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The chart entitled "Range Land" which I want to show you will give you a rough idea of the condition of the public land generally. You will notice that first small section says "good." There are about 25,000,000 acres of good range land under the jurisdiction of the Department. In the next block on the chart there is about 54,000,000 acres. That is classified as "medium" in quality. The next block shows that there is 40,000,000 of medium to poor range land, and the real poor is another 40,000,000 acres. Then we also have a large section of submarginal land that makes very little contribution at all to our whole range problem. Only occasionally can it be used. That is very large-approximately 61,000,000 acres.

These are only a few of the Nation's problems concerning basic resource management. If we are not able to meet and solve these and many other problems of equal importance, our Nation will be compelled to pay an excessive price for its failure.

The minerals chart has been prepared to illustrate four main points. First, the production machine which yielded us a national output of $250,000,000,000 in 1948, about $1,700 per capita, required minerals in staggering volumes.

The second point is that a great diversity of minerals is requiredone mineral can be substituted for another within only narrow limits, on the basis of our present knowledge.

Third, increased national output would require minerals in even larger volumes than were used in 1948.

Finally, our known sommercial reserves of important minerals range from virtually nil to quite comfortable levels.

While located largely in arid lands, the lands administered by the Department of the Interior or to which the Department provides water for irrigation, form an important part of the food- and fiberproducing resources of the Nation.

The task of the Department in its reclamation program is to develop as large an area of irrigated land as is economically feasible, in order to make the largest possible contribution to the growing food needs of the West and the Nation, to gear this program with the general economic growth of the West, to proceed with construction at the most economical rate and in general to produce the greatest possible benefit from the least possible cost..

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The principal problem in management of the public range is the rehabilitation of this resource, which suffered serious depletion during the half century or more that its use was entirely uncontrolled. object is not only to increase the direct productivity of the range, but also to protect the heavy investments in reclamation and power projests which lie in the river basins below the upland ranges.

May I say here, that is a subject where close cooperation and coordination within the Department of the Interior is most essential in order to protect these great investments in the lower areas.

The rate of progress has been too slow, however. The soil and moisture conservation program is proceeding at a rate which will require 25 years to complete treatment of only 60,000,000 arces of the most critically eroded ranges, a program which should be completed in 10 years if accelerated deterioration is to be avoided.

Regarding our forest reserves and resources, I think that Senator Cordon asked a question yesterday with respect to a statement that the Secretary made to the effect that on the basis of the 1944 saw

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