STATE OF WEST VIRGINIA, DEPARTMENT OF NATURAL RESOURCES, Charleston, June 4, 1964. Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, U.S. Senator, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: This has reference to your letter of May 29 relative to your proposed legisiation whereby Federal funds would be used to employ unemployed workers on park improvement programs. If such funds were available, we could use a goodly number of such people within the West Virginia park system. I refer you to the attached for addi tional information. We have had some experience with this type of labor and in most programs we find that there is not adequate provision made for materials, tools, and equipment for this type of work. I specifically make reference to materials such as cement, nails, lumber, and items of similar nature. Equipment needs would be trucks, rock crushers, hand tools, saws, etc. I would recommend that in this type of program that 30 to 40 percent of such funds should go for nonlabor items so that accomplishments could be made as well as giving people employment. DEAR MR. NELSON: The following is in answer to your letter of May 29, 1964, relative to conservation work projects. The thing that concerns me about your proposal is the administrative structure through which such a program could be effected. You may already be aware of the number of cooperative programs between the various forestry agencies in the States and the U.S. Forest Service. If a program providing Federal assistance utilizing one of the present programs were inaugurated, much could be done in State forest development and the improvement of many of our forest fire detection facilities. Presently, we have nine State forests with a total of 70,000 acres. Only five of these are located in areas of the State where there is a serious unemployment problem. Several hundred man-years could be utilized in improving these facilities, and there are pending programs through the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation that may be of assistance to States in this type of development. The forest fire towers that need considerable improvements are principally located in areas of high unemployment. I would more favorably approve a program utilizing existing programs than to see new procedures to accomplish the same devised. Sincerely yours, LESTER MCCLUNG, State Forester. WHEELING PARK COMMISSION, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: I have received your letter of June 12 and would like to commend you on your efforts to draft legislation which would result in public conservation projects being carried out by unemployed workers. We have a 10-year master plan for further development of the parks here in Wheeling, and many conservation projects are on our agenda as soon as funds are available for personnel to carry them out. The proposed projects include the following things of a conservation nature: Thirty-acre lake. Tent and trailer camping site. Picnic areas and sites. Nature trails through wooded areas. Bridle trails. Nature center outdoor theater. Roadside overlooks. Arboretum planting and development. Pedestrian walkways connecting various centers of activities. Park roadways. Miscellaneous conservation projects. All these projects could utilize personnel from our present unemployed and unskilled workers, with supervision provided by our present staff. If I can assist further in any way, or if a print of our master plan would be of value, please feel free to let me know. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: Thank you for your letter of May 29, 1964, informing me of your present efforts in drafting legislation to provide funds for Federal, State, county, and municipal agencies to utilize unemployed workers on conservation projects. You may recall that on March 31, 1964, I sent you a copy of our "Work Project Proposals." I am sure that this copy is in your files at the present time. This is a complete breakdown of work projects which can be accomplished in the State of Wisconsin. You will note that it includes some 177,000 man-months of labor and covers by counties, projects such as buildings, roads, public-use areas, watercontrol structures, mapping, parking areas, and habitat improvements of various kinds. I would again like to reiterate my previous statement that we will be happy to administer any Federal aid program that will provide any or all of the improvements described in this report. I want to assure you that we will look with great interest on the progress of this legislation through Congress. As similar requests for this same information were sent to other members of my staff, please consider this a reply to all such letters. Very truly yours, L. P. VOIGT, Conservation Director. THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN, Senator GAYLORD NELSON, Senate Office Building, Washington, D.C. DEAR GAYLORD: Ray Sivesind has called to my attention your letter to him of May 29, regarding your contemplated legislation to provide employment in the development of our recreational and historical resources. Since your letter arrived, we have discussed possible projects in staff meetings and with the conservation department, with whom several of our historical projects are carried on jointly. There are five State parks in which considerable employment for unskilled and semiskilled workers could be made available. At Nelson Dewey State Park, this would include the building of simple roadways and paths, rebuilding the stone fences originally built by Wisconsin's first Governor, Nelson Dewey, more than a century ago, and repair and maintenance work on a substantial number of buildings. At Old Wade House, a State carriage museum was authorized by the 1963 legislature and we shall need old-fashioned roads, built largely with manual labor, through the 98-acre Herrling Woods, through which we plan to provide rides for site visitors in various types of horse-drawn equipment. Tower Hill State Park near Spring Green has already been researched with a view of reconstructing some of the scenes that area knew during the old lead mining days. Aztalan State Park, near Lake Mills, offers many opportunities for the use of both youth and older people in a variety of work situations. Perrot State Park contains a site identified with some of the earliest French activity in Wisconsin in the 1680's. Villa Louis at Prairie du Chien has drawn approximately 500,000 people to that area since it was acquired by the State historical society. Along the Mississippi River front there is a block of property that should be acquired and cleaned up, to offer increasingly large numbers of tourists the benefit of Prairie du Chien's scenery and history. At Baraboo, the Circus World Museum draws approximately 100,000 visitors annually. It needs a great deal of cleanup work along the river, and expansion of parking and picnicking facilities. A new project we would like to suggest is one in which Wisconsin could be absolutely unique. Few States were settled by as many different ethnic groups as Wisconsin and many of these introduced architectural features in their pioneer homes which identified them with specific nationality groups. As recently as your own childhood, church services were preached in a variety of languages around Wisconsin, but today the consolidating of schools and the merging of church groups is causing the disappearance of everyday use of foreign languages. We would like to recommend the establishment of an "Ethnic Park" to which buildings identified with specific ethnic groups could be moved, preserved and enjoyed by this and future generations. Several European countries have done this, using replicas of the original construction. Here we are fortunate enough to have the originals which could be taken apart, moved to a selected location and reassembled with the proper surroundings. A well-selected location, perhaps along the Kettle Moraine Drive, would be available to many people. Having the buildings together in one area would assure better security and reduce maintenance and operating costs. As Governor of Wisconsin, you undoubtedly received many letters in regard to abandoned cemeteries around our State. Although these are the responsibility of the local town governments, there are innumerable cemeteries in shamefully deteriorated condition. Cleanup of these cemeteries offers an opportunity for employment and a lesson in appreciation for the contributions of those who were here before us. Somewhat related to this subject are the hundreds of Indian mounds around the State, many of them in State parks, which are so overgrown with brush that they are losing their identification as Indian mounds. In addition to these suggestions for activity on the State level, every local community has its own landmarks. Many of these are very meaningful in preserving the local heritage and some of them offer a good potential as tourist attractions. The society is called upon far beyond its present staff capacity to offer technical help and guidance. If the U.S. Government would reimburse the society for the additional staff needed to guide such projects, a well-coordinated program could be developed. As we review some of the suggestions made in this letter, it does not seem at all improbable that projects such as these could effectively use up to 100,000 manyears, or 10,000 men for a 10-year period. I hope this information is the type you are seeking and that it will be helpful to you. If there is anything at all we can do to help this program along, please let me know. Sincerely, LESLIE H. FISHEL, Jr. THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF WISCONSIN, Hon. Senator GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: Thank you for your letter regarding your proposed legislation to provide funds to utilize unemployed workers on conservation projects, including park development and roadside improvement. I have forwarded your letter to Director Fishel and I know he will request a prompt and thorough study of the program you suggest, which sounds like an excellent one to me. There is urgent need for this kind of legislation to develop the areas whose acquisition has been made possible under the resources program you initiated as Governor, as well as many other areas, State owned and locally owned. Phil Lewis has been doing an outstanding job in compiling a total overview of the State's recreational resources including our points of historical and archeological interest. Although it may appear that the major emphasis on development of these areas may be handied by forests and park people, I think the historical society can assist in selecting accent points along the various trails and within the recreation areas. Another problem that has arisen with increasing frequency is the care of our pioneer cemeteries, which from our point of view have historical and heritage values. A few years ago Harold Geise, John Hunter, and I visited an old cemetery near Taycheedah which I believe contained more Civil War soldier burials than any other like-size area outside of our national military memorials. The grounds were such a mess of entangled brush, weeds, and tall grass it was virtually impossible to find the graves. We shall begin at once to work out something more specific in the line of activities your legislation would facilitate at historic sites, historic parks, and waysides, and I am confident that there are enough projects in our State and local historical areas to advantageously use 75,000 man-years or 7,500 man-units for a 10-year period. Sincerely, RAYMOND S. SIVESIND, Supervisor, Office of Sites and Markers. MADISON, Wis., June 20, 1964. Senator GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: In reply to your letter of June 12, in which you asked for information concerning the use of unemployed workers in the area of conservation and land improvement, I would like to offer the following information: 1. A program of utilizing the unemployed for work on conservation projects is needed. There are areas of development and needed facilities which are going begging because we do not have enough manpower to do the work. We use prison crews for a great deal of our labor but this is a token program and is not accomplishing all that could, and should, be accomplished. More important, we do not have the funds to pay for additional workers, nor the funds to develop the facilities and areas as they should be developed. As you know, the forest tax levy was defeated at the polls and our cigarette money for the ORAP is not as great because of a decline in the sales of smokes. Therefore, a program of Federal aid for park development, which would enable the State to hire unemployed workers, might be a consideration at this time. (Such a program would be an adjunct to the existing Federal aid programs and would have less strings attached.) 2. It is my observation that the counties desperately need a program of aid and assistance which is far beyond that offered by the ORAP. Even with the 50percent matching funds of the ORAP the counties are reluctant to do anything about developing their recreation potential. This is because, in part, the ORAP applies to the county forest lands and excludes those areas not on county forest land. It is also because the local county authorities are fighting the idea of entering land in public ownership ("sell it and put a cabin on it-then tax it to death" is their cry). We are trying to educate them to the need for recreation development on all levels of government and private enterprise to enhance the economy of the counties through tourism and recreation development. It is not an easy task. I would suggest that a program be established to give financial aid to the counties which would enable them to acquire and develop recreation lands regardless of whether they are forest land or not. This program could extend to the towns and cities as well and could be easily handled through our present conservation department planning aid program. However, additional funds would have to be made available to the conservation department to hire additional planning staff to cope with the workload. Present State and Federal aid programs do not do enough to aid the counties and municipalities in their park and recreation development. Therefore, I suggest the following program for a comprehensive aid program for the development of the recreation potential within the counties as a boost to economic rehabilitation. A. Prepare a comprehensive recreation report for each county requesting assistance. This report would inventory all the existing recreation resources within the county and would act as a guide for the long-range development of the recreation potential within the county. (Such a program is now being carried out by the department of resource development and the Wisconsin Conservation Department-a duplication of service.) The report would be mandatory before any Federal funds would be expended in the county for recreation development. This would include requests from cities and towns. No plan-no money. (The present program does not make the report mandatory but gives priority to those counties which have the reports. Thus far, the conservation department has made eight reports.) B. Designate one organization to coordinate all the recreation development within the State and to allocate funds for the acquisition and development of recreation areas and facilities in the counties and municipalities within the State. I would suggest that the total program be coordinated by the Wisconsin Conservation Department. This department has a long history of county and municipal aid and is more than able through its existing structure to handle the situation. It would solve the problem of duplication of service and efforts in other departments. C. Complete control of the design and development should rest with the con servation department. We have a very serious problem with local park committee members, county forest agents, university extension personnel, and resource agents who feel that they know more about park planning than the professionals who made the plans. They change the plans without consultation and spend great sums of money needlessly "making things better" or because "it is too expensive." In many cases the changes they have made botched up the entire park to such an extent that the total area is useless. (The only control we have is on the county forest lands. With the ORAP program we can withhold funds if the local people botch things up too bad. This has been done in several cases and they had to make the situation right before payment was made.) D. Remove the Soil Conservation Service, the university resource agents, and the department of resource development from the design and development function in the counties and municipalities. It is our unpleasant experience that wherever these organizations have entered the picture as park plauners they have botched up the works terribly. (This is a documented fact that the Soil Conservation Service, particularly, is not in a position to effectively plan recreation areas. Not one of the field men of these organizations is a trained park planner or manager. This is true throughout the country and is not limited to Wisconsin. I suggest that the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation is more capable of handling such tasks than the Soil Conservation Service.) Unfortunately, these groups have jumped on the "recreation bandwagon" and are trying to do a job for which they are not qualified in any way. I feel that such a situation should not exist for the good of the State and the counties. Therefore, I suggest that the Wisconsin Conservation Department be appointed the executor of this Federal-aid program and be given full authority to maintain standards and development according to sound park practices. E. Funds should be made available for maintenance of county and municipal parks. |