We hope that this information, as general as it is, will be of help to you. If we can be of further assistance, please let us know. Very truly yours, HARRY B. BUCKLEY, Superintendent of Parks. PENNSYLVANIA RESPONSES COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, PENNSYLVANIA HISTORICAL AND MUSEUM COMMISSION, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. MY DEAR SENATOR NELSON: Replying to your letter of June 3, I could not give you any specific idea of the number of man-hours of work which we might utilize under your suggested program. I would say, however, we could utilize a considerable amount of this type of labor should it be made available. The work projects which could be set up would include such things as (1) sorting and arranging museum objects and preparing catalogs of the same; (2) sorting and arranging historical materials, such as manuscripts, records, pictures, and preparing lists; (3) depending upon skills, the preparation of simple exhibits and particularly portable educational exhibit materials; and (4) assistance in the care and maintenance of historic buildings and their surroundings. I am particularly interested in your idea because in the closing years of the WPA I represented this commission as a sponsor of a very extensive white-collar projects program in Pennsylvania which employed well over 100 persons. This work included the organization of historical materials, making transcriptions, indexing, preparation of museum models, and work of the type which I have indicated above. I might add that one area which this type of labor could be used in the field is archeological excavations. We made extremely effective use of the WPA in Pennsylvania archeological work. We still have a good many of the manuals, etc., which were utilized in the WPA program and which would very probably be helpful in setting up such a program again. I would like to say, also, that we found this a very effective way to utilize unemployed persons. If we can be of any further assistance please advise. Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, S. K. STEVENS. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIR: Your thoughts for utilizing unemployed persons has great merit and I commend you for your efforts in attempting to do something about it. We would be able to expand our present programs in timber stand improvement, woodland border cutting, and food-plot improvement, if such funds were to be made available. These funds should not only include wages paid directly to the men employed but should also be available in like amount for the purchase of equipment necessary to get the men to the job and to perform the work. Without funds for equipment we would be unable to make use of any more men than we already have now employed in this work, as our present equipment is already in use and we have no money budgeted for extra equipment. We would estimate that we could put 4 to 16 men to work on a year-round basis at approximate cost of $6,000 per man, per year, including equipment, if funds would be available for this type of conservation work. Thank you for the opportunity to offer our ideas in this matter. Very truly yours, T. A. REYNOLDS, Supervisor, Pennsylvania Game Commission, Southeast Division. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: This will acknowledge your letter of May 29, 1964, requesting information to assist you in drafting conservation legislation to help unemployed workers. We have consistently supported legislation in Congress to help unemployment and, at the same time, develop our natural resources. We have argued for and promoted numerous bills, including Youth Forestry Corps; the family farm program; Appalachia; Economic Opportunities Act, and others. We believe that the future economy and forward progress of our State and Nation depends to a great degree on the management and development of our natural resources. Furthermore, we have not yet fully realized the real potential of these resources in their ability to generate jobs and good economy. Convinced of this philosophy our State senate, last week, passed Project 70 (a land acquisition program for statewide recreation development) by a vote of 46 to 3. We most certainly could and would provide work in our State forests and State parks, if funds were available. With such projects as new access roads, rehabilitation of existing State forest roads, forest fire prevention projects, and development of our State parks system, we are sure we could provide worthwhile employment for a minimum of 3,000 man-years. Sincerely yours, MAURICE K. GODDARD. STATE PARK AND HARBOR COMMISSION OF ERIE, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. DEAR MR. NELSON: There are many areas in which we could make use of unemployed workers under the legislation you propose. The use of this type of worker would be contingent upon approval of policy by the secretary of forests and waters, Maurice K. Goddard, in Harrisburg, Pa. Specifically, we could use a force of men for the following: 1. To keep 7 miles of bathing beaches clear of debris, driftwood, broken glass, etc., during our 3-month summer bathing season. 2. Keep fire trails in the forest areas in good condition and construct additional firebreaks. 3. Transplant trees and grasses into sandy areas to prevent erosion by wind. To erect sand fence along beaches and prevent sand from blowing into wooded areas and choking plant life. 4. To prune trees and clear underbrush in picnic areas. 5. To act as fire wardens during dry spells when danger of forest fire exists. It would seem to me that a crew of 20 men working 40 hours each week for a total of approximately 42,000 man-hours per year would take care of this type of program. No doubt, other suitable programs could be worked out. Under comments, I would say that this type of program should not eliminate the people who are presently engaged in parkwork. It should supplement the existing staff to create an investment in the future use of the parks. If this were not so, you would, I believe, receive opposition from the labor group. Sincerely yours, MICHAEL E. WARGO, Superintendent. VALLEY FORGE STATE PARK COMMISSION, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, U.S. Senator, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: Your letter addressed to Walter F. Moses, chairman, Valley Forge Park Commission, has been forwarded to me for reply. Under the categories listed for primary labor projects we could probably use the following: Timber stand improvement_ Total_ Man-years 100 25 125 DEAR SENATOR NELSON: This will acknowledge both letters to Mr. J. A. Blatt and me dated May 29, 1964. Your letters requested information to assist you in drafting legislation on conservation projects. Secretary Maurice K. Goddard of this department, under date of June 8, 1964, wrote you in behalf of the department, expressing fully our viewpoint. We are convinced that legislation which would put the unemployed to work would go far in providing constructive conservation projects for our State. Sincerely yours, R. C. WIBLE, State Forester. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, DEAR SENATOR NELSON: This will acknowledge both letters to Mr. J. A. Blatt and me dated May 29, 1964. Your letters reuested information to assist you in drafting legislation on conservation projects. It seems certain that substantial numbers of workers could be used on the conservation project you mention. I feel that this will be increasingly true as Pennsylvania acquires additional land for open space and recreation through the recently authorized $70 million bond issue referred to as Project 70. This proposal will make $40 million available to the Commonwealth for State parks and recreation lands, $10 million to our fish and game commissions and $20 million to the local municipalities throughout the State. The money may be spent only for acquisition and thus any funds which might be available for clearing or improving the land would be most welcome, indeed. This program will start late this year or early in 1965. At this time I am unable to estimate the number of man-years of work which might be generated through your proposal. You might wish to write to Mr. Joseph A. Blatt, director of the division of State parks, in the Department of Forests and Waters, Harrisburg, for further information. Very truly yours, JESSE NALLE, Assistant Director. COMMONWEALTH OF PENNSYLVANIA, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: With reference to your request for information as to this agency's ability to use Federal funds, we offer the following comments for your consideration: We are presently participating in the accelerated public works program as authorized under the Public Works Acceleration Act (Public Law 87-658). Re sults have been very good and accomplishments are of value. Based on our experience with the Public Works Act we suggest that the lim!tation of projects to development work, in our case, be expanded to include certain types of maintenance, principally, forest roads and food plots growing agricultural-type wildlife food. There The amount of matching funds required controls the size of projects. fore, the smaller the matching requirement the greater the amount of work that could be undertaken. Projects that are available and necessary are: 1. Wildlife habitat development improvement on State game lands and private lands under agreement with the Pennsylvania Game Commission. This would include timber stand improvement, other cuttings, planting seedlings and grasses, and legumes. 2. Maintenance of roads and food plots. This would include materials such as lime, seed, fertilizer, heavy equipment and transportation. The type of project this agency could originate will require operation of chain saws, motor and farm equipment. In many instances, unemployed individuals are not capable or do not exhibit the desired responsibility for handling such equipment. We suggest that this problem be approached on the basis of more available employment in specific areas. We feel a project term of 3 to 4 years would be more efficient and furnish better results. Very truly yours, M. J. GOLDEN, Executive Director. COUNTY OF ALLEGHENY, Pittsburgh, Pa., July 3, 1964. Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: I received your letter of June 15, 1964, regarding legislation to provide funds to Federal, State, county, and municipal agencies to utilize unemployed workers on conservation projects such as park development, roadside improvement, timber stand improvement, etc. In the county of Allegheny, Pa., the county government has two large parks, a total of 4,247.431 acres and seven smaller parks ranging from 400 to 1,400 acres each. These parks come under the supervision of the county commissioners and my position is director of North Park located 15 miles north of Pittsburgh and South Park located 15 miles south of Pittsburgh. North Park consists of 2,260 acres and South Park consists of 1,987.431 acres. Annually over 2 million people visit the parks. As to the use of unemployed workers, if there would be no conflict between the prevailing wage scale in our area, we would be able to use approximately in our department 62 men. Thirty in South Park and 32 in North Park for a 6-year period (year round). The expenditure would be approximately 80 percent and the nature of work would be the planting and transplanting of trees, grubbing out forests, cleaning of streams, and making of nature trails. This specific kind of work could be done without extensive preparation. Yours truly, GEORGE B. MCDONOUGH, Director. BUCKS COUNTY PARK BOA Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, DEAR SENATOR NELSON: Your letter of June 12 is at hand concerning future programs relating to conservation and park dvelopment projects. Bucks County's park program is really in its infancy and our great effort has been in the acquisition of land. This is going ahead with not only our county funds but with HHFA and Pennsylvania's Project 70 assistance program. The development in Bucks County has been so rapid in the past 10 years that the county finds it difficult to accomplish its objective alone and must look to State and Federal programs for assistance. We are now preparing development plans for our park areas and will certainly be able to use as much help as possible along the lines that you indicate. I am writing to you at this time to explain our present position not for the purpose of answering your questions specifically. We will as soon as possible send you information in answer to your questions. I want to express our appreciation for your interest in conservation and the whole park development and roadside improvement problem. Some I know that Wisconsin has been one of the leaders in conservation. of this interest must have rubbed off on me as I was born in Milwaukee, grew up in Janesville, went to high school at Wayland Academy in Beaver Dam and have been a landscape architect for the American Baptist Assembly at Green Lake since its beginning. There is so much to be done in the field of conservation that we must use every means possible to carry out successful programs and certainly want to cooperate with you in every way possible. Cordially yours, ROBERT W. PIERSON, Executive Director. RECREATION AND PARKS COMMISSION OF LUZERNE COUNTY, HON. GAYLORD NELSON, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: In reply to your letter of June 15, we are presently in the process of acquiring a minimum of 2,100 acres of land in parcels of 400 acres or more to serve as county parks. The development of each of the park areas will entail the clearing of the land which will be flooded by the water pool, the erection of dams, the cleaning out of brush and dead trees, a certain amount of reforestation, the development of picnic facilities, beach areas, boat ramps, hiking and nature trails, primary road construction, etc. If funds were available, I would expect that we could utilize a substantial number of workers in our land preparation and development stages. Most of the projects mentioned in the previous paragraph could be accomplished without extensive new preparation since, I believe, most individuals know how to use a pick, shovel, saw, pruning equipment, an ex, etc. I could not, in all honesty, give you a realistic estimate of the number of manyears of work which might be usefully undertaken in the next 5 or 10 years, without an extensive study which I am unable to do at present due to the time which would be involved. I hope that vague as this is, it will be of some value to you in drafting your legislation. Sincerely yours, EDWIN L. SHEJLENBERGER, Director. THE JOHN J. TYLER ARBORETUM, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: In answer to your letter of June 15, I am able to advise you that we have from time to time used unemployed workers. We called men from the work camps during the depression period and recently we have used men made available through the State unemployment facilities. As you will note from the enclosed folder, our work is considerably specialized so that we are not able to use many people in the unemployed group. In addition, our funds are quite limited. We would expect to continue using these workers as need arises and funds are available. It is not, for these reasons practicable to suggest any schedule for work, but our needs would not care for very much help of the kind in which your letter expresses interest. On the other hand, if funds were available, we might develop a program of ground clearing, removal of semidemolished buildings, killing of Japanese honeysuckle, etc., that would extend over several months. Sincerely, CARL W. FENNINGER, President. 37-181-64 18 |