editions for those States are pending.
A special edition of the 1:30,000 scale series of Puerto Rico quadrangle maps showing barrio boundaries was published. Maps of Puerto Rico and surrounding islands on scales of 1:120,000 and 1: 240,000 were in progress.
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Areas mapped during fiscal year 19^9 for publication at standard scales
[Contour intervals from 5 to 100 feet]
State Scale New Remap- Revi- Amount of new mappipg to June 30,1949 Total square Percent
1:24,000 1:31,680 1:62,500 ping ping sion miles in State plete
A la,bam a, 744 744 26,921 51, 609 52.2
A ri zon a 501 1, 083 477 1,107 35, 664 113,909 31.3
A rkansas 16 16 24, 881 53,102 46.8
California 3,226 1,338 783 2,797 1, 212 133,076 158,693 83.9
Colorado 329 951 58 58, 692 104,207 56.3
Connecticut 1,037 905 132 5, 009 5,009 100.0
Delaware 2,057 2,057 100.0
District of Columbia Florida 6 6 69 69 100.0
806 40 831 1, 677 13,626 58, 560 23.3
G-eorffia 246 246 25, 202 58, 876 42.8
Idaho 858 50 722 186 39, 958 83, 557 56,400 47.8
Illinois 708 3, 733 227 513 554 3,374 51, 423 91.2
Indiana 691 1 706 227 11,119 36, 291 30.6
Iowa 21 201 201 21 14,434 56, 280 25.6
Kansas 232 636 459 409 66,311 82, 276 80.6
Kentucky 217 217 28, 022 40, 395 69.4
TiOuisiana 504 504 20, 614 48,523 42.5
Maine, 53 53 26, 335 33, 215 79.3
Maryland 278 95 183 10, 577 10,577 100.0
M assachu setts 630 630 8, 257 8,257 100.0
Michigan 352 194 546 18, 942 58, 216 32.5
M innp.sota 9, 576 84, 068 11.4
Mississippi 10, 032 47, 716 21.0
Missouri 1,650 186 467 1,811 306 64, 498 69, 674 92.6
Montana 754 890 50 40,987 147,138 27.9
Nebraska 173 6,058 907 5, 786 345 445 35, 227 77, 237 110, 540 45.6
Nevada 562 44, 510 40.3
New Hampshire. 9,304 9, 304 100.0
New Jersey 7,836 7, 836 100.0
New Mexico 664 60 538 186 37,338 121, 666 30.7
New Vork 973 28 1,001 49, 576 49, 576 100.0
North Carolina 3 15 212 15 2 895 19,779 52,712 37.5
North Dakota 3 2,497 7 406 1,613 7 1,290 22, 543 70, 665 32.0
Ohio 41,222 41, 901 41, 222 69, 919 100.0
Oklahoma 4 245 249 59.9
Oregon 37, 304 96,981 38.5
Penn sylvan ia 142 56 49 37 45,166 45, 333 99.6
Rhode Island 70 70 1,214 1,214 100.0
South Carolina 17,098 31, 055 55.1
South Dakota Tennessee 267 267 20,750 77,047 26.9
26,778 42, 246 63.4
Texas 885 814 1,379 63 257 96,485 267,339 36.1
Utah 374 317 57 20,818 84, 916 24.5
Vermont 26 26 9,391 9, 609 97.7
Virginia 38, 097 40, 815 93.3
Washington 1,970 51 1,462 508 46, 225 68,192 67.8
West Virginia 56 56 51 24,181 24,181 100.0
Wisconsin 3 741 741 21,453 56,154 38.2
W yom in g 1,167 106 41,275 36, 296 97, 914 37.1
Total 19,080 59 1,805 21, 332 18, 838 16, 641 7,438 1,496,774 3,022,407 49.5
Alaska 433 «25,564 »100, 059 '299.915 586,400 51.1
Hawaii 6,435 6, 435 100.0
Puerto Rico 1 811 3,386 3, 435 98.8
—
1 Includes 15 square miles mapped on scale of 1 :12,000.
2 Includes 683 square miles of Great Smoky National Park in North Carolina and Tennessee.
3 Planimetric maps covering 1,457 square miles in North Carolina, 797 square miles in North Dakota, and 1,419 square miles in Wisconsin not included in total surveys.
4 Includes 2 square miles mapped on scale of 1 :4800.
6 Includes 25,131 square miles mapped on scale of 1 : 250,000.
6 Includes 100,000 square miles mapped on scale of 1 : 500,000 with 100- to 500- foot contour intervals. ’Mapped on a scale of 1 : 30,000.
The mileages do not include map compilation by United States Geological Survey personnel under the supervision of the TVA.
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 stock-piled. 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
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of water therefore means wise use of water. Fortunately, water is a renewable resource. In streams and underground it 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; likewise 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 hundred years it was considered essentially inexhaustible. The advance of civilization is accompanied by the steadily increasing use of water. Our modern economy is creating demands for fresh water of a magnitude and variety which formerly were never 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 the continually arising new ways of using water that are associated with high living standards and with 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 dwindling oil reserves. 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. 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 seems so close in some parts of the country that the level of social and economic development dependent upon water is already 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 amount of water lost from large reservoirs is receiving greater attention. During 1949, preliminary investigations were made to find better methods of measuring the water lost by evaporation. It is expected that the new methods, when perfected, will be used to measure the water losses of Lake Mead and other large reservoirs.
As the utilization of water supplies approaches the limit of develop
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ment there is increasing need for up-to-date information on those supplies. This need is met in part by the Water Resources Review, a monthly press release by the Geological Survey giving current information about 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 water resources is often an obligation of the Federal Government with or without the cooperation of States and municipalities.
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-resources information is essential for the economic design and operation of such projects. Likewise, the need for water supplies on the public domain for watering livestock requires continuing search to maintain adequate supplies for efficient grazing operations.
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 132 licensed projects during 1949 at the request of the Commission.
The magnitude of the interest of the Federal Government in waterresources information during 1949 is shown by the more than $2,-400,000 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 Office of the Secretary, Bureau of Reclamation, Office of Land Utilization, Office of Indian Affairs, Fish and Wildlife Service, and National Park Service, of the Department of the Interior; Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army; Department of the Navy; Department of the Air Forces; State Department; Federal Works Agency; Tennessee Valley Authority ; and Atomic Energy 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 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
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it is obtained is so great they have for many years 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 and diverse uses. On the other hand, the operation of hydraulic and industrial plants requires current information about the fluctuations in water supplies.
As the limit of the supply is approached or reached, the demand for reliable up-to-date information becomes more insistent. That the importance of this work is recognized by States and local communities is shown in the way funds offered by those agencies for cooperation with the Geological Survey have consistently exceeded the funds regularly appropriated to the Geological Survey for that purpose. The appropriation for cooperative work in 1949 was $2,457,100, including the amount in the second deficiency act. The amounts available for cooperation in fiscal year 1949 in each State, Territory, and possession
are summarized below:
Total
State: offered
Alabama_________________ $26, 000
Arizona__________________ 82, 065
Arkansas_________________ 30, 940
California______________ 144, 770
Colorado_________________ 57, 798
Connecticut-------------- 16, 500
Delaware------------------ 3, 800
Florida__________________ 76, 254
Georgia__________________ 31, 720
Idaho____________________ 44, 864
Illinois_________________ 45, 410
Indiana__________________ 58, 711
Iowa_____________________ 46, 819
Kansas___________________ 38, 519
Kentucky----------------- 23, 778
Louisiana________________ 72, 020
Maine_____________________ 8, 996
Maryland_________________ 50, 369
Massachusetts------------ 34, 956
Michigan______________. 76, 145
Minnesota________________ 27, 672
Mississippi-------------- 10, 854
Missouri_________________ 23, 562
Montana__________________ 25, 615
Nebraska_________________ 46, 939
Total
State—Continued offered
Nevada________________ $35, 519
New Hampshire________ 11, 239
New Jersey_____________ 35, 553
New Mexico_____________ 75, 427
New York______________ 159, 043
North Carolina------- 44, 595
North Dakota___________ 42, 373
Ohio___________________ 79, 854
Oklahoma_______________ 57, 102
Oregon_________________ 49, 167
Pennsylvania__________ 142, 337
Rhode Island------------ 5, 284
South Carolina_______ 17, 751
South Dakota____________ 2, 000
Tennessee______________ 88, 395
Texas_________________ 172, 571
Utah___________________ 79, 431
Vermont----------------- 7, 260
Virginia_____________ 55,063
Washington_____________ 94, 202
West Virginia__________ 17, 820
Wisconsin______________ 28, 968
Wyoming________________ 38, 591
Hawaii_________________ 67, 604
Total__________2, 512, 225
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Funds aggregating more than $8,600,000 were obligated for water investigations in the fiscal year 1949. Of that amount, about 43 percent was appropriated by Congress, 29 percent was contributed by States and municipalities, and about 28 percent was provided by other Federal agencies.
Field Offices
Water investigations can be made through strategically located field offices, and in 1949 the work was conducted from more than 100 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-resource investigation be made.
Surface Water
The water flowing in surface streams varies continually from day to day, season to season, and year to year. The amount available for use can be determined only by measuring the flow over a long period of time. The task of measuring even the important streams in the Nation is a very large one which requires the collection and publication of a vast amount of statistical data. In 1949, with about 6,200 stream-gaging stations in operation, it meant the computation of more than 2 million figures of daily average stream flow. These gaging stations were operated through more than 60 field offices in cooperation with 177 agencies of States and political subdivisions and with several Federal agencies.
The stream-gaging program in Alaska, begun in 1947 with the establishment of 7 gaging stations, was expanded in 1948 and 1949 to 35 gaging stations at the end of fiscal year 1949; present plans call for the establishment of about 20 additional gaging stations in 1950. A district office at Juneau and a field office at Palmer were established during the year.
Laboratory and shop facilities were expanded for the development and improvement of equipment for the measurement of streams. A
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special-type snowmobile for winter observations in remote mountain areas, previously developed and constructed in cooperation with the Soil Conservation Service, Department of Agriculture, was given further field tests and some improvement was accomplished during the year.
In addition to the compilation of statistics on stream flow, many other investigations and reports on the characteristics and behavior of the flow of water in streams were made and prepared during the year. A report on the effect of backwater on discharge of rivers was prepared, based on a series of laboratory observations begun in 1947 and completed in 1948. Progress was made on a program in close cooperation with the Public Roads Administration and various State highway departments to work out better procedures and promote better utilization of stream-flow records in the solution of hydraulic and hydrologic problems connected with highway structures. Plans were made and work started on the verification of determination of discharge by slope-area and other indirect methods, a program which, it is contemplated, will be carried on for s-everal years. A report on the Columbia River flood of May and June 1948, for which funds were allotted in June 1948, was completed during fiscal year 1949.
Ground Water
Ground water furnishes the domestic supply for more than half our population, principally on farms and in the smaller cities. It is used extensively in industrial processes because its temperature and quality remain essentially uniform the year round. It is also widely developed for irrigation and military uses. The discharge of ground water from seeps and springs maintains the dry-weather flow of streams and thus bridges the gap between rains. The water-bearing rocks that form the Nation’s underground reservoirs vary widely in thickness, shape, and extent from place to place, but through modern methods of investigation they can be located and mapped accurately, and their capacity to store and yield water economically can be determined. Investigations thus far indicate that there is no over-all depletion of the Nation’s ground-water resources although groundwater conditions continue critical in southern California and Arizona, the High Plains of Texas, and numerous other areas, including many in the humid East.
A new way of determining flow in steeply inclined creviced rock strata beneath a blanket of saturated glacial deposits was developed in connection with drainage problems of an iron-mining district in Michigan. A mathematical analysis was made of the way water can be made to flow from rivers to nearby wells at Louisville, Ky. A map of southwestern Louisiana was issued which shows the varying thick
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ness of fresh-water sands and helps to outline the problem of saltwater encroachment that is threatening rice and sugar-cane irrigation. An investigation made in the vicinity of Hanford, Wash., showed the geologic and hydrologic factors that limit the disposal of waste products through infiltration basins. Geophysical studies supplemented test drilling in Champaign County, Ohio, in locating and outlining the course of a buried-valley deposit of water-bearing gravel whose position is not indicated by the surface topography, and which would have been much more costly to locate by test drilling alone. Studies showed the extent to which the safe yield of the area southwest of Los Angeles has been exceeded and the extent to which salt water is advancing inland. Studies in western North Carolina revealed the existence of important and hitherto almost untapped ground-water supplies in thin alluvial deposits along streams in the Piedmont and mountain areas. Similar conditions probably exist in comparable areas in other States.
Research is under way on the mechanics of unsaturated flow above the water table, including study of forces affecting lateral movement of water in the “capillary fringe.” Also, improved equipment has been developed for determination in the laboratory of permeability of waterbearing rocks. These studies will permit more precise determination of the total quantities of water that move from one area to another.
The trend toward equitable legal control of ground water by the States is shown by the enactment in several States of new ground-water laws and the consideration of similar legislation in other States.
During the 1949 fiscal year, ground-water investigations were made on about 400 projects in the States, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and Alaska. The studies were made from 35 district offices in financial cooperation with 80 State, county, and municipal agencies and 9 Federal agencies. More than 200 formal reports were prepared and several thousand requests for information on ground-water conditions were answered, ranging all the way from inquiries about wells for farms to inquiries concerning the availability of 50 million gallons a day or more for industrial use.
Quality of Water
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 of the sediment
196 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR 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 losses due to corrosion, deterioration of equipment, loss of flow, boiler failure, scaling of equipment, staining and discoloration of materials, and wasting of soap. It may be unsuitable for use in processed foods, beverages, textiles, ice, bleaching, dyeing, and tanning, or may cause deterioration of recreation facilities and property values, or the destruction of fish life.
During fiscal year 1949, the chemical quality of 37,500 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 variations in climate, or the effects 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, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, Utah, and Virginia. Samples for chemical analyses were collected daily at 143 stations on streams in connection with these programs. In addition, samples were collected on an intermittent basis at 145 stream-sampling sites. Samples were also analyzed for cooperative studies of ground water in those 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 or 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 regularly made analyses 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 1949, 3,700 analyses were made at the request of the above-mentioned agencies, of which 470 were analyses of samples collected at defense installations in this country and at off-shore bases.
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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 laige dams to impound greater quantities of water in reservoirs for irrigation, power 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 increased slightly. Sediment samples were collected daily or more frequently at 127 stations on streams in the Colorado, Rio Grande, Missouri, Washita (Okla.), Schuylkill (Pa.), and Brandywine (Del.) River Basins. In addition, miscellaneous sediment samples were collected on an intermittent basis at 22 stations in these river basins. In all, more than 71,000 samples were collected and analyzed for their sediment content during the year in laboratories located at Albuquerque and Tucumcari, N. Mex.; Lincoln, Nebr.; Riverton and Worland, Wyo.; Norton, Kans.; Dickinson, N. Dak.; Stillwater, Okla.; and Schuylkill Haven and Philadelphia, Pa. Two field offices to handle intensive sediment investigations were established during the year, one at Riverton, Wyo., and the other at Tucumcari, N. Mex.
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 investigations in that basin. The investigational programs, conducted generally in cooperation with States and municipalities, were supplemented by 200 stream-gaging stations operated in the Departmental program; by studies related to ground-water supplies or to changes in groundwater conditions that may result from reservoir construction or irrigation in the vicinity of 33 reclamation units; by 31,000 measurements of the sediment content of surface waters at 70 regular stations and 21 stations for miscellaneous measurements; by 6,918 analyses of the chemical quality of the waters at 16 regular stations and at 79 stations for miscellaneous records; by 320 chemical analyses of ground waters from various sources; and by 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.
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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 in effect for Colorado River (Wyoming, Utah, Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada, California), Belle Fourche River (Wyoming, South Dakota), Republican River (Nebraska, Kansas), Rio Grande (Colorado, New Mexico, Texas), Costilla Creek (Colorado, New Mexico), Cheyenne River (South Dakota, Wyoming), Pecos River (New Mexico, Texas), and Arkansas River (Colorado, Kansas). Similar compacts are in process of negotiation for Yellowstone River (Montana, North Dakota, Wyoming), and Bear River (Idaho, Utah).
International Treaties
International problems related to water are increasing. The Geological Survey, using funds transferred by the State Department, 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 1949 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 State Department, 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, and analyses in the open files of the district offices concerned. The availability of this information is announced through press releases. Stream-flow and ground-water conditions in the United States and Canada are summarized monthly and semiannually in the Water Resources Review.
The published work of the Water Resources Division during the fiscal year 1949 consisted of 21 new water-supply papers and 1 reprint,
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a large number of shorter reports in the technical press, and 85 reports transmitted to cooperating State agencies for publication by them. In addition, a number of miscellaneous processed reports were issued.
CONSERVATION DIVISION
Under delegation of authority from the Director, the Conservation Division classifies the public lands of the United States as to mineral and water resources, and under a delegation from the Secretary of the Interior it supervises mineral recovery operations under leases, permits, and licenses on public, acquired, Indian, and naval petroleumreserve lands. The Division maintains a small headquarters staff in Washington and a field staff of competent geologists and engineers in strategic centers of mineral-resource 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 mineral-resource economy of the United States, and conducts on-site supervision of mining and drilling methods 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 Federal 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 1949.
In all some 24,972 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 to the United States, 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 14 percent in mineral reports rendered in 1949, compared with 1948, due chiefly to the slump in demand therefor during the regionalization of the Bureau of Land Management in the early part of the fiscal year. In addition the branch prepared and promulgated initial or revised definitions of the known geologic structure of 16 producing oil or
863238—50—14
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gas fields containing Federal land; appraised geologically 110-unit plan or participating-area submissions; drafted 348 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) ; and reported for appropriate administrative action the fact and geologic significance of 56 new discoveries of oil or gas on or affecting Federal lands.
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 Department of the Interior, the Department of Justice, and the National Military Establishment and in published maps of the areal and structural geology of the Dothair area, Liberty County, Mont., and of the Mush Creek and Osage oil fields and vicinity, Weston County, Wyo. One branch geologist remained on detail the entire year to the Department of Justice in connection with proceedings 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 1949 was performed principally for the purpose of obtaining basic information concerning the water-power resources and storage possibilities of Federal lands on which projects were proposed for early development. Work was expanded in Alaska and was continued in the Missouri River Basin to meet the immediate needs of the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers, United States Army, for maps to use in planning future projects.
Topographic surveys were made of 4 dam sites (Power Creek and Eagle River, Alaska, Nooksack River, Wash., and Trinity River, Calif.), 29 square miles of reservoir site (Moorehead, in Wyoming and Montana) and 113 miles of river channel of which 43 miles are in the Missouri River Basin. In cooperation with the Water Resources Division, supervision of construction and operation was given to 160 power projects under license with the Federal Power Commission, to 271 such projects under permit or grant from the Department of the Interior, and to 178 in cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
Classification activities resulted in the addition of 58,052 acres to power-site reserves and elimination of 10,671 acres, increasing the outstanding reserves in 23 States and Alaska to a net total of 6,816,378 acres. Maps published covered 425 miles of stream channel of 9 rivers,
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and 8 dam sites aggregating 71 square miles. Final action involving hydraulic determination was taken on 312 cases received from de partmental sources and the Federal Power Commission, and on 4,208 cases that also involved mineral classification. Investigation and studies were in progress involving the power and water-storage possibilities of 45 rivers and lakes. Six reports on power possibilities of certain streams were completed and made available for public inspection. Reservoir site reserves in 9 States remain unchanged at 137,172 acres.
Mining
The Mining Branch is responsible for the supervision of operations for the discovery and production of coal, potassium, sodium, phosphate, oil shale, sulfur, and silica sand on public domain lands; of gold, silver, and mercury on certain land grants; of quartz and vanadium under departmental authorizations; and of all minerals, except oil and gas, on segregated, restricted, allotted, and ti ibal Indian lands, and acquired lands transferred to the Department of the Interior from the Department of Agriculture under section 402 of the President’s Reorganization Plan No. Ill of 1946.
In addition to the aforementioned minerals, the operations involved the supervision of production of copper, manganese, uranium, asbestos, limestone, gravel, sand, marble, silica, iron, gypsum, vermiculite, pumice, clay, fluorspar, feldspar, lead, zinc, barite, mica, tungsten, and garnet. Sodium production included salt, borax, salt cake, soda ash, and associated lithium and bromine.
As of June 30, 1949, there were under supervision 1,050 properties under lease, license, permit, or secretarial authorization. Of these, 731 were on public domain, 86 were on acquired land, 230 were on Indian land, and 3 were secretarial authorizations. These involved lands in 12 Eastern States, 16 Western States, and Alaska. The work was directed from seven field offices in the States and one in Alaska.
Production supervised during the fiscal year is estimated at 15,403,685 tons valued at $98,018,882, with accrued royalties of $2,976,751, indicating an approximate increase over the preceding year of 521,185 tons in production, in excess of $12,000,000 in value, and $180,000 in royalties. Total income, including royalties, rentals, and bonuses, is estimated at $3,132,726.
The branch is charged with the responsibility of recommending lease terms, enforcing regulations governing the conduct of prospecting and mining operations relating to the safety and welfare of employees, protecting the natural resources, preventing waste, determining royalty liability of lessees, and obtaining compliance with lease terms and adherence to approved mine-development plans.
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The scope of the responsibilities of the Mining branch was broadened during the year by the transfer from the Bureau of Land Management of the function of preparing statements and receiving collections for rentals and royalties due the United States on production from federally owned land.
Production of coal from public land in the United States and Alaska, not including production from land in Oklahoma, approximated 8,025,000 tons, compared with a production of 7,405,760 tons during the previous fiscal year.
Potassium production continued to increase and established a new record of more than 1,100,000 tons of K2O equivalent. For the second year, it exceeded in value the coal produced from public land.
Prospecting operations for potash in New Mexico during the year disclosed additional valuable deposits. The number of permits in effect as of June 30,1949, was 177 as compared to 56 on June 30,1948. In addition to the three producing companies in New Mexico and the Duval Texas Sulphur Co. which began prospecting operations in December 1947, three new corporations began prospecting land in the vicinity of the developed areas in New Mexico, namely, the Southwest Potash Co., the Central Farmers Fertilizer Cooperative, and the Freeport Sulphur Co. Prospecting and experimental solution mining by the Continental Potash Co. in section 22, T. 20 S., R. 29 E., were discontinued because of difficulties of operation and failure to discover a deposit sufficiently valuable for development by that process.
Production of phosphate from public and Indian land of 379,786 tons represented a decrease of 36.5 percent from the preceding year. The completion of the Army contract for Idaho phosphate shale for shipment to Japan in the early part of 1948 and the lack of immediate market for the shale accounts for the decrease.
The brine of Searles Lake, in California, under potassium leases was also a principal source of sodium compounds. Refined salts from that source contain potassium, borax, soda ash, salt cake, bromine, burkite, and sodium lithium phosphate. The Ozark-Mahoning Mining Co. prospected intensively for sodium sulfate in the Carlsbad, N. Mex., area, and prospecting for sodium, particularly sulfate, continued in widely scattered areas in California, Nevada, North Dakota, and Oregon.
Lead and zinc concentrate production from Quapaw Indian land in Oklahoma amounted to 40,865 tons as compared to 42,490 tons for 1948 fiscal year. A drop in zinc and lead prices from $110 to $55 a ton and $292.17 to $148.63, respectively, resulted in the closure of marginal mine operations on Quapaw Indian land in Oklahoma. Increase in prices or subsidies is the hope of many companies for continuance of operations.
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Fluorspar (calcium fluoride), essential to steel production, was the principal product from acquired land in Illinois that is also valuable for lead and zinc. Other minerals from acquired land include coal, silica, feldspar, mica, and asbestos. Prospect operations for barite continued in Arkansas and Missouri. Barite is in great demand for use as heavy mud in deep-well drilling for oil and is potentially one of the most important products from acquired land.
The effectiveness of the supervision is reflected by the character of the operations and by the cooperation attained from management and employees in the enforcement of safety regulations. This is attested by the awards by the Joseph A. Holmes Association to 5 Government lease operations out of a total of 64 to the entire bituminous coal industry in the United States. One lessee received the bronze Sentinels of Safety trophy and the Sentinels of Safety flag for top honors in national safety competition among bituminous coal mines.
Oil and Gas Leasing
The Oil and Gas Leasing Branch supervises drilling operations for the discovery and production of petroleum, natural gas, and liquid petroleum reserves on acquired lands transferred from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior under section 402 of the President’s Reorganization Plan No. Ill of 1946, and on all Indian lands subject to departmental jurisdiction, both tribal and allotted, except those of the Osage Nation in Oklahoma. During the year these duties were accomplished through 22 field offices and suboffices in California, Colorado, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Utah, and Wyoming. The scope of the responsibilities of the branch were increased during the year by the transfer from the Bureau of Land Management of the function of preparing bills and receiving collections for rentals and royalties due the United States on production from Federal lands.
On the public lands 21,274 oil and gas properties were under supervision at the end of the fiscal year, aggregating 19,011,843 acres in 22 States and Alaska, an increase of 58 percent in the number of properties and 77 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 795 wells and the completion of 895 wells, of which 633 were productive of oil and gas and 258 were barren. In all 14,205 wells, including 7,948 capable of oil and gas production, were under supervision on June 30,1949. The production from petroleum deposits of the public lands during 1949 was substantially greater than during 1948. Production from public lands during the year amounted to about
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77,000,000 barrels of petroleum, 130,000,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas, and 157,000,000 gallons of gasoline and butane, rendering royalty returns of approximately $25,000,000 to the United States.
Drilling on acquired lands during the year included the spudding of 72 wells and the completion of 68 wells, 42 of which were productive of oil or gas and 26 of which were barren. In all 152 acquired land wells, including 104 capable of oil or gas production, were under supervision on June 30, 1949. The production from acquired lands during the fiscal year amounted to about 720,000 barrels of petroleum, 351,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas, and 2,200,000 gallons of gasoline and butane, rendering royalty returns of approximately $190,000.
On Indian lands the work of oil and gas lease supervision involved 6,394 leaseholds in 12 States, containing at the end of the year a total of 8,088 wells, 4,089 of which were productive of oil or gas and 282 of which had been completed during the year. Total revenue from such operations as royalties, rentals, and bonuses, amounted to $7,830,000.
On behalf of the Department of the Navy, supervision was continued in 1949 over operations for the production of oil, gas, gasoline, and butane from 21 properties under lease in Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 2 in California. Production from 272 active wells on Reserve No. 2 aggregated 2,657,000 barrels of petroleum, 2,086,000,000 cubic feet of natural gas, and 7,180,000 gallons of natural gasoline and butane, having an aggregate royalty value of $982,270.
On Department of the Army lands in the Rio Vista field the work included the consideration and approval of a number of the revisions in participating percentages for these lands and the computations of royalties due the United States on the gas production allocated to the lands in the amount of 4,115,852,000 cubic feet with a royalty value of $331,300.
Activities toward unitization of oil and gas operations involving Federal land were reflected in the approval of 54 new unit plans during the year and the termination of 24 previously approved unit plans, leaving 194 approved plans, covering 2,923,002 acres, outstanding on June 30, 1949. About 50.8 percent of the petroleum obtained from public lands during the year was produced under approved unit agreements. In addition one Indian-land unit agreement covering 3,700 acres was approved during the year, leaving 4 such approved units covering 15,448 acres outstanding on June 30, 1949. There were also 28 drilling agreements approved during the year, making a total of 76 approved as of June 30, 1949; these agreements involving isolated small tracts which are communitized 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.
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 205
WORK ON PUBLICATIONS
Texts
During the year 133 new manuscripts were received by the Section of Texts, 144 manuscripts were sent to the printer, and 120 publications were delivered by the printer. Work on these included 10,586 pages of manuscript edited and prepared for printing; 1,516 galley proofs and 2,775 page proofs revised and returned; indexes prepared for 21 publications, covering 1,339 pages and consisting of 4,229 entries. Copy edited in preparation for mimeographing included 50 press releases, consisting of 85 pages and 93 pages of miscellaneous material.
Reports delivered were as follows: Professional Papers 199-B, 213, 214-B, 214-C, and 215; Bulletins 944-C, 954-B, 954-C, 954-D, 954-E, 954-F, 956, 958, 959-B, 959-C, 959-D, 960-A, 960-B, 960-C, 960-D, 960-E, and 966-A; volume contents for Bulletins 940 and 945; Water-Supply Papers 995,1023,1024, 1025, 1026,1027,1033, 1035,1042,1045, 1052, 1054, 1057, 1058, 1059, 1060, 1061, 1062, 1063, 1064, 1077, and 1080; and Circulars 19, 20, 21, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 35, 36, 37, 39, 41, 42, 44, 45, 46, 48, 57, and 58. These cover a wide range of subject matter—general geology of particular areas; mining districts and local mineral deposits in the United States, Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Cuba, and Haiti; studies of fossils and the rocks in which they are found; 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 34 State index circulars; 25 pamphlets to accompany index circulars; 2 new geologic map series, Pawtucket quadrangle, bedrock and surficial geology; and general information on maps and folios of the Geological Survey.
Illustrations
Of a total of 44 reports on hand at the beginning of the fiscal year, 18 were in various stages of completion. Twenty-four reports were received and 28 were completed and transmitted, leaving a total of 40 reports on hand, 19 of which were in various stages of completion. Those transmitted included 7 professional papers, 14 bulletins, and 7 water-supply papers, which consisted of 1,277 completed drawings and photographs. In addition 308 miscellaneous pieces of drafting were completed.
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The move to new quarters, with additional space and improved lighting facilities, and the procurement of new equipment has increased the efficiency of the work.
MAP REPRODUCTION
During the year 21 newly engraved topographic maps were printed. Five hundred thirty-six multicolor topographic maps, 41 river survey maps, 19 planimetric maps, 5 geologic index maps, 36 topographic index maps, 80 geologic preliminary maps, and 28 special maps were printed, making a total of 764 new maps printed and delivered. Reprint editions of 452 engraved topographic maps, 24 multicolor maps, and 16 photolithographed State geologic, planimetric, preliminary, and other maps were printed and delivered. Of new and reprinted maps, 1,258 different editions, amounting to 3,263,184 copies were delivered.
A large amount of work was done for 48 other units of the Government, including Geological Survey branches, and States, and the charges for it amounted to about $153,440 for which the appropriation for engraving and printing geologic and topographic maps was reimbursed.
Transfer impressions and velox and plate prints numbering 163 were made during the year.
Of topographic maps and contract and miscellaneous work of all kinds, a grand total of 3,493,777 copies were printed and delivered.
The photographic laboratory made 8,870 negatives, 31,192 prints, 4,042 photolith press plates, mounted 352 prints, developed 43 film packs, 218 rolls of film, and developed and printed 51,600 feet of aerial film.
Distribution
During the year the Branch of Distribution received a total of 1,310 publications, comprising 75 new book reports and pamphlets and 5 reprints; 30 preliminary maps and charts in the oil and gas, strategic minerals, and geophysical investigations series; 651 new or revised topographic and other maps (11 of which were first published as preliminary editions) ; 8 Tennessee Valley Authority maps with contours, and 541 reprinted maps.
The total units received numbered 110,774 books and pamphlets (including reprints), 107,000 copies of revised index maps, and 3,131,302 topographic and other maps, a grand total of 3,349,072.
The branch distributed 83,041 books and pamphlets, 1,787 geologic folios, and 1,303,979 maps, a grand total of 1,388,807 of which 1,267 folios and 839,882 maps were sold.
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The net proceeds from sales were $139,855.79 for maps and $553.35 for geologic folios. In addition, $21,421.04 was repaid by other Government agencies for maps or folios furnished. The total net receipts, therefore, were $161,830.18. Local sale of maps to private individuals was $5,888.75. The branch handled nearly 70,000 letters.
On hand July 1, 1948 Received Distributed On hand June 30, 1949
Geologic folios _ __ 15,907 15,956, 940 1,787 14,120 17,891, 263
Maps Publications: 3,238,302 1,303,979
Complete volumes Separate chapters, extracts, and miscellaneous 110,717 71,330 54, 329 127, 718
pamphlets 166,981 39, 444 28, 712 177, 713
Total 16, 250, 545 3, 349,076 1,388,807 18, 210,814
FIELD EQUIPMENT
On the transfer of the division from the Topographic Division to the executive officer in December, the unit was divided into the Property Control Section, which has custody of all Geological Survey equipment, and the Property Maintenance Section, consisting of the instrument and woodworking shops in Washington.
Development is under way for the keeping of records involving over 50,000 items of numbered equipment in the Property Control Section to be accomplished, so far as practical, by a machine records system. The Denver shop has now relieved the Washington shop of about half of the Survey’s equipment maintenance work, which has permitted the construction of more special instruments in the Washington shop than for several years. Working space continues to be a major problem in the proper functioning of both sections.
In spite of the transfer during the past 2 years of several instrument makers from Washington to other Survey shops, qualified replacements have been obtained, and the Washington shop now employs as many high-caliber instrument men as space will permit.
With the present normal backlog of repair work it is planned that a larger portion of the instrument shop’s capacity will now be used in cooperation with the Survey’s engineering personnel for the development and construction of urgently needed new equipment. Serious consideration is being given to the organization of a research and development unit to expedite and to perform more efficiently the necessary engineering work involved.
A wide-angle Kelsh plotter has been developed and contracts let for the purchase of 12 units. Because of the scope and potentialities of this project, some phases of this research will extend over a period of years.
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FUNDS
During the fiscal year 1949 obligations were incurred under the direction of the Geological Survey totaling $26,711,906. Of this amount $13,163,889 was appropriated directly to the Geological Survey, and $13,548,017 was made available by other Federal agencies and by states and their political subdivisions.
Obligations incurred by the Geological Survey in fiscal year 1949 (by source of funds)
Topographic surveys and mapping:
Geological Survey appropriation-------------------------$4, 931, 912
States, counties, and municipalities-------------------- 850, 499
Office of the Secretary--------------------------------- 2, 400
Bureau of Reclamation----------------------------------- 2,447,820
Department of Commerce:
Bureau of Public Roads------------------------------ 48, 222
Department of Defense:
Department of the Air Force---------------------------- 510, 363
Department of the Army-------------------------------- 59, 607
Department of the Navy-------------------------------- 62, 855
Sale to the public of aerial photographs and photographic copies
of records________________________________________________ 47, 590
Miscellaneous---------------------------------------------- 391, 363
Total______________________________________________________ 9,322,631
Geologic and mineral resource surveys and mapping:
Geological Survey appropriation---------------------------- 3,144, 818
States, counties, and municipalities----------------------- 123,118
Office of the Secretary------------------------------------ 1, 800
Bureau of Reclamation-------------------------------------- 363, 207
National Park Service-------------------------------------- 10, 960
Department of Defense:
Department of the Army--------------------------------- 649, 218
Department of the Navy--------------------------------- 235, 545
Department of State---------------------------------------- 142, 013
Atomic Energy Commission----------------------------------- 2, 553, 710
Economic Cooperation Administration------------------------ 9, 045
Miscellaneous---------------------------------------------- 9,256
Total_____________________________________________________ 7,242,690
Water resources investigations:
Geological Survey appropriation-------------------------------- 3, 721, 318
States, counties, and municipalities--------------------------- 2, 512, 225
Office of the Secretary---------------------------------------- 176,149
Bureau of Reclamation------------------------------------------ 1, 079,184
Bureau of Indian Affairs--------------------------------------- 40, 550
Office of Land Utilization_____________________________________ 41, 304
Fish and Wildlife Service-------------------------------------- 6, 373
PART II ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 209
Obligations incurred by the Geological Survey in fiscal year 191$ (by source of funds)—Continued
Water resources investigations—Continued
Department of Defense:
Department of the Air Force_________________________ $6, 750
Department of the Army------------------------------ 815,190
Department of the Navy------------------------------ 7,743
Department of State------------------------------------- 100, 839
Atomic Energy Commission________________________________ 47, 801
Tennessee Valley Authority______________________________ 77,188
Permittees and licensees of Federal Power Commission---- 42, 687
Miscellaneous------------------------------------------- 42, 697
Total______________________________________________________ 8, 688, 202
Classification of lands:
Geological Survey appropriation-------------------------------- 292, 559
Office of the Secretary---------------------------------------- 400
Bureau of Reclamation------------------------------------------ 41,181
Miscellaneous__________________________________________________ 11, 072
Total______________________________________________________ 345, 212
Supervision of mining and oil and gas leases :
Geological Survey appropriation----------------------------- 723, 847
Office of the Secretary------------------------------------- 1, 000
Department of Defense:
Department of the Navy---------------------------------- 22, 858
Miscellaneous_______________________________________________ 564
Total_____________________T________________________________ 748, 269
General administration:
Geological Survey appropriation________________________________ 349,435
Office of the Secretary---------------------------------------- 15, 067
Total______________________________________________________ 364, 902
Total funds available------------------------------------------ 26, 711, 906
Oil and Gas Division
Robert E. Friedman, Acting Director1
SINCE the establishment of the Oil and Gas Division by the Secretary of the Interior on May 6, 1946, pursuant to the President’s instructions in a letter dated May 3,1946, the Division has been continuously concerned with urgent problems of national significance.
As the primary civilian agency for petroleum planning, the Division, working with a petroleum industry committee of 34 members appointed by the Secretary of the Interior, formulated the Voluntary Plan for the Allocation of Petroleum Products under Public Law 395, Eightieth Congress. By Executive Order No. 9919, of January 3, 1948, the President delegated to the Secretary of the Interior full authority to enter into such voluntary agreements with industry with respect to fuels, including petroleum and petroleum products and natural and manufactured gas. The plan was designed to promote the orderly and equitable distribution of petroleum products, to prevent or alleviate consumer hardship resulting from insufficiency or disruption in the supply of petroleum products, to aid in the stabilization of the economy of the United States, and to curb inflationary tendencies. After consultation with industry, labor, and the public, the plan was approved by the Attorney General and became effective with the approval of the Secretary of the Interior on August 10, 1948. In general, and with certain exceptions, the plan followed the Temporary Allocation Agreement under the same act, described in last year’s annual report, that proved so valuable during the shortage of petroleum products in the winter of 1947-48 and spring of 1948.
By the time the new plan was adopted, the petroleum supply outlook had improved and no shortages of petroleum products were forecast for the remainder of the year. In September, however, labor difficulties in six of the seven major refineries on the west coast created shortages of petroleum products, particularly motor gasoline, necessitating voluntary action under the plan for a period of several weeks. Regional committees and subcommittees under the plan began functioning promptly. In addition, the Division asked the Governors of Arizona, California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington to appoint fuel coordinators. Through the cooperative efforts of the regional
1 Max W. Ball was Director of the Oil and Gas Division during the first half of the fiscal year; Robert E. Friedman served as Acting Director for the remainder of the fiscal year.
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PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4- 211 committees, subcommittees, and the fuel coordinators, no serious consumer hardships resulted.
The Division’s value in coordinating and unifying Federal oil and gas policy and administration is evidenced by the daily advice and assistance it gives to other agencies and to the Congress. During the year, the Division provided assistance to the Department of State, Department of Justice, Central Intelligence Agency, Economic Cooperation Administration, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Federal Power Commission, Federal Communications Commission, Atomic Energy Commission, Interstate Commerce Commission, Office of Defense Transportation, Maritime Commission, Armed Services Petroleum Purchasing Agency, Armed Services Petroleum Board, Office of Naval Petroleum Reserves, Navy’s Bureau of Yards and Docks, Bureau of Internal Revenue, and many other Federal bureaus and offices, on matters affecting the petroleum supply.
Further, the Division advised, assisted, and supported the Department of Commerce in the development of four of its voluntary plans for the allocation of steel under Public Law 395. Being ever mindful of the petroleum industry’s needs for steel, the Division urged the Department of Commerce to enter into voluntary agreements with the steel industry to provide enough steel for all essential requirements of the petroleum and allied industries.
The Division also worked with the Department of Commerce on matters of export policy and export controls for petroleum and for equipment required by the petroleum industry for operations abroad.
The National Security Resources Board and the National Military Establishment asked the Division for assistance on numerous petroleum matters affecting the military, national security, and defense. There was continual liaison and representation on committees and working groups making studies and formulating programs and recommendations on petroleum-mobilization planning in the event of emergency.
The Division represented the Department in all matters concerning disposal of Government-owned synthetic rubber facilities and served on various interagency committees created to make policy and legislative recommendations with respect to synthetic rubber.
The development of additional oil possibilities in the Western Hemisphere is important to the defense of the Hemisphere and of the United States, as well as to the American oil industry. Renewal of interest by American companies in new possibilities in South America brought into focus the lack of suitable maps for use in detailed geologic and geophysical work in most South American countries. To overcome this deficiency the Division arranged for the release of trimetrogon air photos and base compilation data secured by the Air
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Force during the war period. Negotiations over a period of six months resulted in the establishment of a service, under which American companies have access to the data and can prepare therefrom their own maps to meet their own special requirements.
To aid in the unification and coordination of administrative action and policy on oil and gas matters, the Division’s Washington executive technical staff, which at no time in the fiscal year exceeded 7 members, participated in 327 meetings and conferences with representatives of other Federal agencies. To further public understanding of congressional and administrative policy on oil and gas matters, members of the staff appeared personally and made statements or addresses before many congressional committees, trade associations, and meetings of groups of industry representatives. The Division’s Associate Director represented the Department as a member and adviser of the delegates of the United States to the second session of the Petroleum Committee of the International Labor Organization, at Geneva, Switzerland, in November. The Division was included in the Department’s representation at the International Geological Congress, in London, England, held during August and September.
The Interdepartmental Petroleum Committee was created by the Secretary of the Interior on July 8, 1946, to assist in the coordination and unification of administrative policy and activities with respect to oil and gas. Under the chairmanship of the Division, the Committee, convening semimonthly, functioned effectively and was exceedingly active. Agenda items covered a wide variety of problems. Those of particular importance were: Employment and registry of tanker vessels, the Economic Cooperation Administration petroleum program, dollar-sterling problems, the so-called “tidelands” situation, ways and means of securing better statistics on world-wide petroleum operations, export controls, the changing steel situation as it affected availability of petroleum-industry equipment and supplies, the new oil-field developments in Canada, and the changing petroleum supply and demand situation. Regular discussion of these and other matters of mutual interest served to correlate the thinking and unify the policy positions of the agencies represented.
In discharging its responsibility to serve as the Federal Government’s channel of communication and liaison with the petroleum industry, the Division maintains close contact with the industry, chiefly through the National Petroleum Council which was created in June 1946, by the Secretary of the Interior. As in previous years, the Council made many invaluable contributions of information and counsel, at no expense to the Government. The Council, which is composed of 90 members representing every geographic and functional
PART II---ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 213
division of the petroleum industry, met quarterly during the year. In responding to the Federal agencies’ requests for advice and information on matters which were submitted to it by, or approved by, the Secretary of the Interior or the Director of the Oil and Gas Division, it was necessary for the Council to create 34 committees and subcommittees on which 467 industry representatives were asked to serve. The committees prepared 27 formal reports on matters of vital concern which included: A national oil policy for the United States, procedures and policies for Government-Industry cooperation in event of a national emergency, oil and gas industries’ needs for steel, Government royalty oil regulations, military and Government petroleum requirements, petroleum production and crude availability, refining capacity, storage capacity, petroleum-industry census, and others. In addition, to activate and to implement the voluntary plan for the allocation of petroleum products under Public Law 395, the Council created five regional advisory committees and numerous subcommittees. The work of these committees demonstrated the effectiveness of the plan during the period of shortage of motor gasoline when refineries on the West Coast were closed because of labor difficulties. Further, the Council’s Committee on Military and Government Petroleum Requirements maintained continual liaison with the military and the Federal Bureau of Supply with the result that military and Government petroleum requirements were met when and where needed. The Council also assisted the Treasury Department in sponsoring an industry-wide drive to further the Government’s bond savings program. At the close of the fiscal year, a Council committee was progressing with plans for a complete survey of all the manpower employed in the petroleum industry, which will serve as a basis for the National Security Resources Board’s petroleum mobilization planning in event of an emergency.
The Military Petroleum Advisory Committee was created by the Secretary of the Interior on March 29,1947, to provide expert counsel, advice, and information on oil and gas matters relating to confidential military planning for petroleum national security and defense. The charter was amended on October 7,1948, to expand its usefulness to the Government and its name was changed to Military Petroleum Advisory Board. The Board was enlarged from 17 to 20 members. At the beginning of the fiscal year, pending before the Board were 9 major defense problems; reports were submitted on 7, and most of these require continuous study to keep them current. In addition, the Board received and worked on 10 new problems which were presented to it by the military. In complying with requests from the National Military Establishment, the Board called upon 181 experts in the petroleum and allied industries to serve, without cost to the Govern
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ment, on panels, committees, and subcommittees, created to provide expert data and opinion on matters before the Board-
In serving as liaison agency of the Federal Government with State oil and gas bodies, the Division has nonvoting membership on the Interstate Oil Compact Commission and was represented at its quarterly meetings. The Division also participated in the Compact’s Economic Advisory Committee deliberations and in the activities carried on by its Secondary Recovery Advisory Committee. Liaison was maintained directly with State conservation and regulatory bodies by the members and examiners of the Federal Petroleum Board and by the Division’s relations with emergency fuel coordinators appointed by the Governors of some of the States and by direct contacts with State officials.
The Connally “Hot Oil” Act (15 U. S. C. 715-7151), which prohibits interstate shipment of oil produced or handled in violation of State laws, is administered under supervision of the Division by the Federal Petroleum Board with headquarters at Kilgore, Tex. The Board consists of a chairman and member located at Kilgore and an alternate member in charge of the suboffice at Midland, Tex. Suboffices are also located at Houston, Tex., and at Lafayette, La. In addition to the Board members, all of whom are active in the field, the staff consists of 24 individuals, 14 of whom are field examiners, and the remaining 10 of whom comprise accountants, administrative, stenographic, and clerical personnel.
While the act is applicable wherever State laws limit the rate of production and prescribe conditions for producing and handling oil, 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, and Mississippi.
The principal functions of the Federal Petroleum 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.
From an area designated by published regulation which includes 102 counties in Texas, 2 in New Mexico,, and the entire State of Louisiana, the Board receives and processes each month about 4,500 monthly reports distributed approximately as follows: From producers, 3,930; from transporters, 483; from processors, 77. These reports cover operations in more than 593 separate oil fields, aggre
PART II----ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 215
gating some 52,824 producing oil wells, the total average monthly crude-oil production from which is approximately 59,679,991 barrels. This represents approximately 38 percent of the total crude oil produced monthly in the United States.
The enforcement activities during the fiscal year by the Board’s staff included the following: (1) the “visiting” of 2,847 leases; (2) making 1,690 “lease inspections,” of which 715 leases were fully gauged and checked over continuous periods, and (3) the “physical inspection and checking” of 45 pipe lines, pump stations, and refineries. In carrying on this work it was necessary that 1,029 persons be interviewed and interrogated during routine field investigations. In addition, 444 persons were interviewed, and 32 hearings were held in connection with follow-up investigations to determine whether violations of the act had occurred. In connection with the above, 458 separate fields were checked and inspected.
There were pending on the Board’s docket at the beginning of the fiscal year 12 Connally Act cases. Of these, 9 were pending investigation, 2 awaiting administrative disposition by the Board, and 1 was pending in the United States District Court. Of these 12 cases, at the close of the year, only 1 was pending administrative action by the Board, 1 case was closed by administrative action of the Board, and 1 by action of the Department of Justice.
Investigation was completed during the year on nine of the cases that were pending at the beginning of the year. Seven of these completed investigative case reports were referred to the United States Department of Justice for prosecution. During the year, 12 case investigations were initiated and 3 cases were closed by successful prosecutive action, resulting in fines being imposed and paid in the aggregate amount of $8,500.
At the close of the year, there were pending with the Department of Justice six cases awaiting prosecution; three were pending in the district courts of Louisiana. Ten cases were pending administrative action of the Board, aggregating 19 cases pending at the close of the year. One of the cases pending in Louisiana has been awaiting trial since 1939; two others in which charges were filed in April and May 1949, were awaiting the disposition by the court of various dilatory motions.
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.
863238—50----15
Office of Land Utilization
Lee Mack, Assistant to the Secretary
DURING the fiscal year 1949, the Office of Land Utilization began its tenth year as the coordinating agency for the land and renewable resource management programs of the Department of the Interior. In this first decade of its operations, the Office has firmly established, in the Department, the soil and moisture program under the Soil Conservation Act of 1935 and Reorganization Plan No. IV of 1940; the white pine blister rust control program under the act of April 26,1940; and the forest pest control program under the act of June 25,1947. It has formulated procedures for handling the technical aspects of appeals to the Secretary from adverse decisions of the Bureau of Land Management concerning applications for purchase, entry, or lease of public lands. It has coordinated and strengthened the management of the forest lands administered by the various bureaus and offices, particularly with respect to fire protection, timber sale activities, and sustained yield. Major forward steps have also been taken by the Office looking to a more effective coordination of the water resource development programs of the Department and a clearer understanding of the many complicated problems involved in this field. A detailed discussion of the activities during the fiscal year 1949 follows:
SOIL AND MOISTURE CONSERVATION
A large part of the past destruction and waste that has accompanied the use of our natural resources can be charged to the lack of knowledge as to how best to manage and use them. That excuse is no longer tenable. With the passage of time a large reserve of proven scientific and practical information has been developed that can be applied to insure conservative use and management. Our present need—and it is each year becoming more important—is to apply that knowledge in the everyday operations involved in resource management. Continued adherence to old, established, but wasteful, practices of land use and cultivation is the principal difficulty to be met in securing the acceptance of better methods. More determined efforts are necessary to stimulate interest in the conservation of our natural resources, and it is to be hoped that we will not have to wait for some disaster to drive the lessons home.
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The Department of the Interior in the administration of the lands under its jurisdiction has a large and complex soil-conservation problem to solve. Every land-management agency of the Department is faced with soil-conservation problems on every hand due to past misuse. This observation applies to the national parks and monuments, the wildlife refuges, lands held in trust for the Indians, the public domain, and the reclamation lands. Some areas have lost an appreciable part of the original value, and other portions have been irreparably damaged. Each year that correction is deferred the loss increases in extent.
The land-management bureaus of the Department, in cooperation with the Office of Land Utilization, have developed comprehensive plans for the correction of erosion problems, the restoration of depleted soils on arable lands, and related conservation practices for the lands under their respective jurisdictions. In preparing these plans, primary attention has been given to the use of proven practices and procedures in the field of soil and water conservation. A large and growing backlog of such plans now exists.
With the limited funds heretofore appropriated, soil-conservation treatment has been applied to about 22,000,000 acres. This is only a small portion of the 134,000,000 acres on which the soil is seriously depleted and for which detailed plans have been made for treatment. On an additional 86,000,000 acres on which some work is needed now, nothing is being done, nor can any corrective measures be initiated with the funds annually available. Out of the total area of 282,000,000 acres of public and Indian land, only some 60,000,000 acres are reasonably safe for the future.
In this vast area are soil and related resources of vital importance to the continued welfare of this country. Every facet of our civilization is affected in some degree, whether it be in connection with the reclamation program, the national parks and monuments, the far-reaching expanse of the public range, the soil that is the basic wealth of the Indian, or the maintenance of our wildlife refuges. From these areas in large part we obtain food and fiber, as well as recreation and inspiration. Undoubtedly, the Nation would rise up in all its strength to prevent these resources from being taken from us by some foreign power, but we sit by, more or less idly, and watch them disappear— slowly it is true, but none the less surely—through wind and water erosion.
FOREST MANAGEMENT
The governing management policies of the Department covering the forest resources under its jurisdiction were advanced materially during 1949. More adequate protection from fires, insects, and dis
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eases was afforded to all lands, and the program leading toward intensive forest management was expanded.
Adequate protection from the ravages of fires, insects, and diseases is essential to good forest management. Fire control was signally successful with only 320,646 acres of Federal land burned over, which is only eight-hundredths of 1 percent of the total area requiring protection. This is the best record the Department as a whole has ever experienced. Approximately 5,000,000 ribes bushes were destroyed in the program to protect the white pine forests from the ravages of the blister rust. Prompt and effective action was taken against many forest insect infestations, the principal control projects being against the spruce budworm attacking Douglas fir in western Oregon, and the mountain pine beetle infesting lodgepole pine in western Wyoming. These latter two projects were successfully prosecuted under coordinated plans formulated by this Department, the Department of Agriculture, and the States involved.
Development of the Department’s commercial forest resources continued at a high level during the year, although considerable slackening of sales was evident toward the year’s end. However, for the year the forests of the Department produced 1,134,000,000 board feet of timber valued at $10,200,000, which is the greatest return ever recorded. This was achieved at a cost of $3,285,000, including slightly over $1,000,000 for the protection of the national park forests which return no direct revenue.
However, much remains to be accomplished. More adequate protection from fire is required for the forests on the Indian reservations and public domain lands. Additional funds are necessary for the maintenance of timber roads within the Indian, O. and C., and public domain forests. Likewise, the personnel charged with forest administration requires considerable augmentation if intensive management is to be achieved. The progress made during the year can be viewed with much satisfaction, but the fact should be recognized that the forests under the jurisdiction of the Department are not yet being managed at the high level which the value thereof justifies.
LAND CLASSIFICATION AND LAND POLICY
In connection with its review of policies for determining the types of public land which should be retained in public ownership and those which may be transferred or leased to individuals under various public land laws, the Office of Land Utilization examined the records of 133 applications for entry, selection, or location of public land, and 27 applications for grazing leases or permits, which were appealed to the Office of the Secretary from adverse decisions by the Bureau of
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Land Management. For each application, a recommendation on the disposition of the case was made to the Solicitor.
The Office contributed to the report of the Council of Economic Advisors. It prepared material for inclusion in the presentation of the program of the Department of the Interior before the Senate Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs and the House Public Lands Committee, in January 1949. It assisted in the preparation of the report to the Bureau of the Budget on the recommendations of the Commission on the Organization of the Executive Branch of the Government concerning the Department of the Interior.
The Director of Land Classification served on a committee which held hearings and made recommendations to the Secretary concerning the adoption of a 40-hour basic work week for employees of national park concessioners, and continued to serve as liaison officer for the Department with the Advisory Committee on Conservation.
WATER RESOURCES COORDINATION
During the year, agencies of the Department, acting through the Water Resources Subcommittee, reviewed 33 river and harbor and flood control reports of the Corps of Engineers, Department of the Army, concerned primarily with flood control and navigation, and 16 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 62 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 Water Resources Subcommittee maintained liaison with the Interior Department Program Committee, the Missouri Basin Field Committee, and the agencies participating in the Missouri Basin program, in order to assure proper coordination of the program as a whole.
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 until January 1, 1949, as secretary of that committee. 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 Tech-
220 4 ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR nical Committee), and its technical subcommittees (hydrologic data, sedimentation, benefits, and costs), and other inter-agency 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
INTRODUCTION
BETTER and more economic administration, conservation, development and use of natural resources on the public domain has been achieved the past year through the Bureau of Land Management’s decentralization program which was placed into full-scale operation on July 1,1948.
This 137-year old Bureau, which is paradoxically both one of the youngest and oldest agencies in the Federal Government, is continuing to streamline its organizational structure so that it will be better able to fulfill its obligations as a management program. This agency was formed in 1946 through the consolidation of two Interior Department agencies: The General Land Office (1812) and the Grazing Service (1934).
The Bureau has primary responsibility for administration of approximately 180 million acres of public land in the continental United States and 290 million acres in Alaska. In addition, it is responsible for the leasing of minerals on most Federally owned lands, totaling 700 million acres, and on about 50 million acres of privately owned lands, in which the United States Government has mineral rights. Wise management and conservation of natural resources on public lands is a paying proposition as shown in the financial record. The Bureau of Land Management last year collected more than 37 million dollars for the Government from the management of public lands under its jurisdiction. This is the largest amount collected in its history. The management of public lands is profitable not only to the Federal Treasury but to the States and counties which contain public lands within their borders because 13.3 million dollars of the above were turned over to States and counties as provided by law.
The return of $37,149,433.89 from the management of the public lands during the fiscal year 1949, when compared with expenditures, represents a ratio of approximately $7 return for every $1 of appropriations.
The Bureau’s work includes providing free services as well as undertaking the money-making management jobs that produce royalties on
221
MILLIONS OF DOLLARS
petroleum and other minerals under the mineral leasing act, revenues from timber sales, and the grazing use of public lands.
Receipts and appropriations for 1933-49 are shown by the chart on page 223.
Increased revenue from public lands, though due in part to higher prices, has actually resulted from greater use of the public lands. Petroleum production on the public domain has trebled between 1933
PART II-ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 223
and 1949. Natural gas production has more than doubled in the same period. The total of 31,000 applications filed for land use in 1949 is more than three times the 9,000 which were filed in 1940.
The Bureau of Land Management is now able to give better service to its customers—the American citizens. Under the decentralization plan, the Bureau of Land Management’s goal is a dynamic program for resource management.
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In general, three types of public service are provided through the Bureau of Land Management administration of natural resources of public lands. The first of these services is the low cost or free service relating to the public domain and the property rights in private lands once part of the public lands. Included in this category are the execution of cadastral engineering surveys, the furnishing of copies of plats of surveys, and other data relative to legal title to the land originating in or still remaining in the public domain and the disposal of these tracts under the homestead, mining or other laws.
The adjudication personnel process all applications for public land use, except grazing privileges within established grazing districts which are administered by the Division of Range Management. The cadastral engineering personnel make the surveys prerequisite to all public land use. During the past year the work of both groups has been speeded up and the backlog of cases reduced. The Bureau of Land Management is the repository for records of disposal of lands under the public land laws. These records are referred to by thousands of individuals each year to establish legal title to their land.
The second type of public service relates to the permitted use of the public range lands for grazing purposes, the lease and sale of small tracts of the public lands for home sites, camp sites, etc., and special permits at nominal fees for usage of the public lands set forth in specific laws. Fees for use of these lands are determined by various considerations. Usually they are barely equal to administrative costs.
Third, there is the service of making available resources from the public lands for a consideration which is near the commercial value. This type of service involving essentially the timber, oil, and gas and other mineral resources on the public lands, constitutes a major part of the Bureau’s revenue-producing operations.
Finally, the Bureau continues to dispose of land under the homestead, desert land, public sale, recreational, and exchange acts, whenever such lands can be classified as suitable for disposal under section 7 of the Taylor Grazing Act. While as noted above, the acreage disposed of is now relatively small, the function of determining which of the public lands may be disposed of without impairing the administration of the remaining public domain or the private economy remains an important one.
Range and timber management programs of the Bureau of Land Management make valuable contributions to local and national economies through the conservation, development, and use of grazing and timber resources.
Because the public range is an integral part of many ranch operations in the West, the management of Federal grazing areas is an important element in national meat and wool production. With more
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 225
than 8 million head of livestock using forage and water resources on public lands, some through seasonal use and others in year-round grazing, the stability of the industry is in considerable measure dependent upon the use of the public domain under leases, licenses, or permits issued by the Bureau. The management of range lands is also designed to take into account the wildlife resources and the enjoyment by the general public. Soil and moisture conservation are fundamental to the local and national economy as well as to the protection and rehabilitation of range land and the development of the river basins.
The problem of timber resource management is of national interest. The Congress recognized the wisdom of sustained yield forest management practices—namely, the maintenance of a reasonable balance between the volume of tree cutting and tree growth so as to insure a continuing supply of forest products—by authorizing the application of this policy on all of the commercial forests on the public lands of the United States.
There are approximately 28 million acres of public domain timber land and woodland in the States. These areas contain valuable stands of Douglas fir, ponderosa pine, white pine, and other species of commercial importance, as well as large amounts of juniper, pinon pine, and related woodland types which are needed to supply local demands for fence posts, fuel wood, mine props, and other products. Total timber resources in the public domain of the United States other than woodlands have been estimated as having a present market value between 50 and 100 million dollars. The administration of the sustained yield policy involving these resources has been vested in the Bureau.
In addition, the Bureau has special timber management problems on 125 million acres of forested public land in Alaska and in the 2% million acres of Oregon and California revested railroad grant lands in western Oregon. In the latter area, constituting one of the largest sustained yield forest management “laboratories” in the world, important policies for cooperation between Government and private landowners and timber operators are being worked out to provide more jobs, homes, and businesses.
Conservation and harvesting of the products of the public lands, including forage from grazing land, timber from forest lands, and minerals from all of the public lands, is an entirely different type of activity than the simple land disposal of the homestead era of former days.
Lack of supervision over the use of watersheds and range lands means denudation, disastrous erosion, and in many areas serious floods. It also means little or no revenue from the use of the lands.
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Another major management program of this Bureau, in addition to timber and range land, is on mineral lands of the public domain. Mineral leasing on the public domain has resulted in important revenues and good conservation practices in the development and mining of valuable minerals. Industrial development in many areas is dependent upon the utilization of the mineral resources contained in the public land. In addition to oil and gas wealth from the public domain there are important deposits of phosphate and potash in the West—valuable fertilizer elements needed to rebuild depleted soils for soil conserving cropping systems and for a permanent agriculture throughout the Nation.
Conservation, continued wise development and use of natural resources on the public domain is important to every American citizen. Modern management practices of the Bureau of Land Management help to stabilize local and national economy, fortify the Nation in war and peace, by providing raw materials necessary for continuous production, and assure future generations of their rightful heritage of natural resources.
DECENTRALIZATION AND ORGANIZATION
Although all divisions in the Washington and field offices have shared in the work load, the burden of responsibility for effecting the decentralization program has fallen to the Office of the Chief Counsel, the Division of Administration and the Division of Adjudication. Other major activities, such as range management, had previously undergone a partial reorganization process, 1946, in the consolidation of the Grazing Service with the General Land Office to form the Bureau of Land Management.
During the fiscal year 1949, necessary delegation orders were drafted by the Office of the Chief Counsel to effectuate decentralization. Prior to the end of the year, a general departmental delegation order to the Bureau of Land Management and a Bureau delegation order to the field were prepared to simplify and consolidate many separate orders previously in effect.
In connection with the field organization of the Bureau, the Office of the Chief Counsel prepared orders consolidating the land offices in Oregon, Idaho, New Mexico, and Colorado.
During the year the Washington office transferred many trespass cases to the regions, to be handled on a local level by the regional counsels, and by the end of the year the Washington office was handling only those cases arising in region VI and those involving litigation by the Department of Justice.
One of the major jobs after the work of decentralization was well under way at the end of the fiscal year, was the revision of the regula
PART II----ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 227
tions in preparation for the 1949 Code of Federal Regulations. Another important job, relating to regulations, was in the field of mineral leasing.
Legislation
No public-land legislation was acted upon in the special session of Congress (July 26 to August 7, 1948). In the first part of the fiscal year, the Office of the Chief Counsel prepared the Bureau’s legislative program for the Eighty-first Congress. Twenty-eight proposed bills were drafted or redrafted for introduction along with the letters of transmittal. After Congress convened, reports were drafted on 81 bills by the end of the fiscal year.
The Bureau’s interest in legislative matters affecting Alaska continues at full pace. The Sale bill (H. R. 2859) resulted in Public Law 275 (81st Cong.) authorizing Government to sell tracts of public land in Alaska for industrial and commercial purposes, including housing, and contains certain safeguards against speculation.
Another Alaska bill (H. R. 4542) providing for the classification of lands in Alaska, is now before the House Public Lands Committee. House bill 4289, requiring settlers to record their claims in the district land office, passed the House and is now before the Senate. Material on the Alaska Statehood bill and on the extension of the Housing Act to Alaska was also prepared in the Chief Counsel’s office.
With respect to mineral legislation, the Bureau’s main activity has been the preparation of a draft of general revisions of the mining laws. This has received considerable attention in the Department and in the industry and is now being studied by the National Minerals Advisory Council.
Another important bill (H. R. 2914) would amend the Taylor Grazing Act in several ways. It would eliminate the acreage restriction on grazing districts, establish uniform requirements affecting the exchange of lands in or outside of the district and revise the public sale law to expedite action on sales. This bill passed the House and awaits action by the Senate.
Two other significant Bureau-sponsored bills are House bill 2821 to extend the Recreation Act to all public purposes and to permit nonprofit organizations to lease public lands for certain purposes, and House bill 2820 to extend the small tract act partially to unsurveyed lands, to provide for community-site disposals, and to permit associations, corporations, States, and political subdivisions to secure the benefits of the act. Both have passed the House and now await action by the Senate. Enactment of these bills would eliminate the necessity for a large number of private bills which we now have, and would also make it possible for a large number of meritorious projects to be carried out.
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Other important bills now before Congress are House bill 2753 relating to the cultivation of additional homesteads; House bill 3150 relating to modification of the rectangular surveys where necessary; House bill 3575 repealing obsolete private-sale laws, all passed by the House; House bill 5122 requiring the recordation of scrip rights; Senate bill 1979 authorizing the reorganization of district land offices ■without regard to State lines; House bill 1560 to establish a central record of title of all Government lands; and Senate bill 148 to settle the jurisdictional controversy on O. and C. lands.
ADMINISTRATIVE PROGRAM
The Division of Administration was actively engaged in all aspects of the reorganization and decentralization programs and made unusual progress in the fields of accounting, public domain records, file records, personnel, management planning, and general administrative services.
The Division of Administration, primarily responsible for the presentation of the budget, spent considerable time in attempting to give the Bureau of the Budget a realistic picture of its activities.
Increased Efficiency Results
In August the Branch of Management Planning was created and through its efforts appreciable improvements were made in procedures, methods, and organization of the Washington office. These efforts were reflected in the increased efficiency in many units of the Washington office, particularly the Correspondence Section, Mail Room, and Patent Section.
Personnel Management Improvement
As the result of a position classification survey, the allocation of field positions in accordance with standard organizational patterns was completed. The use of master position descriptions was introduced to eliminate paper work and speed appointments. The Bureau staff was realined in accordance with budgetary and organizational bounds through transfers and reduction in force. Consistent with decentralization of other authorities, and, to expedite personnel actions, the appointing authority of regional administrators was expanded to include all positions except those in P-3, CAF-8, and above. The efficiency-rating program was conducted with a truer sense of performance evaluation and was one of the Bureau’s principal tools in a campaign to improve supervision. During the year, 6 Bureau employees were cited with the distinguished service honor award, 10
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 229 received citations for meritorious service, and 38 for commendable service. The number of Bureau employees, permanent and temporary, varied from 1,092 on February 28,1949, to 1,353 on June 30,1949.
Supplies and Equipment
The Branch of Administrative Services had a difficult job to perform under severe handicaps as the decentralization and reorganization, as well as the improved procedures, were constantly requiring revision of old forms and preparation of new ones. Improvement was made in furnishing supplies and equipment to the Washington personnel. The Branch was called upon to fill many unusual requests made by the various field offices.
Accounts Receivable to Field Offices
Considerable progress was made in modernizing the Bureau’s accounting procedures. Pilot studies were conducted in cooperation with the General Accounting Office as a result of which the Accounts Receivable were decentralized to the regional offices.
Modernize Old Land Records
Another important job was the reorganization of the record-keeping functions of the Bureau, which is responsible for the maintenance of complete records on the survey, disposition, and reconveyance of the public domain.
As a result of improvements, a large backlog of recording and status actions was reduced and the work brought to a current basis. It has been recognized for many years that drastic improvements were necessary to bring these land records into harmony with modern recording processes and to provide a means of preserving the basic survey field notes and township plats and the tract book references, which provide the only over-all reference to all public land transactions. Through cooperation with the Bureau of the Budget an item of $10,000 was placed in the 1950 appropriation act for the microfilming of approximately 6y2 million patents as the first step in the record modernization.
The Branch worked closely with many Federal and private firms in developing the modern procedures which have been recommended and with which the Bureau of the Budget is in full accord.
Progress has also been made in removing from the Mail and Files Section land records to the National Archives and the disposition of material considered obsolete. The Mail and Files Section, through improved procedures, is now handling its work on a current basis as
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compared to a 2-week backlog at the beginning of the fiscal year, while at the same time reducing its staff from 22 to 16.
Future Administrative Goals Listed
The Division is continuing its aggressive activities on all fronts in order to make the Bureau’s operations as efficient as possible. A number of projects in accounting, public domain records, file records, personnel, management planning, and general administrative services, are now receiving active consideration. Some of these depend upon appropriations, such as the public domain records project referred to. The Division is constantly seeking improvements in all the Bureau’s activities. It realizes that in the future most of its consideration must be given to the field operations.
The Branch of Management Planning is continuing its studies and recommendations with much more emphasis and consideration being given to the Bureau’s operations in the field, in view of the decentralization of approximately 85 percent of the work to the field.
Plans are being made for progressive steps in the broader field of personnel management. These will include supervisor training, maximum utilization of employee skills, on-the-job training, more effective promotional system, and related personnel problems.
Under the law creating the General Services Administration it is planned to make many improvements which will expedite the securing of forms, supplies, equipment, etc. Complete inventories of supplies and equipment will be made and the proper controls established. New purchasing and procurement procedures will be prepared, to be embodied in the Bureau of Land Management Manual. Greater effort will be made to have on hand sufficient supplies of all forms, particularly those in great demand, such as oil and gas lease forms, public sale, grazing leases, etc.
It is planned to continue accounting surveys and studies in order to make this phase of the Bureau’s operations as efficient and expeditious as possible. Very serious consideration will be given to the possibility of having the District Land and Range Management offices perform all the accounting work. Studies now under way indicate great savings in time and personnel will result if this is found feasible.
It is hoped the Branch of Records will be able to carry on its aggressive modernization program more intensively than ever, in view of the item covered in the current appropriation act. Preliminary plans and procedures are being developed to carry out other phases of this program, such as the microfilming of the survey notes and township plats, and the development of many additional procedures leading toward the complete reorganization of the public domain land
PART II---ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 231
record system. It is hoped that eventually it will be possible for the people in any of the public domain States to obtain copies of any records from their local land office rather than coming to Washington as is now necessary in many cases.
ADJUDICATION ACTIVITIES
Adjudication activities during the past year reveal a tremendous volume of new business as well as old business for Bureau of Land Management.
Backlog of Cases Reduced
In spite of reduced personnel, the Bureau closed 34,217 cases or 8,670 more cases than in the previous fiscal year, when the record was 25,547 cases closed. The disposal of cases per employee per month has risen from 6 cases in 1945 to 12 cases in 1948 and to 21 cases for the past fiscal year. It is noteworthy that operations under the decentralization program have resulted in better service to the public and have facilitated the disposition and use of public lands and resources.
During the past 25 years there has never been a period in which the number of public land applications were so heavy as they are now, nor in the recollection of any present employee of this Bureau has the output been so great. This increase in production is attributable to the following factors: (1) Higher morale, (2) decentralization which eliminated unnecessary delaying steps, and (3) improved work procedures.
During the last half of the year, progress was made in reducing the backlog of competitive oil and gas leases on public lands as well as that of applications for permits and leases on lands acquired by the United States.
Field Handles Many Cases
Field personnel handle many types of cases including small tract, homestead, reclamation homestead, desert land, Indian allotments, cemetery sites, fur farm, grazing, shore space restorations, trade and manufacturing site applications, homesites or headquarters, certain rights-of-way, leasing of public land near or adjacent to springs, reservoirs, special land use permits, applications for the development and utilization of underground waters in Nevada for irrigation purposes, public sale applications, and sales of timber. Experience under decentralization has been so favorable that the agency contemplates delegating additional categories of cases to' the field.
The Washington office has retained adjudication of State and railroad grants, scrip, and several other types of highly specialized work. This office also processes forest, State and private exchanges, color of
863238—50----16
232 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
title cases along the Cimmaron Base in Oklahoma, restorations from military withdrawals, opening of townsites, competitive oil and gas leasing, potash, sodium and mineral leasing on acquired lands, and issuance of all patents. Patents are now issued within 30 days of the receipt of orders.
Choctaw-Chickasaw Lands
During the fiscal year the Bureau assumed jurisdiction of 373,826.40 acres of coal and asphalt lands under the terms of a contract between officials of the Choctaw and Chickasaw Nations and the Secretary of
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 233 the Interior. It is estimated that these lands could produce 692 million tons of readily available coal and reserves ^of 965 million tons. The first coal permit involving these lands has already been issued. A problem of dealing with persons who formerly occupied these lands under agreements with the Indians is also involved. A satisfactory answer to this problem may be additional legislation.
Lands for Airport Use
Lands have been conveyed for use for airport purposes under Section 16 of the Federal Airport Act to Carbon County, Utah, city of Milford, Utah, and the city of Rawlins, Wyo. In accordance with the provisions of the act, the lands were granted on a gratuitous basis for airport purposes. Several other similar requests are pending before the Bureau.
A new policy of public land disposal has been inaugurated under which isolated and scattered tracts will be examined, classified, and advertised for sale by competitive bidding without any application being filed. It is anticipated that the new system of disposal will be applied to lands still remaining public in the Southern and Middle Western States. J
Revised Phosphate Rules
Revised phosphate regulations, Circular 1722, were approved on January 14, 1949. These regulations provide for noncompetitive as well as competitive leases whereas the provision for noncompetitive leases was not contained in the prior regulations.
This Department and the Atomic Energy Commission concurred in holding that fissionable minerals are subject to location under the United States mining laws.
Mining Claims
Legislation was enacted suspending annual assessment work on mining claims. It differed from previous legislation by allowing credit for the year ending at 12 o’clock noon on July 1,1950, for assessment work performed for the year ending 12 o’clock noon on July 1, 1949. A permanent act, that of June 21, 1949, provides for temporary deferment by the Secretary of annual assessment work in certain unavoidable contingencies. Regulations under that act are being processed. This act and the acts of 1910 and 1940 enlarge the scope of the claims for damages of the surface owners under section 9 of the Stock-raising Homestead Act by reason of mining operations of mineral claimants.
Adverse proceedings were instituted against a large number of mining claims in the Tonopah Bombing Range, Nev. Numerous mining
234 + annual report of the secretary of the interior claims for lands included in the Naval Ordnance Test Station, Inyokern, Calif., against which adverse proceedings had been instituted, were processed, and most of the claims were declared invalid.
Oil and Gas Leases
During the past fiscal year there were 16 sales at competitive bidding of leases of lands within known geologic structures of producing oil and gas fields in the States of Colorado, Kansas, Louisiana, Montana, New Mexico, and Wyoming. The total acreage of the public land offered in these sales was 5,685.12 and the aggregate amount of the bonuses paid by the successful bidders at these sales was $177,973.39.
It is noteworthy that 23,234 mineral leases and permits were outstanding on June 20, 1949, as against 14,631 on June 30, 1948.
Change in Lease Laws
Several amendments to the regulations governing permits, leases, and licenses under the Mineral Leasing Act of 1920 were approved. Among these were the requirements that after March 1, 1949, a $10 filing fee must be paid as a service charge for processing requests for assignments of all interests in an oil and gas lease, except royalty interests.
Withdrawals
During the fiscal year 1949, 6,344,782 acres of public land, withdrawn for military and other purposes, were restored from withdrawal.
CADASTRAL ENGINEERING ACTIVITIES
The Bureau of Land Management is charged by Congress with the official surveying and resurveying of the public lands in the continental United States and Alaska. These surveys create land boundaries, identify the lands, determine areas, furnish legal descriptions for title pui poses, and actually mark the lines on the ground by establishing substantial monuments.
Surveys Prerequisite to Land Use
The identification of land areas by cadastral surveys is a prerequisite to the acquisition or use of the lands in connection with the development and settlement of the country and for the proper administration of all activities involving the management of the public lands. The rectangular system of surveying the public lands was inaugurated under the ordinance passed by the Continental Congress on May 20, 1785. The public land area, including at its maximum extent the
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Territory of Alaska, the States of Florida, Alabama, and Mississippi and all States except Texas lying north and west of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, was subject to survey under this rectangular plan.
Since 1785 the official surveys have been extended over approximately 92 percent of the total area of the public land in continental United States. About 116 million acres remain to be surveyed in the States. In Alaska only 2% million acres, or less than 1 percent of the total area of the Territory, has 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.
Alaska Survey Needs
In Alaska, as well as in the States, due to the lack of appropriations, the Bureau of Land Management has not been able to keep current with the demand for surveys. That situation in Alaska was remedied to some extent by increasing field activities twofold. This made it possible to survey about 22,000 acres in the Chena River and Tok Junction areas and along the Richardson Highway; 143 individual tracts, scattered throughout the Territory, and the townsites of Dillingham, Pelican, Portage, and Tok, embracing a total of 571 townsite lots. Plans are being made to accelerate materially the present Alaskan cadastral survey program in 1950.
State Surveys
The program in the States was directed to take care of the important projects requested by the Government agencies and to survey and resurvey those areas necessary to administer properly the public land.
The major projects included the survey or resurvey of: 1,336,619 acres in Colorado, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, and Wyoming for the Bureau of Reclamation in connection with the development of the Missouri River Basin and 3,390 acres in Arizona on the Yuma project; 7,000 acres on the Yuma Indian Reservation, Calif., for the Bureau of Indian Affairs; 121,291 acres in national forests in California, Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Washington for the Forest Service; 2,560 acres in California for Department of the Army, in connection with the Folsom Dam and Reservoir; 85,784 acres in California, Colorado, and Wyoming for the identification of the boundaries of land leased for oil and gas or coal; 460,158 acres in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, necessary for the management of the public lands in connection with grazing activities, timber sales, trespass cases, control for mapping programs? and areas administered under the Small Tract Act,
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RANGE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM
As of June 30, 1949, the Bureau of Land Management is responsible for the management of the range resources on a total of about 184.5 million acres of land situated in 16 of the Western States. The area within grazing districts includes approximately 134 million acres of unreserved public land, 13 million acres of reserved public land, and 1.5 million acres of non-Federal land administered by agreement and through Pierce Act leases. The unreserved land outside of districts totals nearly 36 million acres.
More than 100 million acres of these public lands are important parts of the watersheds which furnish water to the major irrigation and hydroelectric power projects of the West. The value of the water resources of the drainage basins and the dependent installations are popularly known. Regrettably, however, the deterioration of the watershed lands and particularly those in critical erosion areas is not as widely recognized. A disproportionate amount of silt going into the turbines and canals of the downstream developments comes from the public lands. Thus, in addition to their grazing resources being an essential link in the year long operation of the western range livestock industry, the public lands are extremely important in the broader, multiple-use functions serving to strengthen the regional as well as the national economic stability.
Administration of Grazing
Impetus to range management activities was added through the enlargement during the year of grazing district and regional office staffs. The increases of 51 field employees to districts and 6 to regions, equivalent to an over-all increase of 49 percent, permitted the absorption of the added work load connected with decentralization to district areas of section 15 grazing leases and other types of land cases, and administration of title III, Bankhead-Jones Act, lands newly transferred to Interior from Agriculture. In the main, these new responsibilities offset the increases in manpower although general improvement in administration was possible in restricted areas which received comparatively less new work.
The lack of greater over-all benefit from the enlarged staff is attributable to the fact that the organization as expanded in 1949 is still 69 positions, or 38 percent short of the minimum staff required to administer adequately the public lands in accordance with the provisions of the Taylor Grazing Act. Added to this shortage was the diversion of many man-months to the snow campaign during the winter of 1948-49.
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 237
Range Conditions
The winter of 1948-49 will long be remembered for its extremes in snow, wind, and cold, which combined to create the most hazardous winter for ranching people, livestock, and wildlife ever experienced in a large part of the West. The rigors of the winter were more critical also because of the preceding serious drought which prevailed over most of the area, having resulted in lowering of feed supplies and condition of livestock and game. Winter death loss of animals, averaging from 5 to 10 percent above normal, was not nearly as great as anticipated at the height of the stormy season. In some individual herds, however, 25 to 50 percent of the animals died. The winter kill in upland birds, other than sage grouse, was materially above average. Eastern Nevada, Utah, northern Arizona, northwestern New Mexico, northwestern Colorado, southern and eastern Wyoming, and southeastern Montana were the most critically affected areas.
Throughout January, February, and most of March, Bureau of Land Management men and facilities in these areas, cooperating with other Federal and State agencies, fought to open roads and communications to ranches, livestock, and big game marooned time and again by constant and deeply drifting snow.
Fortunately the snow melt was gradual, run-off was unusually light, and most of the moisture percolated into the soil to recharge ground water supplies. There were no floods of any consequence resulting from melting snow. This was followed in most of the snow area by unusually favorable spring rainfall, the combination of the above-average winter and spring moisture resulting in range conditions rated by some stockmen as equal to or better than any they had experienced.
Grazing Within Districts
Grazing uses requested and authorized in districts during 1949 indicate a further continuation of the shift from sheep and goats to cattle, which trend was thought to be leveling off in 1948. Numbers of sheep dropped from 6,624,666 and goats from 40,339 in 1948 to 6,378,554 and 31,650, respectively, in 1949. Horses also declined from 92,795 to 84,244. Numbers of cattle, however, increased from 2,-115,261 in 1948 to 2,217,007 in 1949. The net result was an increase of 42,235 animal units.
Despite the increased numbers of animal units permitted in 1949, the amount of forage obligated for the authorized use declined 154,170 animal-unit months. The reason for this paradoxical situation is not clear. The fact that there was a similar shifting in 1948 as compared to 1947 indicates the possibility, however, that there may
238 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
be a definite trend toward lightening the grazing on the Federal range and increasing the use of ranch properties proportionately.
There was but slight change during the year in the issuance of term permits. A total of 21,081 annual and 10-year term permits were in effect, about equally divided between the two classes of tenure. It is impossible with the present staff to obtain the range and ranch property surveys necessary to the issuance of term permits. It is estimated, however, that when the range and ranch property data are available, fully 90 percent of the users may qualify and receive 10-year permits.
The numbers of permits and the livestock uses permitted by States, are shown in the following table:
State Permits Cattle Horses Sheep Goats Total livestock
Arizona 607 71, 730 1,487 50, 221 1, 819 125, 257
California 467 96, 066 2, 867 127, 660 199 226, 792
Colorado - 2,015 186, 690 4, 023 710, 672 74 901, 459
Idaho , - - 3, 299 235,281 11, 502 879, 894 6 1,126,683
Montana 3,258 379, 791 18,453 615, 441 25 1,013,710
Nevada 1,159 329,913 9, 729 632, 018 251 971,911
New Mexico 4,030 238,145 12, 672 579, 653 26, 031 856, 501
Oregon __ - 1,407 261, 823 9,824 189, 875 461, 522
Utah 3,467 222, 429 4,983 1,458, 445 3,230 1, 689, 087
Wyoming 1,372 195,139 8,704 1,134,675 15 1,338, 533
Total 21, 081 2, 217,007 84, 244 6,378,554 31,650 8, 711, 455
Grazing Outside of Districts
In September 1948, all case records relating to the leasing for grazing purposes of public lands outside of grazing districts in accordance with section 15 of the Taylor Act were transferred from Washington to the respective grazing district offices. The areas of responsibility of these offices include one and sometimes two grazing districts, together with the public land in surrounding areas that can most effectively be administered from the respective district headquarters. In limited areas, such as western Oregon, the grazing leases are processed by the local district forestry office.
The task of integrating this leasing activity with that of district administration has been completed. It was found that in a high percentage of outstanding leases, fee payments and lease assignments were from 2 to 4 years in arrears. With minor exceptions, this backlog has been cleared up and the work is on a current basis. The elapsed time between the filing of an application to the issuance of a lease has been reduced from a matter of years to weeks. Material decrease is now anticipated in the total of unleased areas.
PART II-ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 239
The number of grazing leases outstanding as of June 30, 1949, the acreage of public land leased, and the acreage available for lease in 16 Western States are shown in the following table:
Number of leases Acreage leases Acreage unleased Number of leases Acreage leases Acreage unleased
Arizona California Colorado Idaho Kansas 880 845 791 975 14 1, 982 134 842 2,139,438 3, 293, 728 435, 584 325,380 1,342 1, 244,215 11,359 407, 801 308, 280 10,135,345 225,146 158, 053 1,681 297,116 ■ 17, 358 11, 492, 856 99, 215 North Dakota Oklahoma Oregon 1 South Dakota Utah 2 81 72 798 390 41, 620 7,198 584, 772 28, 517 56,380 18, 759 327,043 90, 251 297, 423 193, 020 3, 216
Montana. _ Nebraska Nevada New Mexico Washington Wyoming Total 557 2,397 300, 258 3,096, 673
10, 758 12,117,885 23,721,142
1 Exclusive of O and C land grazing leases.
2 Unleased lands in Utah are barren salt flats.
Grazing Trespass—Supervision
A fair degree of orderly use has been obtained within districts and on the leased public lands outside of districts. Trespass use in numbers of livestock, season of use, and area of range is, however, far too common. These infractions are destructive to the forage and soil protective cover, deprive the Government of revenues which should be collected, and disrupt the operations of other stockmen. The additional personnel provided in 1949 resulted in increased supervision and better control within districts. It was generally possible to handle the more flagrant cases, but there were many undetected and uncorrected cases. It is estimated on the basis of reports from the districts that these cases involved an estimated 177,500 livestock which obtained 540,000 animal unit months of forage in trespass.
It has been impossible with the manpower available to provide any sort of supervision of the lands outside of districts. The lands under lease may or may not be properly managed by the lessees. The unleased lands are of the same general character as those which are leased.
It is reasonable to expect, therefore, that most of the unleased lands are being grazed without authority, possibly to a destructive degree.
Land Utilization Project Area Transfer
Executive Order No. 10046 of March 24, 1949, transferred jurisdiction over certain submarginal lands purchased under title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act and formerly administered by the Department of Agriculture to the Department of the Interior. By the same order, jurisdiction over certain public lands, closely associated with other title III project areas retained by Agriculture, was trans
240 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
ferred from Interior to that Department. The acreage transferred to the Interior totaled 225,000 acres, and Agriculture received 107,000 acres. The transfer of jurisdiction was jointly determined, area by area, on the basis of which Department had preponderant interest and could provide administration most effectively in keeping with production capability. Further study and action is needed in certain remaining project areas, principally in Montana.
Central Nevada
At two meetings in December 1948, one at Tonopah, the other at Eureka, Nev., interested stockmen recommended that a new grazing district be established to embrace the unadministered lands in central Nevada. Pursuant to this recommendation, a bill (H. R. 2914) to amend the Taylor Grazing Act was introduced in the House. The bill provides for the removal of the limitation in acreage of public land in grazing districts, thus permitting the establishment of the district which will probably embrace most of the 11,492,856 acres outside of districts in Nevada. The bill was passed by the House and is now pending before the Senate.
Wildlife Management
Although the remaining vacant public lands are generally less productive than the lands that have gone into private ownership through past decades, they furnish some of the best winter range for game animals throughout the entire West and form a very substantial part of the habitat not only during the winter but also for the other three seasons. Upland game birds and migratory waterfowl thrive also, some seasonally, some lifelong, on the public lands. Estimates by the range managers indicate that more than 650,000 big game animals harvested over a million animal unit months of forage from grazing districts during 1949 fiscal year. Thus, wildlife is recognized as one of the resources of the land and is considered important in the range management work of the Bureau.
Soil and Moisture Conservation Operations
This program is concerned primarily with the rehabilitation of those public lands which are in a depleted and deteriorating condition brought about by past destructive practices and uses by man, fire, and other causes. Conservation surveys show that approximately one-half of the public land administered by the Bureau of Land Management falls within this category. Corrective treatment consisting of land treatment and the placement of structures is designed to im
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES > 241 prove the protective cover of vegetation, prevent flash floods, and thereby reduce erosion and the siltation of downstream irrigation, power, and other developments. In order to evaluate the conservation values of the various practices, an appraisal was made during 1949 of a majority of the work processed during the years 1935-48. The findings show that the majority of the projects are physically sound; 66 percent of them were beneficial to the soil, 69 percent resulted in improvement of the vegetative cover, and 80 percent aided management and use of the resources.
The soundness of the soil and moisture program is indicated by the increased interest and cooperation by the public in general and the stockmen in particular. Contributions to the program from these sources in the form of financial aid, labor, and materials now amount to 30 percent of the Federal expenditures.
The aerial pellet method of reseeding the range has not proven entirely satisfactory. Approximately 70,000 acres were reseeded by this method in the fall of 1948. In spite of the above-normal winter and spring moisture which followed, there has been an extremely sparse and unevenly distributed appearance of seedlings of the planted species. These results are similar to those on projects reseeded by the method in 1947. The earlier seeded areas show no improvement of consequence, despite more favorable moisture conditions.
During 1949 greater emphasis was given to restoration of critically depleted areas. The improvement of the vegetal cover by reseeding, brush control, and wTater utilization and control comprised a major part of the work program. This is reflected in the following itemiza-
tion of project accomplishments:
Activity Amount Activity Amount
Soil improvement: Deep plowing acres._ Reseeding do : 4, 460 1 93, 084 Water control—Continued Dams diversion number.- 50
Tree Planting do 102 Dams retention._do 261
Control and suppression: Brush control do 59, 125 Dikes and levees cubic yards.. 239, 780
Fencing miles __ 147. 25 Springs number. _ 52
Water control: Canals and ditches do Checks number _ _ 3. 75 124 Terraces miles. _ Wells number. _ Other accomplishments: Gully control acres. _ . 75 29 18, 500
Conduits do Contouring acres - _ 16 2, 150 Streambank protection miles. _ 5
Dams detention number. _ 23 Water spreading_acres__ 22, 541
1 Includes 32,860 acres aerial pellet re eeding.
242 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Range Improvements
Range improvements are designed, located, and constructed principally to facilitate the management of the range and authorized livestock use. The 1949 program was directed largely toward maintenance of existing structures, with new construction limited to essential developments including fire breaks, fences, reservoirs, springs, and wells. The livestock industry by individuals and through the grazing district advisory boards contributed materially to the program in addition to their own improvement work done under the permit system. Examples of the degree of cooperation include $70,431 in contributions toward the total $107,112 program for the year in the Arizona-New Mexico region. In addition, permits were issued in the region for private construction on public lands amounting to $157,326, a program greater than the Bureau program as expanded by contributions. Contributions in the California-Nevada region during the year amounted to approximately $125,000 with permits issued for private improvements amounting to about $58,000. The investment, $183,000, also is greater than the funds that were available to the Bureau for range improvements in the region.
The following table shows the range improvements constructed during 1949:
Type of project and unit of measurement
Construction
Maintenance
Boundary marking_______________________________________miles—
Bridges_______________________________________________number—
Brush control__________________________________________acres—
Buildings_____________________________________________number-
Cattle guards__________________________________________do-----
Corrals________________________________________________do-----
Ditches________________________________________________miles- -
Experimental plots-----------------------------------number—
Fences_____________________________________________ -miles—
Firebreaks_____________________________________________do-----
Loading chute_________________________________________number—
Pest control1__________________________________________acres. _
Pipeline_____________-_____________________________linear feet. _
Posts treated---------------------------------------- number—
Pump project____________________________________________do----
Reseeding______________________________________________acres—
Reservoirs1 2_______________________________________ number—
Rodent control________________________________________acres..
Seed harvest__________________________________________pounds—
Springs developed 2-----------------------------------number-
stock trails-------------------------------------------miles—
Storage tanks_______________________________________ number—
Trees planted___________________________________________do----
Truck trails_________________________________________ miles—
Water spreading____________________________________ acres—
Water troughs_________________________________________number—
Wells2__________________________________________________do----
Windmills______________________________<----------------do----
120 4
36, 529 2
28 6
6
480. 05
46.5
’34,000
10
3,040
’40’686’
301 225,980 11,040
79
..
14,000
144.6
160
84
61
Permits issued for private construction
60 ---------------
8 ---------------
39 10
22
11 17
2.5
4
564 589.4
719
1
— 5,280
1
240
152 78
— 13,850
127 26
22. 75
— 1
3, 062
127 28
1
1 Grasshoppers.
2 Stock water.
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 243
FORESTRY PROGRAM
Proper management of the forests and woodlands on the public lands can play a vital part in the conservation of all the natural resources on the public domain and ultimately in helping to assure national security.
Some important progress was made in the field of forest management in fiscal year 1949. A beginning was made on the management of the 28 million acres of Federal forest lands and woodlands under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management. Previously these lands had lacked management because of the absence of legal authority for anything more than protection. A staff of professional foresters was recruited for this program. They work out of the seven regional offices and a number of local district offices.
Legislation known as Public Law 291 which was enacted by the Eightieth Congress made the above program possible. This law authorizes the sale of live timber on the public domain thus clearing the way for resource management. These lands are widely dispersed in the western United States and can be 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. Large volumes of timber known to exist on these lands could only be sold and used in the past if found to be dead or seriously damaged by fire or other causes. When found to be in that condition usually it was too late to sell the timber and get it into use because of deterioration and much of it went to waste. In the long run trees that died and decayed were replaced by young trees, but, by and large, growth and decay simply offset each other without much benefit to the public. The lands were producing little if anything to compensate for the expense of protecting them against fire and they were more of a liability than an asset to the Treasury. Lands held under these conditions even though heavily forested are serving largely as areas for the storage of timber held in reserve and the productive capacity of their soil is not being utilized.
During the first year of management more than 60 million board feet of overmature timber was marked for selective cutting and sold for several times the cost of administration thereby producing net income for the Treasury. Only the mature and overmature trees are marked for cutting. The younger trees are reserved and will make greatly accelerated growth now that they are being released from the shade of the old timber. Some of the older trees are reserved when needed to provide a source of seed for natural reforesting of open spots. Such measures plus continued protection against fire, diseases, and insects mean that at long last practical management of these lands
244 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
has begun. They are being transformed into areas of productivity from which a continuing succession of timber crops will be harvested with much benefit to the public.
The functions of the Bureau of Land Management’s forestry staff are to implement a management improvement program and to initiate actions for solving known operational problems on Federal lands. Under the category of management improvement are: (1) protection of forest and range resources against destruction by fire, insects, and diseases on 2% million acres of revested and reconveyed Oregon and California railroad grant lands in western Oregon, on 153 million acres of other forest and woodland on the public domain of the Western States and Alaska, and 228 million acres of forage and game-breeding areas of the Western States and Alaska; (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 domain; and (3) the development of a more vigorous growing stock of timber on the lands so that the capacity of the soil to grow timber shall be fully utilized and the annual sustained yield of timber maintained at the highest practical level.
Actions either initiated or proposed for the solution of known operational problems include intensification of fire prevention and presuppression ; inventory of valuable mature timber and growing stock of younger timber on the O & C and public domain lands elsewhere in the United States and Alaska; preparation of management plans for timber and other resources; marketing programs for indicated volumes of timber based on management plans; and improvement of growing stock.
Fire Prevention and Presuppression
A prerequisite to successful management of timber and forage resources is to protect them from damage and destruction by various destructive agencies, particularly fire. The most important problems incident to fire-protection activity are prevention and presuppression. Fire presuppression includes preparations essential to speedy discovery, reporting, and suppression of fires.
During 1949 losses from forest fires were the lowest ever recorded in Alaska in the 10 years for which records have been kept. Only 59 fires occurred in the Anchorage and Fairbanks ranger districts with a total of 41,469 acres burned. In part this favorable record resulted from intensified educational efforts to make the public more fire conscious and from other prevention measures. The cool, wet weather experienced there during the past 2 years has been the main reason for the abnormally low acreage losses.
The Alaskan Division of Forestry also accomplished further strides forward in fire suppression during 1949 by improving operations under
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 245
cooperative agreements with other Federal agencies and with private companies, thereby obtaining specialized services from them. Under such arrangements, the United States Army cooperates by transporting men and equipment to fires occurring on public domain, the Weather Bureau supplies daily fire weather forecasts and relays emergency messages, the Fish and Wildlife Service cooperates by taking the initiative in suppressing small fires, and the Civil Aeronautics Authority transmits fire messages and its aircraft aid in detecting and reporting fires and transporting men and equipment.
Inventory
Inventory of mature timber stands and growing stocks of younger timber is an essential requirement in planning the management of forest property. Valuable stands of timber on O & C and other public domain lands should be inventoried to obtain information on such factors as age, quality, size, and location of many commercial timber species, topographic and geographic features, location of roads, and location of wood-using industries.
A project employing aerial photography, photogrammetric engineering techniques, intensive sampling of limited areas on the ground, statistical analysis and mapping was started in a small way on the O & C lands in fiscal year 1949 and the goal is to expand it to proportions consistent with necessity in 1950 and 1951.
Considerable time was devoted by the Bureau’s Alaskan Forestry Division during 1949 to the measuring of trees and gathering of the data necessary for the compilation of volume tables. Previously no volume tables had ever been prepared covering the forest species of interior Alaska. Accurate volume tables are an essential requirement in an extensive program of forest inventory.
Management Plans
Management plans for timber and other resources have been prepared in preliminary form for O & C lands. Present plans call for revision and conversion of these preliminary plans to more permanent form as rapidly as inventory data become available. Economic studies and marketing problems and engineering surveys of transportation problems are essential requirements. Substantial expansion is provided for in the 1951 budget.
Marketing
Marketing programs for indicated volumes of timber on the O & C lands have been guided thus far by preliminary management plans. Expansion to the proper volume is dependent in general upon the development of adequate inventories.
246 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
In certain localities the marketing of overripe timber and timber deteriorating as a consequence of damage by fire and other causes has been impossible because of inaccessibility. A program of public access roads has been undertaken to open up such areas for utilization. A small start has been planned for 1950 with expansion contemplated for 1951.
In 1949 the forestry staff of Region I, the northwest area, where the greatest concentration of forestry problems occurs, initiated a more systematic timber-sales procedure. During early summer, timber operators are invited to offer suggestions that certain tracts of timber be put up for sale during the following calendar year. The details of the plan are then given wide publicity. A sales program reflecting these suggestions is developed in consultation with local advisory boards and laid out in advance for a whole calendar year. The advantages of this procedure to the industry are that it gives interested operators adequate time to investigate the tracts of timber to be marketed and determine whether it fits in with their operating plans before they fully obligate their capital in other logging ventures. It also aids the forestry staff in that time-consuming and sometimes fruitless work performed as a result of indiscriminate applications will be largely eliminated. Much preparatory work for the new plan of operation was performed during fiscal year 1949 and was still in progress at the end of the year. The new procedure will take effect on January 1, 1950.
Improvement of Growing Stock
Improvement of the timber growing stock with the ultimate objective of an expanded average yield is to be accomplished by the following program:
(1) In all timber sales contracts require selective cutting where feasible and elsewhere alternate forestry practices of proven success tor the purpose of obtaining prompt and complete reforestation of all openings created by timber removal.
(2) Concentrate timber sale operations in the stands of overripe and deteriorating timber until such stands are replaced by vigorous young growth. The lands occupied by overripe timber are mere storage areas until such timber is utilized and replaced by young timber capable of producing wood for future use. Such conversion operations are essential to future realization of the productive capacity of the storage areas, but require careful planning and execution because the supply of overripe timber must last until the existing young timber has had time to grow to maturity.
(3) Reforest all areas now in a deforested condition due to fires
PART II--ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4- 247
or other causes on which reforestation by natural processes appears unlikely or liable to be too long deferred. It is roughly estimated that 300,000 acres require such treatment, of which one-half is O & C land. It is estimated that approximately two-thirds of the area can be reforested by the use of airplanes to sow seed. The other one-third will require hand planting of nursery-grown seedlings. A few thousand acres already have been planted. Only 9 acres were planted in 1949, and a few hundred acres are scheduled for planting in 1950. Reforestation work is to be stepped up to approximately 10,000 acres in 1951 if requested appropriations are obtained.
Overstocked stands of young timber require thinning. By such treatment mortality losses due to overcrowding are avoided and the remaining trees grow at an accelerated rate. Such timber stand improvement work has been started on a small scale on the O & C lands. Expansion of this work on a more substantial scale on a commercial basis is contemplated as access roads are extended and as markets for thinnings are developed.
FUTURE MANAGEMENT PROGRAM FOR THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
The future sound economic management and wise development and use of natural resources on our public lands is the primary objective of the land planning program of this agency.
Despite the fact that the greater part of the once vast area of public domain has passed into private hands, the remaining area constitutes an important national asset—important not only in terms of size, which is considerable since it embraces 412 million acres in the United States and 365 million acres in Alaska, but important also in its relationship to the economy and well-being of the country.
Public Land Program Vital to Natural Resources
The value of the public domain can be measured in part in terms of known resources, such as its forage, timber, minerals, and its recrea-tioii and watershed value. Less subject to measurement are those unknown values discovered from time to time and especially during periods of national emergency. Rough and mountainous, arid, wet, inaccessible as many of the public domain lands may be, they produce a substantial portion of the Nation’s meat, fiber, timber, minerals, and wildlife and offer varied and material recreational possibilities. In Alaska these lands offer new and growing opportunities for farms, for homes, for industry and commerce.
863238—50----17
248 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Essential in War and Peace
The public land areas have always contributed substantially to the national defense in periods of emergency by providing large areas for military training. It is desirable that areas suited to these purposes be retained. Many areas reserved for military purposes during World War II continue to be utilized for training purposes. Some of these and new areas are being set aside for experimental purposes in connection with the development and improvement of military weapoiis.
In addition to the need of public land for national defense activities, large areas have been reserved for public land conservation programs, such as national forests and fish and wildlife refuges; and public recreation as National Parks, State, county and municipal recreational sites, and camps and cabin sites. The demand and need of public lands for all these and other public purposes continues to be great. Conflicts between public use and the present utilization of the public lands by individuals for grazing, mining, timber production, crop production and other purposes are constantly arising. In some instances there is a substantial conflict between different public uses. These give rise to many complex planning problems.
Land Planning for Better Public Service
During the year the Bureau initiated land classification studies in connection with pending withdrawals and reservations for public programs to determine proper land utilization, especially regarding suitability for the purpose desired, the extent of interference with the operations of the persons using the land, and the need for all of the land requested by other public agencies. The results of this work are starting to materialize through modifications in the areas requested to obviate the most serious use conflicts. The Bureau also initiated a program to classify lands, which are no longer needed in a public reservation to determine their proper use prior to the time they are restored to entry. This is being done in order to reduce the confusion which results when land is opened to entry and to provide better service to the public.
Management of the Nation’s public domain requires a well-charted, realistic, farsighted, and comprehensive course of action. Any such course of action must be in the general public interest to protect the public resources and insure their maximum utilization. In addition, local problems of land use and land use relations must be recognized and brought in balance through cooperative undertakings with States, counties, and municipalities. And finally, the farmer, the stockman, the lumberman, the miner, and other individuals who use the public lands must receive consideration in the management program.
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 249
Consistent with the Bureau’s policy of decentralizing its activities, more of the responsibility for planning has been shifted during the past year to the man on the ground, to those employees who have immediate contact with the public in the public land areas. Each employee is charged with the responsibility for making recommendations for better land use and more efficient land use procedures. These local recommendations evolve into regional programs which in turn become the basis for a coordinated, uniform, Bureau-wide course of action; thus flexibility to meet local conditions is maintained while uniformity of action is insured.
Since the Bureau is essentially a real estate management agency, its accomplishment is in part subject to measurement by the number of land-use actions which it handles. During 1949, some 10,000 land examinations were completed. This required examination of numerous tracts of the public domain for homesteads, desert-land entries, mining claims, small tracts, tracts designated for public sale, and for other purposes. A relatively new use for the public lands which has attracted much interest, especially in areas of dense and increasing population, has been for small tract occupancy. The public has desired these tracts, ranging in size from I14 to 5 acres, for general residence, for business, and for recreation. In 1949, some 74,000 acres of small tracts were examined, classified, and surveyed in such widely scattered areas as Florida, California, Minnesota, Arizona, and Alaska; about 5,000 applications were received for small tracts; and more than 3,000 leases were issued. Some sales of small tracts were made, the beginning of a trend toward the disposal of these tracts after they have been improved.
New Studies in Public Lands
At no time during the long period of public-domain management has there existed adequate information as to the character of the land and the character, location, and extent of its resources. Since intelligent management depends on such knowledge, the Bureau continued during the year with an inventory in two areas quite dissimilar in resources and stage of development; namely, the Missouri River Basin and Alaska. Though incomplete, the facts developed by these studies have already been invaluable in giving direction to the management program. In the Missouri River Basin, for instance, the inventory disclosed numerous isolated tracts so scattered and disconnected that they could be better used in private ownership. These tracts were examined and appraised and are now being offered for sale at public auction, thus reducing future administrative costs and bringing direct revenue to the Treasury. Another example of direct benefits from the Missouri River Basin study concerns the Wind River Basin in
250 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Wyoming. In this basin, covering over 2 million acres, of which million acres are public lands, the study showed its particular importance as a watershed area and, within the basin, defined certain areas on which soil- and water-conservation practices are necessary to prevent excessive siltation of downstream reservoirs. In addition, the study provided a basis for a land-exchange program to improve the utilization of public and private lands.
Alaska Objectives
In Alaska, the objectives of the land-examination and classification program are framed in terms of the management of a pioneer, undeveloped country offering great potential, but imperfectly known, opportunities for additional settlement and development. Within those areas holding greatest promise for successful settlement, the Bureau has been engaged on a land-examination program to map the areas in terms of their suitability for agriculture, for small tract use, for recreation and other forms of occupancy, and on the basis of these findings to advice the interested public of its findings. Work is going forward from the Kenai Peninsula in south-central Alaska north to the Tanana Valley and along the Alaska and other highways. The timber resources of central Alaska have been looked into. Investigation has been made of livestock production opportunity in other areas. A growing Alaska needs town sites and small tracts for residential purposes. Such sites have been examined, the lands have been classified and surveyed, and are being made available for these purposes.
Research Extended
Research and statistical activities were expanded to meet the needs arising from the decentralization and management programs of the Bureau. Reporting systems were instituted and standards were established to yield data necessary for the effective direction of the decentralized activities of the Bureau. Research was done on the various phases of the Bureau’s work for use in administration, reorganization, budget presentation, public relations, legislative proposals, technical publication, and related functions.
Many requests for assistance were made by the Department of Justice in connection with the adjudication of claims before the Indian Claims Commission and the United States Court of Claims, claims which run into many millions of dollars. Considerable data were provided the Congress, both for congressional committees and individual Congressmen. These requests covered a vast variety of subjects in the fields of public-land management and disposal and the economics of land administration, and included area and status of
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
251
public lands in the United States and Alaska; Bureau activities, by functions, units, and areas; disposal of public lands and resources; receipts and expenditures; public-land policies; timber and range management; leases, permits, and other non-Federal use of Federal lands; intergovernmental land-use relations; conservation of lands and resources; history of the public lands; geography; land grants; classification of the public lands; public-land laws and regulations; Bureau programs; valuation of public lands and improvements; publicland terminology; and other matters. The first edition of a glossary of public-land terms and a paper on the increase in Federal land ownership, 1937-45, were ready for publication by the end of the year.
Despite the substantial progress made by the Bureau during the year in planning and programing the conservation and use of the public domain and its resources, the main j ob still lies ahead. Of prime importance is the inventory of all the public domain to determine its exact location and character, to reveal the problems raised by its use and misuse, and to guide the management program toward better utilization of the lands. A forward-looking land-management program must, furthermore, include revision of obsolete laws, continuing improvement of operations and the development of a conservation program geared to both regional and national needs.
Fish and Wildlife Service
Albert M. Day, Director
This report is a record of the year’s accomplishments in the field of wildlife conservation. In its 30-odd pages it can do little more than suggest the many and varied activities by which the Fish and Wildlife Service, often in direct cooperation with the States or with private conservation agencies, seeks to conserve this resource.
From year to year, the Service’s program is modified and adjusted as changing conditions affect the wildlife resources. This is inevitable and desirable, for wildlife is probably the least static of all our natural resources. Our conservation aims and the methods of attaining them must be ever sensitive to these changes and constantly improved in accordance with new demands.
Over the world as a whole, there is probably a keener interest in the development of marine resources than ever before. This is manifested in various ways: in closer coordination of scientific research as the basis of conservation, in exploration of distant, virtually unknown fishing grounds, and in expansion of fleets and invention of wholly new methods of fishing. Awareness of the immense potentialities of the sea has led the United States to organize programs of investigation in the central Pacific and in the waters of Bering Sea, while marine research in our North Atlantic waters is being carried on to an extent greater than ever before possible.
The passing years see more, rather than fewer, persons turning to the outdoors, and especially to wildlife, for recreation. To meet these needs, the Service is strengthening its programs for improving land as wildlife habitat, maintaining refuges for wildlife, and replenishing streams and lakes through artificial propagation of fish. Some of the most pressing problems of the moment are the result of increasing development of the Nation’s river basins. These projects, as proposed or in actual operation, modify radically the habitat of many of our migratory fishes, of waterfowl and other birds, of some large game animals and of many small fur-bearing mammals of the river bottom lands. The Service is devoting the greatest possible energy and ingenuity to the satisfactory solution of the problems presented.
In the following pages, the activities of the Service are described
253
254 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
under broad topics which in general correspond to its administrative branches; all, however, possess an underlying unity in that they are directed to preserving and increasing the wildlife resources and the conditions needed to maintain them.
RESEARCH IN WILDLIFE MANAGEMENT
Although the total wintering waterfowl population of the continent changed but little from the previous year, there was an increase in game ducks and geese, the January 1949 inventory of wintering waterfowl indicated. Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Cuba, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, Jamaica, and the Bahama Islands cooperated in carrying out this inventory. Dominion and Provincial personnel conducted the winter inventories in Canada, and the Service sent flyway biologists to the countries south of us. The most complete coverage to date by Service personnel was made possible by the expansion of the flyway biologist staff from 4 to 11 members. These men are stationed in the four flyways and are responsible for obtaining data required for Federal waterfowl management and conservation.
The annual cooperative appraisal of conditions prevailing on the breeding grounds of northern United States and of Canada was made again in the summer of 1949. The Fish and Wildlife Service pooled manpower and equipment with the Dominion Wildlife Service and the Provincial game branches of British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Quebec, and New Brunswick to obtain waterfowlbreeding information. The status of breeding waterfowl was generally favorable, with the number of most species higher than last year except in Oregon, portions of Montana, and the short-grass regions of Alberta and Saskatchewan, where serious drought conditions prevailed throughout the breeding season.
Additional information concerning American birds became available through the expanding cooperator program. Cooperating observers and participating clubs actively reporting on bird distribution and migration increased 40 percent this year. Approximately 287,000 birds were banded in the 10-month period ending April 30, 1949, for an increase of 52,000 over the previous year. There were 16,855 returns and recoveries as compared with 14,535 in 1948. Data from these files were utilized in preparing the revised ranges of North American birds for the A. O. U. checklist and Bent’s important life histories, as well as by many research workers.
To work out methods of wildlife management compatible with sound agricultural practices, research continued on the two demonstration farms at the Patuxent Research Refuge, Md., one exhibiting modern agricultural methods; the other outmoded, but much used,
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 255 practices. Experimenting with various species of shrubs, workers found that bicolor lespedeza, multiflora rose, silky cornel, and autumn eleagnus survive well in this region and are easily handled by the average farmer. Their principal uses are for woodlot border, contour hedges, wildlife cover plantings, and, in the case of the rose, living fences. Heavy mulching and fertilization have greatly increased the growth and vigor of plantings.
In Alabama a 2-year study has shown consistently higher populations of quail on farms operated under a modern land-use program than on farms where good soil-building and cropping practices were not employed. Preliminary work on the use of multiflora rose in the southeast indicates that on abandoned fields the shrub is spread by birds and drainageways. Whether it will prove to be seriously objectionable on this score is not’yet certain. These 2 years of study have emphasized the regional limitations of wildlife management practices and the necessity for proving individual measures under varying agricultural conditions before they are recommended.
Public interest in the hazards to fish and wildlife of DDT and other insecticides was greater this year than at any time since the release of DDT to the public in 1945. Part of the apprehension over control activities with DDT probably can be attributed to public announcements by the Food and Drug Administration concerning the hazards to humans of DDT used around livestock and on certain agricultural commodities. The heightened interest was reflected in a marked increase in the number of requests for general information and for guidance in control operations. Evidence of a more conservative viewpoint was expressed by State fish and game agencies, and at least one State (Connecticut) now requires the prior approval of their fish and game department for aerial dispersal of insecticides.
Entomological research in the past year has demonstrated clearly that some insects have acquired resistance to DDT, and in some cases control efforts by established procedures have been noticeably ineffective against these resistant strains. Increased dosages of DDT and the substitution of other new insecticides will be logical adjustments in some control programs. Both of these trends will demand increased vigilance and investigation if pest-insect control is to be consistent with fish and wildlife interests. As in previous years, every effort was made to keep entomologists, control operators, and others informed of findings in this program. This was accomplished through summary presentations before national biological societies, prompt publication of results in professional journals, and a widespread distribution of reprinted literature.
A grasshopper-control program in Montana and Wyoming involving the treatment of 50,000 acres of range land with chlorinated cam
256 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
phene (Toxaphene) was studied for effects of the toxicant on birds, mammals, and other wildlife. Additional studies were continued in Maryland on the wildlife effects of DDT used in codling-moth control in apple orchards and in the control of Japanese beetles and other insect pests on corn. Follow-up studies were initiated in Princeton, N. J., to determine the nature and extent of bird mortality resulting from control of bark beetles with DDT, which at present is the only known means for saving valuable elm trees from the Dutch-elm disease. A heavy loss of birds and other wildlife has resulted from the treatment, and at present studies will attempt to reveal means of minimizing or eliminating these losses. The Service is cooperating with the State of New Jersey and the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine in studies to determine the hazards to fish and wildlife from saltmarsh mosquito control with DDT in coastal New Jersey. Mosquitoabatement programs are rapidly gaining in public popularity, and the New Jersey findings will have general application to Nation-wide conditions.
The past year also witnessed a marked increase in vegetation-control programs using new chemical herbicides. In Iowa alone, more than 20 million acres of cornland were treated with 2,4-D for weed control. Since weed seeds constitute an important, and frequently the sole source of foods for songbirds and important gallinaceous game birds, this rapidly expanding substitute for cultivation requires careful appraisal. Herbicides have found wide application for the elimination of wildlife cover plants along roadsides, fencerows, and rights-of-way. Indiscriminate use of these highly effective agents may well present further complications to programs endeavoring to provide increased game crops. The chemical control of pest plants has resulted also in serious kills of fish and marked modifications of aquatic habitats. Studies will be broadened as rapidly as possible to provide information on how and where such programs can operate with a minimum of harmful effects.
Studies at the Denver Wildlife Research Laboratory of a promising new rodenticide, an anticoagulant known as compound No. 42, have indicated that the chemical may have potential value as it can be used in minute quantities with repeated doses. Its use may lessen the hazards of accidental ingestion of exposed baits used in rat control. Several other new rodenticides, of possible assistance to orchardists in combating tree-girdling field rodents, are also being tested.
Definite progress also has been made in the field of repellents for mammals. Under a grant from the Quartermaster Corps, approximately 100 candidate materials were evaluated as repellents against rats when applied to materials for packaged goods supplied the Service by commercial firms in the newly developed “rattery” established at
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the Federal center west of Denver. Results of the tests have been encouraging. Studies with repellents for deer disclosed two promising materials which have proved of value when employed during spring and summer, when a choice of food usually is available.
The 14 cooperative wildlife research units, maintained by the State game departments, land-grant colleges, the Wildlife Management Institute, and the Fish and Wildlife Service, continued their active research and training programs during the year. Located in Alabama, Colorado, Idaho, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Missouri, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, and Virginia, their research projects totaled approximately loO, including investigations on a variety of small- and big-game species, waterfowl, predators, fur animals, land use-wildlife relationships, control methods, and many other phases of wildlife management. Numerous technical and popular articles were published by unit personnel, and research findings were used by State, Federal, and private conservation agencies. Approximately 70 men, technically trained in this program, were employed by State game departments, colleges, and Federal agencies during the past year.
Investigations were continued during the year by Service personnel on national forests, national parks, and Indian reservations under cooperative agreements with the various Federal agencies concerned. These studies provide the information necessary to improve the management of wildlife on the 200 million acres of public lands.
°The work on national forests has centered around the effects of small mammals in preventing reforestation, the results of deer browsing on ponderosa pine, a study of porcupine cycles in the northern Rocky Mountains, an evaluation of the wildlife carrying capacity of the longleaf-pine type, a deeryard survey in Minnesota, and a continuation of the cooperative big game-livestock range resources study in Utah. .
In cooperation with the Bureau of Indian Affairs, a beaver survey was made of the Fort Apache Reservation, and an Indian boy was trained to handle beaver management. With aid from the University of Minnesota, assistance was given in managing the Red Lakes commercial fishery. The Service also cooperated in the preparation of a wildlife primer for use in Indian schools.
Projects in national parks included an annual evaluation of moosefood conditions on Isle Royale, Michigan, a survey of the winter deer range (Zion, Utah), and a study of the possibilities of transmission of hoof-and-mouth disease across the Mexican border by migrating big game (Oregon Pipe Cactus, Ariz.).
An abstract of State fur laws, containing valuable information for trappers, legislators, fur tradesmen, and publishers, has been pub
258 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
lished by the Service since 1915. The Service has also published a report on the annual fur take of the United States since 1939, an innovation which has encouraged the various States to collect such information. Whereas but 12 States kept such records in 1934, at the present time 45 are recording their annual take of fur animals. Fur-animal-management investigations were continued on the Federal refuges in which impoundment and land-management practices were studied toward maintaining and improving the habitat for muskrat, raccoon, nutria, beaver, mink, and other fur animals; also fur production and grazing, and competition between fur animals and waterfowl were studied and analyses made. At the Patuxent Research Refuge, Md., research continued to determine the fur productivity of submarginal farm lands along the western border of the Atlantic coastal plain. This work has demonstrated that part-time trapping or hunting 2 or 3 months a year on depleted land can be made to yield about 40 cents an acre in wild furs as a side line to farming and timber-growing operations.
THE NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE PROGRAM
The slight but encouraging increase in the continental population of migratory waterfowl in 1948 was due to a successful nesting season in the Dakotas, Montana, parts of Canada and Alaska, coupled with the stringent hunting regulations of the past 2 years. Safeguarding a nucleus of these birds during their southward flight and on their southern wintering grounds is a major function of the national wildlife refuge system. Although there were several critical spots, with concentrations of birds far in excess of needed local natural food supplies, few flocks required special feeding or dispersal. In general, the population of birds returning northward to breed in the spring of 1949 was encouraging, although the number was too low for the proper utilization of existing breeding grounds.
The local convergences of birds in the Pacific Flyway, with the few existing refuges already overcrowded, and other natural habitat disappearing at an accelerated rate, present the most urgent problems of management.
During fall migrations, locally hatched ducks and geese and those from Alaska, British Columbia, and Alberta rest and feed on the Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge, Wash., and the Deer Flat, Minni-doka, and Camas National Wildlife Refuges in Idaho, before moving southwestward to the 175,000-acre Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Oregon. On practically all of these refuges, supplemental food supplies, in the form of cultivated grains, are grown through cooperative farming practices, the Government’s share being
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 259 left standing for the birds. In some instances, where even a greater food supply is necessary because of extreme concentrations, farming is done by refuge personnel in order that all the grain may be left. Both methods of farming are used on Malheur Refuge, while on the newly established 205,000-acre Stillwater wildlife management area near Fallon, Nev., the region next visited by many of these birds, farming will be done by refuge personnel. Part of the waterfowl flight moves southwestward to the Tule Lake and Lower Klamath National Wildlife Refuges—on the Oregon-California line—where the coastal flight from Alaska, British Columbia, and Puget Sound also assembles to rest and feed. It has been estimated that more than a third of the Pacific coast waterfowl use the Klamath Basin Refuges during some part of the fall migration. Later in the season most of these birds, together with some from the Stillwater area, converge on the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge in the Sacramento Valley of California. The cultivation of rice on the latter area and other grains on the nearby Sutter and Colusa National Wildlife Refuges has been necessary, as the huge concentrations of geese and ducks have been arriving early in recent years, driven south by hunting pressure before the privately grown rice had been harvested.
The production of rice is expensive but absolutely necessary to prevent damage to privately owned ricefields, the acreage of which has increased greatly in the Sacramento Valley in the past 10 years. On the 37,000-acre Tule Lake Refuge, barley is raised on irrigated lands adjacent to the 14,000-acre sump as a buffer against bird damage in the extremely productive grainfields surrounding the refuge, and to hold the birds in that area an extra month.
In the Central Valley of California, waterfowl marshes have all but disappeared. Opportunities for refuge acquisition and development are limited by high land costs and already appropriated water supplies. Nevertheless, this Service and the California Fish and Game Commission, by agreement and through special appropriations for the purpose, are continuing to secure and develop suitable areas both for refuges and public hunting purposes in the area.
Lands surrounding Puget Sound in Washington present equally difficult problems for waterfowl protection and management. In this region of natural waterfowl concentrations, truck gardening has increased while marshes for ducks and geese have proportionately diminished, and efforts to provide wildlife refuges to hold the birds and avoid crop damage have met with no success.
Similar problems of bird concentrations are being handled by intensified food production on refuges located in North and South Dakota, Illinois, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and North Carolina.
Experimentation by the Service in marsh management during the
260 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
past few years is not only producing results but serves as a model for similar operations by other Federal agencies, State game commissions, and private landowners. Controlled burning, limited cattle grazing, and disking of marshes at the right season of the year provide attractive grazing conditions for geese along the Gulf and the Atlantic coasts. Manipulation of water levels, burning, and cultivation have been used to control maiden-cane, sawgrass, cattails, willows, and other obnoxious vegetation on areas such as the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, Ga.; Cape Romain National Wildlife Refuge, S. C.; St. Marks National Wildlife Refuge, Fla.; Mattamuskeet National Wildlife Refuge, N. C.; Reelfoot National Wildlife Refuge, Tenn.; Bitter Lakes National Wildlife Refuge and Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, both in New Mexico. When these operations can be followed by restoration of water levels and the introduction of desirable, food-producing plants, many acres of excellent waterfowl marsh are restored.
Another management technique employed in the control of pest plants has been the application of chemicals, as 2,4-D and 2,5-T, together with appropriate manipulation of water levels and replacement with desirable plant species. A Service-owned plane, fitted with spray equipment, is used full time in this work.
The prevention and control of fires on the 18 million acres of refuge lands in 1948 was very encouraging, the number of fires during the year representing a 200 percent decrease from the previous 6-year average. The acquisition of more useful equipment, including radio-controlled jeep fire-fighting units, has proved worth while.
The Service has been actively participating in the departmental soil and moisture program since 1941 and is currently administering 16 projects. A total of 95,000 acres of land has been directly affected and materially benefited with an expenditure of $436,300 over a 9-year period. The acquisition of land for wildlife purposes is frequently possible only because the land is of low cost, is nonproductive, or otherwise of little value. Thus, wildlife management and restoration have a direct relation to erosion control. The problem of the management of severely depleted and eroded lands on the refuges is a staggering one. It has been estimated that more than a million acres require moderate to intensive treatment, and it is essential to accelerate the present rate of restoration to cope with the situation. Primary efforts in the past have included the use of diversions, check dams, and other methods of control to heal the scars of erosion. Excellent examples of these on Federal refuges are to be seen on the Piedmont Refuge, Ga.; Kentucky Refuge, Ky.; and the Tishomingo Refuge, Okla. Direct benefits to big game, livestock, and the general improvement of range conditions have resulted from water-hole and
PART II---ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 261
spring developments on the Kofa and Cabeza Game Ranges, Ariz.; and the Desert Game Range and the Sheldon National Antelope Refuge, Nev. An allotment of $95,000 for fiscal year 1949 permitted expansion of the work. Development of comprehensive soil and moisture plans of operation for all refuges is under way as a means to better land utilization.
Weather and water conditions, important factors in waterfowl nesting and food production, were favorable over much of the country in 1948 and 1949. Unusually deep snows during the winter 1948-49 in Nebraska, parts of the Dakotas, Idaho, and Nevada, did little damage to water-control structures, but extensive damages resulted to fences and trails by the bulldozing of highways. These losses were more than offset, however, by the many acts of mercy by refuge personnel in aiding snow-bound persons and livestock. Refuge families were among those isolated. Roads to the Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge, N. Dak., were blocked from December 14, 1948, to February 25, 1949. Mail and supplies were dropped by plane. Wildlife losses were not severe except on pheasants through the Dakotas. On the Lacreek Wildlife Refuge, in southwestern South Dakota, where storms were the worst in 60 years, the loss of pheasants was estimated at from 60 to 90 percent.
The response of wildlife to favorable conditions on refuges is reflected in higher waterfowl production, as well as the encouragement of other species. Big game, particularly deer, has increased in numbers in all parts of the country. Live trapping of deer by State conservation departments for restocking depleted woodlands has been encouraged. On the 4,800-acre Blackbeard National Wildlife Refuge, an island off the Georgia coast, 66 deer were trapped and removed by the Georgia Game and Fish Commission with the loss of only 2 animals—an outstandingly successful operation.
The 1948 fall flight of geese was widespread, and these birds made far greater use of refuges through the Mississippi Valley than previously. Canada geese formerly concentrated around the small Horseshoe Lake State Refuge in southern Illinois, where they were subjected to intensive hunting; now the birds are attracted in much greater numbers to the various Federal refuges surrounding Horseshoe Lake—in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, and Illinois. Blue and snow geese also rested and fed on many of these refuges for several weeks; normally their southward flight from Hudson Bay to the Gulf coast is completed with but few stops en route. The increased wintering of geese was particularly noticeable on the 44,000-acre Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, about 50 miles northeast of Horseshoe Lake. Peak population of Canada geese during the winter of 1941-48 was 2,200 birds, while the January 1949 in ven-
262 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
tory disclosed 29,000 birds, with a peak of 45,000 during March 1949.
Greater emphasis on the production of cultivated foods for wildlife was continued in 1948, resulting in the farming of 47,182 acres of refuge lands by private individuals and refuge personnel, producing 1,008,558 bushels of grain as well as green forage crops. Other economic uses not inconsistent with proper wildlife management of the refuges were encouraged. A total of 334,321 animal-use months of grazing was permitted on 980,029 acres of grasslands, principally after the waterfowl and upland game-nesting season. In addition, 15,253 tons of hay were harvested on these areas. More than 2,100 individuals participated, under special-use permit, in the economic-use program.
Table 1.—Number of animals on fenced big-game areas maintained by the Fish and Wildlife Service
ANIMALS AS OF JUNE 30, 1949
Refuge Buffalo Elk Deer Texas longhorn Total
White tailed Mule
National Bison Range, Mont.1 608 92 64 427 1,191
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, Nebr. _. 214 61 120 395
Sullys Hill National Game Preserve, N. Dak___ 19 20 30 69
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Okla.2 693 296 776 — 284 2,049
Total 1,534 469 870 427 404 3, 704
YOUNG BORN IN CALENDAR YEAR 1948
National Bison Range, Mont _ _ _ 170 3 35 318 3150 373
Fort Niobrara National Wildlife Refuge, Nebr 45 15 26 86
Sullys Hill National Game Preserve, N. Dak 5 6 10 21
Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, Okla 92 25 100 — 59 276
Total 312 81 128 150 85 756
1 No record of young produced by 12 mountain sheep.
3 The 40 antelope on the Wichita Refuge had 3 young.
3 Estimated.
The sale of timber products in 1948 was on about the same scale as the year previous. It included removal of 4,654,200 board feet of saw logs, 11,049 cords of pulpwood, and 10,316 ties and posts.
Total revenue for this fiscal year from all economic uses on the national wildlife refuges, including the disposition of big-game animals, and surplus products, was $343,130. By law, 25 percent of this revenue was paid to the counties in which the refuges are situated, and the balance was deposited in the Treasury of the United States. The slight decrease in total revenue is due to the smaller sale of furs, which normally is the major item, and of which the muskrat constitutes well over 75 percent. Drought conditions on the Louisiana coast, and the unusually high saline content of waters on Maryland refuges reduced muskrat populations and trapping opportunities.
' J > I ’ ' < '*•_ « Sfl’SS • r*
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 263
The 205,000-acre Stillwater Wildlife Management Area, located in Churchill County, Nev., was activated early in 1949, through an agreement reached with the Truckee-Carson irrigation district, Nevada Fish and Game Commission, and this Service. Intensive development of 20,000 acres was begun, whereby waste irrigation waters will be reclaimed for waterfowl purposes. These waters, which were formerly dissipated thinly on Carson Sink, now will provide an excellent refuge of sufficient size to permit some public hunting which will be managed by the State.
Alaska is today the great unknown in our continental waterfowl management. Investigations to date, however, reveal that it has great significance in the waterfowl supply of the Pacific Flyway and probably contributes also to the Mississippi and Central Flyways. Banding returns indicate that approximately 80 percent of the Pacific Flyway birds are bred in Alaska.
Table 2.—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 19^9
State Refuge Acquired other than by purchase Purchased under Migratory Bird Conservation Act Total acquired Pending title conveyance
California Colusa - - 1,091
Sutter _ ___ 1 1
Florida St. Marks . .. 56 56
Georgia Okefenokee 1,855
Iowa Union Slough . 1 87 88 99
Kentucky Kentucky Woodlands 173 173 105
Maine Moosehorn 14 14 176
Missouri Mingo . 1, 510 1,510 2,751
N ebraska Valentine. .. 224
Np.w Jersey Brigantine. 789
Mew Mexico Bosque del Apache 963
New York Wertheim.. _ _ 23
North Carolina Mattamuskeet-. 16
North Dakota Des Lacs 6 6
Lake Ilo 40 40
Long Lake _ __ _ 52 52
Lostwood _ _ _ 80
Lower Souris—. 7
Upper Souris . - 34
Oregon Cold Springs . 133 133
Malheur. _ . 513 513 5, 209
Texas Laguna Atascosa 1 8, 486 8, 486 18, 997
Vermont Mississippi 118 118 128
Virginia Chincoteague _ 5 5 154
Washington Turnbull ... _ 888 888 459
Skagit __________ 2,351
Willapa 3,058 3,058 21
Wisconsin __ Horicon 1, 212 1,212 1,269
Necedah 80
Total 9,056 7,297 16, 353 36,881
1 Transferred to the Fish and Wildlife Service under authority of the act of May 19, 1948.
During the fiscal year 1948, the refuges in Alaska were brought under active administration; trained personnel were assigned and additional equipment was supplied for their investigations and pro-
863238—so----18
264 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR tection of the areas. It is most important that several additional large-scale waterfowl-nesting grounds be established. These areas have importance in the economic development of the country and cannot be made inviolate refuges; they can, however, be set aside as water-fowl-management areas under conditions which will protect their waterfowl value, yet permit grazing, fur harvesting, some types of hunting, and other activities important to the citizens of Alaska.
FEDERAL AID TO STATE PROJECTS FOR THE PROTECTION OF WILDLIFE
With an appropriation of $11,276,687.37, the largest to date, to finance the Federal Aid in Wildlife Restoration Program, the Service approved a record total of 612 projects submitted by the 48 States, Alaska, Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and the Virgin Islands under the provisions of the Pittman-Robertson Act of 1938. These projects obligated $8,894,844.33, with the remainder of the year’s funds being carried over to finance wildlife-restoration work during fiscal year 1950, as provided by law. By the end of the year, 13 States had obligated all or nearly all of their apportioned Pittman-Robertson funds. Net obligations, by activities, during this 12-months’ period were as follows: developmental measures, $4,368,754.97 (49 percent); land acquisition, $2,036,600.01 (23 percent) ; surveys and investigations, $1,720,883.04 (19 percent); wildlife-management coordination, $521,-173.42 (6 percent) ; and maintenance of completed projects, $247,-432.89 (3 percent).
American farmers continue the intensive exploitation of the soil begun during the early years of the war, and State game administrators have been employing Pittman-Robertson funds to acquire the few remaining wildlife habitats in their States and thus prevent their destruction by the encroachment of agriculture. Thirty-five States bought wildlife lands in 76 areas during the year, totaling approximately 163,000 acres, and, in addition, 9 States leased almost 115,500 acres. High prices and the reluctance to sell even low-grade lands brought the cost up to $15.40 an acre as compared to $11.44 in 1948.
In keeping with efforts to stem the continental decline in waterfowl populations almost half of the acquisition projects selected were primarily for ducks and geese. Arkansas led with a purchase of 21,155 acres of swamp and flood plain in the Bayou Meto Unit, located in the famous Stuttgart waterfowl concentration area. Eventually, 37,500 acres will be acquired and developed there as a combined refuge and public shooting ground. Other States making large purchases for
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 265 the management of waterfowl populations included Indiana, Rhode Island, Nebraska, Maryland, and Illinois.
The western States have continued to emphasize the acquisition of big-game ranges. The largest single purchase of the year was that by Texas of 35,500 acres in the Big Bend country. Eventually to contain 250,000 acres, Texas’ Maravillas wildlife area will provide well for the deer, antelope, and scaled quail within its confines. Montana purchased 11,000 acres in the Blackfoot-Clearwater country and leased an adjoining 43,000 acres for its deer and elk, thereby providing needed winter range. Oklahoma, Washington, California, Wyoming, Arizona, and Utah added to previously acquired big-game lands. Florida purchased 14,500 acres and leased 28,260 acres in Palm Beach County to establish a management area for quail, turkey, and deer. Similar actions by Mississippi and Georgia will benefit upland game species in those States. Michigan, Minnesota, Utah, and Wyoming also bought lands for upland game this year.
More than 75 percent of the Nation’s wildlife is produced on agricultural land. To guarantee its continued production in this era of mechanized and intensive agriculture, 35 States secured leases and easements on private lands and ranches during the year. With the cooperation of landowners, Soil Conservation districts, 4-H Clubs, and sportsmen’s groups, these refuges for wildlife were planted to desirable trees, shrubs, and cover plants, fenced against livestock, and water catchments constructed in arid places. Added benefits of such restoration will be the abatement of soil erosion and improvement of the soil. Several million bicolor lespedeza seedlings and thousands of pounds of bicolor and sericea lespedeza seeds were distributed to farm cooperators by 8 southeastern States. New York planted 5% million trees and shrubs, and Missouri provided landowners with enough multiflora rose to plant 640 miles of living fence, leading the way with 100 miles of demonstrational plantings. Thirteen States made habitat improvements for the benefit primarily of quail, rabbit, squirrel, and pheasant. Michigan, for example, created planned habitat on more than 500 acres in 11 State game-management areas, planting a half million trees and shrubs.
Development of habitat favorable to ducks and geese, and indirectly beneficial to muskrats and upland game, was undertaken by 29 States during the year. Kansas began the impoundment of 15,000 acres in the Cheyenne Bottoms which will lead to the creation of a major waterfowl area in the Central Flyway. Although hindered by high land prices and with public shooting largely limited to private duck-club holdings, Iowa is developing such marshes for ducks and geese as are still available.
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To extend the ranges of certain game species that are restricted by natural barriers, to stock-depleted ranges, and to distribute more equitably concentrated populations of animals, 30 States and Hawaii trapped and transported several hundreds of game animals. These include 1,729 antelope, 1,485 beaver, 2,894 deer, 282 muskrat, 255 raccoon, 1,010 wild turkey, as well as substantial numbers of grouse, pheasant, quail, rabbit, bighorn sheep, Chukar partridge, and marten.
Outstanding among recent events has been the united action by neighboring States in their approach to common wildlife problems. States in the Pacific Flyway, with British Columbia and Alaska, have banded together to work out uniform techniques and programs for improved waterfowl management. The northeastern States concentrated on black duck and woodcock investigations. Ten southeastern States made a study of mourning dove migrations and reproduction in their search for better management methods. Four western States arranged a simultaneous census of interstate antelope herds and counts were made of antelope by Montana and Saskatchewan, and of deer by North Dakota and Manitoba, jointly.
Evaluation of food and cover conditions, surveys of range-carrying capacities, and population estimates resulting from State-wide surveys financed by Pittman-Robertson funds have formed the basis in many instances for determining the length of the State hunting season and limits on nonmigratory and big-game species. Where population adjustments were found necessary recommendations were made. Colorado, following up such a recommendation, is now permitting the taking of two deer on certain problem areas where formerly one buck was allowed.
MAINTAINING THE INLAND FISHERIES
The tremendous increase in tourist travel to our national playgrounds and longer vacations for many people have resulted in extraordinary growth of angling as a recreation. The number of licensed anglers has more than doubled within the decade and now totals about 15 million. The resulting demand for good fishing waters with abundant supplies of game fish has taxed the resources of State and Federal Governments to produce enough fish in their hatcheries to maintain adequate stocking programs. And in addition to stocking streams and lakes, fish must be provided for the great numbers of farm ponds that are being constructed in many sections of the Nation as awareness of the need for soil- and water-conservation spreads.
Production of most of the desirable species was maintained at a high level in Federal hatcheries during the past year, and rehabili-
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 267 tation was begun at many of the units that had been adversely affected by curtailed appropriations and inadequate manpower during and since the war. This production was achieved in spite of many obstacles : excessive flood damage to fish-culture units in the Columbia River Basin and other parts of the country which reduced production in those areas; blizzards which hampered operations at many of the units throughout the west; and increased costs of labor, material, and supplies which curtailed production at many stations.
Special allotments were received for replacement and repair of existing structures and fish-rearing facilities at Lamar, Pa.; Nashua, N. H.; Hagerman, Idaho; San Marcos, Tex.; and Hot Springs, N. Mex.; for new construction of a trout unit at McNenny, S. Dak., a substation of the hatchery at Spearfish, S. Dak., and for the completion of the warm-water fish hatchery at Farlington, Kans. These special allotments were supplemented by $150,000 for the rehabilitation of other stations.
The tremendous increase in the number of trout fishermen has caused increased demands for the stocking of legal-sized fish, a procedure which experience in the Pisgah National Forest and other management areas has proved worth while. However, many of the trout stations need extensive alterations and additions of rearing facilities to meet the demands for larger fish. These alterations and additions are being made as funds become available. The continued high cost of fish food has emphasized the need for further studies on nutrition. Also, the many problems resulting from the rearing of larger trout for stocking purposes has necessitated the perfection of new and improved methods of trout culture, including the experimental use of many new chemicals, such as sulfamerazine, which has proved to be outstanding in the control of ulcer disease.
During the past fiscal year, an in-Service training program for fish-culturists was initiated at the station at Leavenworth, Wash., where adequate facilities and personnel are available. Particular emphasis is given to proved methods of raising trout and salmon and to the efficient management of fish-cultural stations.
Farm owners have become increasingly conscious that proper conservation measures build up the value of their land, and have become correspondingly interested in the construction of farm ponds. To aid the farm-pond program, the Service instructs pond owners in a sound program of fish management, inspects large numbers of farm ponds for corrective stocking, and is improving its facilities for the production of warm-water fish. Although a number of stations increased production by improving pond management, by limiting the size of fish produced, and by modernizing techniques employed, further increases in the production of warm-water fish will depend upon mod
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ernization of existing stations and the construction of new units. Experimental work is being conducted to improve the efficiency of warmwater stations and to provide information on the correct stocking and management practice for farm ponds.
Hatchery production of marine species was curtailed during the year. This curtailment resulted in an over-all reduction (as compared with the production in 1947) in the total number of eggs, fry, and fingerlings distributed. The production of salmon, trout, and warm-water fish, however, was maintained at approximately the same high level recorded in 1947.
The fresh-water mussel propagation program was cotitinued with headquarters at Crab Orchard National Wildlife Refuge, Cartersville, Ill. Operations were carried on in several States. The cooperation received from the various State conservation departments and the officials of the Button Manufacturers’ Association has been gratifying. The results of these mussel-propagation activities are expected to be of major importance to the fishing industry in a few years.
The following tabulation is a summary of the productioti of Federal hatcheries for the calendar year 1948:
Table 3.—Summary of the production of fishes and eggs by Federal hatcheries during the year ended December 31 1948
Group Eggs Fry Fingerling 6 inches or longer Total
Catfish 160, 500 832,885 9,985 842, 870
Channel catfish 275,370 165 436, 035
Yellow catfish 168,000,000 6, 650 50 6,700
Buffalofish 5, 414, 000 12,300 168, 012, 300
Shad 5, 000 87, 035 92,445 5, 414,000
Atlantic salmon 21, 076,660 184,480
Chinook salmon 11, 233, 000 17,391, 400 49, 701, 060
Chum salmon 704,650 9,058,115 603, 620 9, 762, 765
Silver salmon 10,140 625,150 97, 000 15, 975 613, 760
Sockeye salmon 2,804, 735 3, 526, 885
Landlocked salmon 204, 800 15, 975
Steelhead trout. 901,100 204,800
Rainbow trout 9,601, 580 1, 379, 840 7,353,980 17, 856, 660
Cutthroat trout 16, 267, 800 2,085,075 1, 694, 575 6,290 19, 739,005
Brown trout 2,147,990 134,995 3,977, 560
Lake trout 13,143,820 304, 000 313, 295 549,415 313, 295
Brook trout 3,451,845 17, 449, 080
Grayling 4,055,130 5, 780, 000 2,000 — 4, 057,130
Walleyed pike 2, 910,000 800 5, 780, 800
Northern pike 6,270, 000 35, 275 100 9,180,100
White crappie 230 35, 505
Black crappie 1, 287, 390 151, 955 1,380 153,335
Largemouth black bass 6, 842, 455 13, 625 8,143, 470
Smallmouth black bass.. 1,160, 000 176, 940 1,145 1, 338, 085
Rock bass 1, 890 — 1,890
Warmouth bass White bass 130 145 130
45 190
Bluegill 33,367, 750 3,410 33,371,160
Green sunfish 76, 600 445 77,045
Red-eared sunfish 22,500 660 23,160
Yellow perch 600, 400, 000 70,185 185 70, 370
Flounder 801,190,000 600,400, 000
Pollock 1,345,200 801,190, 000
Lobster 1,300 1,345, 200
Terrapin 1,300
Total 1, 029,894, 260 653, 635, 705 77,866, 090 1,830, 045 1,763,226,100
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SALMON CONSERVATION IN THE UNITED STATES
The sum of $973,000 was transferred by the Army Engineers to the Fish and Wildlife Service for fisheries development on the lower Columbia River. This development program was begun during the year, and additional funds will probably be made available for further development of the project during the coming years. In the Columbia River, as in the Sacramento, the erection of multiplepurpose dams has frequently had an unfavorable effect upon migratory fishes, of which the salmon are of chief importance. The maintenance of these valuable runs is dependent upon both natural and artificial propagation. Dams already constructed cut off a large percentage of the areas most suitable for natural spawning, and dams proposed for future construction will further reduce the areas now available; thus artificial propagation of the runs assumes increased importance.
On the Columbia River the salmon fishery is currently valued at 17.5 million dollars. Following 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. After a decade of artificial propagation this program has been adjudged to be a success. The return of adult blue-back salmon to the Grand Coulee Project is at present considerably greater than the numbers that ascended the Columbia to that area before the construction of Grand Coulee Dam. The fishery interests of the States of Washington and Oregon recognize this success. Furthermore, the operations have resulted in an increase of spring chinook salmon ascending to the upper Columbia River. However, very few salmon seek to pass Grand Coulee Dam; instead, they turn into the tributaries or return to the hatchery streams where they were released as fingerlings.
McNary Dam (now under construction in the lower Columbia River) and other proposed dams may cancel, to a great extent, the success of the Grand Coulee stations. To continue a program for the preservation of the salmon runs in the Columbia River, the Service, in cooperation with the States of Washington and Oregon, has embarked upon a plan which involves, among other features, the rehabilitation and improvement of existing hatcheries on the lower river and the construction of new units. This program is essential for the production of fingerlings to assist in the maintenance of these
runs.
270 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
At the lower Columbia River stations, artificial propagation of salmon has been continued for many years with marked success. During the past 3 years the take of fall chinook eggs has been exceptionally great as a result of successful operations at these stations during the previous cycles. At the Little White Salmon station a number of sockeye fingerlings imported from Alaska were released many years ago. During the 1948 season more than 200,000 eggs were taken from the returning adult sockeye salmon.
At the Quilcene, Wash., station the hatchery-built run of chum salmon has been increasing in size each year until now hatchery facilities are inadequate to handle the eggs that must be taken. At this unit, also, large numbers of trout are reared for the stocking of waters of Olympic National Park.
The construction of Shasta Dam across the Sacramento River in California presented a problem similar to that which has been met on the Columbia River. Here, as in most areas, reliance is placed upon both natural and artificial propagation, but emphasis is placed upon hatchery operations to maintain the important fishery of the Sacramento. This program, too, appears to have been successful. Reports for 1948 indicate that hatchery-reared salmon, upon their return to the river as adults, comprised 42 percent of the total catch of the commercial fishery in the San Francisco Bay area. Each year since 1942, the production of the Coleman hatchery has been increased to maintain this run. During each of the calendar years 1947 and 1948, about 100,000 pounds of fingerling chinook salmon were released.
Since some of the large new dams may make it desirable to pass fishways through dams, Fish and Wildlife Service biologists conducted an experiment at Bonneville Dam on the Columbia to see if salmon would readily pass through such a darkened area. It was found that little or no delay of the fish was occasioned. New experiments have been started in which the possible uses of chemical and temperature stimuli in conducting young fish safely past dams are being studied.
In the Central Valley of California biological work was continued to obtain information of value in protecting salmon at the large works of the Bureau of Reclamation in that area. Analysis of catches from a large number of fyke nets showed that most downstream migration of young salmon took place at night, with occasional daytime peaks during flood crests.
Progress was made toward rehabilitation of the runs of Atlantic salmon in the northeastern States. A number of streams were surveyed and areas capable of supporting new runs of Atlantic salmon found.
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RIVER BASIN DEVELOPMENT AND WILDLIFE NEEDS
As multiple-purpose projects under the Federal programs of riverbasin development increased in the United States during 1949, the Fish and Wildlife Service’s Office of River Basin Studies not only conducted a greater number of investigative studies, but instituted an advanced type of survey covering wildlife habitat development.
During the fiscal year 1949, Service biologists and engineers completed 231 reports, of which 40 concerned projects in the Missouri River Basin. Of these 129 were made for the Corps of Engineers, 42 for the Bureau of Reclamation, 7 for the Soil Conservation Service, one for the Forest Service, one for the Department of Agriculture, one in cooperation with the Dominion of Canada, and 50 under the provision of section 18 of the Federal Water Power Act. In addition to these surveys were wildlife habitat development reports on Angostura (South Dakota), Baldhill (North Dakota), and Enders and Medicine Creek Reservoirs (both in Nebraska).
As a result of 4 years’ work in the Missouri River Basin, the Service filed a detailed survey of current and future fish and wildlife resource problems of the area with the Water Resources Subcommittee, to be included in a comprehensive report on activities of Department of the Interior agencies in the Basin. Simultaneously, a memorandum of understanding between the Fish and Wildlife Service, the Bureau of Reclamation, and the State conservation departments was executed to foster maximum cooperative effort between the respective agencies in preserving and benefiting fish and wildlife resources of the Basin.
Increasing pressures on wildlife resources and the lands they utilize have emphasized the need for setting aside a larger number of acres where protection and propagation can be assured. Lands at Cascade Reservoir, Idaho, will be returned to the State as a wildlife management area. Grays Lake in the same State, one of the finest potential waterfowl areas in the northwest section of the United States, may be restored as a nesting area for waterfowl, and lands adjacent to the lake acquired to become a habitat for muskrats and other fur animals. The Bureau of Reclamation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs have agreed to a water exchange that will permit irrigation water from 55,000 acre-feet of space in Palisades Reservoir to replace water now being drawn from Grays Lake by the Fort Hall Indian Reservation. Final approval of this agreement, however, awaits action by Congress.
During the year negotiations were continued with the Corps of Engineers to set aside lands at Harlan County Reservoir in the Republican River Valley of Nebraska as a Federal waterfowl refuge and a State-managed hunting ground. Two other Nebraska reservoirs,
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Enders and Medicine Creek, which are expected to flood 1,715 and 1,900 acres, respectively, have been studied in cooperation with Nebraska wildlife officials to develop a plan for replacing wildlife food and cover which reservoir inundations will destroy. Wildlife plantings were also mapped out for Angostura Reservoir in South Dakota and at Fort Randall Reservoir in the same State development of winter habitat was undertaken.
Though the future water supply of the Grasslands, the celebrated 100,000-acre waterfowl wintering area in the Central Valley of California, is fraught with exceptional difficulties, the Fish and Wildlife Service cannot consider abandonment of the objectives here and continuing efforts will be made until these have been reached. Plans have been completed for a 1,000-acre planting program at Baldhill Reservoir in North Dakota to aid upland game and a 10,000-acre conservation preserve at Bluestone Reservoir in West Virginia. Impending inundation of hundreds of miles of bottomland on the Missouri River from the Nebraska line to the Montana boundary, when five reservoirs—Gavins Point, Fort Randall, Big Bend, Oahe, and Garrison— are in operation confronted the Fish and Wildlife Service with the task of mapping a broad habitat-replacement program. During the year the Service entered the initial stages of this enterprise on which detailed studies are going forward.
MARINE FISHERY RESEARCH
The pilchard fishery of the Pacific coast, which for many years led all United States fisheries in total production, has had several years of extremely small catches. The Service is investigating the extent and success of pilchard spawning to learn causes for apparent fluctuations in abundance and the oceanographic conditions in North Pacific waters which may be related to these changes. The activities of the Fish and Wildlife Service vessel Black Douglas are closely integrated with those of vessels of the California Division of Fish and Game and the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which are engaged in similar studies off California. The Black Douglas, occupying 40 stations distributed along 4 lines running offshore from the Oregon coast for about 500 miles, collects information on physical, biological, and chemical characteristics of the water for analysis and correlation with other data on marine fishes of commercial importance.
Much of the work of the 25 cruises of the vessel Albatross III on the great north Atlantic fishing banks was devoted to a census of total fish populations. Data on operation of gear, number and size of fish caught, and temperature were obtained at 170 trawl stations. Summaries were made of catches by subarea, depth, temperature, and direc
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4- 273 tion of tow. Haddock data were analyzed further by age. These data will help to predict abundance of haddock and to determine population size of all demersal fish on the banks. Small haddock were tagged in considerable numbers on Georges and Browns Banks for survival studies. The ship was used for 1 month during the year to investigate oceanographic conditions and the kinds, abundance, and distribution of fish and invertebrates in North Carolina coastal waters in cooperation with the University of North Carolina’s Institute of Fisheries Research.
During the period of organization, laboratory construction, and ship conversion, the Section of Biology and Oceanography of the Pacific Oceanic Fishery Investigations, based in Hawaii, has completed collection of Japanese scientific papers dealing with research into tuna fishing and habits of tuna. A reconnaissance team in Japan, working under authority from SCAB, collected much of this material; the remainder came from United States Navy projects and the Fish and Wildlife Service’s library. This collection, believed to be the most complete outside Japan, will be valuable reference material as the research program develops.
Fishery research in the middle and south Atlantic areas has been developed in close association with the States: a survey of the blue crab populations of the Rappahannock River to determine time, equipment, and personnel required for an extensive study of all Chesapeake Bay crabs; tagging of shad off the coast of Maine to study migration of the important fish along the coast; a seasonal study of striped bass spawning in Delaware waters; and extensive tagging and study of migrations of striped bass in the Santee and Cooper Rivers in South Carolina, where dams have changed natural conditions in important ways. Of particular interest has been the recovery of shad tagged in Maine from the waters of Chesapeake Bay, Georgia, and Florida. Tagging will be repeated this year.
Organized research by the Service to determine causes for the plague which in 1947 killed millions of valuable food fish in Florida west coast waters began during the year. The 60-foot vessel Pompano is used to obtain data on oceanography, planktology, and chemical constituents of the coastal waters from the mouths of fresh-water rivers to the 100-fathom line. The responsible organism is known, but the causes for its sudden increase in abundance—as many as 60,000,000 in a quart of water at the height of the scourge—and possibilities for predicting and controlling future outbreaks remain to be studied. The University of Miami’s Marine Laboratory and the Florida Department of Conservation are actively cooperating in the work.
Although the clam fisheries of the country antedate the arrival of the white man and always have played an important role in the coastal
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economies of Indians and whites, remarkably little research has been done to learn the facts about the resource. During the year, it became possible to begin a study aimed at preventing depletion and developing ways of increasing the yield. Work has started in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Maine, Rhode Island, and New Jersey and will be extended to North Carolina during the coming year.
Other shell-fishery research was continued along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, with some changes in emphasis. Research on the effects of operation of the Bonnet Carre Spillway on oyster grounds in Louisiana and Mississippi, to be completed this year, will determine whether claims of the oystermen against the Corps of Engineers will be accepted. Other research in the Gulf is directed toward control of the most serious oyster pest, a drilling snail, and, in cooperation with the State of Florida, rehabilitation of certain depleted oyster grounds. In the Chesapeake Bay States, development of seed-oyster beds and the general improvement of oyster production and management received principal attention.
Specially requested surveys of the possibilities for oyster culture in Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands were completed and reports recommending initial limited experimental plantings under carefully controlled conditions were transmitted to the respective governments.
Research to improve the efficiency of fish hatcheries has been given special attention. Roccal, sulfa drugs, malachite green, and pyridylmercuric acetate have been tested and found to be effective in controlling disease. Pathologists have isolated organisms causing two fish diseases and are now experimenting with methods of control. Basic data on the nutritional requirements of hatchery fish are being applied to the development of special diets which utilize substitutes, such as meals, for meat products. Anemia has developed in many of the fish fed substitute foods, and experiments are in progress to discover the cause. Several liver extracts, including vitamin B12, are being tested. Cod liver oil added to the diet has resulted in increased growth of brook trout but has had no effect on brown and rainbow trout.
Mass spraying of forests and marshes for insect control and of lakes, rivers, and irrigation canals for aquatic weed control is now a common practice. To avoid undue losses of fish in treated areas, field and laboratory tests which have been made on insecticides and herbicides have resulted in recommendations as to the proper dosages.
Results of pollution studies on the Shenandoah River, where all aquatic animals were killed several years ago by zinc contained in the effluent of the Viscose Co., have led to the installation of a waste treatment plant by that company. Physical and chemical conditions now
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 275 appear satisfactory for supporting aquatic life in the Shenandoah and some aquatic insects and fish have reached pre-pollution abundance.
The parasitic sea lamprey is threatening the $12,000,000 fishing industry of the Great Lakes. The seriousness of the menace is revealed by the 1948 commercial catch of lake trout which dropped to less than 5,000 pounds in Lake Huron and was only one-sixth of the normal 6 million pounds in Lake Michigan. With the decline of the lake trout the lamprey now preys upon other valuable species. A comprehensive research program is planned to develop methods of controlling the lamprey.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has the responsibility for regulating the fisheries of Alaska, and continuous observation is necessary in order that the various species of salmon and other foodfish may be conserved at the same time that maximum yields are secured. Study of the red salmon runs of Bristol Bay and Karluk Lake, Kodiak Island, was continued. Investigation of the pink salmon populations of southeastern Alaska, which have declined alarmingly during the past few years, was expanded during the year. Estimation of the size of downstream migrations of young pink salmon, essential to studies of their survival in fresh water, was accomplished by a new method in which a number of small traps are placed in the stream.
UTILIZATION OF FISHERY RESOURCES
The 1948 catch of fishery products by the fishing industry of the United States returned an income estimated at 325 million dollars to fishermen and retailed for nearly a billion dollars. Although the 4.6 billion pound catch brought into United States ports exceeded the prewar average, the expanded fleet had to go farther to reach the good fishing grounds, with added expenses for ice, fuel, and overhead. Higher operating costs and foreign competition made marketing of the domestic catch a little more difficult than it had been in the past. Declining European markets for United States products brought on by the dollar shortage and more intensive competition in the domestic market from foreign countries, which last year sent about 473 million pounds of fishery products to the United States, added to the normal supply available for consumption.
In general, the current year witnessed a lowering of the price levels and the lessening of inflationary tendencies in the fishery industries. Although new highs in prices and in gross incomes were being posted in 1948, during the first half of 1949 prices and incomes receded slightly.
Although the fishing fleet of the Nation has increased steadily since the war and early postwar years, the fleet operating out of Boston is
276 > ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
smaller than it has been in recent years. Twelve otter trawlers which previously operated out of that port were purchased by the Army in the spring of 1949 for use in Germany, thus reducing the size of the fleet.
Problems related to imports and exports of fishery products, and to transportation of fish to domestic markets, continue to disturb the industry and have received serious study by Service economists. Basic data resulting from these studies were provided in cases heard by the Interstate Commerce Commission which involved railroad freight rates for fishery products and Railway Express Agency charges. In the field of international trade in fishery products, the Service assisted the Committee for Reciprocity Information in making its determinations with respect to tariff negotiations which were begun in April 1949, at Annecy, France. These negotiations involved several nations and supplemented the Geneva Agreements on Tariffs and Trade negotiated in 1947. Data were furnished the industry on fishery associations, unions, and cooperatives.
As a direct result of the king-crab investigation conducted by the Fish and Wildlife Service off the coast of Alaska in 1940 and 1941, the Pacific Explorer, an American factory ship operated by the Pacific Exploration Co., was designed to prepare products from king crabs and bottom fish in Bering Sea. During the summer of 1948 this ship, with its fleet of fishing vessels, sailed for Bering Sea with two Service representatives aboard as observers.
On July 1,1948, funds were authorized by Congress for the acquisition of an exploratory fishing vessel and for its operation in Alaskan coastal waters. The Washington, a 100-foot motor vessel, was transferred to the Service from the Maritime Commission to carry on this exploratory work and to develop more efficient methods of gear operation. Early in 1949 the Economic Cooperation Administration purchased the Washington from the Service for $150,000, for use in the Korean fishery rehabilitation program. The Service will apply the money received from ECA to the cost of construction of a vessel more suitable for its exploratory fishing program in Northwest Pacific waters. The Deep Sea, a 139-foot Atlantic-coast-type trawler, was chartered to survey the fishery resources in the northern Bering Sea area, pending construction of the new vessel. A great amount of valuable information has already been obtained concerning migrations and dispersal of fish, trawling conditions, and ocean temperatures.
In order to utilize large reserves of food fish in northern Pacific and Alaskan waters and to improve the quality of North Atlantic fish, the Service conducted studies in freezing fish at sea. Limited tests in the field indicate that round fish can be frozen at sea, transported to shore stations, defrosted, filleted, and refrozen for storage
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 277 and later marketing. Freezing fish at sea as soon as they are caught results in the retention of freshness and flavor which are often lost when ice or a refrigerant are used on vessels during long trips. Adoption of this method by fishermen, particularly in the northeastern United States area, will place them in a more favorable position in competing with quality fishery products from other nations located near the fishing grounds.
Technological investigations were continued in fiscal year 1949. The Fishery Products Laboratory at Ketchikan, Alaska, undertook a thorough study of the butter-clam industry in that area to produce a higher quality pack, and one commercial packer is already applying the methods developed in the laboratory in processing clams for the market.
To develop effective methods for improving the quality of fishery products, isolation and identification of micro-organisms from fish and the holds of fishing vessels were made to determine their role in fish spoilage. An indirect result of these studies was the discovery that certain cultures of bacteria produced “struvite” (magnesium ammonium phosphate) crystals, which, although harmless to the consumer have hindered the marketing of certain new canned fishery products.
As preliminary studies indicated that salmon cannery wastes can serve to replace some of the more expensive meat products usually included in the diet of salmon in fish hatcheries, additional studies were carried out to determine the parts of the salmon wastes most effectively metabolized by young fish and methods of processing the waste without loss of nutritional elements. Tests conducted in Federal hatcheries indicate that salmon viscera meal added to the diet at the 10-percent level produces better growth than offal meal and a drying temperature of 100° F. produces a meal of greater growth potential than does that of 145° F. or higher.
Some 20 fish cookery demonstrations and displays were given at universities and public-utility training schools for homemaker groups, cafeteria operators, home economists, and other groups engaged in food preparation. Three test-kitchen reports containing recommended methods for preparing fish were made available and large quantities distributed by trade interests. Tested recipes for preparing fishery products were provided for distribution in the National School Lunch Program in cooperation with the Department of Agriculture. To further insure efficient operations in the school-lunch field, Service home economists conducted 50 demonstrations of fish cookery for cooks, managers, and supervisors.
Monthly availability reports on the current fishery supply situation were provided national restaurant, food chain, hospital, and
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fishery associations and a quarterly market outlook report was instituted for the guidance of Government and trade in planning and developing fishery programs.
Three educational motion pictures were produced: Basic Net Mending, illustrating an approved, time-saving method of mending fishing nets; It’s the Maine Sardine (produced with the financial cooperation of the Maine Sea and Shore Fisheries Commission and the Maine Sardine Packers Association), showing the catching and processing of Maine sardines; and Pacific Halibut Fishing, depicting a typical halibut vessel at sea and returning to market. The Department of State selected the first two of these films for entrance in international competition with similar films from other countries.
The fishing industry is dependent upon production and market statistics to operate efficiently and to insure preservation of the fishery resource which extends beyond State and National boundaries. To meet this need the Service collects, tabulates, and analyzes for distribution biological and economic data that aid conservation agencies in managing their fishery resources, assist the industry in conducting its business activities, and enable Government agencies to take the necessary action to protect the domestic fishing industry.
General statistical surveys of operating units and catch were continued in 1949 in the Pacific coast, New England, Middle Atlantic, and Chesapeake Bay States and resumed after a lapse of a year in the important Gulf States. The Service publication of monthly and annual bulletins on the landings of fishery products in Maine and at the principal Massachusetts ports, on the freezing of fishery products, holdings of frozen fish, shellfish, cured fishery products, and fish meal and oil continued. Information on the volume and value of canned fishery products, byproducts, and packaged fish for 1948 was released.
Seven Fishery Market News field offices were operated during fiscal year 1949. The Hampton, Va., office was reopened in August 1948, as additional funds were appropriated for this purpose. The reporting area of the New Orleans office was extended to include the lower part of the Texas coast to which the shrimp fishery had recently expanded. This office also was able to obtain weekly data from practically all the canning plants which pack oysters, shrimp, and crabmeat in the South Atlantic and Gulf States, and to disseminate this information in the daily Fishery Products Reports. In cooperation with the Department of Agriculture the Service now obtains weekly fish meal and oil prices for the Atlantic and Gulf coasts and fish meal prices of the Pacific coast for release to the industry.
Import data on fishery products, collected by the Bureau of Customs, were published in daily reports for distribution to the fishery industry and allied interests, making these data available about a
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month in advance of their regular publication by the Department of Commerce. Through the cooperation of American embassies and consular offices in foreign countries, a large amount of information on foreign fisheries, especially as it affects the fishing industry in this country, has been reviewed and released through the Service's monthly publication, the Commercial Fisheries Review.
Cooperative work with the Bureau of Labor Statistics in revising the wholesale price index on fishery products, has resulted in a more realistic index and one which reflects more accurately the trend in prices. Most of the price data used for this index are collected by the fishery market news service.
COOPERATIVE CONTROL OF PREDATORS AND RODENTS
Sportsmen, stock raisers, farmers, and foresters have reported greater benefits from the control of harmful animals during the past year than in any previous year. Throughout the United States and also in Alaska there have been fewer losses of game, livestock, and poultry from predatory animals and lessened damage to stored foods, crops, orchards, range lands, and forest plantations by destructive rodents. This is due not only to the use of modern control methods, as the airplane, compound 1080 (sodium fluoroacetate), and the “coyote-getter,” but also to the splendid cooperation of States, counties, cities, and associations of farmers and stockmen. Cooperative agreements were in effect with 34 States this year. States contributed $1,125,463; counties, cities, livestock associations, and others contributed $2,130,262; and Federal appropriations provided $1,060,-595; making a total of $4,316,320 expended in cooperative predator and rodent control during the year.
The recorded catch of predatory animals consisted of 75,448 coyotes, 1,036 wolves, 8,231 bobcats and lynxes, 652 stock-killing bears, and 131 mountain lions. In rodent control operations 14,583,652 acres of land were treated for the control of prairie dogs, ground squirrels, pocket gophers, jack rabbits, field and orchard mice, cotton and rice rats, kangaroo rats, porcupines, and woodchucks. In addition, 499,326 premises were treated in cooperative campaigns for the control of house rats and mice. Equipment and supplies used in predator and rodent control and 423,371 pounds of rodent bait materials were distributed to cooperators throughout the country by the supply depot at Pocatello, Idaho.
Protection of game from predator attacks was especially noteworthy in Alaska, where an appropriation of $100,000 enabled the Service to start the first organized predator control program in the history of
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280 > ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR the Territory. Nine experienced men were employed; 2 planes were secured for transportation in roadless areas, and automobile transportation was provided where needed. A small vessel, the Black Bear, was reconditioned for wolf-control operations along the shorelines of southeastern Alaska. Work was concentrated in areas where wolf and coyote depredations had most seriously depleted moose, caribou, mountain sheep, and reindeer. Standard control methods were adapted to Alaskan conditions and results of the operations were carefully checked, especially with regard to their effect on all forms of Alaskan wildlife. Reports show increased survival of moose calves in the region around Anchorage last winter, decreased losses of reindeer on the ranges around Norton and Kotzebue Sounds and Seward Peninsula, and no apparent disturbance of fur animal populations in the Territory.
There were even more outstanding benefits to game from predator control in southwestern United States. For several years the Arizona Game and Fish Commission has cooperated with the Service on predator control and has conducted parallel studies of results. It is now clearly apparent from these studies that antelope fawn survival is directly proportional to the extent and effectiveness of coyote control on antelope ranges. Survivals of 94 percent were estimated this year on well-controlled areas and as low as 21 percent on similar areas lacking such control. Comparable results were found with turkey and deer. In central and northern States, game managers report unusually good crops of sagehen, ptarmigan, and grouse in areas where coyotes and bobcats have been reduced in numbers. The game commissions of Arizona, California, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Texas, and Wyoming report decidedly less predation this year on deer, antelope, sagehen, grouse, turkey, pheasant, and quail.
Domestic animals and poultry have benefited more from predator control this year than in any previous year since the work was started by the Service in 1916. In many parts of the West sheep are being ranged without herders and without predator losses, where formerly annual losses up to 15 percent were common despite the constant attendance of herders. Calf losses were also reported to be entirely eliminated in many localities from North Dakota to Arizona, and from south Texas to the Pacific Northwest. Predation on turkey and other poultry was also checked, notably in central California, the Willamette Valley of Oregon, Utah, and the intensive poultry raising areas of New York, New Jersey, and New England. There still remain areas, as the San Luis Valley of Colorado, the mesquite thickets of south Texas, and some of the Badlands of the Dakotas, where environments are so favorable to predators as to make reduction very difficult and costly. Also, in many places coyote control is not a de-
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 281 sirable management practice, as wilderness or recreational lands and regions where livestock is absent and game populations are not depleted by predation. The constant drift of predators from such areas requires maintenance of a “border patrol” type of predator control in order to protect adjoining areas. For this reason stockmen in the so-called “coyote-free” region of Texas gladly contribute cooperative funds to maintain a line of hunters just outside the area although in some cases the herds that are being protected may be many miles away.
The continued vigilance of trappers along the United States-Mexican boundary has kept both wolves and mountain lions from penetrating far into this country, and has also been of value in preventing the spread of rabid animals into the United States from Mexico. Plans for the expansion into Mexico of control operations involving rabid wild animals were discussed by Service officials at the international conference held April 24, at Nogales, Ariz., under the auspices of the Pan American Sanitary Bureau.
The Service cooperated with health authorities, fox hunting clubs, county and State officials in Alabama, California, Georgia, Mississippi, and New York in the control of rabid foxes and coyotes. Service representatives attended a tri-State conference of officials from New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York at New York City, December 15, 1948, to assist those States in planning for suppression of the stubborn rabies epidemic in that general region. A Service hunter was also assigned to demonstrational fox and coyote control for a period of 3 months in the Adirondack Mountains in cooperation with the State of New York.
Shooting coyotes from airplanes gave spectacular and prompt relief to stock raisers and game managers wherever conditions permitted use of planes. A special appropriation by the North Dakota State Legislature financed cooperative plane hunting that accounted for a little over a half of the 1,578 coyotes in that State. The planes were in operation during most of the time that roads were blocked by snow, and their use prevented heavy losses from coyotes. Utah, Wyoming, and Oregon also used planes, but to a reduced extent. Snow-covered country, relatively level and free of brush or trees, is needed for such work, and these States have less terrain adapted to such hunting. In many parts of Alaska, however, the plane is a necessity for both hunting and transportation of the hunters.
Although the general trend of rodent populations remained at low levels this year, there were numerous places throughout the United States where local conditions caused infestations requiring control to prevent damage to crops, forage, orchards, and forest plantations.
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Control of pocket gophers must be maintained annually on irrigation projects in many parts of the West to prevent damage to watercontrol structures and subsequent water losses. As the result of cooperative agreements between the Service and the Elephant Butte and Carlsbad irrigation districts in New Mexico, and the Salt River, San Carlos, and Roosevelt districts in Arizona, great savings were effected this year in priceless water supplies.
Also on a continuing basis is the control of prairie dogs on range lands, and although this species has been brought well under control in past years, there are still scattered areas in Arizona, Colorado, the Dakotas, Montana, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah, and Wyoming that require attention. Compound 1080 and cyanide gas are effective in this type of operation.
Orchard mice continue to be troublesome in Utah, Oregon, and Washington, and in the latter State the Service’s cooperative program to control these pests was more extensive than ever before, with 132,-470 pounds of poison bait being distributed. Mouse control in connection with the airplane reseeding of Douglas fir continued in cooperation with National, State and commercial foresters in the Pacific Northwest where unusually economical and effective methods are being developed. Mole control in Oregon was also continued and expanded somewhat. In sections of the South, cotton rat control resulted in great savings to truck farmers and sugarcane planters.
Jack rabbits are increasing after a long period of low numbers. Arizona was the first to report an upswing in their numbers, 3 years ago. The increase was noted in an area having numerous coyotes and in which no coyote control had been exercised for several years. The most pronounced increases in jack rabbits came this year from northeastern Nevada and western Oklahoma, although in both areas coyote populations are relatively high and in Oklahoma, increasing. Some control of jack rabbits is being done locally in western States in response to requests from cooperators.
Public interest in rat control was appreciably greater throughout the country this year, as a result of the National rat control program carried on last year with emergency food conservation funds. Many cities have continued the work started then, and the consensus of opinion is that rat populations in the United States as a whole are decreasing slightly. In the North Central States, however, there are signs of an upswinging population cycle. New York City has vigorously conducted a rat campaign started at the close of the previous year; and in several States, including Colorado, the Dakotas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, nearly all large towns are continuing effective rat control programs. Sustained interest in rat control has occurred in communities along the lower Columbia River, where the
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Service carried on concentrated rat control with emergency funds following the floods of last year.
The South Atlantic States furnished an outstanding example of the economy of the rat-control program carried on by the Service in cooperation with citizens and local governments. Assistance in the form of rat-proofiing, clean up, and rat-poisoning was given to nearly 110,000 cooperators in 141 counties in Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, North Carolina, and South Carolina at an average cost of only $1.22 for each premise or property treated.
ADMINISTRATION OF ALASKA FISHERIES
Revised regulations for the protection of the commercial fisheries of the Territory were issued by the Secretary of the Interior on January 24 for the 1948 season. Major changes in these regulations over the preceding year included a uniform opening date for pink salmon fishing in all districts of southeastern Alaska, about 2 weeks later than in 1947, with somewhat later closing dates.
Fishery patrol facilities during the 1948 season included 9 seagoing patrol vessels, 16 speedboats and numerous small craft, and 8 airplanes. Twelve permanent agents supervised the fishery management work, assisted by fishery biologists, game management agents, and seasonal personnel.
A total of 196 persons and concerns was apprehended and arraigned for violations of the Alaska fishery laws and regulations in 1948. Fines totaling $33,955 were assessed and jail sentences totaling 900 days were imposed, of which 480 were suspended. Proceeds from the sales of confiscated fish amounted to $9,656.43.
Products of the fishing industry in Alaska in 1948 totaled 306,162,-827 pounds, valued at $116,948,814. Salmon products represented 69 percent in volume and 87 percent in value of the total fisheries output in 1948. Canned salmon comprised 91 percent of the volume of all salmon products, and totaled 4,014,572 cases or 192,699,456 pounds, valued at $96,522,290. This is a decrease from 1947 of 7 percent in quantity and an increase of 9 percent in value.
Thirty-two herring plants were operated in Alaska in 1948 as compared with 24 in 1947. Of these, 15 were in southeastern Alaska and 17 were in central Alaska. The products of the industry totaled 58,-388,893 pounds valued at $5,694,889. This was a decrease of 9 percent in volume and 13 percent in value from the preceding year. Landings of halibut from the Alaska fleet totaled 26,329,997 pounds, valued at $4,788,524, as compared with 25,583,928 pounds, valued at $5,116,440 in 1947.
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Shellfish operators in 1948 produced 1,811,379 pounds of shellfish products valued at $2,004,297, as compared with 1,158,680 pounds, valued at $1,074,667 in 1947.
A total of 70,142 fur-seal skins was taken on the Pribilof Islands in 1948, compared with 61,447 in 1947. The annual census of the herd indicated its size to be 3,837,131 animals. The byproducts plant operated in connection with the fur-seal industry produced 47,711 gallons of seal oil, and 341 tons of meal which were sold for the account of the Government for the total gross amount of $79,480. During the winter of 1947-48 a total of 1,093 blue and white fox pelts was taken on the Pribiliof Islands as compared with 1,040 during the preceding winter. This operation is incidental to sealing activities.
During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1949, two public auctions of fur-seal skins were held at St. Louis, Mo. A total of 22,989 skins was offered on September 27, 1948, and sold for a gross amount of $1,-363,509.50. Of these skins 22,964 were dressed, dyed, and finished in three shades, “Matara,” “Safari,” and the traditional black. Thirteen skins were sold unhaired and dressed, and 12 were sold raw. On April 11,1949, there were offered and sold 27,861 dressed, dyed, and finished skins, the gross sales price being $1,659,165.00. In addition, there was sold during the year at private sales for promotional purposes a total of 129 dressed, dyed, and finished fur-seal skins for a gross sum of $8,797.80. Total gross sales of seal skins during the year amounted to $3,031,472.30. During the year also, 974 fox skins from the Pribilof Islands were sold for a total of $4,191.
ADMINISTRATION OF FEDERAL STATUTES FOR PROTECTION OF WILDLIFE
The eight principal statutes administered by the Service for the protection of wildlife are the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Lacey Act, Migratory Bird Conservation Act, Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act, law protecting wildlife and property on Federal refuges, Black Bass law, Bald Eagle Act, and the Alaska Game law. These laws and the regulations thereunder are enforced in the United States by 6 regional supervisors of law enforcement and 73 United States game management agents.
In addition to the eight wildlife statutes, the Service enforces the laws and regulations for the protection of the commercial fisheries in Alaska, the Northern Pacific Halibut Fishery Act, and the Sockeye Salmon Fisheries Act.
There is still need for enlarging the number of personnel engaged in law enforcement operations. The present force is insufficient to cope adequately with enforcement and depredation problems. The
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staff of law enforcement agents is, however, rendering excellent service and is furthering cooperative relationships with State game departments in connection with State game and fish law offenses. Details of activities are given in tables 4 and 5.
A Fairchild four-place aircraft donated to the Fish and Wildlife Service by William C. Sweet of Attleboro, Mass., for use by game-law enforcement personnel has been extremely helpful in the patrol of wildfowl concentration areas.
Table 4.—Summary of penalties imposed during the year for violations of wildlife conservation laws, 1949-50
Act
Migratory Bird Treaty Act________________________________________
Migratory Bird Conservation Act__________________________________
Migratory Bird Hunting Stamp Act_________________________________
Wildlife Refuge Trespass Act_____________________________________
Lacey Act_____,__________________________________________________
State prosecution from Lacey Act investigations__________________
State laws, cooperative prosecutions_____________________________
Total______________________________________________________
Convictions Fines and costs Jail sentences
Number 619 28 29 2 3 22 2,469 Dollars 31,374. 22 1, 000. 00 616. 00 400. 00 665. 00 1, 287. 00 113, 468. 03 Days 2,108 180
305
3,172 148,810.25 2,593
Table 5.—Cases of violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act disposed of during the year, and cases still pending on June 30, 19^9
Disposition
Number
Pending
Number
Conviction_____________________________
Dismissal______________________________
Nol pros_______________________________
Closed without prosecution_____________
Found not guilty, jury trial___________
Closed, by death_______________________
No true bill___________________________
Total____________________________
619
19
28
24
34
1
1
From preceding year__________________
New cases____________________________
Total___________________________
Disposed of during year______________
Pending at end of year_______________
210
793
1, 003
726
277
Operations in California in conjunction with State officers to apprehend persons suspected of killing or possessing waterfowl for commercial purposes proved fruitful. Three individuals were taken into custody with over 1,000 dead birds in possession. On arraignment in Federal court, one defendant was fined $2,500 and sentenced to 30 months in jail, another $1,500 with 1 year in jail, the third was fined $1,800 and placed on probation for 5 years. Another hunter in California, who pleaded guilty to possessing ducks in closed season, was fined $500. Five other cases, where the offenses related to purchasing, offering to purchase, or illegal possession of ducks, were closed by fines of from $300 to $500 each. In addition, 86 persons charged with possessing waterfowl in excess of legal limits and prosecuted in State courts in California, were either fined or forfeited bonds aggregating $10,995. Another heavy fine was imposed in Federal court at Tallahassee, Fla., against a defendant charged with hunting and killing
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ducks during the closed season. He was fined $1,000 and also placed on 5 years’ probation.
Five cases for violation of the Northern Pacific Halibut Act were disposed of before a United States Commissioner in Alaska, fines ranging from $50 to $150 each and aggregating $550. One case was disposed of in a Washington State court by a fine of $1,000. Joint patrol incident to enforcement of the Sockeye Salmon Fisheries Act was maintained by agents in cooperation with personnel of the Washington State Fisheries Department, resulting in several prosecutions in which fines were imposed.
Of the 107 prosecutions for violations of the Alaska Game Law, 103 cases were terminated by convictions, and 4 resulted in acquittal of the defendants. Fines totaled $12,725, of which $390 was suspended. Jail sentences of 1,635 days were imposed, of which 1,470 were suspended. Many carcasses of moose, caribou, deer, and game birds were delivered to charitable institutions for use as food. Other seizures included 43 rifles, 2 pistols, 1 outboard motor, and the skins of 1 sea otter, 21 marten, 15 mink, 90 beaver, and 8 bear.
Sixteen persons were convicted for violating the Northern Pacific Fishery Act and 1 defendant was acquitted. Fines totaled $4,750 plus seizure of halibut valued at $1,981.21.
By amendment to section 241 of the Lacey Act, the issuance of permits for the entry of foreign live wild animals and birds was transferred from the Fish and Wildlife Service to the Treasury Department’s Bureau of Customs. However, migratory birds for scientific or propagating purposes are subject to regulations issued under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
The following migratory bird permits were issued during the year: To collect for scientific purposes, 323 (287 last year) ; for propagating purposes, 346 (293 last year) ; to capture for propagation, 24 (21 last year) ; to band birds, 124 (54 last year) ; to take birds or game in Alaska, 71. A total of 42,551 waterfowl was reared under propagating permits, a decrease of 6,659 over last year. The number sold for food was 9,218; for propagating purposes 8,439; and 9,044 were liberated.
At the end of the fiscal year permits outstanding were as follows: Propagating, 3,449; scientific collecting, 2,164; scientific possession, 592; special possession, 3,545; bird banding, 2,726.
COOPERATION WITH AMERICAN REPUBLICS
The Interdepartmental Committee on Scientific and Cultural Cooperation was created by the President in May 1938 to facilitate the solution of problems of common interest to the peoples of the Ameri
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can Republics. The Congress, through enactments in 1939, authorized the conduct of cooperative programs and the exchange of technical specialists. The United States Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948 extended the authorization to almost all nations of the world, but no funds have been appropriated to implement the extension. The program of scientific and cultural cooperation has been highly successful in bringing about an exchange of information and techniques, and increasing understanding among peoples of the Western Hemisphere.
President Truman, in his inaugural address of January 20, 1949, stated that the United States should make available American scientific and technical knowledge to underdeveloped areas of the world and should encourage capital investment in those areas to help achieve peace, plenty, and freedom. Implementation of the President’s Point Four program is still in the formative stage, but it is expected that a greatly expanded program of cooperation will emerge in the near future.
The fishery mission to Mexico, established in 1942, was extended for a 2-year period in 1948. The most significant development of the past year was the signing of a fishery treaty by Mexico and the United States. The treaty, signed at Mexico City on January 25, 1949, provides for the scientific investigation of tuna, as related in greater detail later in this report. The mission was instrumental in assembling the scientific and technical information essential to successful negotiation of the treaty.
Early in August 1947, negotiations were completed between the Governments of Venezuela and the United States, for assignment of a fishery biologist to conduct marine investigations, with special attention to the biology of sardines in the Gulf of Cariaco. Field work of the mission began in February 1948, and continued for a year.
A marine fishery laboratory was established at Caiguire, on the Gulf of Cariaco, and a 65-foot vessel assigned to the project. Statistical and biological studies of the sardines of the Gulf of Cariaco showed that the population was a migratory one, and that the fluctuations in abundance, therefore, were not subject to full control by restrictive measures applied in the Gulf of Cariaco. A series of experiments was carried out in Lake Marcaibo to estimate probable damage to fisheries as a result of proposed underwater seismographic exploration explosions. Management and conservation measures respecting pearl oysters and “Pepitonas” (the cockle, Area occidentalism were prepared for the Ministry of Agriculture.
In May 1949, at the request of the Peruvian Government, the Service assigned an aquatic biologist for a period of 2 months to assist that Government in planning a wholesale fish terminal and a tech
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nological and biological laboratory, in collecting biological and production statistics, and compiling of laws and regulations relating to fish and game.
The ornithological survey of Cuba, inaugurated in 1948 at the invitation of that Republic, was resumed in January 1949. Three ornithologists of the Service, cooperating with a Cuban naturalist, devoted 2 months to a study of the important waterfowl concentration areas, methods of hunting, and other factors that affect the North American ducks and other water birds which go to that country for the winter season. One member of the party also spent 3 weeks making similar surveys in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, also at the invitation of those countries.
Although a large segment of the waterfowl population of the Atlantic Flyway spends the winter season in the West Indies, the investigators found that the total hunting kill in that area was small. Natural food supplies are generally ample, but variable according to the salinity of the waters. Enforcement of the game laws in all three of the countries visited is vested in the military establishments. Data collected during the two years have made an important contribution to our knowledge of the kinds and abundance of the birds and of the conditions under which they live in Cuba, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic.
The Fish and Wildlife Service continued its program of training qualified students of other American Republics in several phases of biological science and management in relation to the conservation of fish and wildlife resources. Twenty-four students have received training since the program started in 1942.
The Department of State continued its program of awarding travel grants to scientific and cultural specialists. Awards may be made to nationals of American Republics for travel in the United States, or to citizens of the United States for travel in the American Republics. Most of the grants are made to foreigners. During fiscal year 1949 three awards were made, in cooperation with the Fish and Wildlife Service, to persons interested in fisheries or in general conservation of renewable natural resources.
REHABILITATION OF PHILIPPINE FISHERIES
The objectives of the Philippine Fishery Program, together with information on the means employed to attain them, have been presented in detail in earlier reports. The present report is limited to a record of progress made in realization of the objectives.
The Fish and Wildlife Service is authorized to train in the United States not more than 125 Filipinos in phases of fishery industry and
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289
science. At the end of fiscal year 1949, 101 persons had entered the 1-year training period, and it is expected that the entire program will have been completed by September 1950. This growing body of trained technicians gives a firm basis for optimism with regard to the orderly development of the fishing industry in the Philippines. Returning trainees have been absorbed quickly by industry or by the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries.
As it has been demonstrated experimentally and by exploratory fishing projects that the fisheries of inshore waters near Manila cannot produce supplies of edible fish adequate for the needs of the people, due largely to overfishing, particularly with explosives, there is need for more intensive use of the more distant inshore areas and of the offshore waters. Progress has been made in increasing the use of otter trawlers, and experiments with gear are continuing in the hope of discovering improved methods and more ample sources of bait fishes.
Studies have been made of marketing conditions in several provinces, with special reference to the kinds and abundance of fishes, transportation and preservation facilities, prices, and other factors which bear upon domestic consumption of the fresh products.
Oceanographic investigations have yielded a large volume of data on physical, chemical, and biological conditions which determine the basic productivity of the sea. Hydrographic conditions in the vicinity of the Islands are extremely complex, and the short-term studies under the program are not sufficient to solve all of the problems encounteied. These studies will serve as a point of departure for future investigations to be conducted by the Philippine Bureau of Fisheries as part of its continuing research program.
Investigations of the rearing of bangos in ponds were hampered by destructive typhoons in 1947, but the facilities have been replaced, and increased in some areas. Opportunity exists for great expansion of production of fishes in ponds and the outlook is encouraging for this important source of low-cost protein food.
WHALING
In the summer of 1948, a biologist was assigned to the single United States whaling station, located in California, to obtain biological and statistical data on the whales captured and processed, and to make observations on the abundance and distribution of whale populations. Information of this kind is essential as a basis for international regulations designed to conserve and rehabilitate the depleted whale populations.
The biologist devoted 2 weeks to observations of whaling activities in the area of Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada. Also,
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in response to the request of local fishing interests in Maine, the biologist made a preliminary survey of whale populations in that area. He found significant numbers of whales in the general area of northeastern Maine and the Bay of Funcly, and it is probable that the population is sufficiently large to support a shore-whaling station serviced by two killer boats.
Owing to the fact that the whaling station in California did not operate in the summer of 1949, the biologist devoted the usual field period to bibliographic and statistical research in Washington.
The International Agreement for the Regulation of Whaling signed at Washington, December 2, 1946, entered into force on November 10, 1948. The first meeting of the International Whaling Commission, established under the authority of that convention, was held at London from May 30 to June 7, 1949. The following governments who have ratified or adhered to the 1946 Convention were represented by commissioners : Australia, Canada, France, Iceland, the Netherlands, Norway, South Africa, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States of America, and U. S. S. R. The following governments and organizations were represented by observers: Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Denmark, New Zealand, FAO, and SCAP.
Much of the time of the Commission was spent in organizational matters, including the drafting of rules of procedure. Amendments were made to the international whaling regulations contained in the schedule annexed to the 1946 Convention. The pelagic whaling season for the Antarctic was altered from December 15 to April 1, and effective for the 1949-50 season will become December 22 to April 7. The total ban on the taking of humpback whales south of 40° south latitude was relaxed to the extent that in each of the whaling seasons 1949-50 and 1950-51 a maximum of 1,250 humpback whales may be taken in that area. Paragraph 10 of the schedule dealing with the conditions for the operation of land stations and whale catchers attached thereto was revised in the interest of clarity. Likewise, paragraph 17 of the schedule, which specified conditions under which factory ships may operate solely within certain territorial waters, was revised in the interest of clarity. The Commission will hold its next meeting at Oslo, Norway, beginning July 15, 1950.
INTERNATIONAL FISHERY PROBLEMS
The success, during the past 25 years, of international agreements providing for the investigation and management of fishery resources of the high seas of interest to more than one nation has led to the application of the international agreement approach to other fishery problems during the current year. The Fish and Wildlife Service
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has cooperated actively with the Department of State in the preparatory work and in the actual negotiations.
The Internationa] Convention for the Northwest Atlantic Fisheries was concluded on February 8, 1949, by the United States, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Newfoundland, Norway, Portugal, Spain, and the United Kingdom. The principal feature of the agreement is the provision for the establishment of an international commission composed of not more than three commissioners representing each signatory government. The commission shall have the power of conducting investigations, which shall be carried out primarily by fishery research agencies of the contracting governments working on a cooperative basis, and of recommending regulations for the conservation of the fisheries which are to be implemented by each government in respect to its own nationals and vessels. Through the medium of this international body it will be possible to keep under continuous biological and statistical review the fisheries of the Northwest Atlantic. When necessary, regulations can be adopted in the interest of conservation that will apply to all vessels operating in the area. Because the Northwest Atlantic fisheries are international, regulation, although badly needed for certain species, has been considered impractical because the fishermen of no one nation would agree to the imposition of regulations, as fishermen operating on the same grounds were not subject to the same regulations.
The Convention between the United States and Mexico for the establishment of an International Commission for the Scientific Investigation of Tuna was signed at Mexico City January 25, 1949. While the agreement provides only for investigations, the negotiators felt that since the tuna fisheries have not previously been studied exhaustively considerable knowledge should be accumulated on an international basis before any international device for regulation is established.
A convention between the United States and Costa Rica for the establishment of an Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission was signed at Washington on May 31, 1949. The agreement is open to adherence by other interested governments. It is similar in purpose and objectives to the agreement between the United States and Mexico.
On November 9, 1948, the agreement concluded at Baguio, Philippines, February 26, 1948, for the establishment of an Indo-Pacific Fisheries Council became effective by reason of its approval by five of the contracting governments. The first meeting was held at Singapore, Straits Settlements, March 24-31, 1949, and was attended by delegates from Australia, Ceylon, China, France, India, the Netherlands, Philippines, the United Kingdom, and the United States of America, and by observers from Korea, SCAP, South Pacific Commis
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sion, and UNESCO. The secretariat, pursuant to the agreement, was provided by FAO.
At its final session the council referred to the standing committees problems to be investigated and reported on at the 1950 meeting, including: (1) collaboration of member governments in a study of the tuna, herring-like, and mackerel-like fisheries; (2) collaboration in fish culture of fresh-water and salt-water species; (3) cooperation in the compilation of descriptive catalogues of indigenous fishing gear and fish processing methods. The next meeting of the council is tentatively scheduled to be held in Australia during March 1950.
The National Park Service
Newton B. Drury, Director
q q VT ATURAL beauty is the ultimate spiritual appeal of the uni-
•1AI verse or of the God of Nature, to their nursling man * * *. But science and machinery have now armed him with weapons that will be his own making or undoing, as he chooses to use them; at present he is destroying natural beauty apace in the ordinary course of business and economy. Therefore, unless he now will be at pains to make rules for the preservation of natural beauty, unless he consciously protects it at the partial expense of some of his greedy activities, he will cut off his own spiritual supplies, and leave his descendants a helpless prey forever to the base materialism of mean and vulgar sights.”
These lines, written by G. M. Trevelyan, are found in a document entitled “Britain’s Heritage: A Record of the National Trust,” published in London in 1947. Though written specifically of Great Britain, their basic truth is of universal application. Their warning surely deserves the consideration of thoughtful Americans, particularly now, when physical changes in the outward look of our country are being made or are planned on a scale—and at a cost—hardly dreamed of a decade ago. Certainly they warn us of our responsibility as civilized human beings, capable of appraising and weighing opposed values, to examine all proposals to effect extensive modification of the American landscape, to harness our waters, to cut down our forests, to rob our wildlife of suitable habitat and to invade our wildernesses; to examine the issues involved, so that we may make certain beyond the possibility of mistake, before it is too late, that the real gains (as distinguished from limited and temporary economic advantage) are more than sufficient to balance the losses.
Those words from across the Atlantic are such as to inspire us to cherish and protect the national parks. They are of a sort to strengthen the growing conviction in America that there are certain 293
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values in our native landscape that ought to be sustained against destruction or impairment; that, though their worth cannot be expressed in money terms, they are essential to our “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”: that this Nation of ours is not so rich it can afford to lose them; that it is still rich enough to afford to preserve them.
Glacier National Park saved from disfigurement.—During a year marked by many advances in the several fields of National Park Service activity, perhaps the most notable was the decision of the Department of the Army to eliminate the Glacier View Dam project from its program of development in the Columbia River Basin. This project, which would have involved the destruction of nearly 20,000 acres of exceptionally important wilderness along the North Fork of the Flathead River, in Glacier National Park, had been opposed unanimously by conservation groups throughout the Nation.
Diversion of Colorado River from Grand Canyon averted.—No less gratifying was the Department’s decision to eliminate the Kaibab Tunnel project from the comprehensive scheme being developed for the Colorado River. This project was unique in that, though no part of it would have been constructed in Grand Canyon National Park, it would have profoundly affected the most important single element in the Grand Canyon picture—the river which has been the principal agent in carving the canyon through the slowly uplifting rock. The project contemplated the construction of a dam in Marble Canyon, upstream from the park, and diversion of the flow of the river through a long tunnel under the Kaibab Plateau to a powerhouse on Kanab Creek. This would have meant that the only appreciable flow through the Grand Canyon would have been from the Little Colorado River which usually, during the summer months, has no above-ground flow at all.
Ultimate upstream developments on the Colorado are certain to modify the flow of the river through the Canyon in some degree. The comprehensive development of the river for power and irrigation is looked upon as too important to the country as a whole to justify any effort to block it. However, with the tunnel project eliminated, the whole volume of the river will flow through the Grand Canyon, as it has done for millions of years.
Rocky Mountain spared transmission line.—The disfigurement of a tower transmission line across Rocky Mountain National Park was prevented when the Commissioner of Reclamation decided to transmit power for the operation of the Granby pumping plant on the Colorado-Big Thompson project by cable which will be strung through the Alva B. Adams irrigation tunnel, under the Continental Divide.
Mammoth Cave threatened by dam.—A continuing threat is that of
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the Mining City Dam project of the Corps of Engineers, a part of the Corps’ comprehensive plan for flood control and power development of the Ohio River and its tributaries.
House bill 5472, which would authorize the expenditure of $75,-000,000 on previously approved projects in this program, was under consideration before the House Public Works Committee at the end of the fiscal year. The Mining City project was authorized in 1938, but, because of the fact that it would cause additional flooding of the Echo River Channel in Mammoth Cave National Park and would aggravate the problem of silt deposition there, the Service feels obliged to oppose its construction.
Impartial appraisal of projects needed.—Of significance in connection with threats such as these is the recommendation of the Hoover Committee that Federal water-impoundment projects be subject to an impartial board of review, so that each project may be fully justified economically and socially and that there may be effective coordination from the inception of such projects. The National Park Service, administering areas which it is obliged to retain unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations, is constantly faced by threats to the integrity of many areas, such as those mentioned above. It is justified, therefore, in seeking assurance that, if any construction project is to invade an area in the National Park System, it shall be undertaken only “on the basis of need so pressing that the economic stability of the country, or its existence, would be endangered unless such use were permitted,” to quote Secretary Krug’s forthright statement on protection of the parks and monuments. Such an issue needs to be decided by an impartial tribunal.
Landmarks of progress.—Establishment of the San Juan National Historic Site to embrace the ancient fortifications of the Puerto Rican capital was a noteworthy event of the past year. Other events deserving special mention include the announcement of the Department’s revised concessions policy; the completion of modern museums at Manassas National Battlefield Park and Guilford Courthouse National Military Park; completion of the Jackson wing of the Scotts Bluff National Monument Museum, and continuing progress in museum planning and development, with numerous donations of funds and exhibits; the gift of land for the DeSoto National Memorial in Florida; two large land purchases in Everglades National Park, and acquisition of important properties in several areas of the National Park System; progress in the rehabilitation of concession facilities and some—though still far from adequate—additions; the renewal, for 20 years, of the concessions contract with the Utah Parks Co.; a successful National Park Service conference at Grand Canyon National Park; effective participation in winter storm relief activities
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by Service personnel and equipment; and continued devoted performance of duty by Service personnel in field and central offices.
The National Park Service is still severely handicapped by serious inadequacies of personnel throughout the organization and of funds for greatly needed developments of all sorts. Three disastrous forest fires highlighted the need of modernized communications throughout the system. Though the Interior Appropriation Act had not been passed at the end of the year, there were many reasons to feel that there would be better provision for the Service during the 1950 fiscal year.
The Department's Centennial.—Although the National Park Service is one of the younger bureaus of the Department of the Interior, two of the areas which it administers—Yellowstone and Hot Springs National Parks—represent probably the earliest examples of the allocation of land to conservation-and-use under the Department’s control. Attainment of the Department’s one hundredth birthday on March 3 gave the Service an opportunity to participate with all other bureaus and offices of the Department in a series of ceremonies which must surely have made many Americans more keenly aware of the existence of the Department and the importance and scope of its work, particularly in the conservation field. All of the many field offices of the Service have been encouraged and urged to seize every occasion to call attention to the anniversary and to develop better public understanding of the conservation principles of which Interior is the exemplar.
Jackson Hole and Olympic.—Though the controversy over Jackson Hole National Monument cannot be said to be closed, time appears to be working definitely in the monument’s favor. The points of difference seem now virtually to have been narrowed down to the problem of control of the Jackson Hole elk herd.
A mid-April meeting of National Park Service and Wyoming representatives resulted in no unanimous conclusions and no commitments, but did serve to foster in each of the participants a better understanding of the viewpoints and positions of the others. The Service maintains that the necessary herd reduction can be effected by hunting outside the monument, primarily through greater flexibility in determining hunting seasons, because the greater portion of the herd is not protected by the monument for any significant length of time. The Wyoming Fish and Game Commission believes otherwise. All at the conference, however, appeared agreed that further cooperative study of the elk problem was needed.
The threat of a boundary retraction at Olympic National Park remains. However, the only measures relating to boundary adjustments introduced in Congress during the 1949 regular session were Senate and House concurrent resolutions, similar to those of last
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Twelve years of regionalization.—August 1949 will mark the completion of 12 years of experience with regionalization of the activities of the Service. The four regional offices—in Richmond, Va.; Omaha, Nebr.; Santa Fe, N. Mex.; and San Francisco, Calif.—reflect, and are extensions of, the Washington office. Through them it is possible to bring the point of decision on many administrative matters closer to the field areas which they serve, and to provide needed professional services for which it would be impractical and expensive to staff the individual areas, and which could be furnished from the Washington office only at a tremendous cost in travel. In a few highly specialized professional fields, it is still necessary to provide direct service from Washington.
The necessity of regionalization resulted from the growth of the National Park System from a predominantly western institution to one which is actually Nation-wide in extent. Twelve years of it, under regional directors of competence and possessed of varied experience within the Service, has amply demonstrated its value both to the field areas, small and large, in the rendering of service, and to the Washington office, in relieving it of concern with a large amount of detail.
CONCESSIONS IN THE PARKS
The earliest concession operations in any national park were those in Yellowstone, established in the 1880’s, and designed to meet the needs of a handful of travelers who reached the place with difficulty and who demanded none of the luxuries that the modern traveler counts as necessities. Since that time, with vast increases in quantity of travel and rapidity of movement, provision for the public has of necessity undergone an evolution designed to keep abreast of public demand and need. This evolution has been subject to definite limitations.
Chief among these has been that the Congress has never been disposed to appropriate funds to provide the basic “plant” of hotels, lodges, stores, and eating places. Thus, though a small fraction of the facilities of this sort now in the parks are, for one reason or another, Government-owned, it has been necessary to rely on private capital to make the necessary investment in plant; and this capital has been enlisted, during decades of changing conditions, with the primary object of meeting a public need on the best terms possible from the public standpoint.
Because the evolutionary process has not been based upon or resulted in a uniform policy; because of some inequities, from the
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standpoint of both the public and the concessioners; and because facilities had lagged behind need in the face of a phenomenal increase in visitors, the Director of the National Park Service, soon after the war ended, suggested that the situation be appraised, and recommendations formulated, by a qualified group of persons not connected with the Government. The basic questions upon which their advice was to be sought seemed to be these:
Should the Government now undertake to provide the basic plant, to be operated, as now and in the past, by individuals or corporations under contract?
If, though that were considered desirable, the Congress were not disposed to provide funds for such an investment, under what conditions can private capital be induced not only to continue operations but also to provide much-needed expansion ? The question recognized that these conditions must be fair to the public, to the government which represents the public, and to the concessioners. In posing these basic questions, there was complete awareness that, in many of the parks, the pioneering days and the pioneering risks were largely past; that the parks had come of age and that providing for the public in them was “big business.”
The Concessions Advisory Group, whose recommendations were briefly summarized in last year’s report, attempted to provide the answers to these questions, on the basis of exhaustive study and analysis of every phase of the concessions problem. Secretary Krug’s determination of policies, announced early in November, is directed primarily at the attainment of uniformity, the elimination of inequities, the encouragement of investment in additional facilities to the extent consistent with the public interest, and clear-cut definition of contractual obligations on the part of both Government and concessioner. Major points of clarification or of differences from previous policy relate to (1) control of the concessioner’s rate of return on investment through the regulation of rates charged the public, (2) the method of levying franchise fees, (3) the procedure for negotiating and awarding new contracts covering concessions for which contracts have expired, (4) definition of the concessioner’s equity in basic concession facilities, (5) a new definition of investment, (6) the inclusion in the contract of an option for Government purchase, and (7) the suggestion for the establishment of a Government-owned corporation to replace existing non-profit-sharing operating corporations.
Expansion and rehabilitation of public accommodations.—The rehabilitation of concessioners’ plants to enable them to provide better service to the public has necessarily taken precedence over sorely needed expansion of accommodations. However, in a few places additional accommodations have been provided or are in prospect.
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The Lake Hotel, closed for a number of years, is being completely rehabilitated and modernized. It will add 100 rooms, many of them with bath, to Yellowstone’s present inadequate supply, together with dining room and kitchen facilities. Some 50 new cabins there, begun before the war, are now awaiting only the completion of new water and sewer connections. An automatic sprinkler system is being installed in the hotel. When it is completed, the Yellowstone Park Co. will have supplied this type of protection to all guest quarters more than two stories in height.
At Shenandoah National Park, the Virginia Sky-Line Co. completed an additional 10-room guest building at Big Meadows, and began building a new dining room and kitchen at Skyland, to replace one destroyed by fire. On the Blue Ridge Parkway a new gasoline station and coffee shop were put into operation at Bluff and a 24-unit lodging structure was nearing completion.
Two new cabins were begun at Bear Lake Lodge in Rocky Mountain National Park. At Yosemite National Park, additional tent and platform accommodations have been provided at Yosemite Lodge, a new store building and bathhouse have been completed at Camp 16, and a new 20-room employee dormitory is being constructed in the New Village area. At Zion and Bryce Canyon National Parks, bathrooms have been added to 40 standard cabins. The Utah Parks Co. has also done much other modernization and has provided new transportation equipment.
Practically all this rehabilitation and expansion has been accomplished by plowing back depreciation funds and profits into the business. This does not provide all the expansion that is needed, though more could be provided in this way but for the lack of appropriated Government funds to extend utility services to the expansion units planned by the concessioners.
Capital for expansion unobtainable.—Except for the limited amount which can be used from profits or depreciation reserve, funds for expanded facilities can be provided only in two ways: (1) By obtaining new private capital or (2) by the appropriation of Federal funds for the purpose. Concessioners have found it virtually impossible to obtain new capital at this time for expansion. Owners of risk capital display little interest in the investment prospects offered by national park concessions, where the seasons are short, the business subject to the vagaries of tourist travel, and the buildings must be built on Federal land under a contract term limited by law to 20 years, without what investors consider a satisfactory means of liquidating the investment at the end of the contract period. Furthermore, and even more discouraging to investors, building costs continue
300 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR so high that prevailing rates for rooms and services will not permit enough profit for the investors to consider it worth the risk.
A new contract has been offered concessioners which offers inducements and safeguards to investment to the extent which it is felt that the Government can go, with the hope that new capital would be interested in investing in new facilities. Even that as yet has not attracted capital, however.
This situation has been explained to the House Committee on Public Lands, with the suggestion that, if the public is to receive the services enjoyed in the past, apparently the only way in which new facilities can be financed at many areas, is by providing Government funds for the purpose, with private individuals or corporations as operators under concession contracts. It has been further suggested to the committee that provision be made for the gradual purchase of the present concessioners’ operating plants by the Government. Regardless of the method of expansion of accommodations, whether by public or private funds, adequate appropriations to build utilities, such as water, sewer, and telephone services, and roads to serve them are greatly needed. This has been recognized as the role of the Government, but needs caused by rapidly increasing travel have not been met.
Adjustment of rates.—Many reductions in rates to the public have been made with the object of limiting concessioner profit to a 6 percent average return on investment, as provided in the new concession policy. A few increases also were necessary. Reductions in the prices of some articles, notably souvenirs, resulted generally in increased sales volume with no decrease in profit and, in one case, in a noticeable increase.
Unaudited reports continue to increase.—Because of an insufficient staff, the number of unaudited annual reports increased during the year from 638 to 671. This is an unsatisfactory situation to which the Service has repeatedly drawn attention in making its request for appropriations. Regional auditors have been assigned to each of the four regional offices, but they have been forced to spend much of their time on urgent concession administrative matters. If the provision in the pending Interior Department Appropriation Act for four regional chiefs of concessions is approved, the auditors will be released for full-time audit work. A Senate amendment adds $100,000 for a temporary auditing staff to work on back audits, but a larger permanent staff is badly needed. This work must be brought up to date, and kept current thereafter.
The Loeffler contract.—Considerable public attention and much critical newspaper comment has focused on the contract under which the S. G. Loeffler Co. operates the public golf courses in the District
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of Columbia on National Capital Parks lands. This was the subject of hearings before a subcommittee of the House Committee on Public Lands on March 29, May 2, and June 8 and 9.
Announcement that the expiring 5-year contract for operation of the golf courses was to be renewed by the Department in order to permit the concessioner to recover his considerable investment of earnings in facilities, brought a protest from the District of Columbia Recreation Board. Discussions with the Board 5 years previously, looking to the possibility of their operating the courses, had been without result, because of their refusal to accept the Department’s rules and regulations. Following audits of the Loeffler Co.’s books by both the Service and, later, at the request of the subcommittee, by personnel from the General Accounting Office and discussion of many elements of the operation in subcommittee hearings, negotiations are again under way for a transfer of responsibility for the golf course operations to the Recreation Board.
Negotiation of new contracts difficult.—A new contract, for the operation of concessions at Zion, Bryce Canyon, and Grand Canyon (North Rim) National Parks, has been made with the Utah Parks Co. for a term of 20 years which began on January 1. The company has agreed to expand accommodations as they may be required.
In August, the Department released a list of 19 contracts which had expired or would expire by December 31, 1949, and invited proposals for taking over and operating the concessions. The response was slight and mostly by persons with little capital to invest. Where no other proposals have been received, negotiations are under way with old concessioners who have given satisfactory service. The inability of concessioners to finance needed expansion is the major difficulty in current negotiations.
At Lassen Volcanic National Park, the Lassen National Park Co., which has accepted an extension of its contract to May 1, 1950, has advised that it cannot enter into a new contract, due to inability to finance new developments. Consequently, a new concessioner is being sought who will be able to furnish the service required.
Negotiations are under way for the studio concession of Haynes, Inc., and the Hamilton bathhouse concession at Yellowstone, the Glacier Park Transport Co. at Glacier, and the Mountain Observatory and Lamar Bath House at Hot Springs.
No action has been taken by the Congress on legislation which would authorize Government purchase of the assets of the Rainier National Park Co. The endeavor to interest others in buying these facilities and providing additional accommodation has been unsuccessful. However, service has been continued by the company, by an extension of its contract to December 21, 1949.
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Such further action as may be possible will be taken on other expiring contracts before the end of the calendar year. The smaller concessions which require little capital investment will be covered in the future by business concession permits, rather than contracts.
Concession labor regulations changed.—New regulations governing the conditions of employment for concessioners employees, issued by Secretary Krug to become effective January 1, 1949, changed previous regulations to provide (1) a minimum wage of 40 cents an hour, (2) time-and-a-half pay for all time over 40 hours a week, instead of time-and-a-quarter for all over 48 hours a week, (3) application of State labor law standards wherever they are higher than those of the Department, and (4) elimination of regional wage boards.
Following hearings, the new regulations were modified to provide (1) time-and-a-quarter pay for work in excess of 48 hours during 1949, (2) time-and-a-half for over 44 hours per week during 1950 and 1951, and (3) time-and-a-half for over 40 hours per week beginning January 1, 1952.
DEVELOPMENT PROGRESS LIMITED
For the 1949 fiscal year, the National Park Service received appropriations of $1,652,350 for physical improvements, $3,110,000 for, roads and trails, and a contract authorization for parkways amounting to $2,680,000. Of the first sum, $115,000 was allotted for rehabilitation of structures and utilities that had fallen into disrepair during the war; of the second, $2,500,000 was allocated to maintenance of roads and trails. Most of the remaining funds are being used to further the progress of projects started but not completed prior to the war.
The backlog of needed physical improvement projects throughout the National Park System has pyramided to an estimated cost of $140,000,000, of roads and trails projects to $175,000,000, and of authorized parkways to $181,000,000. Thus the estimated present needs for development come to a total of $496,000,000.
Though handicapped by the necessity of spreading 1949 funds for physical improvements over a large number of areas and, consequently, by inability in many cases to contract for whole projects at one time—a costly handicap—or even to interest contractors because of the smallness of individual projects, the year has brought a few significant and encouraging advances. The largest single project under way is that at the Statue of Liberty National Monument, for which $500,000 was earmarked by Congress. The improvements at this area are well started. Five construction contracts have been completed or are in progress. These involved grading, building obliteration, installation of a heating system in the statue, storm drainage,
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and fabrication of interpretive devices. The present program will be augmented by the allotment of additional funds in 1950 primarily for work at the west landing and the turning basin. With substantial completion of all these, the appearance of the monument—so long and regrettably an eyesore—will be greatly improved.
Field studies, surveys, and plans have been in progress throughout the year for projects which will be programmed for construction in the fiscal year 1950 and later. Meantime, most of the undesignated balance of physical improvement funds has had to be used for rehabilitation of existing facilities elsewhere in the system. These funds have been used on a wide range of small but greatly needed projects such as campground, picnic, and beach developments or improvements ; the installation, extension and replacement of worn-out or inadequate utilities systems; comfort stations; ruins stabilization; and employee housing of both permanent and temporary character. Thus acute needs have been somewhat alleviated in some of the areas.
Communications systems.—Throughout the system, protection is seriously handicapped by the lack of adequate internal communications. However, real progress was made in improving the situation for the system as a whole. At a cost of $29,456 of physical improvements funds for the purchase of radio equipment, FM systems were installed in Everglades National Park and along the Blue Ridge Parkway, and a radio telephone system was set up at Mount Rainier National Park.
In addition, the Service obtained from surplus a large amount of communications equipment, valued at $225,000, and placed it in operation. The carrier telephone equipment now in use at Mesa Verde and Glacier National Parks, and in the Region Three office at Santa Fe for communication with the southwestern national monuments, was so obtained. Surplus radio equipment has also been shipped to Tupelo for communication along the Natchez Trace Parkway. Plans for the extension of Olympic National Park’s communication system were completed.
Administration will be greatly facilitated by the two-way radio communication service established between Hawaii National Park headquarters at Kilauea, on the Island of Hawaii, and the Haleakala section of the park on Maui. On-the-spot reporting of the eruption of Mauna Loa, which began on January 6, was made possible by portable radios installed at the summit.
Progress made on road jobs.—Unlike 1948, when labor and materials were scarce and bids on road jobs inordinately high, the Service has been able to enter into favorable contracts for 10 essential road construction projects during 1949. However, slightly less than
304 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR $1,000,000 of roads and trails funds were available for new construction.
Construction projects were launched in Colonial National Historical Park and in Great Smoky Mountains, Shenandoah, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, Zion-Bryce Canyon, Yosemite, and Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. In addition, a day-labor project was started on the Loop Highway in Lassen Volcanic National Park under Bureau of Public Roads supervision.
These contracts and the day-labor job consumed all the available roads-and-trails construction funds except $132,000 which had been earmarked by Congress to construct part of the Heintooga Road in Great Smoky Mountains National Park. This sum was insufficient to cover any contract that would not cost inordinately for the amount of work that could be accomplished. It was, therefore, deferred until enough additional money could be made available to permit construction at reasonable cost.
Maintenance of roads and trails.—Estimates indicate an average cost of $571 per road-mile for maintenance of roads in the National Park System, approximately 75 percent of the national average. For trails the figure is $59 per mile. Of the total available roads and trails funds, it was possible to apportion only $320 per mile for road maintenance, and $42 per mile for trails. Consequently, not all roads and trails in the system could be given even routine maintenance; and much old equipment, long past economical operation, had to be kept in service for another year, with attendant high operating costs.
A result of this situation is that the public is not served by adequately maintained roads and trails. And the ultimate cost is higher; necessary reconstruction, which could be postponed for many years if proper care could be given year after year, is greatly increased.
In order to meet this situation more realistically, a maintenance program, based upon the expectation of increased roads and trails funds in the 1950 appropriation and in subsequent years, has been evolved on the following basis:
(«) A 5-year program for liquidating the backlog of war-deferred special maintenance items before they reach the reconstruction stage has been established. This calls for the expenditure of $3,500,000 in 1950, and increases annually to $3,900,000 in 1954. Thereafter, with the deferred items liquidated, funds for this program can be reduced. It will then be possible to establish a preventive maintenance program on an annual routine basis. Such expensive items as resealing, reprocessing, and vista clearing will be programmed regularly for sections of highway, rather than be allowed to accumulate by whole routes and whole areas, as they have had to be in the past.
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(&) An equipment amortization program which will provide more adequately for equipment requirements than has been possible in previous years has been established for 1950.
Maintenance funds have to be spread out over 5,215 miles of heavily used roads and over more than 7,000 miles of trails in the National Park System.
Parkway construction moves ahead.—Although the 1949 appropriation act contained no appropriation for parkways, it did include a contract authorization of $2,690,000. This, with balances remaining in parkway funds, provided the Service with a program of $9,796,000, of which more than $8,000,000 was allocated to the road program of the Bureau of Public Roads. Slightly less than $1,000,000 of the balance was available for roads and trails and physical improvement projects handled by the Service itself. Work was under way or completed on 94 such projects. Blue Ridge Parkway projects completed under the latter program included the gas station and coffee shop at Bluff Recreational Area, and the Peaks of Otter bus terminal, starting point for the Sharp Top bus trip.
Lack of title to right-of-way for the Gatlinburg Spur connection held up construction on the Foothills Parkway, in Tennessee. On the Natchez Trace Parkway, lack of right-of-way in both Mississippi and Tennessee has held up construction of three grading projects. Because 1949 funds for the Tennessee portion were earmarked in committee, almost a million dollars which might have been put to use on other parkway jobs has lain idle.
On the Blue Ridge.—The completion of a paving contract in the fall of 1948 opened up a unit of 47 miles from Rock Fish Gap south to U. S. Route 60, so that the motorist can now travel 155 miles on continuous paving, including the Skyline Drive in Shenandoah National Park. In North Carolina, completion of 30 miles of paving offered 53 miles of surfaced road south from Blowing Rock to the newly built State road to Mount Mitchell at Swannanoa Gap. The completion of grading and construction on one section sometime during the present fiscal year will open up a long unit of the parkway and give access direct to the city of Asheville by way of North Carolina Route 694. Only one short stretch of 5 miles, for which funds are not available, remains to be built to connect with U. S. Route 70 at Oteen, 4 miles north of Asheville.
Along the Natchez Trace.—Fifteen bridge and overpass projects were either completed or under construction during the 1949 fiscal year. The opening up of a 58-mile unit from Ridgeland, just north of Jackson, Miss., northeasterly to Kosciusko, awaits completion of several of these structures. Three grading projects which are ex
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pected to be finished sometime this summer will connect the unit north of Jackson with a previously graded section north of Kosciusko. Additional funds are needed for paving these several units. When that is done, it will be possible to open to public use a continuous section of 90 miles.
The G-eorge Washington Memorial Parkway.—The principal work on this parkway, which parallels the Virginia shore of the Potomac River, was the grading of a connection between Key Bridge and Lorcom Lane, approximately 1 mile which, when paved, will greatly facilitate traffic connections between the parkway and the Lee Highway in Arlington County.
Parkway summary.—For all parkways, major road projects costing $2,565,200 were completed; others to cost $7,771,400 were under construction.
Storms cause havoc.—Floods and the exceptionally heavy snowstorms of last winter caused unusual damage to roads and trails and to utilities and buildings in many areas in the National Park System and required the allotment of considerable amounts from limited funds for repair.
Flood damages in Glacier and Mount Rainier National Parks; the removal of down timber from Mount Rainier roads; the restoration of flood-damaged trails in Grand Canyon National Park and Bande-lier National Monument; repairs to bridges in Acadia National Park; and repairs to roads and trails in Mammoth Cave National Park, Colonial National Historical Park and Catoctin Recreational Demonstration Area required special allotments amounting to $118,914.56. In five areas $22,560 was expended from reserves for unusual snowremoval operations in addition to the normal allotments. A special allotment of more than $68,000 had to be made for repairs to buildings and utilities damaged by storms.
Surplus property transfers assist the Service.—The National Park Service continued to benefit from the authorization contained in Public Law 841 to acquire surplus roads and trails equipment and materials and supplies, without exchange of funds, from the National Military Establishment and the War Assets Administration. During the year, the value of such transfers exceeded $322,000.
While these transfers have been of help to the Service at a time when it had little money to expend on the replacement of outworn equipment or of equipment which was commandeered by the military authorities at the outbreak of the war, the condition of that received from surplus was, for the most part, only fair and it has been difficult to obtain replacement parts which most of them needed to put them in repair. For the efficient and economical performance of maintenance and repair activities, early replacement of most of the equip-
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4- 307 ment in use throughout the National Park System is urgently needed.
Soil and moisture conservation.—During 1949, with an allotment of $95,000 from the Department’s Soil and Moisture Conservation funds, work was carried on in 13 areas, most of which are situated in the South and Southwest, but substantial increases in the number and scope of surveys, erosion-control plans and projects are needed. To bring erosion under control on areas where that is needed, to a point requiring thereafter only normal maintenance, it is estimated that about $300,000 a year should be expended on this work over the next decade. Funds made available to the Service since the Department’s program was started in 1951 have averaged only $50,000 a year.
On historical areas, where it is desirable to maintain open fields to display conditions approximately as they were at the time of the historic events commemorated, soil and moisture are being conserved through agricultural use, under permits that require sound handling of the land and the constant enrichment of the soil.
A total of 655 revocable permits for various uses of Service-administered areas were approved during the year. One of unusual interest was issued to the Coast Guard for rehabilitation and use of the old lighthouse at Cape Hatteras. This fine structure was abandoned in the early thirties because of the close encroachment of the ocean. However, due at least partly to the program of sand fencing carried on along the North Carolina barrier islands over a period of several years under National Park Service direction, the sand area has now built up to a sufficient distance from the base of the light to make it safe to resume its use.
THE EDUCATIONAL FUNCTION OF THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE
Congress, in authorizing the establishment of the National Park Service, enjoined it to provide for public enjoyment of “the scenery, the natural and historic objects and the wildlife” in the areas entrusted to its care. This is a positive injunction. Though the laws insisted that these areas were to be so managed that their qualities should remain unimpaired, their justification lay in their capacity to provide enjoyment, in its best sense, now and in the future. The function of preservation and protection was a means to that end and not an end in itself.
The essential task of the National Park Service, then, is to see to it that the American people shall have the opportunity to obtain the maximum beneficial use and enjoyment of the kinds which derive from the character of the park areas themselves; enjoyment which
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at the same time involves the minimum of change in the natural or historic scene which the Service is required to conserve.
To meet that responsibility requires much more than the provision merely of access and shelter. It involves more than satisfaction to the physical senses through the experience of outdoor life in a beautiful setting. It places on the Service the obligation to contribute to a deeper understanding of natural processes and historical events about which any intelligent human being has a natural and legitimate curiosity.
It is education.—Because the word “education” popularly connotes a somewhat formal process, one hesitates to use it in referring to a function of a Government bureau like the National Park Service. Nevertheless, in its sense of “leading out” people of all ages to a fuller comprehension of the world they live in and their place in it, education is a part of the Service’s job, and its contribution to beneficial and lasting enjoyment is as great as that of any activity in which the Service is engaged.
When the visitor to Yosemite asks the man in uniform how that stupendous valley was formed; when he stands on the Rim of the Grand Canyon and wants to know how long it has taken the muddy Colorado to work its way down through a mile of rock; when he climbs to the terr eplain of the Castillo de San Marcos and seeks to learn just what was the purpose of that ancient fortification; when these questions are multiplied by thousands and the Service must satisfy them or be convicted of doing its job inadequately, then it is in the business of education “up to its neck.” It couldn’t get out of it if it wanted to—which it doesn’t.
The Service is then, in a sense, an educational agency. Its intent is to do its educational job well. If this work—which has come to be called its “interpretive program”—is to be effective, it must be enjoyable ; it must be informal; it must stimulate as well as satisfy healthy curiosity; it must widen the mental and spiritual horizons of those who take advantage of it. Equally, to attain these ideals, the Service must have adequate and qualified staff, and adequate physical equipment. This equipment must reflect modern education progress as, for instance, in the effective use of visual materials.
A corollary product of this program is bound to be a more thoughtful and intelligent regard for the worth of the parks themselves. This will undoubtedly lessen the carelessness and vandalism which so seriously trouble the administrators of all kinds of public reservations.
The Service is constantly adopting new methods and techniques in its effort to meet the tremendous demand, but it can scarcely claim to be doing the job that the public expects of it with full effectiveness. Both staff and physical equipment are overwhelmed by, and woefully
PART II—‘ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 309 inadequate for, the requirements put upon them. Museums are needed in many areas. These are not, and should not be, places where miscellaneous collections attract the idly curious. They should rather contain carefully selected and effectively presented items that contribute to better understanding of the areas in which they are situated, and of the National Park System of which those areas are a part. In all but a few areas, our museums are either outgrown or nonexistent, or they represent an effort to tell a story with crude or inadequate tools.
In other phases of interpretation, there is serious loss of effectiveness because of the day-after-day overload on staff members. On guided trips, the number of visitor participants per naturalist or historian tends to be several times as great as can be satisfactorily served. In such places as Carlsbad Caverns, or Mammoth Cave, this loss of effectiveness is complicated by the fact that control of the visitor, to prevent damage to delicate natural formations, is made difficult or impossible.
In many cases, the capacity of existing facilities is far below the present-day requirements. For example, at the Yavapai Observation Station, on the South Rim of the Grand Canyon, scene of perhaps as striking and effective an example of interpretation as is offered anywhere in the National Park System, the space is so seriously overtaxed as to cause discomfort and justified dissatisfaction.
Despite handicaps, progress during the year just past has been notable in many respects. The public reaction has been highly gratifying, both in volume and in the quality of response to the efforts put forth.
In the scenic-scientific areas, attendance on 17,284 conducted trips totaled 1,037,648. Naturalists gave 15,195 talks, such as those given at Yavapai, mentioned above, or at evening campfire programs, and at these there was an attendance of 1,212,729. Individual contacts at information stations of various kinds came to a total of 4,060,334. Visitors who made use of unattended interpretive stations or devices totaled 4,658,284. In addition, about 10,000,000 persons visited the historical and archeological areas during the year; almost all made some use of interpretive facilities of one kind or another.
Museums.—In a typical park or monument, the museum is probably the most important element of the interpretive work carried on there, save only for competent personnel. It is the focal point about which the program revolves.
Two museum developments, both completed before the end of the fiscal year, have made an exceptionally favorable public impression. A completely new and effective museum exhibit at Manassas National Battlefield Park was opened to the public on May 28. The general public has given evidence of its interest by doubled visitation during
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the months since the opening; and such students of the Civil War as Dr. Douglas Southall Freeman and Otto Eisenschimmel have praised the new display with enthusiasm.
Manassas presents an acute problem of interpretation, since it is the site of two major battles, and since the small park staff cannot provide enough personal service to explain the complicated story. Yet the visiting public want to know. The new museum is designed to meet this particular situation; to present the facts fairly and impartially, but in vivid and striking fashion.
The new permanent museum exhibits at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, thrown open to the public on July 4, 1949, were virtually completed before the end of June. These exhibits are of the same effective quality as those at Manassas.
In both museums are striking dioramas. That at Manassas portrays a tense and dramatic moment during the first battle; that at Guilford shows the final charge of William Washington’s cavalry and the First Maryland Infantry at the height of the battle.
At Kings Mountain National Military Park a modern museum was built and most of its exhibits installed before World War II. These installations have now been completed. Since the park has no historian, the electric map, which visitors can operate themselves, helps them to grasp the story of the American pursuit and the British retreat which ended at Kings Mountain. The Jackson wing of the Museum at Scotts Bluff National Monument was nearing completion at the end of the year. There preparations were under way for the installation of a series of paintings by the late William H. Jackson portraying the Oregon Trail and typical scenes of the migration which followed it a century ago, donated by the American Pioneer Trails Association. Since the Oregon Trail is now largely traversed by modern highways, it is not easy for the modern traveler to visualize conditions during the emigration, but this fine series of paintings will undoubtedly help to make them vivid and real.
During the year several other individuals and organizations donated funds, exhibits, and skilled assistance to the Service for museum development. Hui-O-Pele, an organization whose funds are derived from $1 membership certificates sold to Hawaii National Park visitors, has earmarked up to $10,000 for exhibits for the park museum. The Avalon Foundation gave an additional $40,000 for the development of the mansion at Hampton National Historic Site as an historic house museum. The New York Chapter, Colonial Dames of America, donated antiques valued at $10,000 to furnish the upper floor of the Ford Mansion, at Morristown National Historical Park. A staff member of the California Academy of Sciences generously donated his
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time and skill to the cutting and polishing of more than 100 pieces of petrified wood for the museum at Petrified Forest National Monument.
The Islesford Museum on Little Cranberry Island, Maine, which contains the valuable collection and library on the history and culture of the Mount Desert region assembled by Prof. Wilkin O. Sawtelle, was added to Acadia National Park by gift.
Preservation of the valuable scientific and historical collections of the various park areas remains a museum problem of increasingly serious concern. The Gettysburg cyclorama was given emergency treatment to arrest its deterioration, and special study was given to the deterioration of rare fabrics at the Vanderbilt Mansion. A survey has been started to determine the collections in the most urgent need of safe storage and preservative treatment.
Exhibits for park museums are prepared in a central laboratory, so that even the smallest and most isolated museum has the advantage of a skilled staff of curators and preparators. Centralization of this sort of work not only permits the production of a high quality of exhibits that would otherwise be impossible but is far more economical than any other possible method.
Guided trips.—Trips, afoot or by automobile caravan, guided by qualified naturalists or historians, are offered in a large number of areas. These offer a fine mental stimulation with a large dividend of spiritual values, pleasantly combined, in the case of walks, with mild physical exertion. Each year sees constantly greater numbers of visitors participating in them—added proof that visitors are hungry for knowledge of what the parks contain. Too many participants per guide impairs the effectiveness of these trips. At Yellowstone National Park, for example, attendance on guided trips often exceeds 150 per naturalist. Even when he is equipped with a megaphone, he finds it difficult to make himself heard. At times there is confusion and crowding, endangering the formations in the geyser basins, and also endangering the people. Where catwalks have been provided, it is virtually impossible to confine such large groups to them. It is also impossible effectively to prevent acts of vandalism, such as marking the formations or throwing trash in the pools.
At Mesa Verde, on trips during which parties enter a ruin such as Spruce Tree House, there should not be more than 40 persons under the guidance of a single naturalist; yet there are frequently as many as 100, compelling serious consideration of further measures to restrict access. Many people find the experience of entering an ancient dwelling memorable and thrilling, so that the Service adopts restrictive measures with reluctance and only when they are unquestionably necessary.
Campfire programs and lectures.—Evening campfire programs, an established institution in many of the national parks, serve several
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purposes. While the primary purpose may be to inform, they are important also in providing something pleasant and interesting to do during the evening. Their informal character and the fact that, in many places, group singing is the opening feature, is valuable in establishing a relationship of confidence between the audience and the participating Service personnel. It provides a fine opportunity to make park visitors aware of the many-sidedness of the interpretive program, to inform them of the purposes of the National Park System, and to enlist their cooperation in protecting it. Audiences at these evening programs and at analogous daytime programs were almost without exception greater than during any previous year.
Making a virtue of necessity.—In order to widen the scope of the program, and to reach more people than can be served directly by the interpretive staffs, the past year has seen considerable experimentation in the development and use of self-operating interpretive devices.
The increasing numbers of visitors to the Lincoln Museum, in Washington, D. C., made it necessary to install a magnetic tape recording of the talk on Lincoln, with an automatic slide changer, since staff members could not repeat the talk as frequently as demanded. Selfoperating electric maps and automatic slide changers have been installed at Manassas National Battlefield Park, and at Guilford Courthouse and Kings Mountain National Military Parks.
In Lassen Volcanic National Park, mutilation of trail signs and theft of markers caused the development of three nature trails along which the outstanding features were each marked only by a number. The corresponding number and the scientific interpretation of the feature were then incorporated into an information leaflet. The leaflets, produced with contributed funds, were made available at a bulletin board at the beginning of each trail. Similar trails are in use at Mount Rainier National Park, at Gran Quivira and Walnut Canyon National Monuments, and at the detached Montezuma Well section of Montezuma Castle National Monument. Natural history associations at Lassen and Mount Rainier and the Southwestern Monuments Association have supplied the funds for the leaflets on which these devices depend.
These methods of providing information are without question useful, but they are definitely inferior to services provided direct by competent and interested personnel. The information given is of necessity limited so that not all the questions which naturally arise in connection with their use are answered. Chiefly, however, they are “cold,” and incapable of evoking the kind of response so frequently and happily aroused by a person full of his subject, enthusiastic about it, and capable of kindling enthusiasm in others.
Studies of interpretive activities.—Three excellent studies which analyze and appraise park interpretive activities were made during
PART II—-ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES 4- 313 the past year by university research students. All three studies recognize the public need for understand] ng, the contribution of the interpretive programs to heightened enjoyment ami better use of the parks, and their influence in reducing misuse and vandalism. All point to inadequacies of personnel as serious handicaps to the accomplishment of these objectives.
The printed word.—Attractive, reasonably comprehensive and carefully edited printed matter is essential to knowledge and enjoyment of any individual park or historical area. The past year saw a constant improvement in the quality of the literature available alike to visitors and other inquirers. For its exceptionally attractive appearance, the Service is greatly indebted to the design staff of the Government Printing Office.
During recent years, it has been necessary to practice the utmost economy in connection with this publications program, through reductions in size and limitation of quantities. In many instances, funds have not been sufficient to permit production of sufficient numbers of copies. Removal of the limitation on printing and binding in the pending 1950 appropriation act, which has been a severe handicap in the past, is expected to make it possible to. provide sufficient publications to meet legitimate public demand. The supplying of quantities of publications to automobile clubs, travel bureaus, and other outside agencies must, however, continue to be subject to strict limitations. For the system as a whole, an adequate annual production of publications will come close to 10,000,000 pieces.
Launched on a modest scale during the past year was a program of replacement of the series of 16-page sales publications on historic and archeological sites with a new series of handbooks in a smaller, more attractive format and with more comprehensive content. A few other sales items were included in the year’s program.
Natural history associations and analogous “official cooperating organizations” continued to fill in the gap caused by the insufficiency of appropriated funds for printing, by producing a number of distinctive and valuable interpretive publications. The proceeds from the sale of these association publications are utilized in various ways to assist the interpretive programs in the parks.
PROGRESS IN THE HISTORICAL FIELD
Ancient Spanish forts made national historic site.—The establishment of the San Juan National Historic Site, Puerto Rico, was one of the most gratifying developments of the past year. Included in it are the gigantic fortifications of El Morro, on the outer point of the island of San Juan; San Cristobal, rising 'high above the northern shore of the island less than a mile away; the Casa Grande; the f orti-
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fled walls connecting El Motto and San Cristobal and extending around the harbor side of the island; and El Canuelo, on a former island, now a peninsula, across the harbor entrance.
The status of this site is unique. Primary jurisdiction over it is retained by the Department of the Army, which continues to use it for military purposes. The agreement between the Departments of the Army and the Interior, which provided the necessary basis for the site designation, gives the Service responsibility for the interpretive program and the handling of visitors and for advising the Army on the preservation and restoration of the fortifications.
Preserving histone structures.—Noteworthy progress in repair and stabilization of historic structures can be recorded for the year. At Castillo de San Marcos National Monument, in Florida, the footings of the fort walls were stabilized, the walls repointed, and the old tide gates to the moat found and measured drawings made of them. The historic Ford Mansion at Morristown National Historical Park underwent structural rehabilitation and painting. Generous additions to the funds originally donated for “Hampton,” supplemented by still other funds to match other donations, have made possible the extensive repair and rehabilitation in progress at Hampton National Historic Site.
Stabilization and protection work were completed at Fort Matanzas, Fla., last March. Various prehistoric adobe structures in the Southwest were stabilized, as part of the continuing program of such work in these areas, for which highly skilled workers have been developed.
Following close upon the establishment of the San Juan National Historic Site, plans have been made for the preservation and repair of the historic fortifications, oldest masonry structures under the American flag. The Department of the Army has indicated deep interest in this work and will seek funds with which to carry it on. Much of it is very greatly needed to prevent even more serious damage.
The restoration of the McLean or Surrender House at Appomattox Court House National Historical Monument was completed just too late to permit dedication on the 1949 anniversary date of Lee’s surrender. This is now planned for April 9,1950.
In connection with the project for preserving and cleaning the frescoes of the ancient mission at Tumacacori National Monument, the Service was fortunately able to obtain advice and assistance from an outstanding authority, Dr. Rutherford G. Gettens of the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University. Guided by his recommendations, Tumacacori’s fine old frescoes and plaster work are being cleaned and restored.
A beginning has been made also on the repair and rehabilitation of the Perot-Morris House in Germantown, Pa., recently donated to
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the United States by the heirs of the Morris family, which has owned it since 1934. Mrs. Elliston P. Morris of Philadelphia has generously left on indefinite loan, for display there in connection with its operation as a house museum, handsome suites of period furnishings. The house will be a part of the Independence National Historical Park. It will be operated, however, by the Germantown Historical Society.
Archeology on historical' areas.—The methods of archeology, applied to historical areas, continue to produce gratifying results in several Service areas. The outlines of the fort built by the “lost colonists” at Fort Raleigh, N. C., were definitely established. Excavation of the site of the first house and the main mission house, at Whitman National Monument, has been completed, and work on other excavations is continuing. The house occupied by Dr. John McLoughlin, chief factor of the Hudson’s Bay Co. and the priest’s house are among the buildings which excavation at the Fort Vancouver National Monument Project has uncovered and identified. There 40,000 artifacts have been uncovered.
Excavations at Glass House Point, on Jamestown Island, uncovered unmistakable evidence that the early settlers there undertook the working of glass soon after the colony was established. The remains of four furnaces, and of ashes, clinkers, crucible pots, and pieces of glass were uncovered.
Service cooperation with historical conservation groups.—The National Park Service continues to participate in and encourage the efforts of nongovernmental agencies in the preservation of sites and objects of historical importance. The work of these agencies is important since many sites, for which the Federal Government cannot and should not assume primary responsibility, deserve protection.
Late in the summer of 1948, the National Council for Historic Sites and Buildings, of which the Director of the National Park Service is an ex-officio member and the Service’s chief historian is secretary, established an office in Washington, D. C. A major objective of the council, which brings together the forces of 36 national organizations and agencies, is the establishment of a national trust for historic preservation in the United States, to be modeled on the English national trust, but adapted to the principles of American law. Toward this objective, the Service has given advice and assistance, while the Department has sponsored the introduction of authorizing legislation in the present Congress.
In June, the Service, Colonial Williamsburg, Inc., and the American University jointly sponsored and participated in an Institute in the Preservation and Interpretation of Historic Sites and Buildings. The institute brought to Washington and Williamsburg students from such faraway places as Florida and California. The
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Service was also asked for, and gave, advisory assistance to the Thomas Jefferson Birthplace Memorial Park Commission, which had purchased the “Shadwell” estate on which Jefferson was born. This purchase is typical of what private and local historical groups are undertaking.
Archeological and paleontological research.—Fourteen reputable scientific-educational agencies conducted 16 separate field research programs on Federal lands during 1948 under Antiquities Act permits granted by the Secretary of the Interior. Findings included evidence of the earliest known type of American dwelling (3000 to 2000 B. C.), in California, and the earliest known ancestor of Indian maize, a diminutive pod corn dated about 2500 B. C., in New Mexico.
Five national monuments and one national park are included among the areas on which 28 research programs were scheduled for this summer by 13 universities, 1 college, and 7 museums.
Increasingly effective enforcement of the provisions of the Antiquities Act can be noted. Dr. Jesse L. Nusbaum, archeologist in the Region Three office in Santa Fe, also serves as consulting archeologist for the Department. In that capacity, he checks the plans and the qualifications of research groups and investigates reported violations of the Antiquities Act.
Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park dedicated.—Sponsored by the Greater North Dakota Association, a State-wide organization of chambers of commerce and business and professional men, the dedication of the Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park on June 4 was notable in a number of respects. It was held in a natural amphitheater with the picturesque Badlands as a backdrop; it attracted an estimated 25,000 persons; a half-hour of the program, during which Representative William Lemke and Senator Milton Young, both of North Dakota, and Secretary Krug and Director Drury were speakers, was carried nationally by the National Broadcasting Co. (reported to be the longest national broadcast ever to have originated in North Dakota) ; it was attended by an exceptionally distinguished group of special guests. Gov. Fred G. Aandahl of North Dakota acted as master of ceremonies for the entire program, which lasted an hour and 50 minutes, and was broadcast by six stations in North Dakota and Montana.
Supplementing the dedication program, a series of 11 scenes of North Dakota history was presented at as many points along the main road through the south portion of the park. The entire program was a credit to the association and evidenced the keen interest of the entire State and its neighbors in this unique and picturesque area, which so strongly influenced the career and the thinking of Theodore Roosevelt.
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THE WILDLIFE OF THE NATIONAL PARK
SYSTEM
In the national parks, all forms of wildlife are, in theory, left to shift for themselves. This laissez faire method of management— or nonmanagement—would probably be wholly practical in very large areas in which there was a proper balance of seasonal range and of favorable habitat in which normal relationships had not been much disturbed. However, such conditions cannot be said to exist in any national park, no matter how extensive. Each is affected by human influences, past or present; normal winter range has been taken over by grazing or agriculture; some predator species have been reduced in numbers; any of a number of processes have disturbed natural relationships in such fashion that positive management is occasionally required. This is undertaken to keep relationships from getting so far off balance as to threaten the extermination of a species, directly or indirectly.
In Yellowstone National Park the increasingly serious problem is one of winter range for the great elk herd which frequents the northern part of the park. Herd reductions have not been sufficient to halt the depletion of the important browse species on which it relies for food. It is estimated that the elk will number 11,000 this fall and that the winter range will not support more than 5,000 if its condition is to have a chance to improve materially. Refusal of the Montana State Game Department to permit hunters to harvest enough elk north of the park leads only to the conclusion that, to save the remaining range and the associated wildlife, the Service itself will be forced to effect a drastic reduction.
In the east-central part of Rocky Mountain National Park, immense changes have been and are being wrought in the vegetation by too numerous mule deer and elk. A reduction of about 75 percent of these animals is necessary to permit the range to recover. Plans to initiate this reduction last winter were canceled because of local objections to the disposal of the carcasses to needy Indians.
On much of the periphery of Glacier National Park, mule deer and elk have insufficient winter food. Experiments with salt to entice the elk from the park to open hunting territory offer some possibilities for at least a partial solution of the problem along the west side of the park.
In Zion National Park controlled killing of mule deer was continued to restore the vegetation in Zion Canyon. There, shrubs once seriously damaged show much improvement. On the plateaus east and west of the canyon, however, destruction of range continues unchecked. Most of the animals responsible are available for hunting,
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during the season, outside the park; but the surrounding region is sparsely populated and the light gunning pressure has no appreciable effect.
Black bears still present a dangerous problem, mainly visitor-caused, in Yellowstone, Glacier, Yosemite, Sequoia, and Great Smoky Mountains National Parks. Despite repeated warnings, a small minority of visitors persist in feeding these animals. The number of injuries is remarkably small, but traffic is often snarled along heavily traveled roads and accidents result from the congregation of visitors around “roadside” bears. Their appetites for artificial foods whetted by promiscuous feeding, some of these animals make serious nuisances of themselves by breaking into buildings and automobiles in search of food.
Encouraging developments.—Several parks established in recent years have included lands long settled, in which many species once numerous there had been depleted or had disappeared. The Service practices or encourages restocking when it is possible to obtain stocks of the subspecies formerly found in these areas. Several efforts at restocking during recent years have had encouraging results. During the past 2 years, with the cooperation of the Kentucky Game and Fish Division, 36 whitetail deer have been released in Mammoth Cave National Park. These animals have ceased to roam widely and are reproducing. The park administration also obtained four pairs of ruffed grouse of the native subspecies and released them in excellent condition. These birds have been rare, or possibly extinct, in the park and its vicinity for many years.
The Service is indebted again to the Texas Game, Fish, and Oyster Commission for an additional stocking of antelope in Big Bend National Park. The bands now in the park total about 100 head.
The Rocky Mountain bighorns released in Mesa Verde National Park several years ago have prospered, apparently, as several lambs have been produced. The band ranges widely and does not remain within the park.
Other rare species.—The first seen in some years, two grizzlies were sighted in Grand Teton National Park during the summer of 1948, and other signs of them were observed. Two rare animals, the wolverine and the fisher, seem to be increasing in Sequoia and Kings Canyon National Parks. A survey of the Sierra bighorn in those 2 contiguous parks revealed about 200 animals, though it is possible that the population is twice as great.
Dall sheep, in Mount McKinley National Park, after having reached a disturbing low, are definitely on the increase.. Trumpeter swan in Yellowstone National Park and contiguous territory appear to be, also. An aerial census revealed at least 49 adults and 13 cygnets in
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the park, and 8 adults and 4 cygnets on nearby waters to the south. The sight of 5 nene or Hawaiian geese on Mauna Loa, in Hawaii National Park, has raised hopes that this rare bird may become reestablished there. To relieve destruction of vegetation there and to- aid wildlife, the park staff destroyed, during the first 10 months of the year, 3,006 goats, 261 pigs, 44 mongooses, and 4 feral house cats.
Poaching.—Illegal destruction of wildlife continues to be serious in a number of areas. Poaching, together with natural losses during the blizzards last January, reduced the Wind Cave National Park antelope to the lowest number during the past decade. The marked scarcity of goats, deer, and hair seals in Glacier Bay National Monument, where the Service has no protective staff, is ascribed largely to poaching.
Fishery management.—Approximately 5,132,000 fish, including 2,170,000 eyed eggs, were planted in the waters of 16 areas. Practically all of the eyed eggs were placed in Yellowstone National Park waters.
Two fishery problems are causing much concern. Because of the pressure of numbers, many popular fishing streams and lakes have been depleted of the larger fish, and anglers are dissatisfied. Stocking of legal-size fish is highly expensive and is unsatisfactory in national park areas for several reasons. It is becoming apparent that, to protect the streams, angling pressure must be restricted within the rather limited natural carrying capacity of the mountain waters.
The second problem is that of overfishing by commercial interests in Florida Bay, much of which is ultimately to be a part of Everglades National Park. Not only is future commercial and sport fishing endangered there by destructive methods of fishing; the food supply of many kinds of aquatic birds—ibises, herons, roseate spoonbills, cormorants, pelicans, and others—which are dependent on a continued supply of small fish and other aquatic life, is being seriously depleted. Florida Bay needs to be added to the park, and proper protective regulations established and enforced, at the earliest possible moment.
PROTECTION OF PARK FORESTS
Fire control.—Except for 1944, the calendar year 1948 witnessed the smallest number of forest fires in the National Park System of any year since 1933; yet the costs were higher than normal, and the area burned over—24,404 acres—greater. There were 285 fires; 206 of these were man-caused, a marked reduction below' the two previous years and especially encouraging, considering that more people visited the parks than ever before.
The costs of fire control have more than doubled during recent years. Salaries and wages, supplies, fire equipment, and transportation
320 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR all cost more; the 40-hour workweek, with higher pay for overtime, and the necessity of providing relief personnel to man protection positions full time, add greatly to the expense.
The high costs of suppression last year—nearly $200,000 for all areas administered by the National Park Service—and 93 percent of the area burned, are attributable to three large fires. On each of these the lack of adequate communications was largely responsible for the excessive size and cost of control. A lightning fire in Isle Roy ale National Park and two man-caused fires—one in Yosemite and one in Kings Canyon—all started in remote and rugged terrain, far from any roads. They were detected while still small, but in no case was it possible to get a report into headquarters until many hours had elapsed. Thus the prompt dispatch of fire fighters or reinforcements was disastrously delayed.
There seems to be no doubt that each of those fires could have been held to small size, and low cost, had it been possible to report them promptly. Inability to maintain or replace worn-out or obsolete radio equipment or to keep outpost telephone lines in repair during and since the war resulted in greater direct costs than would have been involved in proper maintenance; to those costs must be added the serious damage to the forests and the disfiguring scars on the park landscape. The need of modernizing the communications systems in the forested parks and of rehabilitation of trails and other protection facilities was stressed in the presentations of the Service’s needs to the Bureau of the Budget and the Appropriations Committees.
Forty-eight representatives of the Service’s three western regions and one from Region One, embracing the east and south, attended the first interregional fire-control conference, held last April in Grand Canyon National Park. The conference reviewed and analyzed mutual problems of fire control, discussed new methods and techniques, and laid plans for improving and intensifying protection.
Plans for dispatching fire-fighting forces and equipment in forestfire emergencies have been enlarged and coordinated for all regions on a Service-wide basis. These have been strengthened through the cooperation of the air-rescue service of the United States Air Force in extending assistance on fires.
The extraordinarily severe winter of 1948-49 has created a serious fire hazard in Mount Rainier National Park. Ice and snow frozen to the trees combined with high winds to produce thousands of broken or down trees. Though the work of clearing roads and trails of fallen trees has progressed steadily, the extraordinary amount of debris which must remain untouched will be a cause of concern for some years.
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Protection from insect epidemics.—Congress again appropriated funds to continue the program of control of the mountain pine beetle in the lodge-pole pine stands of the Targhee and Teton National Forests, Grand Teton National Park, and Jackson Hole National Monument. However, the appropriation was made so late in the spring of 1949 that it was possible to accomplish only about 44 percent of the work in Grand Teton and Jackson Hole before the beetles emerged from the infested trees. As a result, the program will have to be extended over a longer period.
Observations last spring indicated that the needle-miner population of the white fir in Bryce Canyon National Park had been materially reduced, as a result of the spraying of approximately 1,000 acres with DDT from the air in July 1948. Previously, this infested stand appeared doomed.
An infestation of spruce budworm is building up in the Nyack Valley section of Glacier National Park. A survey of this area by representatives of the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine is planned for this summer to determine the necessity of treatment to prevent the spread of serious damage.
Blister rust control.—In eight areas of the National Park System a vigorous program of Ribes eradication for the control of white pine blister rust was carried forward. The bulk of the work was in Yosemite, Sequoia, and Kings Canyon National Parks. Initial work was performed on 6,654 acres, with reeradication on 15,161 acres.
In the East the rust was found on white pine in Great Smoky Mountains National Park for the first time last spring, 75 miles south of any previously observed infection on pines. It was found on Ribes in the Smokies for the first time in August 1948.
PROGRESS IN ROUNDING OUT FEDERAL OWNERSHIP
On June 30, 1949, 98 percent of the $200,000 appropriated for the fiscal year 1948 for land acquisition was obligated; of the $200,000 appropriated for 1949, about 70 percent was obligated, and practically all the remainder earmarked for specific purchases. Though these appropriations permit the Service only to nibble at the task of consolidating Federal ownership within the National Park System, more solid progress has been made during the past year than was made in the preceding decade.
One of the most significant acquisitions of the past year was the purchase of Surrender Field, the site on which Cornwallis’ troops surrendered to the forces under Washington in 1781, for addition to the Yorktown portion of Colonial National Historical Park.
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Forestalling its development for residential purposes, approximately 67 acres of land south of the Eternal-Light Peace Memorial, Gettysburg National Military Park, was purchased. The tract was the scene of an important part of the first day’s fighting and of the virtual annihilation of Iverson’s Confederate brigade.
In certain situations, progress in land acquisition can be, and frequently has been, accomplished through donation, transfer, and exchange. More than 25,000 acres have been obtained during the year by these methods. More than 20,000 acres of this wTere acquired for Joshua Tree National Monument. Such exchanges are time-consuming and difficult, but highly important and, where feasible, offer a great opportunity for the reduction of inholdings, particularly in a few western areas. Exchanges now pending involve approximately 50,000 acres.
The bulk of the acquisition problem, both in point of acreage and in point of value of land involved, can be solved only through purchase. Again the Congress is giving consideration to legislation that would recognize the problem as a whole and would authorize substantially larger sums annually over a period of years to be expended on land purchases.
Two large purchases made in Everglades.—Much of the preliminary work of the Everglades land acquisition program is now done, but its ultimate success hinges largely upon the passage of legislation now pending before Congress. This, if enacted, will remove all doubts as to the authority of the Service to acquire privately owned lands by condemnation with the $2,000,000 donated by the State of Florida. Until that authority is assured, progress will continue to be impeded or blocked by landowners unwilling to sell, or willing to dispose of their properties only at excessively high prices.
In acreage acquired through purchase, the year saw great progress. Two purchases from the Model Land Co., aggregating 210,000 acres to which the company had record title, and costing $298,000, were consummated. In order to make these purchases at such a price, however, it was necessary to allow exploration for oil for a period of years, and to permit its recovery, if discovered within that period, until such time as the yield is no longer sufficient to be profitable.
Private lands still unacquired amount to less than half of the lands within the boundaries agreed upon in 1944 which were privately owned when the park was established 2 years ago. They are in many small parcels; the prices which will have to be paid for a number of them will undoubtedly be somewhat higher than those for which the lands already obtained have been purchased.
Leon M. Gray, a distinguished engineer, who, for several years before the war, was the head of Region One’s engineering division, and who
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was placed in charge of the Everglades acquisition program when it was initiated, died in January, after an illness of several months. He was succeeded by Albert B. Manly, who formerly headed the Valuation Section of the Interstate Commerce Commission. Mr. Manly had previously been employed on Mr. Gray’s staff as an appraiser.
Independence National Historical Park Project ready for launching.—Public Law 795 of the Eightieth Congress, passed a year ago, authorized the establishment of Independence National Historical Park in Philadelphia and authorized the appropriation of $4,435,000 for the purchase of the required property. An item of $500,000 for this purpose was included in the Interior Appropriation Act passed by the House of Representatives, but not yet acted on by the Senate.
In June Secretary Krug announced the names of the 11 Philadelphians whom he had appointed to serve as members of the Independence National Historical Park Advisory Commission, under authority granted by the 1948 act. These included Judge Edwin O. Lewis, who was chairman of the Philadelphia National Shrines Park Commission; A. G. B. Steel, banker and civic leader; and Arthur C. Kauffman, executive vice president of Gimbel Brothers—all nominated by Gov. James H. Duff of Pennsylvania; three persons nominated by Mayor Bernard R. Samuel of Philadelphia—Thomas Buckley, director of the Department of Public Works; Edward Hopkinson, Jr., chairman of the City Planning Commission; and Albert M. Greenfield, who had served as vice chairman of the Philadelphia National Shrines Park Commission. John P. Hallahan and Sydney E. Martin were recommended by the Carpenters’ Co. and the Independence Hall Association, respectively. United States Senator Francis J. Myers, who had also been a member of the other commission; Joseph Silk Clark, Jr., a director of the Citizens’ Council on City Planning; and Michael E. Bradley, collector of customs, complete the roster.
The Service will proceed as rapidly as possible with the establishment of the necessary staff for the task ahead.
Proposals for new areas.—Of the 29 areas proposed during the past year for inclusion in the National Park System, only 4 were considered of enough importance to justify even preliminary field investigation.
Two areas suggested because of historic interest were scheduled for investigation, and for consideration by the Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments. At the suggestion of the Department, preliminary data were assembled for consideration as to the desirability of national park or monument status for Shishaldin or some other active volcano in the Aleutians.
Progress on authorized projects.—The State of Tennessee has presented for review a deed to approximately 2,200 acres of land to be transferred to the United States for inclusion in the Cumberland Gap
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National Historical Park project. A deed to approximately 5,300 acres is virtually ready to be presented by the State of Kentucky. The 1950 fiscal year will probably see Virginia ready to present a deed for its portion, approximately 7,500 acres.
In June just past, a deed for 24 acres of land near Bradenton, Fla., donated as the site of the DeSoto National Memorial, was accepted. At the year’s end, establishment of the memorial awaited only the required publication of notice in the Federal Register.
The Castle Clinton National Monument project at the Battery, in New York City, took a step forward when Governor Dewey, on April 28, approved a State act authorizing the city of New York to transfer the property to the United States. The transfer, contingent upon the appropriation of Federal funds for repair and development, must be made before July 1, 1950.
Approximately 54 acres of land, with seven buildings, were acquired from War Assets Administration for the Fort Vancouver National Monument in the State of Washington.
Deficiencies in the title to 1,000 acres to be conveyed by the State of Iowa for the Effigy Mounds National Monument are being cured by the State. It is expected that the monument will be established soon.
The award of $78,895 in a condemnation suit brought by the United States to acquire the 210 acres needed for the George Washington Carver National Monument, near Joplin, Mo., exceeded the amount authorized and appropriated for the purpose by $48,895. Additional authorization and appropriation within the “reasonable time” granted by the court will be required if this project is to be established.
There was a revival of interest in the Cape Hatteras National Seashore Recreational Area project, on which the State of North Carolina had postponed action for several years in order to permit exploration of the area for oil. Representatives of the Service met with a local group at Manteo in June to explain the scope of the project and to dispel certain misunderstandings regarding it which had arisen during the past few years.
St. Croix Monument authorized.—In June, the President approved an act which authorized the establishment of St. Croix Island National Monument, in eastern Maine. The act authorized acceptance of private lands on the island, site of the first French settlement in the New World, and the acquisition of not more than 50 acres on the mainland opposite the island to provide a satisfactory approach to the St. Croix River and an administrative site.
Service activity in disposal of surplus realty.—Public Law 616, approved in June 1948, places on the National Park Service the responsibility of reviewing all applications from States and local governments for the transfer of surplus land holdings for public park,
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recreational area, and historic monument purposes. During the year, 31 applications, involving as many separate installations, which had cost the Federal Government more than $6,000,000, were referred to the Service for study and recommendation.
Of 24 of these, affecting about 23,500 acres of land and various improvements, and envisioning public park and recreational use, 17 were approved by the War Assets Administration, as recommended by the Service. More than $620,000, representing 50 percent of the fair value, has been paid for them.
Five of the areas were requested solely for historic monument purposes. Fort McDowell (Angel Island) in San Francisco Bay, containing 641 acres, with 235 buildings, and valued at approximately $730,000, is the largest of these. Transfers for historic monument use are made without cost.
The harbor defenses (Fort Moultrie) of Charleston, S. C., turned over to the State Board of Forestry, was one of two areas requested for a combination of park and monument purposes.
The Federal Property and Administrative Service Act of 1949, which established the General Services Administration, provides for the disposal of surplus realty for parks, recreation areas and historic monuments as a permanent function. It is expected that the National Park Service will continue to participate in the surplus property disposal program in cooperation with the General Services Administration.
PERSONNEL SITUATION IMPROVES
The years immediately following the war were marked by many necessary shifts of employees. During the past year, however, there have been no changes in assignments to major administrative or professional positions.
Important from the long-range administrative standpoint was the completion of the conversion of park ranger positions from custodial to administrative grades. The new classification reflects the duties of the positions more accurately, raises the top ranger grade to CAF-11, and recognizes the logical avenue of advancement for park rangers in the career system.
Approximately 100 park rangers have only temporary indefinite appointments. Many of the incumbents of these positions have been on the rolls for more than 3 years; recruitment is difficult for positions offering uncertain tenure. It is a pleasure, therefore, to record that the Civil Service Commission announced a park ranger examination, scheduled for mid-August, offering the definite prospect of establishment of a register from which these positions may be filled on a permanent basis.
326 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
In genera], hiring experience has improved and the percentage of vacancies in permanent positions is lower than it has been at any time since 1941. However, funds have been insufficient to provide a satisfactory number of professional positions in the entrance, or trainee, grades to insure continuity of staff for the future. Since this situation was acute during the war, there is a gap of nearly 8 years in career progression which is already beginning to handicap the Service in filling positions by promotion from within the organization.
Appropriations for 1949 were sufficient to permit small increases in field staff. Total increases above the wartime staffs have been far less proportionately, however, than the increase in the volume of work which they are called upon to perform.
MISSION TO JAPAN
At the request of the Secretary of the Army, Charles A. Richey, Assistant Chief of Land and Recreational Planning, spent about 3% months (April 28 to August 11, 1948) in Japan, to undertake a study of the Japanese national park system and the laws which govern it, for the purpose of formulating recommendations for preservation and for organization of the development and administration of the parks “along centralized lines for the public benefit.”
During his stay in Japan, working in conjunction with the Civil Information and Education Section, SCAP, Mr. Richey visited 12 of the 13 existing national parks and a number of proposed national park areas. He conferred with all agencies of the occupation forces and of the Japanese central and local governments in any way concerned with the legal, developmental, and administration problems of the park system, and with a large number of civic groups. He reported a tremendous interest among the Japanese people and a great eagerness to learn how to protect their parks and how to manage them most effectively in the interest of the public.
Though admittedly not complete or exhaustive because of the limited time which could be spent in Japan, Mr. Richey’s report, submitted to the Civil Information and Education Section, offers a careful analysis of existing conditions and a series of specific recommendations. These covered such matters as the urgent need of assistance to Japan in planning park and recreational facilities, desirable amendments and supplements to existing national park law to provide greater protection, extension of the existing system to include a few more of the outstanding samples of Japanese scenery, the curbing of practices which are destroying some of the natural qualities of the parks, the protection of historic sites, the training of planning personnel, the establishment of both a central administrative organization
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 327
and a field organization, bureau status for the park administration, parkways, destructive land-use practices, and a variety of other matters.
The National Park Service is gratified that its cooperation was sought in so important an undertaking and proud to have been able to provide the services of so competent a consultant.
LAKE TEXOMA RETURNED TO ENGINEERS
On June 30, 1949, administration of the Lake Texoma Recreational Area, in Texas and Oklahoma, was assumed by the Corps of Engineers of the Department of the Army, which had constructed the Denison Dam on the Red River, thus creating the lake. Termination of the arrangement, under which the National Park Service took over responsibility for the development and management of the lake and the lands surrounding it for recreational use in 1946, was requested by the Department of the Interior. Throughout the period of the Service’s responsibility, administration was made difficult by the unsatisfactory division of authority between the Service and the Corps; there was, in addition, considerable local dissatisfaction occasioned by the slow rate of development under Service administration, because of inadequate appropriations, heightened by the belief that the corps would spend much more on developments.
Providing a great variety of water recreation in a part of the country in which opportunities of the sort were previously nonexistent, Lake Texoma quickly attained a volume of public use considerably surpassing that of any other area administered by the Service. From approximately 400,000 visitors during the first year of the Service’s administration, the number jumped in 2 years to nearly 2,500,000. During the 9 months of the 1949 travel year that it remained under Service control, the visitor total exceeded 1,900,000.
1949 ERUPTION OF MAUNA LOA
After 6 years and 8 months of quiescence, Mauna Loa, in Hawaii National Park, resumed eruptive activity on January 6. The first phase, January 6-8, consisted of the initial rupture and early fountaining along a 3-mile rift, producing a great flow of pumice-crusted lava. The second, or cone-building phase, lasting nearly a month, included the partial sealing of the rift and the restricting of fountaining to two vents. The larger of the fountains played to heights of 600 to 800 feet, producing an exceptionally large complete cinder and pumice cone. During this phase there were vigorous flows. The third, or lava-cone phase, which began February 6, was still active at the year’s
863238—50----22
328 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
end, and may continue for an indefinite time, with the possibility of weak or moderate flows from time to time.
Members of the park staff have thoroughly covered all phases of the eruption, both on the ground and from the air. Excellent color motion pictures were obtained and edited for use in the interpretive program. Research in the study of radiation and heat problems occurring during the various phases of the eruption has been carried on by the park staff and the Geological Survey. Though few park visitors could make the trip to the summit, many of them flew over it at various times. Two flows coursing down the side of the mountain afforded an excellent opportunity to observe that phase of the eruption from a distance.
THE ADVISORY BOARD
The Advisory Board on National Parks, Historic Sites, Buildings, and Monuments, under the chairmanship of Dr. Waldo G. Leland, spent February 8-10 in Washington in a review of National Park Service plans and activities. In addition, the Board determined upon the establishment of six committees—on biological problems, on historical problems, on recreational problems, on educational problems, on liaison, and on review.
Through this group, the National Park Service has available the knowledge and judgment and experience of experts in a number of special fields, furnished freely and with a fine spirit of public service. Their deep interest in national park affairs is combined with an objectivity which those who deal daily with the problems affecting the National Park System can scarcely expect to maintain. Their contributions, as individuals and as a group, are of very great value to the Service.
AIRPORTS AND THE PARKS
The increasingly close relationship between the National Park Service and the Civil Aeronautics Administration is shown by Service cooperation with the Administration in preparing its annually revised national airport plan, looking toward the provision of airports, as the need develops, reasonably close to the entrances of the major national parks and monuments but outside their boundaries. Legislation which would authorize the Department to sponsor or co-sponsor such developments has been introduced in the present Congress.
Membership on the Interior-Commerce Departmental Airport Committee was extended to the Department of Agriculture. The group was redesignated as the Interior-Commerce-Agriculture Airport Committee, on which both the National Park Service and the Forest Service are represented.
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The National Park Service has still been unable to reach a solution of the problem of control of flights over the park and monuments, in the interest of safety and of keeping to a minimum the disturbance caused by noise; but the matter is still being studied.
MOUNTAIN CLIMBING IN THE PARKS
Many areas of the National Park System provide a strong lure to the mountain climber, with Rocky Mountain National Park probably the most popular in this respect. For Longs Peak alone, more than 1,800 ascents were recorded. The Teton Mountains, Grand Teton National Park, were the climbing objective of 245 organized parties. A party of 6 attempted to climb Mount McKinley, but only 3 reached the top.
No changes were made in the climbing regulations during the year, since the desires of qualified climbers and mountaineering organizations generally appear to be satisfied under those now in effect. A few experienced climbers continue to advocate the rescinding of all regulations which require climbers to obtain permits from the superintendent or which permit him to prohibit climbs. However, in no case during 1948 was a climb prohibited; on the other hand, several parties, at the time of registration for a climb, altered their plans after listening to the advice of expert climbers on the park staffs.
A number of accidents resulted from failure to observe the regulations and refusal to heed the warnings of Service officers. Temporary lapses from safety precautions were the principal causes of accidents and fatalities. There were five deaths from mountaineering accidents. Three of the victims were visitors, one a Park Service employee off duty, and one a concession employee, also off duty.
To train key men in mountain-rescue work, who could in turn instruct other employees, was the major objective of the first mountain-climbing and rescue training school for Service employees, held at Mount Rainier National Park September 13-17, and attended by representatives of 11 parks and monuments.
NAMES OF GEOGRAPHIC FEATURES APPROVED
The Board on Geographic Names has approved the naming of two peaks in Big Bend National Park in honor of Roger W. Toll and George S. Wright, who were killed in an automobile accident while returning from an official visit to the prospective park in 1936. Also honored by having a peak in Rocky Mountain National Park named for him was Joe Mills, who was active in promoting the establishment of the park. Other decisions of the Board included Oastler Castle, a formation in Bryce Canyon National Park, named for the late Dr.
330 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Frank R. Oastler, one of the originators of the interpretive program of the National Park Service and a member of the advisory Board; Mount Conard and Conard Meadows, Lassen Volcanic National Park, named for Arthur L. Conard, who was active in the establishment and development of that park; Carson Mountain, Shenandoah National Park, named for William E. Carson who, as chairman of the Virginia Conservation and Development Commission, spearheaded the work involved in acquiring lands for Shenandoah; and extensive lists of names of features in Glacier Bay National Monument, Alaska, and the Lake Mead National Recreational Area in Arizona and Nevada.
LIVESTOCK GRAZING
When Jackson Hole National Monument was established in 1943, some of the strongest opposition came from the stockmen who had been using range within the area, and who feared that their grazing privileges would be curtailed or abolished. However, in accordance with the policy immediately announced by Secretary Ickes, established privileges have been determined and recognized, and have been definitely attached to the base lands on which they had been established. All grazing on monument lands is now under term permit and on a routine basis.
The problem of trespass stock continues to be disturbing in a number of areas, particularly where overgrazing results. Its satisfactory solution can be reached only through an extensive fencing program. In some instances the impounding of trespass stock has had a deterrent effect, especially where the trespass has been deliberate.
In several areas the impact of grazing by pack and saddle animals on mountain meadows has become a serious problem. A special study of the problem was made in Yosemite National Park during the past year.
In four areas in the southwest, the year brought a permanent annual reduction of 3,961 animal-use months of livestock grazing.
FIELD NOTES
Service participation in storm relief.—Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain, and Zion National Parks all contributed snow-removal machinery and operating personnel for use in opening snow-blocked roads, under the general direction of the Bureau of Land Management, during the heavy storms of February and March. Glacier and Grand Teton National Parks, Lake Mead Recreational Area, Theodore Roosevelt National Memorial Park, and Arches and Death Valley National Monuments also participated in “Operation Snowbound.” Because
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 331 of distress conditions in the vicinity of Zion, that park made a notable contribution to relieving the situation there before the Bureau took over direction of the work. Also, during late December and early January, roads in northeastern Colorado were blocked so badly that the State highway department was unable to cope with the situation and personnel and equipment from Rocky Mountain National Park were called on for help, which was effectively rendered. High and deserved praise was expressed for the efficiency of the work carried out by National Park Service crews and for their untiring efforts in the emergency.
The unprecedented cold and snow in the higher altitudes of Death Valley National Monument required a long period of snow removal on main roads in that area. Monument personnel made rescues of 12 persons marooned at mines in the mountains and undoubtedly prevented loss of life.
Crater Lake freezes oner.—Widespread interest was aroused last February by the fact that Crater Lake, for the first time in recorded history, was solidly frozen over, to depths ranging from 2 to 12 inches, and snow-covered. For more than 2 months, visitors to the park, many of whom were attracted there by this unusual occurrence, beheld an expanse of white in place of the sapphire waters so justly famous.
Service conference at Grand Canyon.—About 150 employees attended the National Park Service conference, held at Grand Canyon October 4-8, 1948. Devoted to intensive and lively discussion of all phases of the Service’s work, the meeting was highlighted by Secretary Krug’s address and by the ceremony in which the Secretary conferred the Department’s distinguished service medal on Assistant Chief Ranger “Bill” Butler of Mount Rainier National Park, for his courageous and successful search for the Marine plane which crashed on the upper South Tahoma Glacier on December 10,1947.
Two discoveries.—A collection of bones discovered in undisturbed condition under a large accumulation of cave stoneflow in a remote section of Carlsbad Caverns were identified by Dr. J. L. Gazin of the National Museum as those of the ground sloth Notherotherium. Exploration prompted by persistent reports of dinosaur tracks in a wide section of Zion National Park resulted in the finding of 45 to 50 good identifiable tracks on large slabs of rock.
Membership on departmental field committees.—Both the Region Three office in Santa Fe and the Region Four office in San Francisco are represented on Interior Department field committees, to which the regional directors are called upon to devote considerable time. Perhaps the most active of these committees is that for the Pacific Northwest though the work of the Alaska field committee is assuming increasing importance. The comprehensive reports of the Pacific
332 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Northwest committee have required a great deal of research and study by many Service personnel.
Travel volume again sets record.—For the third successive year, travel to the areas administered by the National Park Service set a new record during the travel year ending September 30, 1948. The total was 29,608,318. For the fiscal year 1949, visitors totaled 31,355,951, against 27,881,015 for the 1948 fiscal year.
Yellowstone and Rocky Mountain National Parks each had more than a million visitors for the first time in their history.
Yosemite motion picture.—Last spring the Atwater Kent Foundation gave the original and one copy of the sound-and-color motion picture of Yosemite National Park, taken by Mr. Ted Phillips, to the National Park Service. Arrangement are under way to reproduce and market this film in somewhat shortened and revised form, to bring this fine presentation of a great park to a large audience.
Information relating to the National Park System June 30, 19^9
State Federal land Approximate visitors July 1, 1947-June 30, 1948 Approximate visitors July 1, 1948-June 30, 1949
National parks Acres
Acadia. ... ....... Maine 28,309. 68 438, 644 474, 885
Big Bend _ Texas .. 691,978. 95 35^ 098 48,869
Bryce Canyon. . . Utah 36,010.38 166,136 179,406
Carlsbad Caverns . New Mexico 45, 526. 59 422, 226 428, 299
Crater Lake . . Oregon ._ _. _ 160, 290.33 359,314 318, 752
E verglades . Florida 341. 969.00 (1)' 70, 836
Glacier Montana . 997, 695. 04 331, 813 312, 798
Grand Canyon Arizona 645,295.91 620,875 588' 189
Grand Teton.. Wyoming 94, 892.92 145,040 154,521
Great Smoky Mountains Tennessee-North Carolina 461,003.79 1, 277, 846 1, 467,113
Hawaii Territory of Hawaii . 173,404. 60 409,331 393, 580
Hot Springs Arkansas L 019.13 305i 299 309,859
Isle Royale . ...... Michigan .. 133, 838. 51 7,961 9,152
Kings Canyon. California . .. 452,824.82 239,262 292, 298
Lassen Volcanic do . 103,429.28 147,458 164, 768
Mammoth Cave ... ... Kentucky ... 50, 695. 73 190, 059 191, 808
Mesa Verde . . .. .. Colorado ... ... . . . .. 51, 017. 87 54,855 62, 787
Mount McKinley Alaska. .. ... . ... 1, 939,319. 04 4,477 4, 659
Mount Rainier.. Washington. .... 241,524. 77 860,335 551', 249
Olympic . _ .do 846, 765. 66 188,183 255, 928
Platt . Oklahoma. . ... .. '911.97 740, 580 783,856
Rocky Mountain. Colorado... .. .. . 252, 788. 28 954, 779 1, 014,134
Sequoia California. 385,100.13 354,481 394' 248
Shenandoah Virginia ... . . 193,472. 98 887, 646 1,006, 766
Wind Cave . South Dakota... 26, 576.15 103,467 112,793
Yellowstone .. Idah o-M ontana-W yoming . 2, 213, 206.55 941, 578 1,044' 796
Yosemite .. California . .1 5... 756,440. 62 735,120 773,177
Zion . _ . . Utah 94, 241. 06 285, 728 306j 366
Total.. 11,419,549.74 11, 207,591 11, 715,892
National historical parks
Abraham Lincoln Kentucky 116. 50 68, 742 80,375
Chalmette . .. Louisiana.. . . 33.25 5L 933 49, 759
Colonial. . . Virginia 7,129.00 691, 744 896' 954
Morristown . New Jersey 958.37 313,365 337, 065
Saratoga New York .. 2, 087.59 54, 350 67, 328
Total 10,324. 71 1,180,134 1,431,481
See footnotes at end of table.
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 333
Information relating to the National Park System June 30, 19^9—Continued
State Federal land Approximate visitors July 1, 1947-June 30,1948 Approximate visitors July 1, 1948-June 30,1949
National military parks Acres
Chickamauga and Chattanooga. Georgia-Tennessee 8,127.16 271, 526 245, 236
Fort Donelson Tennessee 102. 54 32, 724 28, 028
Fredericksburg and Spotsylvania. Gettysburg Virginia 2,420.71 107, 043 124, 444
Pennsylvania 2,534.11 657,050 658,908
Guilford Courthouse North Carolina 148.83 36,190 35,970
Kings Mountain South Carolina 4,012.00 32, 813 34,042
Moores Creek North Carolina 30.00 4, 202 5,811
Petersburg Virginia 1,324. 62 138,383 165,301
Shiloh Tennessee 3,729. 26 275,276 304, 208
Stones River do 323. 86 5,475 5, 550
Vicksburg Mississippi 1,323.56 33,299 33, 942
Total 24,076.65 1,593,981 1,641,440
National battlefield parks
Kennesaw Mountain Georgia 3,094.21 41, 362 45, 983
Richmond Virginia 684. 44 26,100 38,154
Total — 3, 778. 65 67,462 84,137
National memorial parks
Theodore Roosevelt North Dakota 58, 341. 26 2 4, 563 63,470
——————————— ■ ... ——
National monuments
Ackia Battleground Mississippi 49.15 (*) (')
Andrew Johnson Appomattox Court House Tennessee Virginia 17.08 968. 25 24,496 25, 600 22,194 29,350
Arches Utah 33, 929. 94 6,807 11,335
Aztec Ruins New Mexico 27.14 13,886 14,932
Badlands South Dakota 122, 972.46 345,712 392,476
Bandelier New Mexico 27,048. 89 26, 710 30, 414
Big Hole Battlefield Montana 200.00 2, 585 .3,133
Black Canyon of the Gunnison. Colorado 13,176.02 23, 710 25,167
Cabrillo California 0. 50 382,447 444, 637
Canyon de Cbelly Arizona 83,840.00 2, 021 2,460
Capitol Reef Utah 33, 068. 74 (') (’)
Capulin Mountain New Mexico 680.42 30, 600 32,100
Casa Grande Arizona 472.50 36, 837 30, 752
Castillo de San Marcos Florida 18. 51 266,169 312,880 («)
Castle Pinckney South Carolina 3.50 (*)
Cedar Breaks Utah b, 172. 20 29, 228 34, 948
Chaco Canyon New Mexico 18, 039.39 1,107 1, 303
Channel Islands California 3 26, 819. 26 (*) (*)
Chiricahua Arizona 10, 529.80 13, 916 15, 274
Colorado Colorado 18,120. 55 58, 596 65, 959
Craters of the Moon Idaho 47, 210.67 28,007 33,452
Custer Battlefield Montana 765.34 60, 237 74, 264
Death Valley California-Nevada 1,850, 565.20 161,359 156,153
Devil Postpile California 798. 46 (*) (’)
Devils Tower W yoming 1,193. 91 41,214 53,391
Dinosaur Colorado-Utah 190, 798.49 10, 222 11, 783
El Morro New Mexico 240.00 1,672 2,690
Father Millet Cross New York .01 (') (*)
Fort Frederica Georgia 74. 53 47, 722 54, 759
Fort Jefferson Florida 4 47,125.00 7,053 If 111
Fort Laramie Wyoming 214.41 12,159 15, 295
Fort Matanzas Florida 227. 76 13, 211 15,665
Fort McHenry Maryland 47.64 458, 416 527,147
Fort Pulaski Georgia 5,427.39 35,074 37, 459
Fort Sumter South Carolina 2.40 (l) (*)
Fossil Cycad South Dakota 320.00 (0 (*)
George Washington Birthplace. Virginia 393.68 40,000 43,882
Gila Cliff Dwellings New Mexico 160.00 (>) (*)
Glacier Bay Alaska 2, 297,597. 73 (') (*)
Grand Canyon Arizona 196, 051.00 137 168
Gran Quivira New Mexico 450. 94 2, 266 2, 501
Great Sand Dunes Colorado 35, 908.19 15, 989 18, 665
Holy Cross do 1,392.00 (*) (')
Homestead Nebraska 162.73 2, 731 2,411
See footnotes at end of table.
334 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Information relating to the National Park System June 30, 191/9—Continued
State Federal land Approximate visitors July 1, 1947-June 30, 1948 Approximate visitors July 1, 1948-June 30, 1949
National monuments—Con.
Acres
Hovenweep Utah-Colorado 299.34 156 198
Jackson Hole Wyoming 173, 064. 62 (>) G)
Jewel Cave South Dakota 1, 274. 56 15,276 8,675
Joshua Tree California 687, 031. 60 60, 671 63, 580 (')
Katmai Alaska 2, 697, 590.00 (')
Lava Beds California 46, 027. 56 33, 768 35, 506
Lehman Caves Nevada 640. 00 5,297 6, 447
Meriwether Lewis Tennessee 300. 00 13, 229 15,411
Montezuma Castle Arizona 783.09 25,495 28,181
Mound Citj7 Group Muir Woods Ohio California-.. 57. 00 424. 56 34, 299 282,469 39, 862 269, 793
Natural Bridges Utah 2, 649. 70 360.00 1,190 405 1,154
Navajo Arizona 661
Ocmulgee Georgia 683. 48 27, 469 31, 624
Old Kasaan Alaska 38. 00 (?) (*)
Oregon Caves Oregon 480. 00 80, 938 74, 054
Organ Pipe Cactus Arizona 328,161.73 94, 449 121,615
Perry’s Victory Ohio 14.25 41, 253 85, 606
Petrified Forest Arizona 85, 303. 63 340, 098 332, 033
Pinnacles . California 12,817. 77 19, 638 21, 772
Pipe Spring Arizona 40.00 743 1, 057
Pipestone Minnesota 115. 60 5,143 21,435
Rainbow Bridge Utah 160.00 (') G)
Saguaro Arizona 53, 669. 24 19, 867 21, 592
Scotts Bluff Nebraska 2,196. 44 45,884 (5) 52, 050
Shoshone Cavern Wyoming 212.37 (6)
Sitka Alaska 57.00 6, 735 6,584
Statute of Liberty New York 10.38 537,171 555, 961
Sunset Crater Arizona 3,040.00 20, 699 26, 371
Timpanogos Cave Utah 250.00 54,492 59, 598
Tonto Arizona 1,120. 00 15, 761 16, 517
Tumaeaeori do 10.00 26, 425 24, 904
Tuzigoot do 42. 67 16, 900 17,010
Verendrye North Dakota 253.04 (*) 0)
Walnut Canyon Arizona 1, 641.62 300. 00 20,613 21, 296
Wheeler Colorado (') G)
White Sands New Mexico 140, 247.04 106,134 138,653
Whitman Washington 45.84 (’) 7, 262
Wupatki Arizona 34,853.03 4,999 5, 710
Yucca House Colorado 9. 60 93 32
Zion Utah 33, 920. 75 (*) G)
Total — 9,383,477. 29 4,185, 655 4, 638,314
National battlefield sites
Antietam Maryland 183.33 32, 205 32, 653
Brices Crossroads Mississippi 1.00 G) G)
Cowpens South Carolina 1.00 1,419 80, 096 1,910
Fort Necessity Pennsylvania 2.00 89,399
Tupelo Mississippi „ 1.00 G) G)
White Plains New York 00 G) G)
Total — 188.33 113, 720 123, 962
National historic sites
Adams Mansion Massachusetts 4.05 1, 614 6,739
Atlanta Campaign Markers Georgia 20.96 G) G)
Federal Hall Memorial New York 0.49 76, 656 77,381
Fort Raleigh North Carolina 16.45 103, 846 105,407
Hampton Maryland 43.30 (*) G)
Home of Franklin D. Roosevelt- New York 33.23 473, 724 454, 564
Hopewell Village Pennsylvania 848.06 73,249 81,373
Jefferson National Expansion Memorial. Missouri 82.58 28, 055 24, 555
Manassas Battlefield Park Virginia 1,604. 57 9,332 19,838
Old Philadelphia Custom House. Pennsylvania 0. 79 26,100 26,165
Salem Maritime Massachusetts 8. 61 15, 916 21,184
Vanderbilt Mansion New York 211.65 61, 256 73,022
Total — 2,874.74 869, 748 890, 228
San Juan Puerto Rico e 40.00 — (»)
See footnotes at end of table.
PART II-ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 335
Information relating to the 'National Park System June 30, 1949—Continued
State Federal land Approximate visitors July 1, 1947-June 30,1948 Approximate visitors July 1, 1948-June 30, 1949
National memorials House Where Lincoln Died District of Columbia Acres 0.05 314.40 2.71 .61 .18 1,668.27 .92 1.20 .37 55,153 80, 784 311,573 1, 511,390 102,100 445,174 (>) 560, 896 799, 548 53,254 75,663 330, 745 1, 605, 645 105, 267 628,845 (*) 544,081 851, 272
Kill Devil Hill .. North Carolina
Lee Mansion Virginia _
Lincoln Memorial _ District of Columbia
Lincoln Museum _ . do
Mount Rushmore - South Dakota
New Echota Marker Georgia.. -
Thomas Jefferson District of Columbia ._ _ _.
Washington Monument- _ _ do
Total
1, 988. 71 3,866, 618 4,194, 772
National cemeteries Antietam __ Maryland _
11.36 1.03 15.34 12.00 15. 55 8. 72 10.25 20.09 119. 76 2.91 (7) 2,700 (7) (7) (7) (7) (7) (7) (7) (’) (’) 2,700 (’) (’) (7) (7) (7) (7) (’) (7)
Battleground _ District of Columbia _
Fort Donelson Tennessee
Fredericksburg- . __ Virginia..
Gettysburg Pennsylvania
Poplar Grove Virginia
Shiloh Tennessee. . ..
Stones River _ .do . ...
Vicksburg Mississippi - .. _
Y orktown Virginia.
Total
217.01 2,700 2,700
National parkways Blue Ridge - .. North Carolina-Virginia
44,822.61 2, 912. 67 13,648.87 1,371,481 (>) 0) 1,507, 036 (*) (>)
George Washington Memorial.. Natchez Trace Virginia-Maryland _ .. . _
Tennessee-Alabama-Mississippi.
Total
61,384.15 1,371,481 1, 507,036
National capital parks National Capital Parks Maryland-Virginia-District of Columbia.
29,046. 52 (8) (8)
Grand total National Park System.
20,995, 247.76 24,463, 653 26,293,432
1 No travel figures available or maintained.
2 Travel shown from May through June 1948 only.
8 Area encompassed by map included with and made a part of Presidential proclamation extending monument boundaries is approximately 26,819.26 acres.
4 Area encompassed on map included with and made a part of Presidential proclamation establishing monument. Land area only is 86.82 acres.
5 Closed to public.
6 Acreage approximate only. Area not included in historic site figures nor National Park System total acreage since it is administered by agreement with the Department of the Army, which has basic jurisdiction.
7 Included in travel figures of adjacent battlefield sites, military or historical parks, or memorials.
3 Travel reported only for national memorials under National Capital Parks administration; shown under national memorials.
336 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
Information relating to projects and areas under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service but not within the National Park System, June 30,19Jj9
State Federal land acres Approximate visitors July 1, 1947-June 30, 1948 Approximate visi tors July 1 1948-June 30,1949
National recreational areas
Coulee Dam Lake Mead Millerton Lake Lake Texoma Washington Arizona-Nevada California Texas-Oklahoma 98, 500.00 1,899,728. 00 11,605. 00 106, 270 1, 576,689 352, 280 1,382,123 269, 217 1,507,800 389, 241 2, 996,261
Total 2, 009,833.00 3, 417, 362 5,162, 519
Recreational demonstration areas
Catoctin Custer Maryland South Dakota 9, 918. 28 6, 083.00 (>) (>) 0) (0
Total 16, 001. 28 —
National historic sites not federally owned
Gloria Dei Independence Hall Jamestown McLoughlin House Saint Paul’s Church San Jose Mission Touro Synagogue Pennsylvania do Virginia Oregon New York Texas Khode Island 1.20 (>)
Total 1.20 —
Projects ’
Independence National Historical Park-DeSoto National Memorial Cape Hatteras National Seashore Ke-creational Area. Olympic Ocean Strip and Queets Corridor. Pennsylvania Florida North Carolina Washington .63 24.18 82.10 44,963. 00 —
Total 45,069.91 —
Grand total, National Park System; other areas under jurisdiction of National Park Service; San Juan National Historic Site, under basic jurisdiction of the Department of the Army; and projects. 23, 066,193.15 27,881,015 31,455,951
1 No travel figures available or maintained.
2 Includes only those in which lands are under National Park Service administration.
Bureau of Indian Affairs
John R. Nichols, Commissioner
AS WAS reported last year, a beginning was made during fiscal year 1948 to profit from the accumulation of basic resource data brought together by Indian Service technicians. (See the Annual Report of the Secretary of the Interior, 1948, for an account of area program field surveys carried out by the Bureau of Indian Affairs since 1934.) This beginning took the form of a long-range program of rehabilitation and resource development for the Navajo-Hopi Reservation areas in New Mexico, Arizona, and Utah. Much of the material presented to the Congress in support of this program was the product of extensive studies over a period of 14 years of range resources, conservation methods, livestock breeding, water table levels, population characteristics, and similar physical and human factors.
The second major area program and supporting report was completed in fiscal year 1949—dealing with the 7,000 Papago Indians of southern Arizona. This tribe, like the Navajo and Hopi Indians, is one of the least favored, in terms of resources and economic opportunity, of any in the United States. While the Papago Tribal Council assumed a major responsibility for the preparation of this program, the council members found at hand an abundance of data in their reservation headquarters.
Several Indian tribes, upon learning of the action being taken in behalf of the Navajo, Hopi, and Papago Tribes, urged upon the Congressmen and Senators of their respective States that legislation authorizing basic rehabilitation programs be immediately introduced for their benefit. Accordingly, bills calling for capital expenditures, loan funds, and like items were introduced in behalf of the following tribes in the amounts stated:
Standing Rock Sioux, $10,000,000.
Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux, $1,000,000.
Fort Belknap Indian Community, $5,500,000.
Chippewa Cree Indians of the Rocky Boys Reservation, $3,510,000.
Devils Lake Sioux, $2,000,000.
Blackfeet Tribe of the Blackfeet Reservation, $2,000,000.
These bills were not supported by the kind of documentation which accompanied the Navajo-Hopi and the Papago programs. On the
337
338 4- ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
other hand, the Indians of these reservations and the interested Members of Congress had the advantage of the findings and reports of previous surveys.
THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT
It is not the intention of the Federal Government to continue in the role of trustee of the Indians’ property. The role was not assumed arbitrarily but devolved upon the United States out of historic antecedents. Colonial law generally guaranteed the Indians protection in their land holdings. The Royal Proclamation of October 7,1763, was a declaration by the King of England that the several nations or tribes of Indians “who live under our protection, should not be molested or disturbed in the possession of such parts of our dominion and territories as, not having been ceded to, or purchased by us, are reserved to them.” The United States incorporated similar policy into its basic law, declaring in the Northwest Ordinance of 1787:
The utmost good faith shall always be observed towards the Indians ; their land and property shall never be taken from them without their consent.
The protective role was dictated as a matter of public policy; moreover, it was most often the direct result of a treaty provision between an Indian tribe and the United States, in which the tribe requested protection for its members and its property. It is realized, however, that protective guardianship, if pursued without regard to the welfare of the person protected, can defeat its purpose. Development of the property to full utilization and encouragement of the owner to accept responsibility for management—these are the proper goals of Indian administration. They are the means by which the United States may, within a reasonable time, withdraw entirely from its historic role and turn over its trusteeship to a trained and responsible Indian people.
The procedure by which the United States may bring about a transfer of responsibility and authority to organized Indian communities has been in operation for some years.
In accordance with this procedure, during the fiscal year 1949, the Secretary of the Interior issued an order to relinquish departmental supervision over certain tribal affairs of the Saginaw Chippewa Indians. These Indians, numbering 540, live in Isabella County in lower Michigan; about 64 percent of this tribe is less than full-blood Indian, with only the older members still speaking their native Chippewa. The resources remaining to the Saginaw Tribe consist of about 1,800 acres of individually owned farm land, most of it of poor quality, and 450 acres purchased for the tribe in recent years. The tribe adopted a written constitution on May 8, 1937, in accordance with the Indian Reorganization Act of June 18, 1934, and on August
PART II-ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES
339
28 of the same year a charter of incorporation was issued by the Secretary of the Interior and ratified by tribal vote.
The tribal charter provided that transactions involving land leases or timber sales, certificates of interest in corporate property, the borrowing of money, the making of contracts calling for money payments, and other actions required approval of the Secretary of the Interior during an interim period of 5 years. Thereafter, the tribe could request the Secretary to relinquish his control over any or all of the actions, the Secretary having authority to grant the request or require the tribe to vote on the question.
Such a request was made in the form of a resolution adopted by the Saginaw Tribal Council. The Secretary, after carefully studying the progress made by the tribe since 1937, notified the council on July 18, 1949, that he saw “no reason why this Department should continue to exercise supervision” over the tribe with respect to the items in question.
Similar action in regard to the Stockbridge-Munsee Indians of Wisconsin, numbering about 500, was taken in 1948. As in the case of the Saginaw Chippewa Indians, the Wisconsin Indians are predominantly mixed blood and are well assimilated in the surrounding economic and social pattern.
LEGAL BASIS OF PRESENT POLICY
The legislative authority for the action taken in the case of these two tribes is the Indian Reorganization Act (Wheeler-Howard Act of 1934). This act protects the remaining Indian trust and tribal land against continued loss; it provides for increasing the Indian land holdings; it authorizes modern forms of organization to enable the Indians to make better use of their resources and it establishes a revolving fund of $10,000,000 for financing credit to Indians.
The central point of the Indian Reorganization Act may be found in the provisions dealing with tribal government and incorporation. The act recognized that native forms had not expired and recognized, as well, John Marshall’s legal thesis that a weaker people lost none of its attributes of power by the simple act of coming under the protection of a stronger. Thus, it was an invitation to the various tribes to assert their right to run their own affairs, to set up the machinery necessary for effective self-government under modern conditions. Inherent in the act is the promise that, once tribal self-government is established no executive official can abolish it or transfer its legitimate functions, but it can be altered or changed only by the tribe itself or by Congress. This self-government included, of course, the authority to the tribes to organize for business purposes, to buy
340 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
land, receive credit funds, sue, and be sued. On the other hand, the property of the tribal corporation is protected against taxation, attachment, and so forth. Also, they cannot sell or mortgage any of the land within the reservation, except upon permission of the Secretary of the Interior.
MAGNITUDE OF THE PROBLEM
Since Congress in 1819 first appropriated funds “for introducing among (the Indians) the habits and arts of civilization,” it has been the policy of the United States Government to educate the Indian people, to direct them into pursuits by which they might gain a livelihood, and to seek to incorporate them into the general population.
While this has been the basic and continuing objective of our Nation, the means of successfully accomplishing it has never been placed in the hands of the responsible administrative branch. It is to be doubted that the executive has even presented to the legislative branch a complete estimate of what the “cost” of “civilizing” the Indians might entail. Through the years it was assumed in the executive branch and in Congress that the annual requests for funds and for authorities to act in Indian affairs were in fact annual installments and steps leading toward the final liquidation of the problem.
Problems of human adjustment do not solve themselves, not when the people seeking to make the adjustment are hampered by lack of education, poor health, and deficient resources. The expenditures which have been made over the years in behalf of our Indian people were not based on any long-term plan for the orderly solving of the problems they faced. Rather, the record indicates that these expenditures and the physical effort released by them have been sporadic, discontinuous and generally insufficient.
This record explains why today many Indian children of school age have no schoolrooms and no teachers to provide for their education ; why many Indians are still without any kind of health care; why thousands of Indians are without any means of livelihood, either in the form of productive resources or marketable skills; why irrigable lands owned by Indians lie undeveloped in the arid West; why countless Indian communities are without roads on which to travel to school, to hospital, or to market.
Congress became aware of the deficiencies which beset the Navajo and Hopi Indians and, in Public Law 390 (80th Cong., 1st sess.), approved December 19, 1947, directed the Secretary of the Interior “to submit to the Congress his recommendation for necessary legislation for a long-range program” dealing with these Indians. The
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES > 341
Secretary later presented such a program, and supporting legislation, necessitating an expenditure of $90,000,000 over a 10-year period.
The time should be close when the whole Indian problem should be brought under scrutiny and solutions mapped out. The 400,000 Indians in the United States with their 56,000,000 acres of undeveloped lands represent human and natural resources which our Nation cannot afford to neglect. The average income of Indian farm families in recent years has amounted to about $500 at a time when the national farm income average was about $2,500. So long as our Indian people remain inadequately educated and in poor health, and so long as their resources remain only partly utilized, they will constitute a burden upon the public treasury and they, as individuals, will look upon the United States as unfaithful guardians of a trust. At a time when we are sharing our resources with other peoples throughout the world we should deal no less generously with the Indian citizens of our own country who have endured so much for so long.
Basically, the Indian “problem” is one that calls for men, money, and imaginative and patient management. There are no panaceas, no “overnight” solutions. But it is along some such lines that we must move to discharge our ancient obligation to the American Indian. As the Hoover Committee on Indian Affairs reported:
An ultimate substantial reduction in Federal expenditures in the field of Indian affairs is possible * * *. No immediate reduction can be made without delaying progress and postponing the time when expenditures can be curtailed substantially. * * * The length of time before expenditures can be reduced, without building up future costs, will depend largely upon the vigor with which the program is pushed. Vigor will depend on clear and consistent policy, leadership, and financial support.
LAND LOSSES
Again it must be reported that the rising demand for land and the high prices being paid have resulted in many Indians requesting sale or removal of restrictions from their lands. During the past fiscal year 871 patents in fee, covering 146,655 acres of land, were issued to Indian owners. This is more than twice the number of fee patents issued during the fiscal year 1948. In addition to the land alienated by the issuance of patents in fee, approximately 10,000 acres were alienated through the approval of deeds and issuance of certificates of competency and orders removing restrictions by the Secretary of the Interior. The latter total is exclusive of actions taken in the Five Civilized Tribes area of Oklahoma where approximately 900 tracts, embracing about 75,000 acres of land, were removed in accordance with special laws operating in that area.
342 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
The rate at which patents are being issued is evidently accelerating. Thus, in the first 6 months of 1949, patents covering 102,495 acres were allowed while during the entire year of 1948 a total area of 84,860 acres was involved.
It is disturbing to report for a second year that the demand for fee patents and for the removal of restrictions against alienation has taken a sharp upward turn. The disastrous results of the forced patenting of the 1920’s are well known. The Meriam Report of 1928 warned of the relatively small number of Indians who had been declared competent to manage their own affairs and who had retained possession of their property. With the ending of the sale of Indian allotments and heirship lands, except in case of emergency, in 1933 by the Secretary of the Interior, the situation was somewhat eased. Later, the Indian Reorganization Act declared that no land remaining in tribal ownership should be individually allotted, but the prohibition applied only to those tribes that voted to accept the application of the act.
The importance of land as a resource base for Indians was emphasized in the report of the Hoover Committee on Indian Affairs, which declared that “further alienation of Indian-owned resources should be stopped.” The report went on to state that issuance of fee patents and removal of restrictions on land should be discontinued until it is clear that such action is not in conflict with the area programs, such as the Navajo and the Papago. The report further declared:
Holding resources in Indian ownership will reduce the expense to the public as well as improve the ultimate position of Indian people. * * * The profit to the Indian is twofold: He increases his income and he acquires that experience as a farmer or rancher, or businessman that is indispensable to true “competence.” * * * Successful experience of this sort is also of enormous benefit in maturing Indians in the values of modern economic life. * * ♦ The practice of allotting land and issuing fee patents obviously did not make Indians “competent.” It proved to be chiefly a way of getting Indian land into non-Indian ownership.
Loss of Indian-owned trust or restricted land through sales, issuance of fee patents, and orders removing restrictions or granting certificates of competency was partly offset by acquisition of lands and the consolidation of Indian-owned lands into economic units. During 1948 emphasis was again placed Upon the acquisition by various tribes of the complex heirship lands in predominantly Indian-owned areas and the consolidation of scattered tracts through the process of exchange. During the past year approximately 2,500 instruments of land conveyance were approved in connection with the land acquisition program.
Since the limited funds available for the purchase of lands and the authority to purchase, sell, and exchange Indian-owned lands were
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 343 not adequate to afford a land consolidation program on a sufficiently wide scale to correct the “checkerboard” land pattern, legislation was proposed (H. R. 5099, 81st Cong.) to authorize an appropriation of $25,000,000 to enable the Secretary of the Interior to acquire land for resale to Indians on a long-term payment basis. Proceeds derived from such transactions would reimburse the United States in full for the funds advanced.
Other legislation proposed during the year would correct inequities in the land-use pattern and improve the economic base of the Indian. One proposal would authorize the leasing of Indian-owned lands for a period of time long enough to permit lessees to improve the land itself or to make improvements upon it for public, religious, educational, recreational, or business purposes. Likewise, it would permit the lessees to subjugate and place improvements on agricultural land which later would make it possible for the Indians to use the land. Such legislation would allow maximum use of Indian-owned lands for specific purposes, as is now the case in the State of Washington under terms of the act of August 9,1946 (60 Stat. 962), which authorizes the leasing of Indian lands for periods up to 25 years. Legislation has also been prepared to facilitate transfer of the management over Indian lands in California to individual Indians and groups of Indians who demonstrate ability to assume the responsibilities of land ownership. This legislation would also authorize execution of 25-year leases on trust or restricted lands.
The Bureau cooperated with the Colville (Wash.) tribe in preparing legislation (S. 1022 and H. R. 2432) which would restore approximately 818,000 acres of land, comprising the undisposed portion of the “opened” lands of the diminished Colville Indian Reservation that was authorized to be classified and opened to public disposition by the act of March 22, 1906 (34 Stat. 80). Approximately 475,000 acres of this land are valued for timber purposes. Restoration of these lands would provide a secure economic base for the Colville Indians.
The act of August 13, 1949 (Public Law 226, 81st Cong., 1st sess.), declared that the United States now holds title to 609,713 acres of land in trust for the Pueblo Indians and the Canoncito Navajo group in New Mexico. This legislation confirmed in the Indians- the continuing right to occupy and use the lands which they have improved during the past several years with their own money and labor.
During 1948 the Secretary of the Interior approved the allotment selections of 27 members of the Agua Caliente band of Mission Indians, Palm Springs, Calif. Other members of the band have made selections which are now before the Department for consideration.
863238—50---23
344 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
MINERALS DEVELOPMENT
The coordinated efforts of the Indians, the Federal Government and industry have resulted in maintaining the accelerated development of Indian mineral resources. There is close cooperation with the State and Federal Government agencies and the oil and gas industries in initiating and administering unit plans of operation, well spacing orders and repressuring operations. Exploratory operations are being vigorously pursued under permits and leases on a basis of sound conservation principles.
There is under consideration a water-flood repressuring project for the North Burbank field in the Osage Reservation, Okla. The reduced production from the field makes it necessary that the repressuring be on terms that will be beneficial to the Indians and enable the industry to develop the field on a sound economic basis. The field covers approximately 18,000 acres. If the negotiations are completed, it will be one of the largest water-flood repressuring projects of its kind.
Since the completion of the Hulah Dam in Oklahoma by the Army, it will be necessary for the Osage tribe to convey a part of its producing oil and gas land to the United States. Negotiations are under way for settlement of damages for the taking of the land.
As the result of oil and gas exploratory operations on the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, Utah, a strong interest has developed, and it is anticipated that considerable revenue will accrue to the Indians in bonuses, rents, and royalties.
The purchase of the Choctaw and Chickasaw segregated coal and asphalt lands by the United States was consummated by the appropriation of the purchase price of $8,500,000 in the Deficiency Appropriation Act of May 24, 1949. The lands comprise 370,000 acres of coal deposits, 2,800 acres of asphalt deposits, and 11,000 acres of surface lands. Distribution of the purchase price per capita will terminate a trusteeship of many years.
The following figures show the extent of Indian land mineral leasing and producing activities:
Acreage under oil and gas leases_______acres— 1,136, 363
Number of oil and gas leases in force________ 8, 095
Oil and gas wells____________________________ 11, 213
Acreage under lease for minerals other than oil and
gas----------------------------------acres_ 14,541
Leases sold during fiscal year--------------- 1,156
Bonus received_______________________________ $2, 111, 905
Income to individual Indians from mineral leasing
and production_____________________________$11, 742,174
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 345
RESOURCE FINANCING
Every study of Indian affairs that has been made since the turn of the century has emphasized the need of an adequate source of credit and technical advice on the best methods of using credit. Lack of an adequate credit source was one of the principal reasons for the poverty of the Indians noted in the Meriam Survey. Likewise, the report of tlie Hoover Committee on Indian Affairs stressed the need for credit.
Under the authorization contained in the Indian Reorganization Act of 1934, Congress appropriated $5,500,000 for loans. To this credit pool the Indians added $1,800,000 of their own funds. At the dose of the fiscal year on June 30, 1949, loans totaling more than $20,933,495 had been made, including Federal and tribal money. Most of these loans are made by the United States to the tribal corporations, credit associations, and cooperative groups. These bodies, in turn, lend to individuals or tribal enterprises. Loans are made for purposes that will improve the economic condition of the Indians. The repayment record thus becomes a fairly good device for measuring the progress made in improving the lot of the Indians.
The repayment record is especially good. On loans totaling $13,175,111.61, the sum of $7,790,836.65 was due on June 30, 1949. Of’this amount $7,564,267.29 was repaid. Repayments totaling $6,502.01 were in transit, $146,287.78 was extended, and $3,626.95 canceled. Only $70,152.62 was delinquent and a considerable portion of that amount is collectible.
Loans are now being made in 22 States and Alaska. The types or enterprises financed vary. Three salmon canneries have been purchased and financed in Alaska and are operating successfully. Loans have been made to many Eskimo villages for the operation of native stores around which the entire economy of the villages center. Throughout the reservations of the Great Plains area most of the loans are made for agricultural enterprises, principally livestock. Livestock enterprises also are financed in the Southwest area. In the Northwest and the Lake States areas, loans are granted mainly for fishing and allied enterprises.
Experience with loans from the Revolving Credit Fund, supplemented with tribal funds, shows that Indians are good credit risks. In order to succeed with their credit financed enterprises, however, they require assistance such as that supplied by extension workers.
Begun during 1930, the extension program now provides workers for 45 of the 55 Indian agencies, with the goal of helping the Indians to help themselves. Indians are now organized into livestock associations and 4-H Clubs for Indian youth. Through these orgam-
346 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
zations Indians participate in the planning of economic programs and are thus encouraged to develop leadership and initiative.
Evidence of the progress made in the extension program may be noted in the beef cattle program. In 1932 the Indians owned approximately 170,800 head of beef cattle. At the close of 1948 they owned over 363,000 head valued at $45,000,000. Income for sales of live and dressed cattle during 1948 totaled $17,859,000. Here may be mentioned the successful beef cattle enterprise on the San Carlos Reservation in Arizona, where, in 1948, the Indians received an income of $1,463,000 from their beef cattle program. The quality of their cattle has been improved to the point where they are known throughout the cattle industry. During the past 9 years 110,600 head of Apache-owned cattle were sold at auction sales and have gone into the States of Arizona, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, South Dakota, and New Mexico.
Another successful beef cattle enterprise is to be found at the Carson Agency, Stewart, Nev. Indian cattlemen there received an income of $431,600 in 1948 from beef cattle, receiving generally from $1 to $1.50 more per hundredweight than their white neighbors for the better quality of cattle produced.
Turkey raising has become an important industry at several Nevada reservations. During the 1948 season growers at Campbell Ranch marketed 2,295 birds for gross sales of $24,000. On the Fallon Reservation, 2,700 turkeys were sold for $28,000, of which $11,000 is considered profit. The Walker River Indians have also taken to raising turkeys and sold 1,700 birds for over $16,000.
On the Navajo Reservation, where emphasis has been placed on improving the quality of the stock, the average weight per fleece has increased from 4 to 6 pounds. Based on the number of mature ewes the percent of lamb crop has increased from 61 to 85 percent. The total weight of all wool has increased from 1,485,000 pounds (1930) to over 2,300,000 pounds (1948). These improvements are the result of the research work of the sheep breeding laboratory established and operated cooperatively by the Bureau of Animal Industry of the Department of Agriculture and the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and of the general livestock improvement program conducted on the reservation.
In 1934, some 29,000 Indian families were engaged in farming, compared with 40,200 families in 1948. The acreage farmed increased from 514,000 acres in 1934 to 854,000 acres in 1948. In the same period beef and dairy cattle numbers increased from 254,700 to 411,000.
PART II-ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 347
RESOURCE CONSERVATION
The ultimate position of the Indian people is primarily dependent on full use of their soil and water resources on a sustained yield basis. Alienation of Indian lands has materially reduced their opportunity to become competent and independent. Equally deplorable has been the loss of productivity through land depletion and erosion brought about by misuse.
Loss of production has been common under all types of land use. It has been most severe, however, on farm land under cultivation. A total of 700,000 acres, or more than 20 percent of productive Indian farm land has been rendered unfit for cultivation by excessive gullying and removal of topsoil.
LOSS OF PRODUCTIVE INDIAN FARM LAND CAUSED BY EROSION
The present rate of erosion loss of Indian lands is about 36,000 acres a year. Curve A-B in the graph above shows the loss to date and the rate at which it would continue without application of soil conservation practices. Curve A-C shows reduction of loss and saving of land under the program of soil conservation since its beginning on farm lands in 1941. End of the line at C shows how long it will take (42 years) to complete soil conservation at the present rate. Doubling the program and completing the work in half the time will prevent the loss of approximately 400,000 acres.
There has been more advance in the application of soil improvement practices on Indian lands in the past 5 years than in the preceding 25
348 + ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY OF THE INTERIOR
years. During 1948, for the first time since breaking up the virgin soil, a total of 367,182 acres was planted to leguminous green manure crops, 61,000 acres limed, and 167,500 acres treated with commercial fertilizer. Land leveling, terracing, rough tillage, and other erosionprevention and soil-improving practices have been used. On range lands flood waters have been diverted and spread over 300,000 acres.
Streambank protection, gully control, revegetation, sand dune control, and other practices are being applied as rapidly as technicians can plan the work. Realization of the value of conservation principles is confirmed by the fact that land users are expending $3 for each dollar spent by the Government.
The Cherokee Indians in North Carolina mountains participate at a rate of $5 to $1 in carrying out one of the most complete programs of proper land use in the country. Some of these people still use oxen for pulling a seeder with a fertilizer attachment. Yet the best varieties of hybrid seed are being used, and no cultivated field goes into the winter without a protective legume cover crop. Some pasture lands are so steep that lime and phosphate must be carried in buckets and scattered by hand; nevertheless, the most modern scientific recommendations for pasture mixtures and rotation of crops are followed.
On 7,200 Indian farms in Oklahoma operated under sound conservation principles, land users contribute at a ratio of $6 to $1. Even though the Navajos and Hopis have very limited means, they contribute hand labor and teams to the extent of $2 for each $1 expended by the Government on soil- and water-conservation projects.
The Indian lives close to the land. He understands working in harmony with natural forces, and when they are scientifically explained to him, he strengthens his natural competence in conservation practices. Many requests from tribes and Indian associations for assistance in saving and improving their land resources cannot be granted because of lack of professional personnel and other facilities.
Approbation of the soil conservation work was expressed in the report of the Hoover Committee on Indian Affairs:
To deal with some of the serious erosion which has taken place and is continuing, soil-and-moisture conservation projects to rebuild badly eroded areas are carried out on Indian lands. * * * The results in rehabilitating devastated areas are impressive. There has been substantial progress not only in the techniques of conserving soil and moisture but also in Indian attitudes toward soil conservation. Originally they were hostile or at least uninterested. Now they have caught on, are anxious to have conservation work done, and in, 1947 contributed 70 percent of the costs. The work should continue. The justification is the need for conservation.
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES +
Forest and Grass
349
The forest resources on approximately 16,000,000 acres of Indian lands are being managed in accordance with the principles of sustained yield. These resources play an important part in the economy of many tribes of Indians.
The Indians of the Menominee, Navajo, and Red Lake Reservations operate commercial tribal sawmills which enable them to obtain the full benefit of their forests through employment, opportunities to learn the skills of the lumber industry and income from the timber in terms of stumpage and profit. These enterprises, which utilized 41,400,000 board feet of timber last year, have been operated successfully. During the calendar year 1948, approximately 598,000,000 board feet of timber, with a value in excess of $4,800,000 were cut on Indian lands. The Indians cut 176,000,000 board feet with a value in excess of $1,000,000. The cash income to the Indians from the sale of timber was $4,597,676.
White pine blister rust continues to be a serious problem m the valuable stands of white pine on Indian lands in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Control projects have been conducted for a number of years in cooperation with the Bureau of Entomology and Plant Quarantine, Department of Agriculture, with a reasonable degree of success. During the past year a light infestation of the spruce bug worm occurred on 33,000 acres of Indian forests of the Northwest. This infestation has become very heavy in some sections of that area and endemic infestation of pine bark beetle continues to cause loss of timber on
Indian lands.
Approximately 40,000,000 acres of Indian forest and range lands are under organized fire protection. During the past year, 827 forest and range fires burned over 118,088 acres; more than half were caused by lightning. The Fort Apache Reservation, Ariz., with its valuable stand of timber and rough terrain, presents a serious fire protection problem. Last year 28 percent of all fires and more than 40 percent of the damage to forest and range resources on Indian lands occurred on that reservation; 83 percent of these fires were caused by lightning.
Progress has been made in the management of Indian range resources. There are areas, however, in the Southwest which continue to be overgrazed because of lack of rainfall and heavy stocking. The situation is being improved gradually through necessary adjustments in stocking, improvements in the watering of livestock and range-use practices. During the calendar year, 44,000,000 acres of range lands provided about 9,000,000 cow-months of grazing. Of this area, 34,000,000 acres were used by Indians. The estimated value of the range resources utilized last year was in excess of $3,800,000. The cash income to the Indians was $1,710,000.
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Irrigation
During the past fiscal year approximately 8,000 acres of land on the Colorado River Indian Reservation were subjugated and cropped, and canals and laterals built to supply the area with irrigation water. The primary purpose of the development is to provide farms for Navajo and Hopi Indians being colonized on the southern part of the reservation. At present 46 Navajo and Hopi families have been relocated on farms in the southern reserve. There are approximately 20,300 acres completely developed on the entire reservation. A large backlog of applications are on file from Navajo and Hopi families for irrigated land within the project, and 50,000 acres are being set aside for their use. The area has a year-around growing season and, when supplied with sufficient irrigation water, is exceptionally fertile. It is planned to develop the country as rapidly as possible, and, in coordination with the relocation of other Colorado River Basin Indians, it is believed that the rate of development for the next few years will be approximately 10,000 acres a year, provided funds are made available. Ultimately, farms will be provided for 1,250 families and employment created for 600 additional families.
On the Wapato irrigation project on the Yakima Indian Reservation, Wash., construction work for the development of approximately 9,000 acres of land on Satus unit No. 3 was also initiated during the fiscal year. Returning Indian war veterans have indicated a lively interest in the development which, when completed, will provide irrigated farms for approximately 250 families. The project is ideal from a water conservation standpoint because the water supply will be obtained by pumping the return flow from other project lands.
During the year construction work was also continued on irrigation projects on the Fort Peck, Navajo, United Pueblos, Wind River, and many small reservations; and activities were resumed on the Fort Hall Indian irrigation project in Idaho. On the Flathead irrigation project the construction of power-line extensions was accelerated but funds were not available in sufficient amounts to provide service to some 600 applicants.
On the Navajo Reservation surveys, investigations and designs were continued in cooperation with the Bureau of Reclamation for the proposed Shiprock project on the San Juan River.
Irrigation projects in all embrace about 838,000 acres of land of which 548,000 are Indian-owned and 290,000 are owned by nonIndians.
Three rural electrification districts are operating on energy obtained from Indian irrigation project supplies. The success of these power projects indicates clearly that Indi an-owned powTer resources should be
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developed as soon as possible to aid in meeting the national power shortage and to aid also in repayment to the Treasury of reimbursable debts incurred for the construction of Indian irrigation projects.
The Hoover Committee on Indian Affairs pointed to the essential importance of Indian water rights. The report stated that Indian water rights should be used to the full and not allowed to lapse, adding that as one of the more valuable resources of Indian people, rights to water should be protected and the water used. While it pointed out that irrigation farming was a type of agriculture in which Indians had achieved limited success, the report stated :
Climate, soil, and the necessities of a growing population dictate renewed effort to make the most of the opportunities in irrigated land. It is a means by which Indians can increase their income and find employment for their labor in passing from an extensive to an intensive agriculture. The vast Missouri River Basin development that is under way will provide water for millions of acres of newly irrigated land, some of it Indian-owned. This development provides a new and certain opportunity which Indians must not miss. A comprehensive and vigorous effort is needed to get results.
Roads
Before 1934 little had been done to develop adequate roads on Indian reservations. The few miles of roads or trails in existence were either State Highways crossing the Indian country for non-Indian through traffic, or primitive frontier-type roads and trails passable only during favorable weather.
During the years from 1933 to 1942 about 6,000 miles of roads were built, mostly of low standard. As part of the national CCC program, about 8,000 miles of truck trails and low standard roads were completed before the program was discontinued in 1942. During the war construction work ceased, except for roads for production of critical war materials, for which special funds were provided. The funds for regular Indian Service road maintenance were reduced to such an extent that adequate maintenance could not be provided for any part of the road system. The major effort since the war has been to rehabilitate the roads most important to the Indian people.
That substantial progress has been made toward providing Indians with roads and trails that will allow them to progress and will protect their resources is indicated by the 14,000 miles on which work has been done, but the rate of progress is behind that needed to implement all other Indian Service developments. At the present rate of appropriation grants, it will take some time to recoup the losses suffered during the war years. Regular maintenance has been brought back to a satisfactory standard and further loss of capital investment has been stopped.
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Construction
Construction of buildings in Alaska this year has ranged from medical structures at farthest-north Point Barrow to the boarding school and health facilities being built near Sitka. Eight new day school and quarters buildings have been completed during the fiscal year. Remodeling and rehabilitation of the naval air station facilities on Japonski Island, Sitka Harbor, have been continued in order to further the conversion of this former naval base into the Mount Edgecumbe Boarding School. Work also has continued on the Army buildings on nearby Alice Island to convert these buildings to a 150-bed hospital and quarters.
Completion of the new 200-bed tuberculosis sanatorium at Mount Edgecumbe before the spring of 1950 is anticipated. Bids were received late in fiscal year for construction of a new 400-bed tuberculosis sanatorium and personnel housing in Anchorage but bids were too high to permit an award for the whole project. Health facilities in Alaska are also being increased by the construction of four tuberculosis custodial units adjacent to existing hospitals (Point Barrow, Bethel, Kanakanak, Kotzebue), which will allow for better care of advanced cases and relieve the adjacent hospitals of the burden imposed by the confinement of these patients.
A major problem throughout the country has been that of finding housing for employees at locations removed from urban areas. By remodeling buildings intended for other uses, moving houses from locations where they are no longer needed, and by new construction, it has been possible to complete about 35 new employees’ housekeeping units. About 40 new units are under construction.
An adequate water supply is of primary importance in most of the Southwestern jurisdictions. To discover potential water-supply sources and to improve existing water supplies, the United States Geological Survey has begun a ground-water survey under the Bureau’s supervision. Comprehensive surveys and reports have been completed at 14 stations on the Navajo Reservation. Test wells have been completed at five of these stations and three test wells have been developed into exceptionally good producing wells. It is expected that funds will be appropriated to continue this work.
During the year dormitory facilities for 60 elementary-school children on the Navajo Reservation were placed in operation, for 60 at the Coyote Canon Day School, and work was continued on the dormitories for the new Shiprock development. New schools were under construction at Bylas on the San Carlos Reservation and at Chuichu on the Papago Reservation. At the close of the year, plans were completed and bids were being solicited for a school for 270 pupils
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at Western Shoshone Agency, Owyhee, Nev., and for a school to be constructed in cooperation with the local school district at Roosevelt, Utah.
The Bureau has continued to emphasize the importance of safe water supply and effective sanitation. Some 19 major sanitary projects were under construction during the year. In a few cases it was necessary to omit desirable features in order to keep costs within available funds. In other cases it has been necessary to hold actual construction in abeyance until additional funds can be secured. In addition to these larger projects, smaller amounts have been made available for improvements to a number of existing facilities and for smaller installations.
EDUCATION FOR RESOURCES USE
Every survey of the work of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, both private and public, over the past quarter of a century has emphasized the central importance of education. The Meriam Survey of the 1920’s contained more than 30 extended references to the problem of education. The latest report, the Hoover Committee on Indian Affairs, declared that:
* * * education is an absolute essential; the need for it and the value of it cannot be doubted.
However, the report added:
The real educational problem, and it is serious, is not in the areas where public authorities are able to take over. The real problem is in the area where children are not being educated in any schools—Indian Service, public or private.
The 1949 fiscal year ended with 19,300 Indian children of school age still without school facilities, despite the public agitation growing out of the discovery of the fact that the Navajo Reservation lacked schools for almost three-fourths of its school-age population; or about 15,000 children. Legislation was presented to the Eighty-first Congress to authorize construction of $25,000,000 in school facilities on or near the Navajo Reservation, but the justifications for this authorization made clear to all that this sum would provide facilities—added to the seats for approximately 5,000 children now available—to care for about half the children of school age. One major step forward was the authorization in January of the transfer of the Bushnell Army Hospital at Brigham City, Utah, to the Indian Service for remodeling into a school for Navajos, and the appropriation, in May, of $3,750,000 for the remodeling of these buildings to care for 2,000 children. Work was immediately begun, and it is planned to enroll between 500 and 600 children in January 1950, and have the entire plant ready for the total enrollment by midfall 1950.
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During 1949, the enrollment of overage Navajos at nine off-reservation schools was increased to 2,173. The majority of these children are 12 years of age or older, and most of them are non-English speaking. An intensive 5-year program has been devised for these pupils which will teach them the English language, give them abilities in reading, arithmetic, health, and other content subjects; and train them in at least one marketable skill which should lead to employment in the areas where they are attending school. One of the major objectives of the program is to provide permanent settlement of these pupils away from the reservation when they have gained the training to become self-supporting.
Because the program is new, careful tests are given the children each year to measure their acquisition of spoken English and to determine the extent to which they are advancing in academic training. Despite the fact that these children began their work without a knowledge of the English language, they are relatively mature. The educational approach has been keyed to that maturity and the results show that the better children cover the work of three academic grades in 1 year; that with few exceptions all of the children covered the work of at least one academic year, and also gained reasonable fluency in the use of English.
During the years, the Papagos of southern Arizona, who have never been in conflict with their white neighbors, emphasized that the Federal Government, which began to build schools for them only in 1915, has left the job only half done. About 600 of their 1,200 children are still out of school. In the Papago program to be submitted to the Congress, they call attention to the fact that many Papago families, in order to remain self-supporting must seek seasonal work away from the reservation. They naturally take their children with them, and frequently find work where there are no nearby public schools. As a result, the schooling of their children is interrupted. They ask for dormitories near their elementary day schools where they can leave their children to get an education while they are away earning a living.
Reports from Alaska indicate that there are still almost 2,000 children living in native villages where no schools have been built. The early completion of the two great sanatoria for tubercular natives at Mount Edgecumbe (200 beds) and Anchorage (400 beds), raises another and unforeseen problem. Most of the known active cases of tuberculosis among the natives, who should be hospitalized, are parents who object seriously to leaving their children in the care of relatives or friends while the parents are at the hospital. They insist that the Government provide a satisfactory boarding school for these children, until such time as the families can be reunited. Plans, therefore, are being laid for the rebuilding of the former Eklutna School in or near Palmer in the Matanuska Valley.
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The present total of Indian children of school age is estimated to be approximately 92,000 (in continental United States). Almost 32,000 are enrolled in public schools near their homes; a little over 27,000 are in Federal boarding and day schools (about half in each type) ; 7,800 are in mission schools; almost 6,000 are “unaccounted for”—most of them children of families which have left their reservations for employment. The remainder are still without schools.
It is estimated that there are 10,457 children of school age in Alaska; 2,700 of these are in Territorial public schools; about 5,260 are in 3 Federal boarding and 91 day schools; about 600 in private and mission schools; and almost 2,000 without local school facilities. The new Federal boarding high school at Mount Edgecumbe near Sitka opened in 1948, is now overenrolled with more than 600 students. The 1950 appropriation act carries funds for the enlargement to 200 pupils of the White Mountain Eskimo High School near Nome.
As many Indian children attending public schools live on nontaxable Indian lands in districts with limited resources, the Federal Government assists these districts financially, in a majority of cases through contracts with the State departments of education. During the last few years, contracts have been drawn with 13 States for a total of 20,637 children in 1949.
During 1949, the Indian Bureau operated nonreservation boarding schools for 6,607 Indian children and 20 reservation boarding schools and 190 day schools enrolling 3,386 children in the United States. Limited appropriations necessitated dropping about 500 children from Federal boarding schools in the States and 11 day schools remained closed in Alaska.
For the last 3 years, teachers’ salaries in the States where the Indian Service operates schools have increased more rapidly than Federal salaries. As a result of this difference, and the Nation-wide elementary teacher shortage, it has been difficult for the Indian Service to obtain qualified personnel. A recent civil service examination established the first teacher register since 1942. The education positions of the Indian Service were also reviewed by the Civil Service Commission, which classified teachers in professional grades. The Bureau is re questing funds to make this new classification effective in the 1951 budget.
The two basic needs of Indian people are education and assistance in strengthening their economic position.
the Hoover Committee on Indian Affairs found—
All the evidence available, past and present, points to the value of education— general education and vocational education. Indians themselves, old and young, full-bloods and mixed-bloods, believe education is essential to the advancement of their people. Economic assistance is ranked with education in importance in all Indian groups and the facts support these views. Indian resources are not
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fully developed on most reservations, and a substantial portion of their lands are being leased to others rather than grazed or farmed by Indian operators. To make the most effective and the most profitable use of their resources Indians need technical assistance and they need capital. Indians with inadequate resources or with no resources need assistance in getting off-reservation employment. They need training to increase or to give them new skills. Men with families need financial assistance in relocating and all who are to break away from the reservation can profit from guidance. All of the reservation Indian s friends and family are concentrated on the reservation. He does not have friends and relatives elsewhere who can help him find the openings or learn the ropes. Only the man who is entirely without “contacts” can realize how valuable they are to him and how much he relies upon them.
The basic needs of education and economic assistance are interrelated. Education is a means of increasing earning power, and an adequate family income is essential to a satisfactory educational program for children. Other needs, such as an adequate health and medical program, are important; some of them are essential; but they are, in a sense, auxiliary to the basic educational and economic requirements for progress. * * * The cost of educating Indian children will be heavy until at least one full generation has been well educated, but the cost of not educating them is greater still. Although a deferred cost and a concealed cost, it would have to be met in health costs, relief costs, law and order costs and the continuance of the “Indian problem.”
Health
A serious deficiency facing Indians is poor health. The basic cause lies in the poor economic conditions, with resultant poor diets, sanitation, and housing.
As the most urgent step to improve the health of Indians, the Bureau of Indian Affairs has begun an all-out attack on tuberculosis, the greatest menace. Following tuberculosis are infant diseases and pneumonia. The tuberculosis death rate in 1912 per 100,000 was 1,040 among the Indians and 145.4 among the general population. The death rate has gradually decreased so that in 1945 comparable rates were 211.9 per 100,000 among Indians and 40.1 in the general population. From 1946 to 1949 there has been no appreciable decrease in the death rate among the Indians while among the general population the trend has been declining to the present rate of 34.6 deaths per 100,000 individuals. Of a total of 29,487 Indians X-rayed in 1948 with the photofluorographic units in the field, 3.2 percent showed significant disease. It is recognized that fundamentally an improvement in the socioeconomic status of the Indian must take place before tuberculosis can be completely controlled. In the meantime the generally accepted control measures are in use to the extent of available funds and personnel.
In 1935, the Bureau of Indian Affairs began a study of the efficacy of B. C. G. vaccine (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) and continued the study for 14 years. At the end of this period an analysis of the results showed that the number of tuberculosis cases found among the
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vaccinated is almost insignificant. As a result of this and other studies, it was decided to vaccinate all school children negative to the tuberculin test. In the spring of 1949, within a 3-month period, 192 schools were visited and in 180 the program was completed. The other 12 schools could not be examined because of the existence of communicable diseases such as measles. The 8 teams examined 17,000 students and vaccinated 6,000. It is planned to continue the program in fiscal year 1950.
The tuberculosis case-finding program consists principally of two photofluorographic X-rays. Hospitalization of cases needing treatment has proceeded to the extent of operating funds available to the sanatoria and to cover contracts. There is an urgent need for expansion in this segment of the health program, if tuberculosis is to be controlled.
Progress has been made in organizing health programs on an agency basis to supplement the existing public health nursing activities by improving public water supplies; the sanitary disposal of sewage; the control of flies and fly-borne diseases through DDT spraying programs ; the inspection and improvement of sanitary facilities at Indian Service schools, dormitories, and boarding schools and provisions for maternal and child hygiene services.
Two medical teams of the American Medical Association surveyed the Bureau of Indian Affairs health service in Alaska and the upper Midwest during fiscal year 1949. Their general recommendations were expansion of tuberculosis control activities; establishment of residencies for cases of tuberculosis, thoracic surgery and orthopedics; additional hospital beds for tuberculosis and orthopedics; closer integration of public health and disease prevention programs with the States and the Territory of Alaska; improvement in housing and sanitation; improvement of the living conditions of Indians; increased budgets for health purposes; more public health nurses; expansion of contracts for medical and public health services and more health education and improvement of hospitalization.
The Bureau operated 64 hospitals during fiscal year 1949. Hospital activity was conducted at a minimum level because of lack of operating funds and inability to obtain personnel because of the low salary scale paid to medical officers and other personnel. The work was limited to emergency cases with elective surgery being deferred. The situation in regard to tuberculosis hospitals is grave. Large numbers of individuals seeking admission could not be accepted because of insufficiency of beds and of operating funds and personnel even for existing beds. At one of the State hospitals where 118 beds were provided by the Bureau, operating funds were only sufficient to maintain an average daily load of about 50 patients. The inadequacy in hospitalization must be remedied if disastrous results are to be avoided since many of
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the cases of elective surgery will proceed to become emergency or hopeless cases through lack of attention. The tuberculosis problem will be increased because of the exposure of individuals of the community to the open cases that cannot now be hospitalized or isolated. To attack the prbolem of tuberculosis control adequately would require operation of all existing beds now available plus an additional 1,200 to 1,400 to be acquired by construction or through contracts in the States and the completion of the program now authorized in Alaska. Not less than $11,000,000 annually will be necessary for a number of years to control tuberculosis only. At present approximately $2,400,000 is available. If a vigorous attack is pursued within one generation the problem of tuberculosis can almost be eliminated.
All of the facts that have been considered—lack of resources, lack of training, health deficiencies—combine to make it difficult for Indians either to survive in their home environments or to establish themselves in communities where opportunity is richer. Behavior of people in communities where Indians seek labor often belies their verbally sympathetic attitudes. The people retain some traditional suspicion of the Indian based on childhood stories, or persist in repeating cliches about Indian work habits and responsibility that indicate little understanding of the Indian as a human being, an American citizen, or a veteran of the recent war. These attitudes do not encourage the Indians to continue in the nonreservation community. They add to the discouragement produced by his lack of training and his reluctance to break the ties to his home—the reservation.
It is in the public interest and in the interest of the Indian— the final report of the Hoover Committee stated— to see that Indian people fit into the economic and social structure of the country at a sufficiently high level to enjoy the benefits of American society and that each Indian is able to find a place that has some reasonable relation to his ability and resources. * * * Regardless of treaties and agreements with Indian tribes in which a good many specific commitments have been made as to both educational and economic assistance toward assimilation, the Indian deserves at least a fair break because he is a human being and a citizen of the United States. If a disproportionate number of Indian people are forced to take a position at the bottom of the economic ladder, public policy will have failed; and if the stress and strain of moving from the old cultural base to the new is such as to take the joy out of life, to produce a general feeling of inferiority, and to destroy drive and purpose, the process of assimilation will have been unsatisfactory.
and Crafts
Their arts, crafts, and manual industries provide a significant supplemental income to hundreds of Indian families. Even more important, the income from crafts is greatest among the poorest Indians. In some areas the sales of products of their craftsmanship represent
863238—50---24
PART II—ANNUAL REPORTS OF BUREAUS AND OFFICES + 359 practically the only cash income received by the Indians. Potentially, arts, crafts, and manual industries constitute one of the most promising sources of income available to them.
The Indian Arts and Crafts Board has the responsibility of stimulating production, organizing production and marketing agencies, improving quality and standards, and assisting in establishing marketing outlets.
In Alaska, the manufacture of skin and fur garments and the carving of ivory are the principal crafts. During the past year a group of seven Eskimos went to Taxco, Mexico, to work with William Spratling, widely known producer of fine silver and gold jew’elry. Spratling and the Eskimo craftsmen designed and produced 200 pieces of jewelry to serve as models to the craftsmen of Alaska. These were beautifully designed and executed, combining ivory with various materials available to Alaska craftsmen—silver, jade, gold, baleen, abalone, and lapis lazuli. Many of the pieces incorporated traditional Alaska designs. These models were displayed in the Indian Office and in the Departmental Museum, and finally sent to Alaska where they will serve to bring new ideas of design and craftsmanship to the Eskimos and Indians of southeast Alaska.
In the Southwest, Navajo and Pueblo silver jewelry, Navajo rugs, Pueblo pottery, and Hopi, Pima, and Papago baskets are best known. In spite of the tremendous sale of manufactured imitations, Indian craftsmen during the past year produced more high-quality handmade silver jewelry than in any previous year. Progress was made in both design and workmanship. Toward the end of the year there was a noticeable change in the market. Buyers avoided the most expensive items and shopped cautiously, but sales of good items held up well.
During the year reconstituted turquoise appeared in considerable volume in the market and was widely used in manufactured Indian-design jewelry. The availability of these cheap imitation stones was quite tempting to Indian silversmiths. A piece of jewelry set with reconstituted turquoise could be passed off on the unsuspecting tourist, netting the silversmith quite a little additional income. The board and the traders association felt that one of the advantages the Indian craftsmen have is the confidence of the buying public in the genuineness of the Indian-made product. Any compromise with this standard would deprive the craftsmen of this advantage and put him into direct competition with machines. They therefore urge Indian silversmiths to continue to use genuine stones. The imitation stones nevertheless con-situte a threat to the whole future of Indian handmade jewelry.
A group of Hopi, having completed a GI course in silversmithing, have set themselves up at Oraibi, the first guild of Hopi silversmiths. They are producing silver jewelry with ancient Hopi designs adapted from their pottery. Two San Ildefonso smiths have made similar adaptations in their village.
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In western Oklahoma, a new development within the past year promises to become an important manual industry. The Inter-Tribal Crafts Association has adapted for modern wear some of the traditional costumes of the Southern Plains Indians. These are being produced in good modern fabrics. Sewers, silversmiths, and bead workers are all employed in the production of these costumes and accessories. Outlets have been established in Oklahoma; Taos, Santa Fe, and Los Alamos, N. Mex.; and Tucson, Ariz.
In the Northern Plains area, there is a federation of several small producing groups. They maintain a wholesale office and warehouse in Billings, Mont., and operate several local shops, the most important being the one in the museum of the Northern Plains Indians at Browning, Mont. This organization produces a variety of crafts—buckskin jackets, dolls, moccasins, bags, purses, and blankets.
The Qualla Cooperative of the Cherokees of western North Carolina opened its new store during the spring. The tribe was embarked on an ambitious tourist project which includes a motor court, a dining lodge, a filling station, and the craft shop, all located at Boundary Tree on the border between the reservation and the Great Smoky National Park. This store, carrying only high-quality Cherokee crafts, has already stimulated an enlarged volume of good products. Baskets of both cane and spliced oak, handsome hand-made bowls from the beautiful woods of the mountains, wrought-iron work, carved wooden animals, and hand-woven luncheon sets, and rugs are the outstanding items being shown.
Indian arts and crafts suffer from inadequate financing. Production is too often kept below the point of good business operation. Manual industries can be developed into significant economic opportunities for Indians if credit is available to assist in financing them.
Welfare
During the winter months of January and February severe snowstorms ravaged the Indian reservations throughout the Middle West and the western part of the Navajo Reservation. The Bureau mobilized all available resources to bring relief to stranded individuals and families, to communities, and to livestock.
All personnel involved in the operation acted in such a manner as to make possible the close and effective teamwork required for success. One hundred and nine Navajo Indians worked night and day without complaint to bring relief to their fellow tribesmen in distress. Roadclearing crews and truckers worked long hours under conditions of extreme hardship. Air guides and spotters accepted their tiresome and hazardous duties and performed them uncomplainingly. Men in charge of the various phases of the operation discharged their heavy responsibilities in a most highly commendable manner.
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The same must be said of the many representatives of non-Indian Service organizations who participated. Army and Navy pilots and crews worked side by side with Indian Service personnel in the airlift operation. Civilian employees of the Phoenix and Winslow Airports devoted themselves to this emergency as though it were directly their own responsibility. The police departments of the two cities gave their fullest cooperation. Many of the policemen voluntarily leapt to the task of loading when there was delay due to insufficient help. The Red Cross not only furnished the immediate financial assistance but stood “at alert” at all times to render all aid within the resources of that humanitarian organization.
Due to the unprecedentedly severe and prolonged snowstorms, the number of persons needing assistance increased. Relief funds were quickly spent, and supplemental appropriations were necessary.
THE LEGAL RECORD
At the beginning of the fiscal year judicial decisions in the States of New Mexico and Arizona removed the last legal barrier to suffrage for Indians in the United States. These decisions were summarized in the last annual report. One-fourth of the Indians in the United States were thus enfranchised. As a result, several thousand Indians in these States cast their first ballots in the Presidential election in 1948. The Legislature of the State of New Mexico passed a bill which would have disenfranchised Indians living on reservations. This measure was not signed by the Governor.
In addition to assisting in the amicus curiae briefs filed by the Civil Rights Section of the Criminal Division of the Department of Justice in the two voting cases in the States of New Mexico and Arizona, the Bureau’s legal staff also assisted in the preparation of material relative to the adverse effect of restrictive covenants on American Indian and Territorial policy. This argument was the main basis for the Department urging the Attorney General for filing a brief amicus curiae in the restrictive covenants cases.
In Mapatis et al. v. Ewing, et al., several Indians on Indian reservations in the States of New Mexico and Arizona instituted suit in the District Court of the District of Columbia against the Federal Security Administrator, the Secretary of the Interior, the Secretary of the Treasury, and the Comptroller General seeking an injunction and declaratory judgment to insure to the reservation Indians in these States equal social-security benefits with members of other races in these States. The suit was dismissed after the end of the fiscal year with the consent of the plaintiffs without prejudice.
Several events occurred which give promise of further amendments to the Indian liquor law. A vote was taken on the floor of the House
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of Representatives on a proposal that an experiment be made of repealing the Indian liquor law in a State or two. This measure was defeated. In the revision of title 18 of the United States Code relating to criminal laws, Indians are permitted to use intoxicating liquor for mechanical, scientific, and medicinal purposes, in addition to the previous permission of use for sacramental purposes.
Protection of Indian Property Rights
After pending in the Federal courts for almost 3 years, the case of Frank, Hynes v. Grimes Packing Company et al., was concluded on May 31,1949, by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States. This action was begun in the District Court of Alaska in June 1946 by attorneys of seven packing companies. All but one were members of the Alaska canned salmon industry, comprising most of the salmon fishing and canning companies in the Territory. This trade association has maintained for many years that the Secretary’s action in 1943, of including 3,000 feet of ocean waters in the Karluk Indian Reservation was illegal, and that the Alaska Indian Welfare Act of 1936 only permitted reservations to be formed from uplands or dry lands.
The suit sought to have declared invalid Public Land Order No. 120, which established the reserve, and to enjoin the regional director of the Fish and Wildlife Service from enforcing, by criminal proceedings, a rule adopted under the White Act which authorizes the Secretary of the Interior to regulate the commercial fisheries of Alaska. The secretarial regulation, approved in March 1946, prohibited trespassers from fishing in the waters of the Karluk Indian Reservation.
The Supreme Court held unanimously that the Secretary of the Interior could include tidelands and coastal waters to a distance of 3,000 feet from the shore within the boundary of an Indian reservation in Alaska. On the subsidiary point, the Justices, by a vote of 5 to 4, held that the Secretary of the Interior cannot properly apply the penalties provided in the White Act to trespassers fishing in reservation waters without the consent of the Indians because White Act penalties, such as the seizure of boats or gear used in illegal fishing, are applicable only to White Act violations. The Court pointed out, however, that persons entering the reservation waters without permission of the natives were trespassers and subject to such limitations as were necessary to prevent or redress their wrongful entry.
In the trial court, District Judge Pratt, of Alaska, refused to permit the Government to introduce any evidence that the Indians had used and occupied the lands and waters of the reservation from time immemorial. The Supreme Court, therefore, considered the case as if the Indians had no possessory rights, and the Secretary had estab
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lished for them a reserve of public lands and waters under the Alaska Indian Welfare Act of 1936. The Court stated that the Congress and the President could rescind such reserve without the consent of the Indians and without making the Federal Government liable for compensation to the Indians.
Increased activity in the prosecution of tribal claims is the result of the establishment of the Indian Claims Commission in 1947 and the approval of numerous attorney contracts with the Indian tribes, bands, and groups. About 65 attorney contracts for the prosecution of tribal claims were approved during the last year. Forty-nine petitions have been filed in the Indian Claims Commission, as well as reports on petitions filed in the Court of Claims. These cases involve the claims of the Ute Indians for their lands in Colorado and for claims of the Osage Indians, Western Cherokee Indians, Texas Cherokee Indians, California Indians, Loyal Creek Indians, Nooksack Indians, and the Mole Lake Band of Chippewa Indians.
During the past year many of the Indian tribes have employed attorneys to act as general counsel to furnish legal advice to promote and protect their interests and welfare. Twenty-two general counsel contracts were approved during the last year.
NATIONAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON INDIAN AFFAIRS
On January 6, 1949, Secretary of the Interior J. A. Krug announced the appointment of a National Advisory Committee on Indian Affairs to advise and consult with the Secretary and officials of the Bureau of Indian Affairs on administrative policies relating to American Indians.
Membership of the Committee included: Mark A. Dawber, executive secretary, Home Missions Council of North America, Inc., New York City; Olive LaFarge, president, Association on American Indian Affairs, Inc., Santa Fe, N. Mex.; Jonathan M. Steere, president, Indian Rights Association, Philadelphia; Ruth M. Bronson, then executive secretary, National Congress of American Indians, Washington, D. C.; E. P. Carville, former Nevada Governor and United States Senator, Reno, Nev.; W. Carson Ryan, professor, department of education, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, N. C.; Clyde Kluckhohn, professor, department of anthropology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass.; Roland R. Renne, president, Montana State College, Bozeman, Mont.; Ruth Kirk, chairman, Indian Committee, General Federation of Women’s Clubs, Gallup, N. Mex.; Barry Goldwater, president, Goldwater Department Store, Phoenix, Ariz.; and Louis R. Bruce, Jr., dairy farmer, recently elected secretary of the National Congress of American Indians, Richfield Springs, N. Y.
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Among the subjects discussed at the first meeting of the Committee on February 1, 1949, were the Department’s legislative program for Indian affairs in the Eighty-first Congress, the Navajo-Hopi long-range program, the Alaska native problems, a public-health program for Indians, comprehensive reservation programs, and an information program designed to lessen ignorance and misunderstanding of the conditions of life and status of American Indians. On the last point, the advisory committee said:
This ignorance and misunderstanding promote prejudice and discrimination against Indians and hamper adjustment between them and their non-Indian neighbors. They prevent effective legislative and administrative development of constructive Federal, State, or local Indian programs, and thereby impair efficiency and morale of the Indian Service and of all others actively at work to improve Indian conditions.
The Committee met upon two other occasions before the end of the fiscal year, in March and in May. Its agenda included numerous subjects ranging from protection of Alaska native rights to scholarships for worthy Indian youths.
During June 1949, Secretary Krug, in asking for statutory authorization for the Committee, reported to the Congress that—
The members, with their different viewpoints, have been able to bring to the Department objective and impartial advice and criticism. They have given ,the officials of the Department and the Bureau of Indian Affairs a clearer understanding of the attitudes and views of the informed public.
The members of the Committee serve without compensation, and to date, have paid the expenses necessary for attending meetings in Washington. A bill (H. R. 4755) to compensate Committee members for travel and other expenses passed the House of Representatives during the closing days of the Eighty-first Congress, first session.
Present plans call for an average of three meetings a year.
TRIBAL RELATIONS
Before the coming of the white man all Indian tribes were self-governing. Self-government itself has been a tradition of democratic America, stemming in great part from the ancient self-government of Indian tribes. Incorporated towns and cities are organized under corporate charters in accordance with the laws of the several States; as Indian reservation lands are under Federal supervision, it is appropriate that Indian communities should be incorporated,under Federal law. For many years, however, the Indian Service administered the reservations in complete disregard of tribal authority. To-, day the Indian Reorganization Act extends to Indian communities substantially the same power of self-government that is possessed
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by the average American town. It provides a means of transferring local self-government back to the Indian people.
Tribal councils may pass ordinances covering subjects similar to those dealt with by municipal or county boards of commissioners. Indian tribal courts deal with misdemeanors and civil actions similar to those heard in municipal courts or in the offices of justices of the peace.
Most tribal constitutions provide that the Secretary of the Interior must approve certain types of ordinances—usually those involving money transactions, law and order, choice of legal counsel, or regulations affecting non-Indians. The tribal charter, as distinguished from the constitution, limits Secretarial review to a term of years, usually 5 or 10. Many of the tribes which adopted charters between 1936 and 1939 have passed the 10-year mark and are now legally able to terminate Secretarial review by vote of the tribe.
Most of the 178 tribal constitutions and 152 corporate charters which are in operation in the States and in Alaska were adopted within 5 years after the passage of the Indian Reorganization Act. However, each year additional tribes see fit to adopt organization documents. During the past year, three native villages in Alaska and two tribes in the States adopted constitutions and the Alaska village ratified corporate charters, in addition. Five tribes have adopted amendments either to their constitutions or corporate charters, or both. The Klamath tribe voted on a constitution, but rejected it by a vote of 309 to 102.
Many tribes each year send representatives to Washington to transact business with committees of the Congress and with the Bureau. The Fort Berthold tribes of North Dakota negotiated a contract with the Army Engineers and conferred with members of Congress in connection with land to be inundated when construction of Garrison Dam across the Missouri River is completed. The Kiowa, Comanche, and Apache tribes of Oklahoma appeared before the subcommittee on Indian Affairs of the House Public Lands Committee to oppose the passage of House bill 4877, a bill to confer jurisdiction upon the United States District Court in condemnation proceedings proposed by the city of Lawton, Okla., for the acquisition of a tract of land title to which is held in trust by the United States for these tribes. The Pyramid Lake Paiute tribe of Nevada opposed the passage of Senate bill 17. This bill would direct the Secretary of the Interior to sell certain lands in the Pyramid Lake Indian Reservation.
Tribes organized under the Indian Reorganization Act obtain revenue from various sources and may deposit income in commercial banks or with a bonded disbursing officer, as they may choose. Expenditures from such tribal funds are made in accordance with the provisions of the tribe’s constitution and charter. Prior to the pas
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sage of the Indian Reorganization Act, all tribal revenues were deposited in the United States Treasury and were not available for expending, except when appropriated by Congress. The tribe was first required to make its wishes known to the Secretary of the Interior who would submit the request to Congress. If Congress felt the expenditure justified, it appropriated funds, which were later allotted by the Secretary to the reservation superintendent and disbursed by him in accordance with the regulations governing the expenditure of appropriated public funds.
In 1949, the tribes of the Blackfeet and Flathead Reservations in Montana, and the tribes of the Fort Apache and San Carlos Reservations in Arizona, operated under annual tribal budgets involving the expenditures of over $450,000 each from funds deposited in local banks or Federal depositories. The San Carlos Apache tribe, which derives its income principally from cattle, had an annual budget of $470,827.08. Of this amount, approximately $100,000 was spent for salaries of regular tribal employees and irregular labor. Tribal enterprises provide employment opportunities for tribal members, as clerks, stenographers, stockmen, range riders, round-up crews, laborers, carpenters, and tribal store managers.
THE GOAL
The United States has two responsibilities toward the Indian people: to protect their property, and to provide services not otherwise available to them. The Government’s protective function was not imposed. It was an obligation assumed in part payment for value received. The “Indian problem” that all of us face—Indians and non-Indians alike— is to develop to the utmost such resources of the Indians as are capable of development, and to provide safeguards to insure the continued right of use so long as the resources are needed. As a coordinate of this program, the Government must intensify its efforts to train Indians, to secure them in good health, and to work toward placing them in communities where they can support themselves, when such support cannot be obtained in the reservation areas. The ultimate purpose of Indian policy is to attain that objective stated by Thomas Jefferson :
The ultimate point of rest and happiness for them (the Indians) is to let our settlements and theirs meet and blend together, to intermix, and become one people.
*******
Office of the Solicitor
Mastin G. White, Solicitor
GENERAL.—The departmental regulations governing appearances by former officers or employees of the Department as practitioners before the Department were revised.
Changes were made in the rules relating to the giving of testimony by employees of the Department before courts or administrative tribunals concerning official matters.
This office cooperated with other agencies of the Department in effecting the changes in procedures and regulations that were necessitated by a revision of the Federal Register regulations and the prospective publication of the 1949 edition of the Code of Federal Regulations.
Appeals.—Much time and effort were devoted by personnel of the office to the disposition of formal appeals that had been taken to the head of the Department from decisions previously rendered by bureau officials. During the fiscal year, 719 of these appeals were disposed of by the Office of the Solicitor. However, approximately 360 of them were appeals which involved applications for oil and gas leases on submerged coastal lands and which were disposed of on the basis of a key decision holding that submerged coastal lands are not subject to leasing for oil and gas development under existing law.
Some of the more important rulings made in disposing of appeals are summarized below:
The Texas Co. (A-24562).—Although the ownership by the Government of land abutting a nonnavigable stream in Montana vests in the Government title to the contiguous land in the bed of the stream to its center line, an oil and gas lease issued by the Government on the former land covers only the land specifically described in the lease and does not convey any right to take oil and gas from the contiguous land owned by the Government in the bed of the stream.
David H. Gustaveson (A-24624).—The privilege of applying for and receiving an oil and gas lease on public land is not assignable, and the Department will not assume jurisdiction over a controversy as to whether persons other than the applicant for a lease have an interest in the application.
United States v. Crocker (A-24666) .•—The submission of a proposal by the supervisor of a national forest that an area within the forest be established as an administrative site, the surveying of the area, and
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the filing of the survey notes and proposal in the regional office of the Forest Service were insufficient to effect a withdrawal from mining location of the unimproved land within the area.
Harold Topion et al. (A-24673).—Although Mexican land grants did not convey the minerals in the land to the grantees, patents issued by the United States in confirmation of Mexican land grants divested the United States of its interest in the minerals, there being no express reservation of minerals in the patents issued by the Government.
Ada Maxam (A-24710).—The establishment and maintenance of a residence upon public land under the homestead laws involve a combination of act and intent—the act of occupying and living upon the land involved in the claim, and the intent of making the place a home to the exclusion of a home elsewhere.
State of California (A-25127).—Where a State has endeavored to make an indemnity selection for the benefit of a resident of the State and the application has been denied by the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, the proposed beneficiary of the selection does not have any standing to appeal to the head of the Department from the Director’s decision.
Estate of Grant Goner (A-25208).—In the absence of controlling Federal legislation, the marriages of Indians living in tribal relations may be contracted and dissolved in accordance with Indian custom, except to the extent that the Indians themselves, by formal tribal action, have adopted the requirements of State law as their own.
The purported marriage of two unallotted Pawnee Indians who were first cousins of the half blood was void under the custom of the tribe and also under the law of Oklahoma, so that the survivor, at the death of one of the parties, did not have any right by virtue of the purported marriage to share in the estate of the decedent.
Pollak and Eckloff (A-25300).—An Executive order setting aside public land “as a grazing reservation for the Indians of the Walker River Reservation” vested in the Indians of the reservation full Indian title to such land, and not merely the privilege of using the land for grazing purposes.
Starks v. Mackey; Starks v. Black (A-25351; A-25374).—A recital in a notice of location or in a validating certificate to the effect that a valid mineral discovery has been made by the mineral locator is not evidence of a discovery.
A mining claimant who institutes a contest against the issuance of an oil and gas lease on land which includes the claim has the burden of proving the validity of the claim.
Testimony showing that a 3-foot layer of oily, greasy shale was discovered 2 feet below the surface of a mining claim falls short of establishing that a discovery of oil sufficient to validate the claim was made.
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Elbert 0. Jensen (A-25352).—The “public interests” to be benefited by exchanges under section 8 (b) of the Taylor Grazing Act may encompass interests outside the grazing district involved in an exchange.
E. A. Wight (A-25408).—An application for an oil and gas lease which was improperly submitted to the Washington office of the Bureau of Land Management instead of being filed in the appropriate district land office must be regarded as subordinate to a conflicting application which was properly filed in the district land office subsequent to the date when the first application was received in Washington but prior to the date when it was received in the district land office.
State of California (A-25411).—A State applying for an exchange of lands does not, prior to complying fully with the governing statute and the supplementary regulations of this Department, acquire any rights in the selected lands, so as to prevent the withdrawal of such lands for public purposes.
Luna C. Wooten (A-25424).—Where an oil and gas lease has been divided by approved assignments, the several portions become separate leases for all purposes, and the subsequent discovery and production of oil or gas on one area do not inure to the benefit of any other area.
Estate of Belle Cozad, (A-25428).—The period of limitations within which a petition for the reopening of Indian probate proceedings must be filed is applicable to minors and adults alike.
Allen A. Daley (A-25575).—The Department of the Interior cannot review a determination made by the Administrator of Civil Aeronautics that a particular tract of public land is reasonably necessary for airport purposes.
Marie Williams (A-25635).—An oil and gas field in which production from certain formations has ended has not thereby ceased to be a “producing oil or gas field” if there are reasonable prospects of production from other formations in the field. Public lands within such a field are not subject to noncompetitive leasing under the Mineral Leasing Act, but can only be leased on a competitive basis.
Opinions.—The Solicitor rendered 77 formal legal opinions during the fiscal year. The variety of the legal questions answered in these opinions is indicated by the following references to some of the opinions:
M-34963: Park areas in the District of Columbia which have been designated by the National Capital Park and Planning Commission for use as playgrounds are still subject to the jurisdiction of the Secretary of the Interior, and the continued use of such areas for playground purposes is contingent upon the making of an agreement to that end by the District of Columbia Recreation Board with the Secretary.
M-35044: The Secretary of the Interior has the authority to extend the boundaries of the existing Everglades National Park, but the
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Secretary has no power to cause condemnation proceedings to be instituted against privately owned lands, either within or outside the present park boundaries, in order to acquire such lands for the park.
M-35049: The departmental order of September 19, 1934, temporarily withdrawing the surplus lands of the Colville Indian Reservation from disposal of any kind, was issued under the implied power of the Secretary of the Interior to withdraw such lands, rather than under the act of June 25, 1910, and, hence, the lands so withdrawn are not subject to the provision of the 1910 act which declares that lands withdrawn under it shall be open to entry and location under the mining laws of the United States insofar as metalliferous minerals are concerned.
M-35067: A California statute imposing restrictions on the acquisition of land in that State by Federal agencies does not apply to the acquisition of a tract of land where only title to the land is obtained by the United States and where no transfer of jurisdiction, either exclusive or partial, over the land is sought by the Federal Government.
M-35078: The Secretary of the Interior cannot properly delegate to an official of another Government department functions that are vested by law in the Secretary of the Interior.
M-35088: Persons who hold appointments in this Department as consultants without compensation are “officers” or “employees” of the Department within the meaning of the criminal statutes which impose prohibitions on officers or employees of governmental agencies.
M-35090: The Secretary of the Interior is authorized by section 9 of the Boulder Canyon Project Act to open to entry only those public lands which he finds are “practicable of irrigation and reclamation”; and a determination made by one Secretary that an area is “practicable of irrigation and reclamation” does not prevent a subsequent Secretary from reversing the earlier finding on the basis of later and more adequate data.
M-35095: The statutory provision authorizing the Secretary of the Interior to make contracts with States “for the * * * social welfare, including relief of distress, of Indians” is sufficiently broad to cover an agreement with a State for the furnishing by the State to Indians on reservations of old-age assistance, aid to the needy blind, and aid to dependent children, which are the types of assistance contemplated by the Social Security Act.
M-35099: An employee of the Department cannot be given both a cash award and a within-grade advancement for a suggestion which he has made and which has been adopted by the Department.
P-43: In the case of an employee of this Department who made an invention while on leave for the performance of military duty with
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the United States Army, the question of the respective rights of the Government and of the employee in the invention should be determined on the basis of the Army Regulations, rather than on the basis of the regulations of this Department.
Claims.—The regional counsels of the Bureau of Land Management and the counsel for The Alaska Railroad were added to the list of field attorneys empowered to determine claims under the Federal Tort Claims Act, and the authority of all field attorneys exercising this power was enlarged so that they might pass upon claims for amounts up to $1,000. Claimants who are dissatisfied with the decisions rendered by field attorneys under the Federal Tort Claims Act may appeal to the Solicitor.
The regional counsels of the Bureau of Reclamation and of the Bureau of Indian Affairs were authorized to consider and dispose of claims in the amount of $1,000 or less for damages allegedly arising out of the survey, construction, operation, or maintenance of irrigation works. Determinations made by these attorneys on irrigation claims may be appealed to the Solicitor.
Some of the more important decisions rendered by the Solicitor in disposing of tort and irrigation claims during the fiscal year are mentioned below:
James Purdon and Mary Purdon (M-34113).—Funds appropriated “for payment of claims for damage to * * * property * * * arising out of the survey, construction, operation or maintenance” of irrigation works may properly be used to compensate a claimant because of damage to property resulting from the escape of irrigation water through seepage.
Queen Insurance Co. (M-34551).—The period of limitations under which an insurer-subrogee may file a claim under the Federal Tort Claims Act begins to run on the same date as the period of limitations with respect to the claim of the insured.
M. H. North (T-102 (Ir.)).—Funds appropriated “for payment of claims for damage to * * * property * * * arising out of the survey, construction, operation or maintenance” of irrigation works cannot properly be used to compensate a claimant because of damage to property resulting from a rise in the ground water table within the surrounding area because of the seepage of water from an irrigation project and the commingling of such water with other ground water.
Fred 'Woodland (T-128).—A bailee of property may properly file a claim against the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act where it is shown that the property was damaged while in the bailee’s possession and that the bailee is under a duty to reimburse the bailor for the amount of such damage.
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E. I. Sheffield (T-145).—In a State where owners of uninclosed lands owe no greater duty to trespassing animals than to avoid injuring them willfully or recklessly, payment cannot properly be made under the Federal Tort Claims Act for the loss of dogs which allegedly ate poison from predator baits placed by employees of the Department on uninclosed public land.
Legislation.—The Eighty-first Congress had, up to the end of the fiscal year, enacted 56 public laws of direct concern to the Department, representing 36 percent of the total of 154 public laws enacted during that period. The most significant of these statutes are listed below:
Public Law 11—Export Control Act of 1949.
Public Lawr 20—To authorize the transfer of Bushnell General Hospital, Utah, to the Secretary of the Interior.
Public Law 37—To grant the consent of the United States to the Upper Colorado River Basin Compact.
Public Law 47—To amend the Economic Cooperation Act of 1948.
Public Law 52—Alaska Housing Act.
Public Law 55—To amend title 28 of the United States Code in order to provide additional time for bringing suit against the United States in the case of certain tort claims.
Public Law 56—To approve repayment contracts negotiated with the Bitter Root irrigation district, the Shasta View irrigation district, the Okanogan irrigation district, the Willwood irrigation district, the Un-compahgre Valley Water Users’ Association, and the Kittitas reclamation district.
Public Law 66—To grant the consent of Congress to the Gulf States Marine Fisheries Compact.
Public Law 72—To amend titles 18 and 28 of the United States Code.
Public Law 81—To amend the law relating to timber operations on the Menominee Indian Reservation in Wisconsin.
Public Law 82—To grant the consent of the United States to the Arkansas River Compact.
Public Law 87—To authorize the establishment of the St. Croix Island National Monument, in the State of Maine.
Public Law 91—To grant the consent of Congress to the Pecos River Compact.
Public Law 92—Travel Expense Act of 1949.
Public Law 102—To authorize the furnishing of water to the Yuma auxiliary project, Arizona, through the works of the Gila project.
Public Law 105—Public Buildings Act of 1949.
Public Law 109—Reorganization Act of 1949.
Public Law 115—Providing for the temporary deferment in certain unavoidable contingencies of annual assessment work on mining claims held by location in the United States, and enlarging the liability for damages caused to stock raising and other homesteads by mining activities.
Public Law 132—To authorize completion of construction and development of the Eden project, Wyoming.
Public Law 149—To incorporate the Virgin Islands Corporation.
Public Law 152—Federal Property and Administrative Services Act of 1949.
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Litigation.—The case of Frank, Hynes v. Grimes Packing Co. et al., which had been pending in the courts for several years, was concluded by a decision of the Supreme Court («) upholding the power of the Secretary of the Interior to include coastal waters, to a distance of 3.000 feet from the shore, within the boundaries of an Indian reservation in Alaska; and (&) holding that the Secretary of the Interior cannot properly apply the penalties provided for in the White Act (the statute under which the Secretary regulates the commercial fisheries of Alaska) to trespassers fishing without the consent of the Indians in an area of coastal waters included within the boundaries of an Indian reservation.
Statistical Summary.—The following is a statistical summary of the work accomplished by the Office of the Solicitor during the fiscal year which ended on June 30,1949:
Cases for review--------------------------------
Miscellaneous correspondence--------------------
Appeals-----------------------------------------
Motions-----------------------------------------
Claims__________________________________________
Requests for legal opinions_____________________
Pending at beginning of year Received during year Disposed of during year
325 4, 913 4,935
24 5,339 5,325
504 322 719
18 91 107
16 91 93
18 79 77
Pending at close of year
303
38
107
2
14
20
The figures with respect to appeals to the Solicitor from the decisions of field attorneys in disposing of tort and irrigation claims have been included here in the item covering claims rather than in the item covering appeals.
In disposing of 107 motions for the reconsideration of decisions rendered on appeals, most of them were handled merely by writing letters to the parties rather than by preparing formal determinations on the motions.
Division of Territories and Island Possessions
James P. Davis, Director
IT IS in the American tradition of the dignity and worth of the individual that Americans have always felt the compelling moral necessity to help others help themselves. This attitude has been made articulate time and again in executive orders of the President and resolutions and acts of Congress pertaining to the territories and island possessions of the United States. This attitude has found expression internationally at the San Francisco conference, where the American delegation fought hard for recognition of this principle in the chapters of the charter of the United Nations dealing with non-self-governing and trust territories. A more recent example is the now famous “Point 4” outlined in President Truman’s inaugural address this year.
We expect our territories to develop self-government as rapidly and completely as possible and look to the governors and legislatures of those areas to function much as they would in a State. Under our system it is neither desirable nor practicable for this Division to exercise actual control over territorial matters excepting perhaps in certain island areas where the peoples have yet to develop sufficient skills so as to be able to stand on their own feet.
In order to implement these goals, there are five major functions which this Division performs. First is the representation of Congress and the President in observing and reporting the political, social, and economic progress of the territorial areas under the laws enacted for their government. Second is the origination and implementation of Federal policy in the Territories through legislation; direct executive action through the governors, administrative action of other agencies through their field organizations, and public relations contacts. A third major function is the representation in Washington of the governors reporting through the Division to the President and working through the Division on congressional and departmental matters, as well as representation of individuals and organizations in the Territories in their relations with legislative and departmental offices here, and the Territories generally. Participa-
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tion in foreign policy matters concerning or arising from our territorial interests is a fourth important function. These include United Nations questions and those of the various specialized agencies, as well as other international activities such as regional organizations like the Caribbean Commission, and also intragovernmental activities such as tariff and trade agreements affecting the Territories. Finally are the operating responsibilities in the Territories such as the Alaska Road Commission, The Alaska Railroad, the Puerto Rican Reconstruction Administration, and the Virgin Islands Corporation.
It is believed that outstanding progress has been made this year toward the achievement of the goal of helping our territorial and island neighbors help themselves. Some aspects of this progress are reported in the discussion of the several territorial areas.
PACIFIC ISLANDS
Progress was made during the year toward establishment of civilian administration in Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands and toward enactment by the Congress of organic legislation for these islands. These island areas are administered at present by the Navy Department under Executive orders which, in the case of Guam and American Samoa, were issued more than 50 years ago.
On May 14, 1949, the President requested the Secretary of the Interior to take the lead in cooperation with the Secretary of the Navy to develop realistic plans under which administrative responsibility for Guam would be transferred to the Department of the Interior within a year and that for American Samoa and the Trust Territory within 2 or 3 years. The two Departments submitted memoranda of understanding to the President providing in part that the transfer be effected on Guam on July 1, 1950, and in American Samoa and the Trust Territory on July 1, 1951. The plans also provide that civilian heads of these island governments should assume office well in advance of the transfer dates (i. e., on or about September 1, 1949, in Guam and July 1,1950, in American Samoa and the Trust Territory) so that they might replace naval personnel with civilians and separate civil government activities from naval base activities by the transfer date.
The President’s letter of May 14 and the transfer plans drawn up pursuant thereto is the result of 4 years of study among the interested departments and follows a recommendation made by the Secretaries of State, War, Navy, and Interior on June 18, 1947, that these islands be transferred to a civilian agency at the earliest practicable date.1 The
1 On September 7, 1949, the President signed an Executive order approving the understanding reached between the Navy and Interior Departments as to the transfer of responsibility for the Government of Guam and setting the date of July 1, 1950, for the actual transfer of the Guam Government to the Secretary of the Interior.
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significance of these plans for extending civilian administration to Guam, American Samoa, and the Trust Territory is reflected in the following quotation from the President’s letter:
It is the announced aim of this Government to accord civil government and a full measure of civil rights to the inhabitants of its Pacific territories. The accomplishment of this objective will be furthered by the transfer of these territories to civilian administration and the enactment of organic legislation at the earliest practicable date.
The Department of the Interior submitted to the Eighty-first Congress draft organic acts for Guam (H. R. 4499) and American Samoa (H. R. 4500) which had been drawn up jointly with the Navy Department. (Similar organic acts were submitted to the Eightieth Congress, but no action was taken on them.) Hearings on the proposed organic acts were held on May 5, 1949, before the Territories Subcommittee of the House Public Lands Committee.2 Draft organic legislation for the Trust Territory has been prepared by the State Department in collaboration with the Navy and Interior Departments and will be submitted to Congress at an early date. Enactment of organic legislation for each of these island areas is essential in order that the status and rights of the people and the structure and power of their governments may be established in law. The Congress acquired an obligation under the Treaty of Paris of 1898 to define the civil rights and political status of the Guamanians, an obligation which would be fulfilled if the Congress enacts the recommended organic act for Guam.
HAWAII
Protracted delay in the enactment of statehood legislation and a costly dock strike overshadowed the progress made in the Territory during the fiscal year.
Statehood Legislation
The President and the Secretary of the Interior have pressed strongly for enactment by the Congress of statehood legislation. The House Committee on Public Lands reported out favorably House bill 49 with only one dissenting voice on March 8, 1949. Its report, like those of other House and Senate committees in previous years, found Hawaii qualified in every respect for immediate statehood.
The House Committee on Rules failed to act on a rule to bring the measure before the House. There is abundant evidence that the measure would have been adopted by a large majority if it had been
2 The Public Lands Committee unanimously reported out House bill 4499 on October 3, 1949. A subcommittee visited American Samoa and the Trust Territory as well as Guam during November and December 1949.
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put to a vote. No action was taken on statehood legislation in the Senate.
The Territorial Legislature, impatient with Congressional delay, adopted a measure providing that the Governor shall call a constitutional convention between June 20 and November 17, 1949. There is well-established precedent for the Territory’s initiative in proceeding without authorizing legislation to prepare a State constitution. Fifteen of the former twenty-nine Territories entered the Union in this way. The Territory’s initiative should speed up Federal action to make Hawaii a State.
Unemployment and the Stevedoring Strike
The most crucial problem facing the Territory is the deterioi ation of labor-management relations as reflected in the strike of its longshoremen which began on May 1,1949. The strike has aggravated an already serious problem of unemployment in the Territory.
The number of man-days lost due to labor-management disputes alone during the fiscal year 1949 rose to 192,816 as compared with 81,535 in 1948. Over 85,000 of those man-days lost resulted from the stevedores’ strike. Since Hawaii is particularly dependent upon ocean transport, the entire economy has felt the impact of the water-front dispute. The immediate cause of the strike was a wage dispute between the stevedoring companies and the longshoremen, but the strike was complicated by an issue over the use of arbitration as a means of settlement, and by the relationship of the settlement in this case to labor-management relations in sugar, pineapple, and other industries in the Territory.
Unemployment has jumped from 3.6 percent of the labor force in June 1948 to 11.5 at the end of June 1949. This is attributable primarily to the reduction of military activities in the Islands. About 10 percent of the total unemployment is attributable to the waterfront tie-up. For many weeks, only foodstuffs and other essentials carried mainly by Navy relief ships were allowed to enter the Territory, and none of Hawaii’s important sugar, pineapple, and other products could be shipped to mainland markets. Shortages of consumer goods have caused an increase in prices, a slowing down of business, and, in many cases, business failures.
Initial attempts by the national and territorial governments to mediate the strike having failed, the Governor, after consultations in Washington, called a special session of the Territorial legislature and obtained authority to take over dock operations. In the event of interference outside the Territory’s jurisdiction with the flow of shipping into the Territory, further action by the Federal Government may be
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required. Immediate attention should be given by the Federal Government to the means of preventing recurrences of the shipping tie-ups which have caused great loss not only to Hawaii, but also to the other territories during the last few years.
Public revenues.—Territorial tax collections again set a new high in 1949, totaling $64,733,503, or some $3,300,000 over 1948’s $61,433,503. This increase was due primarily to higher tax rates which became effective during fiscal year 1949 and to the fact that business volume had remained fairly steady up to the time of the water-front tie-up.
Housing, health, and education.—The housing situation is easing slightly in Honolulu and is somewhat more favorable elsewhere in the Islands. The Hawaiian Housing Authority increased its number of operating dwelling units to 4,671 as of June 30, 1949, and private enterprise was doing everything possible to provide housing at a price within reach of the family with an average income. However, Honolulu will not in the foreseeable future have adequate housing for lower-income-bracket families. Therefore, at least two and probably more extensions of Federal temporary housing will be requested.
The shortage of teachers eased considerably during the past year. A continuing shortage of classrooms is being met by a new bond issue voted by the legislature which will provide $7,650,500 for school construction.
The University of Hawaii has continued to contribute much to the economic and cultural life of not only the Hawaiian community, but also to other areas bordering on the Pacific. It has just graduated the largest class in its history, 537 students having received various degrees. In addition, scientists and other members of the faculty have played an important role in cooperation with Federal agencies in efforts to eradicate the Oriental fruitfly, and by contributing to valuable research and educational guidance in the Trust Territory. One of the most interesting events of the year was the sponsorship by the University of an East-West Philosophers’ Conference at which intellectual leaders from many countries sought a common philosophical ground for understanding among the nations.
VIRGIN ISLANDS
The economy.—The development of tourism, the expansion and diversification of agriculture, and the inducement of new industry continue to be the paths of economic progress for the Virgin Islands. In all three directions there has been significant advancement this year.
The development of tourism, noted a year ago, has accelerated. Two small hotels have been opened in St. Thomas, adding another 86 rooms for the accommodation of visitors. Work in progress or plans
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prepared for sites already acquired should provide accommodations for at least 400 additional persons. This does not include the enlargement of the Government-owned Bluebeard Castle Hotel to which the new lessee is already legally committed. All hotels and guest houses were filled to capacity throughout the winter season and well on toward summer. Increasing awareness of the mild summer climate of the Virgin Islands, aided by wholesome publicity in mainland publications, leads to the anticipation of a much larger tourist season during 1949-50. Assurances have been obtained that tourist ships which by-passed the Virgin Islands last winter will call during the coming season. In St. Croix, the building or remodeling of structures for private winter residences is a notable development.
At the end of the year the rechartering of the Virgin Islands Company by act of Congress provided an instrumentality of great potential utility for the economic development of the islands. An authorized capitalization of about $9,000,000, will make possible a program of soil and water conservation, crop diversification, improved sugar cultivation and extraction, tourist promotion, and loans to small industries and business enterprises. However, the law restricts the amount of appropriations to the new corporation for fiscal year 1950 and 1951 to an amount sufficient only to carry on the present operation, so that developmental activities must necessarily be delayed.
A small group of fruit and vegetable growers, with the cooperation of the Virgin Islands Company, produced and shipped about 300,000 pounds of fresh vegetables, principally tomatoes, to the mainland for sale in the winter market. Benefiting by the experience of this first year of operation, these farmers are planning to continue and expand their enterprise next year.
In St. Thomas and St. John the hillsides are less favorable for agriculture than is the more level land of St. Croix. However, the successful resumption of banana culture on an experimental scale and the impounding of limited quantities of water to support a small amount of truck gardening during dry weather are noteworthy.
A basic reorganization of the program of governmental assistance to agriculture is in progress. For many years the Department of the Interior has administered this program. At the same time, the Virgin Islands have not received the benefit of extension, research, and other normal agricultural services of the National Government as administered through its Department of Agriculture for mainland communities. Upon recommendation of the Department of the Interior, a field study of this situation has been conducted in the Virgin Islands by the Department of Agriculture. As a result of this study the two Departments have recommended legislation to transfer all governmental agricultural activities in these islands to the Department of
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Agriculture and to expand present limited activities so that the scope of the program will be comparable to that normally carried on by the Department of Agriculture on the mainland.
Although the Virgin Islands still have practically no industry, local legislation enacted in 1949 is designed both to encourage the establishment of new industries and to promote tourism. This legislation provides for designated tax exemptions and industrial subsidies for a period of 8 years to new industries which qualify with a minimum investment of $100,000. At the same time, the newly chartered Virgin Islands Corporation is legally empowered to make industrial loans, although there is no immediate prospect of capital for this purpose. These new incentives and opportunities for private enterprise should result in small-scale but significant industrialization in the years ahead.
Throughout the year employment levels have been higher than at any time since the termination of hostilities. A large increase in private construction and the continuation of the program of essential public works under Public Taw 510, Seventy-eighth Congress, have been major contributing factors. Expanding tourism has also provided many new jobs. The demand for local needlework and other handicraft is exceeding current production. Only the continuing prostration of the rum industry and the decline of ships and shipping from countries unable to engage in dollar commerce have retarded the favorable trend in employment.
Finances of the local government.—The total budgeted expenditures of the Virgin Islands amounted to $1,708,580 as against $1,421,-946 for the previous fiscal year. To meet these expenditures a total of $1,133,002 was raised from local taxation, and $520,200 contributed by Congress, leaving a deficit of approximately $53,000. This was due chiefly to the fact that actual collections made from trade taxes, customs dues, and harbor facilities were substantially less than the estimated yield from these sources. Reflected in this loss of revenue is the above-mentioned decline of commerce with foreign areas because of the dollar shortage.
In the municipality of St. Croix a total of $328,007 was raised through local taxation, as compared with $267,474 for the previous year. This was the second highest amount of revenue collected in one fiscal year in the recent history of St. Croix.
Governmental activities.—Vocational courses were added to the veterans’ education program in the Virgin Islands. These vocational courses proved so popular that half the veterans who had enrolled in academic courses in the previous year transferred to the vocational division.
Enrollment in the public schools has increased 31.8 percent since 1938, and 10 percent this year. Due to the lack of adequate school
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A much-needed program of nurse training was initiated by the health department. Several nurses were sent for training to hospitals in the continental United States. Local public health services were expanded by the addition of a psychologist, a medical social worker, and nutritionist to the staff. The part-time services of a psychiatrist have also been secured. A pediatrician has been added to the medical staff. The demand for hospital services has increased about 40 percent since the war. The lack of adequate facilities creates an acute problem in both St. Thomas and St. Croix.
Throughout the island of St. Thomas conversion of the electrical system from direct to alternating current is substantially completed. However, funds are urgently needed to extend the system to include several rural districts including potential tourist hotel sites. In St. Croix the conversion from direct to alternating current is completed in Frederiksted and more than half completed in Christiansted.
Referendum.—In November 1948, for the first time in Virgin Islands history, a referendum was held. The purpose was to determine the views of the electorate on questions of basic importance in any revisions which Congress might make in the present Organic Act or Constitution of the Virgin Islands. This referendum revealed that an overwhelming majority of the voters were in favor of the Virgin Islands having direct representation in the Congress of the United States through a locally elected resident commissioner. They did not approve of the plan to unify the quasi-independent political districts of St. Thomas and St. Croix, nor were they favorably disposed toward the proposal for popular election of the Governor. However, it is significant to note that 40 percent of the voters who took part in the general elections did not cast referendum ballots.
Pending legislation.—House bill 2988, which is a bill to provide for a Resident Commissioner for the Virgin Islands, was submitted to the Eighty-first Congress, but at the close of the fiscal year action was still pending in the House and prospects for its passage this session seemed remote.
The need for expansion of electrical facilities has been noted above. In order to help the municipalities help themselves, House bill 4586 which would authorize the municipalities to incur bonded indebtedness also is before the Eighty-first Congress. Though it had passed the House on June 6, 1949, no vote had been taken on the measure in the Senate at the close of the year.
House bill 3105, which would extend the Vocational Act of 1946 to the Virgin Islands, is still pending in the House. Its companion bill, Senate bill 493, passed the Senate on April 11,1949.
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PUERTO RICO
The past year, Puerto Rico’s fiftieth as part of the United States, witnessed one of the most important events in the history of the island. On November 2,1948, Puerto Rico elected its own Governor, and with it achieved the highest degree of self-government enjoyed by any United States Territory or any other dependent area in the world. Except for the Presidential appointment of the auditor and supreme court justices, and the power of the United States Congress to annul any law passed by the Insular Legislation (something which has never yet been done), Puerto Rico has attained complete self-government. In a world where attention and interest is focused upon the problems of dependent areas Puerto Rico's election was highly significant, especially in Caribbean and Latin American countries. F oi the United States it was a demonstration of an avowed principle of promoting self-government everywhere; for Puerto Rico it was the fulfillment of one of her most cherished political aspirations.
The elected governor, Luis Munoz Marin, the candidate of the Popular Democratic Party received 392,386 votes, which was 61.2 percent of the total vote cast. His opponents, Dr. Francisco M. Susoni, candidate of the Independent Party, received 65,351 votes or about 10.2 percent; and Martin Travieso, supported by the Statehood Party, Socialists and Reformists, garnered 182,977 or 28.6 percent; 640,714 of the 871,000 eligible to participate in the election voted, or about 73 percent. Percentage-wise this is considerably better than any recent election for the United States as a whole or any State in the Union. The election was carried out quietly and without disturbances of any sort. The election served as an index of the current feeling of Puerto Ricans with respect to the problem of political status.
The overwhelming support given Munoz indicated a wide acceptance and support of his views, which are that Puerto Rico should first solve its economic and social problems, and express its attitude on permanent status later.
With the inauguration of Governor Munoz on January 2, 1949, the majority of Puerto Ricans were ready to forget colonialism and direct their energies toward the solution of the gigantic economic and social problems of the island. In spite of the significant advances made in industrial development, agricultural diversification, health, welfare, education and government, Puerto Rico continues to fight against terrific economic odds, chiefly the result of a population density of 640 per square mile, dependent primarily on agriculture with a meagre one-half acre of arable land per person, and a scarcity of minerals and other natural resources. If the Puerto Ricans are to enjoy a rising standard of living, increased productivity and economic expansion
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must more than match the steadily increasing population which doubled during the past 50 years.
During the year the Insular Legislature approved a budget of approximately $62,000,000, of which more than 40 percent is devoted to health, welfare, and education, representing a greater effort in these fields than that of any State in the Union. But in spite of this valiant effort there are only enough school buildings and teachers to handle slightly more than half of the children of school age. Public assistance grants to the aged, blind, dependent children, and physically handicapped are far below those of any State, and there remains an acute shortage of doctors, nurses, hospitals and clinics with which to deal with the health problems of the island. Nevertheless, each year progress is made in coping with these basic problems, and the past year was no exception. Plans were completed and construction started on two new hospitals and several health clinics. School facilities were increased, new and improved methods for teaching English were instituted, and welfare problems were handled with an increasing skill if not with additional funds.
On the economic front, marked progress was made in industrial development, agriculture, construction, transportation, tourism, electric power production, banking, and investments. Several new industrial plants were completed and started production, the sugar crop was the greatest in history, tobacco, pineapple, and coffee production increased, construction of one of the world’s largest housing projects became a reality, the new 300-room Caribe-Hilton Hotel neared completion, construction on the Isla Verde International Airport made good progress, electric power consumption increased, while interest and activity on the part of industrialists and potential investors on the mainland proved to be greater than ever.
The Puerto Rico Industrial Development Co., created in 1942 by the insular legislature to carry out a program for the industrialization of the island, has assisted more than 40 new industries to become established on the island. During the past year several of these new plants were completed and started production, including that of the Crane China Co. at Vega Baga, which is reported to be one of the most modern pottery plants in the world. In order to speed industrial development of the island, the insular legislature enacted a law allowing tax exemption from property and income taxes to certain newly established industries. The law provides for total exemption until June 30, 1959, and partial exemption of 75, 50, and 25 percent, respectively, for the following 3 years. The executive council, of Puerto Rico, which is charged with administering the law, announced that its purpose was not to encourage or approve the transfer of industries already established on the mainland, but rather to invite new capital investments so
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that Puerto Rico could share in the expanding economy of the United States.
Tourism continued to receive the attention of the Insular Government. During the year, Puerto Rico joined with other Caribbean areas to form the Caribbean Tourist Commission, whose task it is to encourage tourism throughout the Caribbean area generally. The new 300-room Caribe-Hilton Hotel announced December 9, 1949, as its opening date. (Eighty additional rooms are being added to the Con-dado Hotel, and the combined capacity of the Normandie Hotel and Escambron Beach Club is being expanded to 250 rooms.) The 10,000-ton passenger ship, S. S. Puerto Rico^Xh^ former Agwiliner Borinquen, purchased and reconditioned by the Bull Lines, was scheduled to sail from Brooklyn, August 18,1949, on its maiden trip to San Juan, P. R., and Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic. The remodeled ship, which has 199 outside staterooms, will leave regularly from Brooklyn for San Juan every other Thursday. With better hotel facilities and good transportation, San Juan is an ideal place for international conferences, and especially for meetings of representatives from Latin and South America. Efforts are already being made to schedule such conferences for San Juan.
Despite the beginnings of industrialization and crop diversification in Puerto Rico, sugar remains the island’s biggest business. Sugar products accounted for $86,980,522 of the island’s $134,457,197 shipments to the mainland during the 9 months, July 1948 to March 1949. When the cane-grinding season ended in Puerto Rico, the 1949 raw-sugar production stood at 1,277,491 short tons—a new record. Under the Sugar Act of 1948, Puerto Rico was given a basic marketing quota of 910,000 short tons, of which only 126,033 tons can be refined on the island; 100,000 tons was allotted to Puerto Rico for its own use. When it became certain that mainland beet-sugar producers would not fill their marketing quota, Puerto Rico was authorized to sell an additional 60,635 tons on the mainland. Of the remaining 206,856 marketless tons of sugar, about half may be labeled by the Secretary of Agriculture as normal carry-over against the possibility of a short crop in 1950. The balance must await further readjustments of the United States marketing or consumption quotas, or find overseas markets where prices are not so favorable.
At Puerto Nuevo, in suburban San Juan, what has been reported as the world’s largest housing project grew rapidly. Construction began in May 1948, and by mid-September families were occupying 900 mass-produced, reinforced concrete dwellings. During the year as many as 50 houses in 1 day were completed. The cost of the one story (three to five rooms) house is $3,095. Pay-as-you-go installments are approximately $25 monthly, and for veterans down payments are not required. Each house has running water, electricity,
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and plumbing, and the development has concrete-paved streets and broad cement walks. Originally planned for 5,136 low-cost homes, the project may be extended to include 7,000 to 10,000 homes before it is completed. The San Juan Housing Authority completed arrangements for a $2,000,000 bond issue, part of which will finance completion of a San Juan housing project called Puerto de Tierra, where the first 232 units are already under construction.
In April, Governor Munoz proposed a “Little Hoover Commission” to overhaul the Insular Government. The commission was patterned along the lines of the Hoover Commission and has started its studies. On its staff are a number of keymen from the Hoover Commission.
When President Truman announced the “point 4" program, Puerto Rico immediately responded with an offer to contribute. Puerto Rico, an underdeveloped area itself, has been suffering acutely from the same difficulties as other underdeveloped areas in South America, Africa, and Asia. But it has already launched modest efforts to cope with these problems. The low-financed, pay-as-you-go type Puerto Rican approach is more within reach of poor countries than the mainland large-scale methods of doing things. Spanish-speaking students and trainees would have no language handicap to overcome, and their own technicians have a language advantage in going to Spanishspeaking countries. The island stands ready to give scholarships for the training of certain types of technicians for underdeveloped countries. The School of Tropical Medicine, vocational and industrial art schools have excellent progress ratings, and an international reputation. Puerto Rico has already offered 30 scholarships to its industrial art school through the Caribbean Commission, and the island is rapidly becoming recognized as a natural training ground for students and technical trainees from Caribbean and Latin-Ameri -can countries. In-service training programs in a score of Insular Government agencies are being planned in detail. Governor Munoz and his people are genuinely interested and anxious to participate in the “point 4” program.
Puerto Rico’s purchases from business concerns in continental United States reached an all-time peak in 1948, totaling $338,000,000, and 9.5 percent higher than in 1947. It is estimated that this amount supports approximately 200,000 jobs on the mainland. The value of the island’s purchases from the States in 1948 was 83 percent greater than the amount received from the sale of Puerto Rican goods to mainland.
At the close of the fiscal year, the relationship between Puerto Ricans and their fellow citizens on the mainland had reached an all-time high in mutual understanding. With blueprinted remedial plans, Puerto Ricans were facing the task of developing their economy
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with courage, initiative, and real hope. In the words of Governor Munoz, Puerto Rico had abandoned what might be called “operation lament” and was in the midst of “operation bootstrap.”
ALASKA
The fiscal year ended June 30, 1949, saw greater progress in and for Alaska than has been the case for many years. Shortly before the beginning of this period, the President sent to the Congress a special message dealing solely with the needs of the Territory and plans for its development. The principal recommendations contained in his message included: (a) Statehood for Alaska; (&) improvement of the transportation system; (c) provision for the construction of housing and community facilities; (9^0