Acreages of, and visitors to, areas under the jurisdiction of the National Park Service, 1940-44 seasons-Continued

5-year average (1940-44) for all national parks is 4,949,967. 5-year average (1940-44) for all other areas is 7,775,944.

The foregoing list omits established areas of the national park system for which no travel has been reported. 1 Estimated.

71191-45-pt. 1———————44

Entries of private automobiles to the national parks during the 1940-44 seasons [Travel year Oct. 1-Sept. 30]

INCREASE IN REVENUES AND IN NUMBER OF VISITORS

Mr. TOLSON. It might be of interest, Mr. Chairman, to note that our revenues for the 1944 fiscal year, ended June 30, 1944, totaled $807,601.19. We anticipate that the collection of revenues during the fiscal year 1945 will amount to $850,000 and, during 1946, around $900,000. Mr. KIRWAN. You show here an increase in visitors, Mr. Drury. Mr. DRURY. Yes; about 17 percent.

Mr. KIRWAN. Seventeen or eighteen percent.

Mr. DRURY. Yes.

Mr. KIRWAN. Was that due to the military forces visiting the parks? Mr. DRURY. No. The number of military visitors of late, I think, has decreased somewhat. It has fluctuated considerably. That is mainly an increase in civilian visitors. The military visitors were 2,162,000 during the 1944 travel year. The military visitors this year are somewhat less than for the same period last year.

Mr. KIRWAN. How about the revenues; did they increase in 1944 over 1943?

Mr. TOLSON. They increased slightly. In 1944 they were around $807,000 and we expect to take in around $850,000 in 1945.

Mr. KIRWAN. What is the percentage of increase in visitors and in revenues? You say you had 17 or 18 percent increase in visitors, but only had a slight increase in revenues.

Mr. TOLSON. Yes.

Mr. KIRWAN. Is that due to the military forces being admitted free? Mr. TOLSON. No, I think not entirely. Revenues are made up from many different sources; not only from admission fees and automobile

license fees but from the sale of surplus property, concessions, rents, and so forth.

Mr. KIRWAN. I understand. But you say here you had an increase of 18 percent in visitors, but only a slight increase in revenues. Mr. TOLSON. That is true.

Mr. KIRWAN. Eighteen percent increase in visitors and just a slight increase in revenues. You say it was the military visitors that cut down the increase in revenues?

Mr. DRURY. And day visitors, visitors possibly for a day and many of them did not use the accommodations nor patronize the hotels. Of course, travel and revenues do not have any precise relationship to each other. It depends, for instance, on what facilities are open and that has to be gaged somewhat at the beginning of the season.

Mr. KIRWAN. There were no concessions open in the parks or anything like that?

Mr. DRURY. Yes; they are open during the war on a limited basis in most of our areas.

Mr. KIRWAN. What profits are being made by the concessionaries, if any?

Mr. DRURY. Some concessioners have shown a profit; some of them are just about breaking even.

Mr. KIRWAN. According to the chart here, they received more money in 1944 and paid less for concessions as compared with 1943.

Mr. DRURY. The revenues include, of course, the percentage returned to the concessioners plus timber sales rentals, and various other items. We can readily furnish a statement of all of the revenues from concessions.

Mr. TOLSON. This shows for 1940 to 1944, inclusive, that the business concessions paid to the Government in 1940, $98,601; in 1941, $108,297; in 1942, $117,593; in 1943, $63,845; and in 1944, $54,063.

Mr. KIRWIN. In 1944, you had more visitors than you did in 1943, 18 percent increase in visitors in 1944, yet the revenues are $10,000 less. Mr. DRURY. That might reflect the fact that the concessioners made less money in 1944-that they gave more service and gave a good deal of it at a loss.

POST-WAR PLANS FOR CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE

Mr. KIRWAN. Does the Park Service have any buildings of its own and facilities to house visitors?

Mr. DRURY. We are working on plans for that. It depends a great deal, of course, on what provisions are made for post-war construction. Personally, I believe it is sound policy, regardless of the question as to how the facilities are operated, for the Government to own the physical plant.

Mr. KIRWAN. And you are in a position, you may say, today, in asking for this $65,000 for post-war planning, to go right ahead with it; the preliminary work on it has already been done?

Mr. DRURY. The preliminary work on our planning?

Mr. KIRWAN. Your preliminary work has already been done? Mr. DRURY. No. That money is for making surveys and preparing plans.

Mr. KIRWAN. Post-war planning; but have you done any preliminary work?

Mr. DRURY. In a general way; yes. We have for each one or our park areas what we call a master plan, which indicates the lay-out. Mr. KIRWAN. Do you have plans and blueprints?

Mr. DRURY. We do have some. I might say one word about the plans for facilities to house visitors. Only a small percentage of those plans would involve that type of construction. Some involve maintenance and building construction, and a great many other items are included in the types of plans to be undertaken out of the $650,000. Mr. KIRWAN. Members of the committee have seen some of the trails in the parks, and it appears that you need a lot of work there. Mr. DRURY. We need a great deal of maintenance.

Mr. KIRWAN. Especially when the snow cuts into the ditches and does a lot of destruction.

Mr. DRURY. We have need of well over a million dollars for deferred maintenance.

Mr. TOLSON. In further answer to your question, Mr. Kirwan, the plans we have on hand would accomplish $948,000 worth of work, not including major roads and parkways work. We have some plans that are from 75 to 100 percent complete for major roads that will accomplish about $4,000,000 worth of work. About $5,000,000 worth of work can be done on parkways with plans which are now about 75 to 100 percent complete. Those plans can be completed within 60 or 90 days.

Mr. KIRWAN. I wanted to know whether you have other plans besides those involved in the $650,000 you are asking for.

Mr. TOLSON. Yes; we have two which I have just mentioned, some of which could be completed within 60 to 90 days.

Mr. KIRWAN. Are not the parks generally well supplied so far as facilities to accommodate visitors and employees are concerned?

Mr. TOLSON. Some parks are; others are not. For instance, Big Bend National Park, for which the State of Texas donated the land, was established last year. It has practically no facilities at all to accommodate visitors. Such facilities will need to be provided for them when peacetime comes.

Mr. KIRWAN. That is one of the parks you had in mind?

Mr. TOLSON. That is one of the parks we had in mind in presenting our estimate for post-war plans for facilities to accommodate the public, for roads and trails, and structures of various kinds.

AVAILABILITY OF PERSONNEL FOR POST-WAR WORK

Mr. KIRWAN. Can you secure the necessary personnel for this postwar planning?

Mr. TOLSON. That remains to be seen, of course, and will depend, perhaps, on the employment situation when the European phase of the war ends. Some of our architects and engineers are now returning from war duty.

Mr. KIRWAN. You think you can get them all right?

Mr. TOLSON. In submitting our estimates for 46 new positions, we have allowed a 10-percent reduction in the funds required as we anticipate it will take some time to secure the personnel for them.

Mr. DRURY. We have had communications from a good many former members of the staff who are now with the armed services who say

they are willing to return to the Park Service when they are discharged from the Army, and many of them are technical men who have the right to return to their positions in the Park Service at the same salary they received formerly in those positions.

REDUCTIONS RECOMMENDED

Mr. TOLSON. There are two items in connection with which we can recommend reductions. One is with respect to the Chattanooga National Cemetery which has been transferred to the War Department by law, and which is included in the item of national military parks in the amount of $7,800. The transfer of that cemetery was effected after the submission of this estimate and after it had been cleared by the Bureau of the Budget.

In addition, the Fort Pulaski National Monument is to be continued under the jurisdiction of the Navy Department, so that $8,287 can be eliminated from the national monuments appropriation item. The Navy Department had advised us that it expected to decommission the unit at Fort Pulaski National Monument but has since decided to retain it for naval purposes.

POST-WAR PLANNING WORK IN THE REGIONAL OFFICES

Mr. NORRELL. I noticed in the general set-up on page 323 of the committee print of the bill there is an itemized statement of your total requests, and I notice that the regional offices made a rather sizably increased request there. You received an appropriation of $262,000 for 1945, and the requested appropriation for 1946 has jumped to $676,925.

Mr. TOLSON. That item includes $434,925 for post-war plans and surveys. We were asked to spread that item through the appropriate appropriation items, so that you will find some of it in the items for "Salaries and expenses," Director's office, and regional offices. Almost all of it will be found under the regional offices item.

Mr. NORRELL. What do you plan to do with that fund if it is allowed? Will you look into ways and means of beautifying the present national parks, or are you going to look into the matter of providing additional national parks that might be established? What is the purpose of that item?

Mr. TOLSON. That item is to be broken down into the preparation of plans and making surveys for minor roads and trails.

Mr. NORRELL. On the presently established areas?

Mr. TOLSON. On presently established areas. It is also plans for physical improvements and buildings of all kinds and for construction site surveys for building locations.

We also have two items of $62,000 and $68,000 for the archeological surveys, and for park, parkway, and recreational area studies in cooperation with the States.

Mr. NORRELL. That is to be spent in trying to improve the present established areas?

Mr. TOLSON. Largely.

Mr. NORRELL. Is any part of it to be spent in connection with going out and trying to create additional areas?

Mr. TOLSON. No; we have not included any funds in this item for investigating for additional areas.