STATEMENT OF BRIG. GEN. CHARLES C. NOBLE, DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF CIVIL WORKS, CHIEF OF ENGINEERS, U.S. ARMY; ACCOMPANIED BY COL. JAMES B. MEANOR, JR., EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR, CIVIL WORKS, CHIEF OF ENGINEERS; HARRY O'NEILL, CHIEF, MANAGEMENT AND DISPOSAL DIVISION, DIRECTORATE OF REAL ESTATE; AND MARK S. GURNEE, CHIEF OF CIVIL WORKS, OPERATIONS DIVISION

General NOBLE. Yes, sir. Colonel Meanor is prepared to deliver our statement at this time.

The CHAIRMAN. All right, Colonel Meanor.
Colonel MEANOR. Yes, sir.

Mr. Chairman and members of the committee, I am Col. James B. Meanor, Jr., Executive Director of Civil Works, Office of Chief of Engineers, Department of the Army. I am accompanied by Mr. Harry O`Neill, Chief, Management and Disposal Division, Directorate of Real Estate, and Mr. Mark S. Gurnee, Chief of the Civil Works Operations Division.

I appreciate the opportunity to appear before this committee to discuss the use of Federal lands and facilities by the public at projects authorized by the Congress and constructed by the corps. The appendixes to my statement contain illustrations to which I will refer from time to time.

The bill, S. 2828, would except from the provisions of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 facilities administered by the Corps of Engineers by prohibiting the charging of a fee for entrance, admission, or access or for the use of minimum recreational facilities. The exception is assumed not to apply to fees or charges collected by States or local interests in the administration of project areas which have been leased to them, nor to national recreation areas where the authorizing legislation might well cover the specific application, nor to the collection of user fees as defined in Public Law 88-578.

It is recommended that the bill, if enacted, be clarified on these points.

The bill would also prohibit the Secretary of the Army from collecting or receiving any fee or charge for the issuance of any permit or license for any boat mooring or docking facility, duckblind, ski jump float, swimming or diving platform or raft or any other similar floating facility, but would not prohibit the Secretary from requiring a permit or license for any such floating facilities.

It is also assumed that this prohibition would apply to fixed as well as floating facilities of the type specified in the bill located on Federal project lands, recognizing that the charges to be imposed under corps of regulations are for the exclusive private use of the underlying lands, and not for the use of the waters.

There is a substantial difference in the problems relating to these two separate parts of S. 2828. Accordingly, I would like to divide my statement into two parts; namely, (a) entrance fees under the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act and (b) charging for special privileges granted on Government land and water to private interests.

ENTRANCE FEES

The Congress enacted the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 (Public Law 88-578) approved September 3, 1964. The purpose of the act was to improve outdoor recreation resources by providing funds for, and authorizing Federal assistance to, the States in planning, acquisition, and development of needed land and water areas and facilities, as well as providing funds for the Federal acquisition and development of certain lands and other areas.

The ordinance for the government of the territory of the United States northwest of the Ohio River enacted in 1787 provided:

The navigable waters leading into the Mississippi and St. Lawrence, and the carrying places between the same, shall be common highways and forever free, as well to the inhabitants of the said territory as to the citizens of the United States, and those of any other states that may be admitted into the Confederacy, without any tax, import or duty therefor.

This remains the national policy today and fees for the use of federally developed and operated recreation facilities do not violate this policy.

During the period 1944 to 1965 access to and use of the reservoirs and attendant facilities under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Army was granted to the public without charge by the authority of section 4 of the Flood Control Act of 1944, as amended, which provided:

The water areas of all such projects shall be open to pubic use generally, without charge for boating, swimming, bathing, fishing and other recreation purposes.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act of 1965 specifically modified this authority by deleting the words "without charge," which had the effect of eliminating any contention that this language excluded Corps of Engineers projects from the entrance fee provisions of the act.

This act was supplemented by Executive Order 11200, which authorized the Federal agency heads to impose entrance and user charges beginning April 1, 1965.

The President delegated to the Secretary of the Interior the responsibility for establishing a recreation user fee schedule and to fix specific charges at each designated area.

Regulations for this purpose have been promulgated by the Secretary under title 43, subtitle A, part 18, Recreation Fees, C.F.R., which provides:

Fees shall be charged if the following conditions are found to exist concurrently:

(1) The area is administered by any of the eight agencies specified in 18.1 hereof;

(2) the area is administered primarily for scenic, scientific, historical, cultural or recreational purposes;

(3) the area has recreation facilities or services provided at Federal expense ;

and

(4) the nature of the area is such that fee collection is administratively and economically practical.

An "area," as covered by this Executive order and as applicable to Corps of Engineers projects, has been assumed to be a location adjacent to the water where sufficient lands are available for concentrated public use. Such areas are normally spaced around a reservoir with frequency and size, depending on terrain, access, anticipated use, and other planning principles.

The relationship between a project and an individual public-use area are shown by illustrations 1 and 2 of the attached appendix A. The project is W. Kerr Scott Reservoir, Yadkin River, N.C.

Approximately 1 million people live within 50 miles of this reservoir. Within 75 miles are large urban areas, including Charlotte, Asheville, Winston-Salem, High Point, and Greensboro.

Illustration 1 is an aerial view of the reservoir.

Illustration 2, the general development plan for the reservoir, shows the relationship between a reservoir project and individual publicuse areas around the reservoir. Public-use areas are shown in solid black.

The current detailed criteria for designation of public-use areas at which entrance fees would be charged at the Corps of Engineers projects and approved by the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation for the Secretary of the Interior are

A. Federal expenditure of at least $25,000 for recreation facilities-exclusive of roads with minimum facilities provided to include the following: picnic tables, fireplaces, trash collection, paved boat launching ramp, parking area, potable water, sanitary facilities, and camping area.

B. At least 25 acres of usable land above the conservation pool.
C. Attendance of at least 50,000 visits per year.

D. Potential for further sophisticated development.

Consideration is also given to such factors as to whether there are other public-use areas on the same project with minimum recreation facilities where no fee is charged.

There will be at least one such no-charge area at each project. There are also overlook areas, with parking and display boards, where visitors may view the project without charge.

These criteria have been the basis of selection of areas at which entrance fees were charged at corps projects both in 1966 and 1967. The corps regulations pertaining to fees for the current season are enunciated in EC1130-2-38, a copy of which I offer for the record.

The entrance fees charged at corps projects in 1966 and 1967 are the minimum on the schedule promulgated by the Secretary of the Interior. The entrance fees for 1967 are 50 cents for 1-day use by an individual, at one project; $1 per day for 1-day use by the occupants of a single vehicle at one project only; $3 good for a single vehicle for 6 months at one project only; and $7 for a single vehicle for a permit good all year at any Federal recreation area.

The Corps of Engineers administers 235 reservoir projects of all types and several navigation projects along the Nation's rivers at which there are approximately 3,000 points where the shores may be reached, not including lands leased to others.

Many of these access points are small and have little or no Federal improvements but are nevertheless used by fisherman and others desiring access to the waters of the reservoir. About one-third of them have been provided with a least some of the minimum facilities mentioned previously.

For the current recreation year, April 1, 1967, to March 31, 1968, 168 public-use areas at 65 projects have been designated by the Secretary of the Army for collection of entrance fees. These projects are shown as gray dots on illustration 3, page 3 of appendix A.

These areas typically contain an access road with minor circulation roads, parking areas, boat launching ramps, potable water, toilets, and camping and picknicking facilities.

Illustration 4 shows an individual project with designated fee areas. This project, Canyon Reservoir on the Guadalupe River in Texas, is located about halfway between San Antonio and Austin. There are seven recreation areas at Canyon Reservoir which are shown in solid black. The three areas circled in black are designated as fee areas.

Illustrations 5, 6, and 7 on page 5 of appendix A show maps of typical public-access areas with multiple road entrances. Public roads, shown on the map by wide black lines, provide access to these areas.

Entrance is gained from these roads at separate points as shown by the black arrows. The interior circulation roads connect to parking areas, boat ramps, picnic facilities and campgrounds.

Illustrations 8 through 13, pages 6, 7, and 8 of appendix A show a typical parking area at a public-use area, a concrete-surfaced boat launching ramp, picnic facilities, family campsite, a small concession lease site at a public-use area, and a public beach and bathhouse.

During 1966 the Corps of Engineers collected $105,000 in entrance fees which was deposited in the land and water conservation fund. However, we did not keep cost of collection figures except at a few areas where special studies were conducted.

Collections were accomplished by regular operating personnel in addition to other normally assigned duties. The collections for the period April 1, 1967, to August 31, 1967, have approximated $600,000. This does not include admissions granted by Golden Eagle passport, the sale of which may have been made by others and the proceeds not credited to the Corps.

We have administered the program in 1967 largely through roving Rangers who check the areas periodically. Our gross costs for the same period were roughly equal to the amount collected. These costs are comprised of the actual salary and operating expenses of extra Rangers hired primarily to police the collection of fees.

The cost of these Rangers, because of their presence and because they perform other incidental duties, should be allocated only in part against fee collection. Consequently, we feel our collections are exceeding costs. However, the current method of collection is not capable of precise analysis.

There have been a number of problem in collecting fees, a situation which may be more apparent when I tell you that our reservoir projects have a total shoreline of over 30,000.

Whitnew Reservoir project, Brazos, River, Tex., located about 30 miles northwest of Waco, is typical. Illustration 14 on page 9 of appendix A is a map of Whitney Reservoir.

With a shoreline of 135 miles, it has 19 public-use areas shown in black, of which eight, shown with names outlined in black, are designated as fee areas.

Attendance in 1966 at these eight fee areas totaled 811,000. To man entrance booths at the Whitney Point project would require 26 employees. By using the roving-ranger system, we try to cover these areas during peak use periods with four men.

With the project office located 20 miles from the most remote area and an average distance of 6 miles between areas, the administrative problems are evident. It is not practicable to assure payment by all visitors because complete coverage by rangers at all times cannot be economically justified.

Persons who do not pay when contacted by a Ranger, or who do not have in their possession a satisfactory permit, are issued a notice of violation. If after 20 days they have not furnished the number of their permit or made the necessary payment, the violation is turned over to the U.S. Attorney for prosecution.

Approximately 30,000 notices of violation were issued at corps fee areas up to September 30, 1967. Sufficient time has not elapsed to determine the effectiveness of the followup action by the U.S. attorneys. We have found that many of them are not able to schedule these actions in already busy calendars. Working through the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation we intend to take steps to improve these enforcement procedures with the Department of Justice.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund Act provides for entrance, admission, and user fees. At corps projects the only fee now imposed is the entrance fee. Admission fees have been interpreted to mean fees imposed to view performances or exhibits which are not pertinent to corps projects.

User fees have thus far been interpreted by the Army Engineers to be applicable to personal services or supplies and utilities which are provided at corps projects only by concessionaires or lessees who are permitted to charge therefor within the limits specified by the regulations of the Secretary of the Interior.

There have been objections raised to the imposition of entrance fees. Most of the complaints have been that the fee constitutes a tax, a dual charge for facilities provided at taxpayer expense, a discrimination against the poor, a violation of the traditional concept of free use of Federal waters, or a charge for the bounties of nature.

Complaints have also been raised by nonprofit organizations who have regularly used or wish to use a fee area for a group assembly of civic value, such as church groups and Rotary Clubs.

It should also be noted that there has been comment in favor of the charge as providing a "desirable" measure of exclusiveness, in reducing vandalism, and in improved management.

If the entrance fee provisions of the Land and Water Conservation Fund Act are rescinded, as proposed in S. 2828 or other similar bills, it would place the Corps of Engineers in a position where it would be the only Federal agency excepted from the provisions of the act; it will have the effect of discouraging participation by States and other public agencies which usually rely on fees to meet part of their expenses and which would suffer competitively with free Federal areas; it would decrease income to the land and water conservation fund with resultant diminution of the desirable objectives of that fund; and it would be at variance with the congressionally accepted concept that services rendered to special beneficiaries should be self-sustaining to the fullest extent possible.

The Land and Water Conservation Fund-P.L. 88-578-provides for an integrated, coordinated program which involves every Federal agency with any significant responsibilities in the field of recreation.