ESTABLISHING REARING PONDS AND A FISH HATCHERY May 26, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. THOMPSON, from the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 961] The Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 961) to establish rearing ponds and a fish hatchery, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. The amendment is as follows: Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert in lieu thereof the following: That the Secretary of the Interior is hereby authorized to establish and construct rearing ponds and a fish hatchery for experimental purposes at a suitable location in the upper peninsula of Michigan. The purpose of this bill is to authorize the establishment and construction of rearing ponds and a fish hatchery for experimental purposes at a suitable location in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. It is intended that by this legislation further research into the efficacy of artificial propagation in maintaining stocks of commercial fish can be conducted in the Great Lakes area. Several other bills were referred to your committee to authorize the establishment of fish hatcheries and rearing ponds at various locations in the State of Michigan. Because of the report to the committee by the Department of the Interior, and testimony of representatives of the Fish and Wildlife Service in opposition to the bills in the form in which they were introduced, your committee deemed it advisable at this time to act upon one of these bills. Accordingly, H. R. 961 was amended as stated herein to provide that the rearing ponds and fish hatchery should be "for experimental purposes.' Moreover, in order to give the Fish and Wildlife Service more latitude in choice of location, the bill as reported hereby specifies merely that the location shall be "in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan." It is hoped that the rearing ponds and hatchery established pursuant to this bill, if enacted into law, will be a combined field research headquarters and experimental fish hatchery where the contested questions in respect to artificial propagation may be answered finally and conclusively, and where other biological problems relating to the fisheries of the Great Lakes may be dealt with effectively. The Fish and Wildlife Service favors the enactment of the bill in the form in which it is hereby reported. It is understood that about $50,000 will be needed to carry out the objectives of the bill. AUTHORIZING COMPLETION OF CONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE EDEN PROJECT, WYOMING MAY 27, 1949.-Committed to the Committee of the Whole House on the State of the Union and ordered to be printed Mr. BARRETT of Wyoming, from the Committee on Public Lands, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany S. 55] The Committee on Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (S. 55) to authorize completion of construction and development of the Eden project, Wyoming, having considered the same, report favorably thereon without amendment and recommend that the bill do pass. PURPOSE OF THE BILL The purpose of this bill is to provide the necessary authorization to permit the Bureau of Reclamation to complete the construction of the irrigation facilities of the Eden project, Wyoming, as originally authorized by the President as a Great Plains project on September 18, 1940, or with such modification as the Secretary of the Interior may find will result in greater engineering and economic feasibility. The bill also authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to complete the land-development and settlement features of the project in accordance with the general plan approved by the President in 1940. HISTORY OF EDEN PROJECT The Eden project as authorized by the President involved the construction of irrigation facilities to serve (1) approximately 9,000 acres of privately owned land at present irrigated but in need of drainage and improved storage and water supply facilities, and (2) approximately 1,000 acres in private ownership that is irrigable but not at present being irrigated, and (3) approximately 10,000 acres of public land formerly patented to the State of Wyoming for irrigation development under the Carey Act. Public Law 131, Seventy-seventh Congress, first session, approved June 25, 1941, authorized the Secre was authorized to be conducted by the Department of the Interior over a period of 10 years. Public Law 672 authorized not to exceed $20,000 per annum to carry out its objectives. Your committee believes that this bill, House Joint Resolution 202, which amends section 1 of Public Law 672, is more realistic in that it does not specify a particular period for the prosecution of a sea-lamprey-control program. The Department of the Interior has reported unfavorably in the past on bills which would authorize the establishment of one or more fish hatcheries at specified locations in the State of Michigan. This bill authorizes and directs the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service to report to Congress not later than December 31, 1950, the results of a survey of the Great Lakes area to determine the most suitable localities for the establishment of fish hatcheries and rearing ponds if and when it become desirable for the Federal Government to operate such activities. Your committee believes that such a survey and report are most important. Previous reports of the Department of the Interior on this question have not, in the opinion of the committee, adequately proven that the establishment of fish hatcheries and rearing ponds would not be valuable in the interest of rehabilitating the fisheries of the Great Lakes. Rather than specify the maximum annual authorized appropriation, your committee believes it desirable to leave this point open, to be gaged according to the actual requirements each year. The report of the Acting Secretary of the Interior, dated May 11, 1949, is as follows: DEPARTMENT OF THE INTerior, OFFICE OF THE SECRETARY, Hon. S. O. BLAND, Chairman, Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. BLAND: Reference is made to your request for a report on House Joint Resolution 202, a joint resolution to amend the act of August 8, 1946, relating to investigation and eradication of predatory sea lampreys of the Great Lakes, and for other purposes. I recommend enactment of the proposed legislation. The bill would continue for an indefinite time the existing program of investigations of the abundance and distribution of sea lampreys, experiments in developing control measures, and the elimination and eradication of the sea lamprey of the Great Lakes. In addition, the bill would authorize a survey of the Great Lakes area to determine what localities would be most suitable for the establishment of fish hatcheries and rearing ponds if and when it becomes desirable for the Federal Government to operate such fish hatcheries and rearing ponds in the Great Lakes area. The bill also would authorize the appropriation of such sums of money as might be necessary to carry out its purposes and objectives. Unquestionably sea lampreys have had a very damaging effect on the valuable fisheries of the Great Lakes, and any steps which would result in their elimination and eradication are well worth while. It is doubtful that a successful program could be completed within the limited period designated in the act of August 8, 1946, even with the wholehearted cooperation of conservation agencies of the various States and the commercial fishing industry. Thus the amendment as contained in section 1 is more realistic. Investigations conducted under the authority of the act of August 8, 1946, have revealed the extremely complicated and widespread nature of the problem. It has become evident that the sea lamprey is a serious problem in Lake Huron and Lake Michigan, and is now appearing in Lake Superior. It resorts to many different streams in its spawning migration, and it is during this period of its existence that control measures are expected to be most effective. However, the initial studies have not been conclusive in showing which, of at least a dozen different methods of attack, will be most effective. There is, therefore, an urgent necessity for expanding the program to a much greater degree in order to follow through on the various leads which have been pointed out by the initial studies. Over a period of years a number of bills have been introduced from time to time which would authorize the establishment of one or more fish hatcheries at specified locations in the State of Michigan. Consistently this Department has reported unfavorably on such bills on the ground that it has not been demonstrated that fish hatcheries and rearing ponds alone or at the specified places would contribute materially to the rehabilitation and development of the valuable fisheries of the Great Lakes. Rather, this Department has felt that the greatest need for fishcultural facilitics is one that would combine research and fish-hatchery operations in order that the real needs of the conservation problems might be determined intelligently. The authorization contained in section 3 of the proposed bill for a survey of the Great Lakes area to determine what localities would be most suitable for the establishment of fish hatcheries and rearing ponds, of course, is an integral part of that program. It is quite possible that the proposed survey, including a review of possible improvements in method, could lead to favorable recommendation within the time limit specified in section 3. This Department has not received clearance from the Bureau of the Budget on the submission of this report. Therefore, I cannot advise you concerning the relationship of the views expressed herein to the program of the President. Sincerely yours, OSCAR L. CHAPMAN, Acting Secretary of the Interior. CHANGES IN EXISTING LAW In compliance with paragraph 2a of rule XIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives, changes in existing law made by the bill, as introduced, are shown as follows (existing law proposed to be omitted is enclosed in black brackets, new matter is printed in italics, existing law in which no change is proposed is shown in roman): JOINT RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING AND DIRECTING THE DIRECTOR OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE OF THE DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR TO INVESTIGATE AND ERADICATE THE PREDATORY SEA LAMPREYS OF THE GREAT LAKES. PUBLIC LAW 672, SEVENTY-NINTH CONGRESS, APPROVed August 8, 1946 That the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to prosecute, for a period of not to exceed ten years from the date of approval of this joint resolution, investigations of the abundance and distribution of sea lampreys[,] and their effects on fishes, experiments to develop control measures, and a vigorous program for the elimination and eradication of sea lamprey populations of the Great Lakes. SEC. 2. In carrying out the foregoing purposes and objectives the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service is authorized to cooperate with the official conservation agencies of the States bordering on the Great Lakes, with the commercial fishing industry, and with other governmental or private agencies, organizations, or individuals having jurisdiction over or an interest in the fisheries of the Great Lakes. SEC. 3. That the Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service of the Department of the Interior is hereby authorized and directed to survey the Great Lakes area to determine what localities would be most suitable for the establishment of fish hatcheries and rearing ponds if, and when, it becomes desirable for the Federal Government to operate such fish hatcheries and rearing ponds in the Great Lakes area. The Director of the Fish and Wildlife Service is authorized and directed to report to the Congress not later than December 31, 1950, the results of his survey and to make recommendations with respect thereto. [SEC. 3.] SEC. 4. There is authorized to be appropriated from time to time, out of any moneys in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, such sums as may be necessary [not to exceed $20,000 per annum] to carry out the purposes and objectives of this joint resolution. H. Repts., 81-1, vol. 3- -112 |