Mr. DRURY. We will be glad to do that, Senator.

The CHAIRMAN. The Chair will announce that the committee will take up tomorrow first the Bureau of Land Management, then the Bureau of Indian Affairs. The Senate will not be in session tomorrow, and it is possible that we may then proceed to the Geological Survey and the Bureau of Mines. Secretary Krug has indicated his acquiescence in the request of the committee to come back for questioning. It is hardly likely that we will reach him tomorrow.

It is to be hoped that we will not need a committee hearing on Saturday. That being the case, I think the committee would be in a position to hear Secretary Krug on Monday after our regular meeting.

The committee now stands in recess until tomorrow morning at 10 o'clock.

(Thereupon, at 5:10 p. m., the committee adjourned, to reconvene Friday, February 4, 1949, at 10 a. m.)

NATURAL RESOURCES POLICY

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 4, 1949

UNITED STATES SENATE,

COMMITTEE ON INTERIOR AND INSULAR AFFAIRS, Washington, D. C. The committee met, pursuant to adjournment, at 10:25 a. m., in room 224, Senate Office Building, Hon. Joseph C. O'Mahoney (chairman) presiding.

Present: Senators O'Mahoney (chairman), Butler, Ecton, McFarland, Miller, and Watkins.

Also present: Representatives Murdock, Lemke, Bosone, and Aspinall; Delegate Farrington; Mills Astin, chief clerk.

The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order.

Our first witness this morning will be the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, Marion Clawson. You may proceed, Mr. Clawson. You have a prepared statement, have you not?

Mr. CLAWSON. I have a prepared statement, copies of which are in front of everyone around the table and with your permission I will put it in the record, and then I would like to discuss what is in it and show you some of the charts.

The CHAIRMAN. Very good.

STATEMENT OF MARION CLAWSON,

BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT

Mr. CLAWSON. The Bureau of Land Management is one of the youngest and oldest bureaus of the Department of the Interior. It is a young bureau because it was formed in the summer of 1946 by consolidating the former General Land Office and Grazing Service of the Department of the Interior. The Land Office was one of the oldest parts of the Department of the Interior. In fact, it was one of the original constituent agencies of the Department of the Interior when the Department was created in 1849, and we have traced it as far back as 1812, at which time it was established in the Department of the Treasury.

We have the responsibility for the administration of the public lands in western United States and of Alaska, and there are roughly 190,000,000 acres of public lands in the western part of the United States on which we have exclusive jurisdiction. There are roughly 330,000,000 acres in Alaska and in addition we have jurisdiction over the mineral laws on a substantial area in the United States of private lands in which the mineral rights have been reserved to the Federal Government.

Of course, I need not trace the history of public lands in the United States. Starting with a great area the great bulk of the public lands

of the United States has gone into private ownership, and what we are talking about are the areas that are left. The period of disposition of public lands has very largely run its course.

The public lands of the various classes are concentrated largely in the 11 Western States. Not all of the public land is administered by the Bureau of Land Management, but it is apparent that a very substantial part is administered by BLM in 10 of the 11 far Western States. The small amount of public domain land in the remaining States constitutes an important administrative problem in that because of wide dispersal it cannot be efficiently managed. The obvious answer is an inventory and appraisal of these scattered lands, which probably would lead to disposal of most of them through sale or transfer to other governmental agencies.

I would like to call your attention to the fact that there are still some public lands open for entry in this tier of States from Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota on eastward. There is still a little area in Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Arkansas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Florida. A remnant of public land area is still left in those States. Of course, the great areas are in these Western States from New Mexico, Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana westward. There is a relatively small area in the State of Washington. Senator BUTLER. Is there any of it open for homestead entry? Mr. CLAWSON. Yes; but all of it is subject to the classification features of the Taylor Grazing Act. But only if it is suitable for homesteading purposes and most of it is not because it has gone through the homesteading era, and has been very thoroughly combed over.

The CHAIRMAN. As a matter of fact it is only a figure of speech to say it is still open for entry.

Mr. CLAWSON. Yes; but occasionally we do have a few. Amazingly there are still a few homestead entries from year to year.

The CHAIRMAN. How many were allowed in the last year?

Mr. CLAWSON. I do not have the figure on the land but I would say roughly, perhaps 100. I could furnish that for the record.

The CHAIRMAN. Would you get the actual figures and have them

placed in the record.

Mr. CLAWSON. Yes; I will be glad to.

(The figures are as follows:)

TABLE XVII. Number of homestead entries allowed during the fiscal year of 1948

Mr. CLAWSON. I would like to show you then a few charts. This chart shows the area that is now in public lands in the Western States. The size of the circle and figures representing millions of acres are roughly proportionate to the total area. The circles are actually a little bit smaller because we could not make them any bigger in here. The darker area on each one is the area under our jurisdiction, whereas, the lighter area is the area under other Federal agencies, running