be utilitized effectively on a series of short-span jobs involving some knowledge or ability in several different skills. And this is without taking into account the character or dependablity of the worker. Our experience has generally been that turnover is high in newly hired, untried employees-often as many as two out of three either quitting or being terminated within 30 days. Reasons for this high rate of turnover range from our relatively low rate of pay and the seasonal nature of the job to the fact that many applicants prove to be well-nigh unemployable. A further factor within in this topic-heading that has come into play in recent years is that there has been a tendency on the part of our city council to discourage development work by city forces and to urge wherever feasible that projects be let out under contract. In the period from 1957 through 1962, for example, park department forces built seven public restrooms at an estimated cost of from $3,000 to $4,500 in material and labor costs. In 1962 at the council's request a call for bids was requested on one such structure before it was decided to have the department proceed with construction. Lowest bid from an acceptable firm was $6,500. Yet it is my impression that when another such building is built the council will insist that it be done under contract. An exception appears to be in the making regarding initial construction on a proposed zoo. However the situation here is so fluid at the moment that even site has not yet been determined and I couldn't even make a rough guess as to when work might start and what our labor needs might be. Finally, a program of land acquisition for future parks is now under consideration but it is not yet far enough along to determine what our development plans will be. 2. Let me turn then to a second set of assumptions: (a) Federal funds will be available to pay wages of laborers and of field supervisory personnel but not for materials, equipment, or other overhead costs. (b) Funds may be used either to hire additional personnel or to "stretch out" employment of seasonal employees for several additional weeks or months in order to complete additional projects. (c) Personnel hired under the program may include some semiskilled labor (if available) as well as common labor. Under these conditions and assuming material costs were budgeted and approved in advance by the city council I would estimate that perhaps 2 man-years of additional employment could be provided in the first year the program was in operation. This would probably represent something like 3 months' work for about eight men. If the first year operation proved successful and other favorable factors developed such as the park land acquisition program and the zoo project, no doubt this rate of employment could be stepped up considerably in future years. 3. The third set of assumptions would be similar to the second with the further provisions that: (a) Federal funds could be used for the rental of equipment, such as bulldozer, patrols, etc., needed for the project, not already owned by the city and available to the department; or (b) Federal funds could be used to award contracts for park development programs to contractors, subject to normal bidding procedure and subject to such contractors agreeing to conform to requirements of the Federal Government in regard to hiring of unemployed personnel. Naturally the more flexible the conditions the more opportunities of which a city park department could avail itself. I would estimate that probably 4 or 5 man-years of additional labor could be effectively utilized in the first full year and again, if it proved successful and other factors were contributory the amount of such work could be stepped up several fold within a very few years. I regret that this appraisal is so lengthy and so indefinite but hope it may be of some value to your study. Very truly yours, GORDON S. BOWEN, Park Superintendent. Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, ILLINOIS RESPONSES U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. STATE OF ILLINOIS, DEPARTMENT OF CONSERVATION, Springfield, June 16, 1964. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: I have given your letter of May 29 much thought with regard to use of unemployed workers on conservation projects on our various State forest properties. We could use a number of unemployed workers for conservation projects on our State forest properties and keep them busy. The only restriction would be the availability of housing for such workers. The Federal Government would have to provide money to build suitable barracks and other facilities for use of such workers as no funds are available for this type of construction. The type of buildings would probably have to be on the order of the old CCC camp buildings and would have to be located in or near our State forest areas. To use workers for conservation projects without the provision for adequate housing would not be feasible as far as we are concerned. I feel that the housing facilities should come first and then when they are completed, the workers can be assigned. In our forest areas, we could use workers for reforestation, timber stand improvement, logging and harvesting mature timber. Construction of roads, development of recreational areas, construction of ponds and sanitary facilities, and numerous other projects. I feel that this would be sufficient to employ approximately 250 unemployed workers for a period of several years. We could also use such workers during spring and fall fire seasons combating fires, both on State forests as well as surrounding private areas. We could also use such workers in work on our State forest tree nurseries and I am sure other divisions in our department could use such workers on conservation projects in fish and game work. I appreciate your writing me and am glad to make comments regarding use of unemployed workers, but as I stated above, the first requirements would be adequate camp-type buildings to house and care for such workers as we do not have funds for construction of any type of camp buildings. Very truly yours, E. E. NUUTTILA, State Forester, Division of Forestry. STATE OF ILLINOIS, Springfield, June 5, 1964. Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: This refers to your letter of May 29 addressed to Mr. William Smith regarding legislation to provide funds to Federal, State, county, and municipal agencies for utilization of unemployed workers on conservation projects. We are already using relief workers in our State parks to supplement our park work force. These men are employed mainly on maintenance of trails, mowing grass, cutting and removing dead elm trees, garbage pickup, etc. We have to be careful what type of work we permit these men to do because of union objection to our using relief labor for construction work. In 1963, relief help contributed 147,665 man-hours. So far this year they have contributed 60,000 man-hours. We never seem to have enough help in our State parks due to insufficient appropriation for labor. I hope this information will be of help to you. Sincerely yours, JAMES W. MCMILLEN, Superintendent, Division of Parks and Memorials. STATE OF ILLINOIS, Springfield, July 8, 1964. Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.O. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: Reference is made to your past inquiries in regard to the possibility of the department of conservation utilizing the unemployed workers on conservation projects in parks, forests, and conservation and wildlife areas. If housing and funds for tools and equipment were provided, this department would have approximately 512 man-years of work in the construction of fire trails, hiking trails, timber stand improvement, tree planting, recreational development, levee repair, channel improvement, channel clearing, posting, and pond and lake improvement. Very truly yours, WILLIAM T. LODGE, Director. DEPARTMENT OF RECREATION AND MUNICIPAL PARK ADMINISTRATION, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, Champaign, Ill., June 10, 1964. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: In response to your letter of May 29, I have to advise that this office does not have direct operational responsibility for conservation projects. Our function is to advise operating agencies on park and recreation matters on request. The State of Illinois Department of Conservation does have direct operational responsibility and I believe that your request for Illinois should be directed to Mr. William Lodge, Director, Department of Conservation, Springfield, Ill. I am confident that the type of legislation you have described would serve a high purpose, and want to encourage your continued action on it. Your program in Wisconsin is one that has attracted much attention, and should serve to give weight to your legislative proposals in Washington. The heightened interest in conservation in this decade makes a program such as you suggest a practical approach to improving the environment of the country while using manpower, that might otherwise be wasted, in a manner productive for all people. For your information, a copy is enclosed of our proposal to university authorities for implementation of possible programs under the Economic Opportunity Act. If I may be of help to you in other ways to develop your legislative proposals, please advise me. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: The parks and recreation department here is a relatively small, but growing, operation. The only area wherein we could use additional workers would be that of park development. The town has purchased several new sites. I would estimate that we could use an additional three or four men for an equal number of years to help develop these and future sites. One of our problems would be that of machine power in addition to manpower. It would be beneficial to us, as well as other park and recreation agencies interested in the health and well-being of our citizenry of all ages, to be able to obtain surplus machinery and tools in the same manner that schools can. Being a native of Wisconsin, I feel there is greater potential there than in Illinois, particularly with your continuous acquisition of State park and recreational lands. I wish you success with your proposal. Yours sincerely, GORDON B. JAEGER, Superintendent. CITY OF ELGIN, Elgin, Ill., June 30, 1964. Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: I am in receipt of your letter of June 16, which refers to making Federal funds available to municipalities to utilize unemployed workers in conservation and park projects. I think this is an excellent idea. Many of us in the park system would welcome a bill of this nature. I know some of the larger communities are using the unemployed people through a project of their welfare funds enabling a good deal of park work to be accomplished without hiring additional personnel. As you well know in communities throughout the Nation, it is a difficult thing to set aside as much money as possible in maintenance in a community such as ours. I think I could speak of many communities of the size of 50,000 to 100,000 could certainly use these people and would appreciate a legislation that would enable the use of unemployed persons. Senator, if I can be of any additional help through contacting the park people to help your cause or by writing our local Members of Congress, please do not hesitate to contact me. I would suggest, also, that you make inquiries through the American Institute of Park Executives and the National Recreation Association. Very truly yours, JACK A. CLAES, Director, Parks and Recreation. VILLAGE OF PARK FOREST, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: I am writing with reference to your recent letter regarding the possible use of unemployed workers on our park program. In Park Forest this department has responsibilty for the maintenance of 215 acres of parks and complementary recreation facilities. This work is accomplished with four men during the summer and two men during the winter. We are levying our maximum tax rate by referendum and the chances of this being increased are quite remote. As a result, in our parks we are not able to do the fine trim work, necessary play area and equipment maintenance, trimming of trees and shrubs, care of flora and fauna and the work which complements a park system such as our own. This community is 15 years old and has a population of 31,000 young residents. With little industry, the tax rate in one portion of the community was the highest in the State last year. A program like the one you are working on would greatly assist us in our year-round maintenance program. We could very easily utilize two men in a year-round program of this type. The benefits to the country as a whole would be obvious. DEAR SIR: Thank you for your inquiry concerning the possibility of using help in our programs. I definitely am in favor of such legislation because I have always felt that if Government money was to be expended in this type program, and this includes public aid, that where possible the taxpayers should receive some benefit. Our use of this type of personnel would depend upon the skills and potentialities of the persons to be so employed. On the basis of unskilled laborers, we could very easily use 10,000 man-hours per year, mostly concentrated in the summer when our program is the heaviest. We could use these men in such capacities as weed control, diamond maintenance, landscaping and reseeding, painting equipment, buildings and game areas, making playground equipment, in cleanup of litter, rink maintenance, and as helpers in many of the projects which require primarily muscle and willingness. In the more skilled areas we have many playgrounds where we could construct buildings for toilets and shelter. We could use a mechanic to keep our mowers and fleet in shape. We could always use carpenters. In the winter we could again use unskilled labor in maintenance of rinks and in general upkeep of buildings. If the people to be so employed had any potentialities as leaders, this is a very fertile field, especially in summer where we could easily absorb 20 to 30 in playground and other recreational programs which would not require a high degree of training or background, but only adequate inservice training prior to their taking on their responsibilities. While we are a relatively small department, because of very definite budget limitations, we could easily absorb if available, 10,000 man-hours per year in the three areas that I have mentioned. Because we are working on a small budget, this type of labor would be particularly beneficial to a department such as ours. I hope that you are successful in promoting this type of legislation. BEVIER BUTTS, Recreation Director, Waukegan Playground and Recreation Board. CITY OF CENTRALIA, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, Washington, D.C. DEAR SIR: Referring to your letter of June 17, 1964, which was about utilizing unemployed workers. We, here in Centralia, Ill., have three city-owned lakes which total several hundred acres of land above the waterline. I could use from a dozen to 2 dozen men for several years developing this land so that it could be used for parks, camp areas, and recreation in general. We also have many acres of land that is in need of reforesting to help combat erosion. We also have many places in our lakes where waves are eating away the banks and filling the lakes with dirt and silt. To correct this situation alone would be a large project. We also have a city-owned cemetery here in Centralia. The cemetery is about 100 years old and there are many head markers that are leaning and in need of attention. Since most all the survivors to these markers are gone there is no way to straighten them unless a public project helps with manpower aid. I am sure there are many more worthwhile projects that could be done in our city if the manpower were available. Good luck in your venture to make this manpower available to the American cities. Very truly yours, DON AUBERRY, Superintendent. DECATUR PARK DISTRICT, Hon. GAYLORD NELSON, U.S. Senate, Washington, D.C. DEAR SENATOR NELSON: This is in reply to your letter of June 17 regarding utilization of unemployed workers in various projects such as park development. The Decatur Park District owns and operates the Municipal Airport which has 912 acres. We have a number of projects; such as, fencing, light grading, and so forth, which could be done by these workers. |