%'^'^'\^^ V*^\^^ \.*^"'/ VK^^ '- o ^0^ ^^^^ oV^^^mi]^'- ^^C^^ ^'Jm^r.\ ''e^o^ 'oK ^0• Calendar No. 599. 64th Congress, I SENATE. j Report 1st Session. \ \ No. 662. NATIONAL PARK SERVICE. July 7 (calendar day, July 12), 1916. — Ordered to be i^rinted. Mr. Smoot, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT. [To accompany H. R. 15522.] The Committee on Public Lands, to which was referred the bill (H. R. 15522) to establish a national park service, and for other purposes, having had the same under consideration, begs leave to report it back to the Senate with the following amendment: Page 1, lines 13 and 14, strike out the words "Congress may from time to time provide for by appropriation or other act," and insert in lieu thereof the following: "the Secretary of the Interior shall deem necessary." As thus amended the committee recommend that the bill do pass. The Committee on the Public Lands of the House made a very full and comprehensive report upon the subject matter of this legislation (H. Rept. No. 700, 64th Cong., 1st sess.). The following statement is taken from this report : The bill (H. R. 15522) recommended for passage provides for a coherent organization in Washington and in the field of a service to the end that it shall "promote and regu- late the use of the Federal areas known as national parks, monuments, and reserva- tions by such means and measures as conform to the fundamental purpose of the aforesaid parks, monuments, and reservations, which purpose is to conserve the scenery and the natural and historic objects and the wild life therein, and to provide for the enjoyment of the same in such manner and by such means as will leave them unimpaired for the enjoyment of future generations." The growing appreciation of the national assets found in the national parks and monuments is evidenced l)y the vast increase of visitors. The great trend toward the parks means retaining in this country the millions expended by our toiu'ists in foreign travel previously spent al^road. This economic value of the parks is only recently coming to be realized . It is a factor of importance, in addition to the benefits to our people in their outdoor education and exercise. With equal scenery, we are lagging far behind the European countries, notably Switzerland, and are outclassed by the development of park travel and park use in Canada. Notwithstanding the great extent and value of our park areas, there has not been, nor is there at present any organization sufficiently complete or adequate to handle the various administrative phases. The parks are now managed in the Department of the Interior by an assistant to the Secretary, whose work in this line is merely by assignment, and whose tenure of office is subject to the tenure of the Secretary of the 11551 2 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE. Interior. The cleriral force is collected from various employees in the depaifcment in accordance with their aptitude, hut they are uiialjle to devote all of their time to the specific tasks of this service. There is a lack of lli'xil)ility in the field service, and the great work that is going on has been jierformcd in a hajihazard way. The success of recent efforts has been due largely to unexpected xuluntecr service, and to extra work by those already holding responsible and laborious jxisitions. In this bill the committee in section 1 has speci- fied the salaries as follows; Of the director, !?r),()(JO per annum; an assistant director, at $2,500 per annum; a chief clerk, at $2,000 per annum; one draftsman, at $1,800 per annum, and one messenger, at $(jOO per annum, or a total of $11,900. It was brought out in the hearings that for the present the needed ofhce expense in Washington will amount api)roxiniately to $1!),!).S0. Inasmuch as it would be impossible, without an experience derived from actual operation, to specify exactly the clerical force needed, the bill can only provide for a general fund for as.-^istaiits other than those specifically named, bringing tlie total amount to be expended in Washington to $20,000 lor $8,100 in addition to specified salaries), which the committee regards as the least amount that can be considered adecjuate. The bill provides for turning over into the national-park service at the discretion of the Secretary, any or all of the field employees, and gives him the same latitude of appointment and control of the field force that he now has. Under the cus- toms of the Appropriations Committee, specified amounts are annually appropriated for each of the several parks, based upon their .several needs, and the bill neither adds to the present appointing power of the Secretary nor detracts therefrom, except as it provides for an othce force in tlie District of Columbia, which is specifically limited in amount to total .salaries of $20,000 per annum. The bill provides for the management and improvement under the national park service of all the national parks and the national monuments which are now under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Interior, and includes the Hot Springs Res- ervation in the State of Arkansas. The growing popularity of the parks is evidenced by figures showing the visitors in the year 1915, as follows; Visitors to national parks, 190S to 1915. Name of park. Yellowstone National Park Yosemite National Park Sequoia National Park General Grant National Park. . . . Mount Rainier National Park. . . Mesa Verde Nat ional Park Crater Lake National Park Wind Cave National Park Piatt National Park ■Sullys Hill National Park Hot Sprinjis Reser\ation (ilaoier National Park Roekv Mountain National Park. 1908 1909 19,542 8,850 1,251 1,773 3,511 80 5,275 3,171 26,000 250 32,545 13,182 854 798 5,968 165 4,171 3,216 25,000 190 1910 19,575 13,619 2,407 1,178 8,000 2,50 5,000 3,387 25,000 190 120,000 1911 1912 23,054 12,5.30 3,114 2,160 10,306 206 4,500 3,887 30,000 200 130,000 4,000 I 22,970 10,884 \ 2,923 2,240 I 8, 946 230 5,235 3,199 31,000 200 135,000 6, 257 1913 24,929 13, 735 3,823 2,756 13,501 280 6,253 3,988 35,000 300 135,000 12,138 20,250 15,145 4,667 3,735 15,038 502 7,096 3,592 30,000 500 125,000 14,168 51,895 33,452 7,647 10,523 35,166 663 11,371 2,817 20, (KX) 1,000 115,000 14,265 31,000 In conclusion, the committee would reprint the last paragraph submitted by the Secretary of the Interior, which goes to the (piestion of the expense of administration, and which the committee has every reason to accept; "It shoidd be possible to administer these reservations along one general compre- hen.sive line instead of having to deal with each .separate reservation as an independent entity without any relation to any other reservation, which latter arrangement is. to my mind, unbusinesslike and inefficient. I have given this matter considerable thought, as has my assistant, who is particularly interested in and devoted to the promotion of our national parks and monuinent-f. and it is believed that II. II. 15522 will obviate a great many of the difficulties we have encountered in the past in ad- ministering these reservations to the best advantage. It involves no additional expenditure by the Government, but, on the other hand, shoidd effect economy." The committee is of the opinion that i)lans now being carried out mil tend more and more to make the parks self-sustaining, without extortion or unreasonable charge on the traveling pid)lic. merely by organization and control of the concessionaires. The subject of concessions is taken into account in section 3, where it is provided that the Secretary of the Interior may "grant privileges, leases, and permits for the use of D. Qf ^• AUG 8 1916 NATIONAL PAEK SERVICE. 3 land for the accommodation of visitors in the various parks, monuments, or other reservations herein provided for, but for periods not exceeding 20 years." Under the terms of concessions already granted the public is insured good service and reasonable charges, and the revenues thus secured amounted in the aggregate for the year 1915 to 1173,554.88. The committee believes that through the organization and establishment of a park service we shall make our home country a place worthy of retaining our own tourists and securing others, and that we shall also create a knowledge of the land we possess, which will develop a higher patriotism. The bill H. R. 15522 as approved by the committees in place and stead of bills H. R. 434, by Mr. Raker, and H. R. 8668, by Mr. Kent, was submitted to Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, for consideration and report, and thereafter on the 10th day of May, 1916, Hon. Franklin K. Lane, Secretary of the Interior, made report thereon to Hon. Scott Ferris, chairman Committee on the Public Lands, which report is as follows : Department of the Interior, Washington, May 10, 1916. My Dear Mr. Ferris: I have your request for report upon H. R. 15522, "A bill to establish a national-park service, and for other purposes." There are administered by this department 13 national parks, with a total area of over 4,600,000 acres, 19 national monuments, with an area of about 85,000 acres, and the Hot Springs Reservation in the State of Arkansas. These various reservations have been created from time to time under laws which are not uniform. For adminis- trative purposes each of the reservations is a separate and distinct unit. This is so even to the extent that it is not possible under existing law to transfer a ranger from one part or monument to another, although such action might for various reasons be desirable or necessary. The general administrative work, preparation of concession contracts, preparation of regulations governing the reservations, consideration of legal questions that arise, dis- bursement of money, etc., is handled by a few employees of the office of the chief clerk of the department, practically all of whom have other departmental duties to perform, making it impossible for them to devote more than part of their time to the work of considering the details of the administration of the national parks and monuments. As your hearings on the matter of establishing a national-park service developed, the the activities in the various parks have increased greatly in recent years, the number of our people ^dsiting the parks being steadily on the increase. This, of course, has resulted in additional work to be done at Washington, and to such an extent that we have been hampered for lack of assistance here. It should be possible to administer these reservations along one general compre- hensive line instead of having to deal with each separate reservation as an independ- ent entity without any relation to any other reservations, which latter arrangement is, to my mind, unbusinesslike and inefficient. I have given this matter consider- able thought, as has my assistant, who is particularly interested in and devoted to the promotion of our national parks and monuments, and it is believed that H. R. 15522 will ob\"iate a great many of the difficulties we have encountered in the past in administering these reservations to the best advantage. It involves no additional expenditure by the Government, but, on the other hand, should effect economy. I therefore strongly urge upon your committee and upon Congress the pressing necessity for the early enactment of this legislation. Cordially, yours, Franklin K. Lane, Secretary, Hon. Scott Ferris, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. The substitute bill adopted by the committee was referred by the Committee on the Public Lands to Hon. David F. Houston, Secretary of Agriculture, for considera- tion and report thereon to the committee, and thereafter, on the 16th day of May, 1916, Hon. David F. Houston, Secretary of Agriculture, submitted report to Hon. Scott Ferris, chairman Committee on the Public Lands, which report is as follows: Department of Agriculture, Washington, May 16, 1916. Hon. Scott Ferris, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. Dear Mr. Ferris: Receipt is acknowledged of a copy of H. R. 15522. "To establish a national park service," together with a request that this department submit a report thereon, with such suggestions and recommendations as it may desire to make. 4 NATIONAL PARK SERVICE. This measiu'e, it is understood, is proposed in lieu of H. R. 8G68. This department is heartily in favor of the estal)lishment of a national park service, and in its report of February 12 expressed itself favoral)le to such action. The rei)ort of the depart- ment on the previous bill expressed disapproval of the provision for a direct transfer to another department of such monuments as are now under national forest withdrawal and form a part of existing national forests. The report of the Secretary of the In- terior on 11. R. 86G8 suggested an amendment consistent with the position of this department and which would meet the difliculties set forth in our previous rejwrt. The report of the Secretary of the Interior on the former bill recommended as follows: "After the word 'monuments' on line 12, page 1, insert 'now under the jurisdic- tion of the Department of the Interior and of.' " In conformity with prcAious recommendation this department, therefore, will offer no objection to II. R. 8GC8 as amended by the Secretary of the Interior. Correspond- ingly the measure now before the department, H. R. 15522, would be in satisfactory form if amended by striking out the words "and the Department of Agriculture," from lines 19 and 20, jjage 2, and inserting the word "such" after the word "of" in line 24. page 2. It is the department's idea that eventually the national monument area remaining under the administration of this department will be greatly reduced . Unquestionably the Grand Canyon should l)e established as a national park and placed under the direct administration of the national park ser\'ice. Such a plan and measure would meet with the department's earnest approval. In addition, the Mount 01ymj)us national monument, which is the only other monument under the administration of this department embracing any considerable area, should be given careful consideration as a possible national park, and if not included in such park by congressional action, should be restored to its original status as national forest land. If it should eventually be found desirable to transfer to the park service any of the other nine national monu- ments in the national forests, this may be accomplished at any time for any particular area by the issuance of a presidential proclamation vacating the national forest with- drawal in so far as it covered the national monument area. This would have the effect of transferring jurisdiction to the national park service. If amended as suggested above, this measure would have the very hearty indorse- toent of this department. Very trulj', yours. D. F. 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