FISH HATCHERY AT KINZUA DAM AND ALLEGHENY RESERVOIR, WARREN COUnty, Pa.

WITNESS

HON. ALBERT W. JOHNSON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

Mrs. HANSEN. We are very happy to welcome our distinguished colleague from Pennsylvania.

Mr. JOHNSON. Thank you, Madam Chairman.

Mrs. HANSEN. Mr. Johnson, we are delighted to have you appear before this committee again. You are a very distinguished colleague of ours and a very able one.

Congressman, have the funds appropriated last year for this fish hatchery been released yet?

Mr. JOHNSON. No.

Mrs. HANSEN. May I suggest that you urge release of those funds? Mr. JOHNSON. I don't want to push the White House too hard. I had them release $100,000 for a flood project in DuBois on or before July 1. My next step is to get them to release this $35,000 before July 1.

Mrs. HANSEN. I hope you will take this action. The committee is disturbed, because almost every congressional add-on has been placed in reserve by the Bureau of the Budget.

Mr. JOHNSON. I am pushing it and we will go to the White House with it this week.

Mrs. HANSEN. Thank you.

Mr. JOHNSON. I might say by way of oral testimony that with respect to this fish hatchery, you have very graciously in the past given us $50,000 for planning and design. In addition, in 1966 you awarded us $90,000, and that was used for the water supply lines and site preparations.

As I have indicated, last year to start the project you did very kindly grant us $35,000. I am coming back this year for additional funds. I have called downtown and the latest estimate on the cost of phase 1 is $481,000. If we could subtract from this amount the $35,000 appropriated last year, the net sum needed is $446,000. Having been before this committee, I think this is my fifth or sixth time on that hatchery, I believe you are so thoroughly familiar with it I will not take any more of your time. But needless to say it's a tremendous project. I want to have the hatchery built out of memory to the late Leon H. Gavin. When it's finished I am hoping that the Public Works Committee will let me name it the Leon H. Gavin Hatchery. It does mean an awful lot to me having this hatchery built.

Mrs. HANSEN. How many tourists visit this facility per year?

Mr. JOHNSON. 2 million people. Last year there were 2 million and this year they expect, of course, many, many more. If you recall last fall the group was down here and made a presentation on this subject. Mrs. HANSEN. That is right.

Mr. JOHNSON. And they were in your office. I know that you will be as kind and as considerate to me as you can be on this hatchery, consistent with the frightful pressures on your people.

Mrs. HANSEN. Mr. Reifel?

Mr. REIFEL. Since the construction of the Kinzua Dam in the reservoir area took away some of the Indian lands, in what ways would the Indians benefit from this?

Mr. JOHNSON. We have an odd situation there. The dam that is in Pennsylvania is controlled by the Forest Service. However, as you get into New York State and where the greater portion of the reservoir lies, fishing is controlled by the Indians. The Indian tribes are even permitted to exact a license fee. So in order to fish you must pay to the Indian tribe there a fee to fish on their lake, let's say.

I want to say to you that when the dam was built, one of the things that was presented to the Indians, in order to make them feel not too badly of having their lands taken away from them, was that there would be a tremendously great fishing paradise there and, by reason of sovereignty around the borders of the lake, particularly in the State of New York, they would be able to exact a license fee. So this hatchery, of course, will help to restock the entire reservoir-there is no question about it-and the adjacent streams.

Mr. REIFEL. You mentioned something about the people up there and the Indians having some benefit from this. I thought we ought to do well to put it in this record.

Mr. JOHNSON. I feel building this hatchery is an obligation we owe to this Indian tribe.

Mr. REIFEL. Thank you very much.

Mr. JOHNSON. My specific request for funds for the first phase of the project is $481,000, less 1969-70 appropriation of $35,000. The net amount requested is $446,000.

Madam Chairman and members of the subcommittee: I appreciate being afforded the apportunity to again appear before you for the purpose of requesting funds to continue construction of a new fish hatchery at the Kinzua Dam and Allegheny Reservoir in Warren County, Pa.

Your records will indicate that while my predecessor and your former colleague, the late Leon H. Gavin, was a Member of Congress there was approved on August 25, 1959, Public Law 86-205 which authorized the establishment of the fish hatchery in northwestern Pennsylvania.

The Federal Fish Hatchery then serving the area was obsolete and was closed on June 30, 1965. Great demands were made on this hatchery and it was a real blow to sportsmen when it was closed that year leaving the area with limited stocking from other hatcheries farther away and already overtaxed.

The site of the new hatchery is set at the base of the Kinzua Dam. The dam is now completed and has created an artificial lake 29 miles long, with 92 miles of shoreline, and has opened up a recreation area unparalleled in the Nation. The gradual release of cold water from the dam in summer makes ideal conditions for trout fishing on the Allegheny River below the dam for many miles.

In the Allegheny National Forest, on which the new lake borders, there are 500 miles of trout streams. Within a radius of 300 miles of the center of the forest, there are 47 million people and I am sure you realize the future fishing demands on the area that this large influx of potential visitors will entail. Presently the streams provide fishing pleasure to about 70,000 fishermen.

Recently the Oil City, Pa. "Derrick" pointed out that the Federal recreation facilities at the Kinzua Dam at Warren, Pa., the site of this hatchery, attracted close to 2 million people in 1969, with considerable increases expected in 1970. A large number of these visitors come with fishing tackle and expect good fishing.

As previously stated to the committee, the dam was designed and constructed with the addition of the fish hatchery in mind. Separate water supply conduits were installed during dam construction so that water from the dam could be used at the hatchery.

In 1965, I appeared before this subcommittee and you very kindly and with wisdom provided the initial planning and design funds for the hatchery in the amount of $50,000. In 1966, $90,000 was granted for water supply lines and site preparation. As a result of these appropriations the plans have been completed and actual construction has started.

Last year I again appeared before this subcommittee urging funds for phase I of this project. Your honorable subcommittee very courageously included $35,000 in the fiscal year 1970 appropriation bill and this sum passed the Congress. However, owing to budget impounding this sum of $35,000 is not presently available for allocation, but is being held in reserve to be released at a later date as the inflationary spiral becomes under control.

Nothing will gladden the hearts of the fishermen in my district, and the many visiting anglers more than to hear that funding of hatchery construction has been secured.

I, therefore, again sincerely appeal to the subcommittee for additional funds.

The latest estimate on the cost of phase I is $481,000. If you subtract from this amount the $35,000 appropriated last year, the net sum needed is $446,000. This is the item I especially urge be provided for fiscal year 1971.

By way of summary, I urge this appropriation for the following

reasons:

(1) The hatchery is already under partial construction and should be completed.

(2) The closing of the local Federal hatchery in 1965 on the promise of the construction of a new hatchery has seriously reduced previous stocking facilities.

(3) A huge influx of tourists into the area, as a result of the opening of the Kinzua Dam, has increased fishing pressure astronomically. (4) A beautiful, modern, well stocked fish hatchery at the foot of the Kinzua Dam will prove to be the outstanding tourist attraction at the dam.

(5) An announcement of substantial funding of the hatchery construction will be welcome news to the thousands of fishermen, the dispossessed Seneca Indians, and other Indian tribes, and sportsmen, and sightseers that are now using the facilities at the dam.

(6) The new hatchery will greatly enhance the economic well-being of the area, and the profits resulting will, of course, mean larger Federal tax payments by merchants and concessionaires.

Again, I wish to express my gratitude to the subcommittee for your kindness to me in the past, and appreciate this opportunity to appear here today.

The other presentation that I wish to make this morning is with respect to the Wildlife Research Laboratory at Warren, Pa. We have been before you on that particular endeavor.

Last year you did add, I believe, some extra funds so that they could hire one additional research scientist. Tomorrow there will be quite a group from Warren, Pa., down. They are testifying with respect to additional research people, particularly for hardwood research. You have heard them before on that.

Mrs. HANSEN. Yes.

Mr. JOHNSON. They feel that particularly the large deer population has practically destroyed the hardwood propagation, and they are researching on how to solve that particular problem. I just want to manifest my interest in additional funds.

Mrs. HANSEN. The committee is also very interested in hardwood research.

Mr. JOHNSON. The paper that I am presenting to you today goes into that in detail. Rather than detail the record further, I just want to say that tomorrow in the testimony of the outside witnesses a presentation will be made.

Madam Chairman, members of the House Subcommittee on Appropriations for the Department of Interior and Related Agencies. I represent the 23d Congressional District of Pennsylvania which is a 10-county area on the Allgeheny Plateau in Pennsylvania.

The Allegheny Plateau is blessed with fine forests of black cherry and related species which yield valuable wood for industries and consumer goods. These forests and their products make major contributions to the economic and social well-being of many communities both within and outside the plateau. The continuation and expansion of these contributions depend heavily upon research-research that will guide the full development and use of these renewable timber re

sources.

Use of black cherry wood in industry has expanded over 13 times in the past 25 years, and this wood is becoming an increasingly important economic commodity. However, critical problems are being encountered in establishing new crops of black cherry and caring for existing young forests. There is a very real threat of shortages of this valuable wood, and this, in turn, endangers dependent industries. This threat is further compounded by deer-browsing damage to cherry and other associated prime hardwood species.

IMPORTANCE OF THE FOREST RESOURCE

One might ask about the importance of these forests to the economic well-being of the Plateau and the Nation. The Plateau includes nearly 12 million acres of commercial forest land in Pennsylvania, 4 million in southern New York, 112 million in West Virginia, 290 thousand in Maryland and 680 thousand in Ohio-a total of about 1812 million

acres.

Within the Plateau there are 1,459 wood industry plants which employ nearly 30,000 people annually. These plants manufacture lumber, furniture, pulp, paper, and many other kinds of wood products. Four million board feet of cherry was used by wood industries in 1940, but by 1960 these industries were using 53 million board feet

of cherry lumber for furniture, lumber, and fixtures as well as 74 million square feet of cherry veneer, plywood, and paneling. And, for all practical purposes, these industries are dependent upon cherry grown in the Allegheny Plateau.

Black cherry on the Plateau has a timber value second only to black walnut. And, all wood industries on the Plateau add annually a total value in excess of 250 million dollars to the economy.

RESEARCH NEEDS

So we do have a valuable resource in the forests of the Plateau. But, we also have a problem in the successful culture of these forests for wood-managed with great care and intensity. Unfortunately, the information needed for this kind of management is not available. Some research results are available, but they are meager in relation to the economic and human values involved.

The most pressing needs, if met, would yield short-term benefits such as methods of: (a) thinning timber stands to accelerate growth of top-grade trees; (b) pruning to improve the grade of select trees; (c) protecting young trees from animal damage. The long-term needs go much deeper and include an agronomic intensity of developing and culturing of valuable hardwood tree species. Specific areas of research that should be pursued vigorously include:

(1) Soils, nutrition, fertilizer, cultivation, and possible irrigation investigations for growing fine hardwoods such as cherry, ash, and maple.

(2) Seed, seedling, and planting of these same hardwood species. (3) Genetic improvement of cherry for top-grade logs and for pest resistance.

(4) Cultural methods of treating young timber stands: weeding, thinning and pruning.

(5) Methods of natural regeneration and ways of reducing deer browse damage to seedlings.

The selection of specific problems for research in the above general areas would be done in consultation and cooperation with various groups which have need for and could promptly use this information in their action programs. The more important of these groups are:

(1) The Pennsylvania Department of Forests and Waters which protects and manges 2 million acres of State forests and provides technical assistance to private timberland owners in protecting, developing, and managing their properties;

(2) The Pennsylvania Game Commission that protects and manages 1 million acres of State game land;

(3) The Allegheny National Forest;

(4) Consulting foresters who provide technical service to private landowners;

(5) Wood industries that own and operate forests; and

(6) The School of Forest Resources, Pennsylvania State University. This procedure would direct short-term research having immediate application to practical problems that handicap those who have responsibility for protecting, managing, developing, and utilizing the forest resources in Pennsylvania. At the same time, it would permit long-term research that would undergird the development of even more scientific and precise forest practices.