producers under programs formulated pursuant to sections 8 and 16(e) of this Act: Provided, That no such disbursements shall be made by Commodity Credit Corporation unless it has received funds to cover the amount thereof from appropriations available for the purpose of carrying out such programs." SEC. 102. (a) Section 31 of title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act (50 Stat. 525), as amended, is amended by striking out "including the retirement of lands which are submarginal or not primarily suitable for cultivation," and by inserting following "natural resources," the phrase "protecting fish and wildlife," and by striking out the period at the end thereof and inserting ", but not to build industrial parks or establish private industrial or commercial enterprises." (b) Subsection (a) of section 32 of title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, as amended, is repealed. (c) Section 32(e) of title III of the Bankhead-Jones Farm Tenant Act, as amended, is amended to read as follows: "(e) to cooperate with Federal, State, territorial, and other public agencies in developing plans for a program of land conservation and land utilization, to assist in carrying out such plans by means of loans to State and local public agencies designated by the State legislature or the Governor, to conduct surveys and investigations relating to conditions and factors affecting, and the methods of accomplishing most effectively the purposes of this title, and to disseminate information concerning these activities. Loans to State and local public agencies shall be made only if such plans have been submitted to, and not disapproved within 45 days by, the State agency having supervisory responsibiilty over such plans, or by the Governor if there is no such State agency. No appropriation shall be made for any single loan under this subsection in excess of $250,000 unless such loan has been approved by resolutions adopted by the Committee on Agriculture and Forestry of the Senate and the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives. Loans under this subsection shall be made under contracts which will provide, under such terms and conditions as the Secretary deems appropriate, for the repayment thereof in not more than 30 years, with interest at the average rate, as determined by the Secretary of the Treasury, payable by the Treasury on its marketable public obligations outstanding at the beginning of the fiscal year in which the loan is made, which are neither due nor callable for redemption for 15 years from date of issue. Repayment of principal and interest on such loans shall begin within 5 years." Mr. GODFREY. It provides in two parts, first, for assistance for 1 year with respect to lands previously covered by conservation reserve contracts in an amount not exceeding an additional $15 million; and secondly, a limit of $10 million for any calendar year for pilot projects to be operated on farms to convert land that is now in intensive cultivation to nonproducing uses such as grasslands, and so on. Mr. WHITTEN. What was the date of its passage? Mr. GODFREY. The date of its passage was September 27, 1962. Mr. WHITTEN. At that time the Department's budget had not gone to the Bureau of the Budget. Why were not these funds you ask for here included in the regular budget? Mr. GODFREY. The act provided we could enter into the land-use agreements and the legislative history indicated that we should come back for a supplemental to cover the payments to be made under this act prior to July 1, 1963. Mr. WHITTEN. How much money do you now owe under the authority to enter into these contracts? Mr. GODFREY. The estimate is $1 million for one part of it, costsharing payments for tree practices, primarily. We are estimating we currently owe $5 million in rental payments under the land-use conversion program. Mr. WHITTEN. Could you advise what your actual commitments are? Mr. GODFREY. Yes, we can do that. The first report involved 128,000 acres, the report of March 15 showed a total of 146,00 acres on about 2,850 farms. Mr. WHITTEN. Report it as soon as you can. It is an amount you are already obligated to pay under the authority you put in the record? Mr. GODFREY. Yes, sir. I might point out here that we submitted a budget amendment last week under one portion of this which returned to the Treasury $8 million of the $15 million, and also a budget amendment reducing CCC expenditures by $2,225,000, or a total amendment of $10,225,000. Mr. WHITTEN. But after the 22d you should be able to have actual figures? Mr. GODFREY. Yes. There will be funds included in the 1964 budget under this land use. Mr. WHITTEN. But not necessarily before this committee. I have no further questions, Mr. Chairman. Does anybody have questions? Mr. HORAN. No, I think you covered it. Mr. WHITTEN. What other items do you have? Mr. GRANT. Only the Forest Service, Mr. Chairman. Mr. WHITTEN. Who is in charge of the Forest Service? FOREST SERVICE Mr. WHITTEN. Turning now to the Forest Service, which is under the Department of Agriculture, at the suggestion of the chairman I am glad to make inquiry there. First I shall ask the budget officer to describe the items before us for the Forest Service. Mr. GRANT. We have a total estimate of $17,982,000 for forest land management, $770,000 for forest research, and $48,000 for State and private forestry cooperation. This includes $12 million for fighting forest fires during the fiscal year, $3 million for forest insect control, and $3.8 million for pay increase costs. Mr. WHITTEN. What was the request made of the Appropriation Committee last year in the regular bill for the overall Forest Service? How much of this may have been requested and denied by the Congress in the regular bill? Mr. GRANT. The estimate for last year I do not recall at the moment. Mr. WHITTEN. Do you, Mr. Cliff? Mr. CLIFF. No; I do not. (The estimates and appropriation for fiscal year 1963 is as follows:) Forest protection and utilization, fiscal year 1963 Budget request_ Appropriation_. $179, 690, 000 180, 065, 000 FOREST FIREFIGHTING Mr. GRANT. The total estimate includes $12 million for fighting forest fires. Mr. THOMAS. You received practically what you asked for? Mr. GRANT. We asked for $5 million for forest firefighting in the regular bill. This is the customary contingency fund which is provided in the regular bill, and then Congress appropriates whatever more is necessary in a supplemental bill. The insect control item results from surveys in the fall which reflected serious outbreaks. The budget was not reduced for this item in 1963. Mr. THOMAS. During the supplemental last year they indicated they have an operation plan whereby they usually go in the regular bill for about $5 million then they come back in the form of a deficiency to take care of all the operation, and last year it was $34.5 million. Mr. GRANT. Yes, sir. Mr. WHITTEN. I am not as familiar with the procedure in the past as you are, but you do carry separate items for emergencies both in forest fires and insect control? Mr. GRANT. That is right. Mr. WHITTEN. When did you quit putting in the regular bill the estimate of what you would need for the year? What is the condition of the two funds as of now so far as depletion is concerned? Mr. GRANT. In the case of fighting forest fires, for many, many years there was an appropriation of $100,000 carried in the regular bill. This goes back 20 or 25 years or maybe longer. Then about 10 years or so ago a change was made to try to get a more realistic figure in the regular appropriation act. Originally it was $6 million and then it went to $5 million and has remained at $5 million for a number of years. The $5 million was not nearly reflected for several years now the actual cost of fighting forest fires. The cost for this fiscal year is much less than the average for the past few years. Mr. WHITTEN. In view of that explanation, turning to Mr. Cliff, could you tell us how much money is retained out of the $5 million, how you financed your operations if it is all gone, and a description for the record as to the forest fires with which you have been faced and how much it cost you in the various areas of the United States. You can supply that for the record. (The information requested follows:) SUMMARY OF 1962 FIRE SEASON The start of the 1962 fire season in the western regions was about normal contrasted with the previous 3 years when the fire seasons started 2 weeks to a month earlier than normal. However, on many of the national forests the fire season extended a month to 2 months longer than normal. Fire danger was generally about normal with above average severity in California, Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, Nevada, and Utah. Compared with 1961, the 1962 fire record shows 33 percent fewer fires and 72 percent less area burned in the six western regions. In comparison to the 1957-61 5-year average, there were only 4 percent fewer fires in 1962, with a decrease of 74 percent in area burned. Fire danger in the East during the spring fire season was greater than normal because of severe drought conditions in the winter and spring months. The 3 eastern regions had 2,685 fires in 1962, 27 percent more than 1961 and 31 percent above the 1957-61 5-year average. The 30,520 acres burned in these regions was 71 percent and 48 percent greater, respectively, than 1961 and the 5-year average. The total area burned for all national forests is remarkably low, amounting to only 81,264 acres. This is the least acreage burned of record. The previous low was 107,816 acres in 1937. Man-caused fires increased 13 percent over 1961 and exceeded the 5-year average by 17 percent. While lightning fires were much fewer than 1961, the 6,307 that occurred are the 7th largest number of record. The following tabulation shows number of fires and acreage burned for all national forests: In the western regions there were only 13 fires exceeding 1,000 acres each in 1962. In 1961 there were 43 such fires, and 59 in 1960. None of the 1962 fires reached the sizable proportions as did several large fires in the 2 previous years. The highest suppression cost on a single fire in 1962 was $400,000. In 1960 and 1961 there were 19 fires costing in excess of this amount, several of which cost more than $1 million each. Resource losses in 1962 are the lowest for many years as a result of the small amount of area burned. EMERGENCY PREPARATION Forest Service plans for manning stations and crews are based on requirements for prevention, detection, and suppression during a normal length of season under conditions of average risk of fires starting, and on the rate at which fires will spread. When the season begins earlier and extends longer than normal, or fire danger is higher and fire risk greater than average, protection forces are increased to meet the situation. This buildup of forces, or emergency manning, is financed from the fund for fighting forest fires. This fund also finances fire overtime work, including pay differential of the regular fire organization. FIREFIGHTING FATALITIES Fourteen lives were lost fighting forest fires on national forests in 1962. One Forest Service pilot, two contract pilots and three others were killed in aircraft accidents. Five firefighters were burned to death. Two men died when struck by rolling rocks and one was killed by a falling snag. SUMMARY OF ACTUAL AND ESTIMATED OBLIGATIONS The following tabulation summarizes forest firefighting obligations and estimates in fiscal year 1963: Obligations from July 1, 1962, to Dec. 31, 1962___ Total for period July 1, 1962, to June 30, 1963-- Less amount available from fiscal year 1963 appropriation---- $14, 216, 764 2,783, 236 17, 000, 000 -5, 000, 000 Total estimate___. 12, 000, 000 ESTIMATE FOR THE JANUARY 1-JUNE 30, 1963 FIRE SEASON Recent history of fire occurrence shows an expectancy of about 3,000 fires with a burned acreage of 50,000 during the last 6 months of the fiscal year. Present weather trends indicate some increase in fire occurrence can be expected in the Southern States and that there may be some reduction in fire occurrence in the Western States during this period. Suppression of these fires will require the use of many firefighters and heavy equipment to construct a large mileage of fireline and the use of aircraft to drop smokejumpers and fire retardant on the more serious fires. Fire occurrence will be greatest in such critical areas as Arizona, New Mexico, and California. Obligations during this 6-month period for the past 5 years have been as follows: The deficiency estimate provides $2,783,236 for the last 6 months of the fiscal year, which is somewhat lower than the above indicated 5-year average of $3,429,344. HISTORY OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR FIGHTING FOREST FIRES From 1916 through 1950, the Congress appropriated each year in the regular Appropriation Act a token amount for fighting forest fires which was supplemented to the extent required to reimburse actual expenditures by a supplemental appropriation made after the summer and fall firefighting costs were known. During most of this period current year appropriations were made available to meet prior year obligations when necessary. Beginning in fiscal year 1951 and continuing through 1963, Congress appropriated amounts varying from $6 to $5 million in the regular annual Appropriation Act for fighting forest fires. Effective with fiscal year 1958 the entire amount available was reserved for emergencies to be apportioned for use only to the extent necessary to meet emergency conditions. This provision making the current year appropriation available to meet prior year obligations when necessary was continued. The following table shows the status of fighting forest fires appropriations during the period 1951-63: |