Department of Agriculture

Department of Agriculture forest service—salaries and expenses For expenses necessary, including not to exceed $15,000 for employment pursuant to the second sentence of section 706 (a) of the Organic Act of 1944 (5 U. S. C. 574), as amended by section 15 of the Act of August 2, 1946 (5 U. S. C. 55a), including travel expenses of advisory councils or similar groups; to experiment and make investigations and report on forestry, national forests, forest fires, forest insects and diseases, and lumbering; to advise the owners of woodlands as to the proper care of the same; to investigate and test American timber and timber trees and their uses, and methods, for the preservative treatment of timber; to seek, through investigations and the planting of native and foreign species, suitable trees for the treeless regions; to protect, administer, and improve the national forests, including tree planting and other measures to prevent erosion, drift, surface wash, soil waste, and the formation of floods, and to conserve water; to ascertain the natural conditions upon and utilize the national forests, to transport and care for fish and game supplied to stock the national forests or the waters therein; for management of lands acquired 70 Stat. 268 under the land-utilization program; and to collate, digest, report, and illustrate the results of experiments and investigations made by the Forest Service: Provided, That the appropriations available to the Forest Service for the current fiscal year may be used for the operation and maintenance of aircraft, and the purchase of not to exceed four (for replacement only), uniforms, or allowances therefor, as authorized by the Act of September 1, 1954, as amended (5 U. S. C. 2131); the purchase, erection, and alteration of buildings and other public improvements, but the cost of any building purchased, erected, or as improved, exclusive of the cost of constructing a water-supply or sanitary system and of connecting the same with any such building, and exclusive of the cost of any tower upon which a lookout house may be erected, shall not exceed $18,500 ($22,500 in Alaska) with the exception that any building erected, purchased, or acquired, the cost of which was $18,500 or more, may be improved out of the appropriations available to the Forest Service within any fiscal year by an amount not to exceed 2 per centum of the cost of such building, and not to exceed $250,000 of such appropriations may be used for the maintenance, improvement, and construction of aircraft-landing fields in, or adjacent to the national forests, as follows: National forest protection and management: For the administration, protection, use, maintenance, improvement, and development of the national forests, including the establishment and maintenance of forest tree nurseries, including the procurement of tree seed and nursery stock by purchase, production, or otherwise, seeding and tree planting and the care of plantations and young growth; the maintenance of roads and trails and the construction and maintenance of all other improvements necessary for the proper and economical administration, protection, development, and use of the national forests, including experimental areas under Forest Service administration; the construction (not to exceed $18,500 for any one structure), equipment, and maintenance of sanitary and recreational facilities; timber cultural operations; development and application of fish and game management plans; propagation and transplanting of plants suitable for planting on semiarid portions of the national forests; estimating and appraising of timber and other resources and development and application of plans for their effective management, sale, and use; expenses of the National Forest Reservation Commission as authorized by section 14 of the Act of March 1, 1911 (16 U. S. C. 514); examination, classification, surveying, and appraisal of land incident to effecting exchanges authorized by law and of lands within the boundaries of the national forests that may be opened to homestead settlement and entry under the Act of June 11, 1906, and the Act of August 10, 1912 (16 U. S. C. 506–509), as provided by the Act of March 4, 1913 (16 U. S. C. 512); investigation and establishment of water rights, including the purchase thereof or of lands or interests in lands or rights-of-way for use and protection of water rights necessary or beneficial in connection with the administration and public use of the national forests; not to exceed $100,000 for the purchase of parcels of land and interests therein in Sanders County, Montana, but such land shall not be acquired without the approval of the local government concerned; and all expenses necessary for the use, maintenance, improvement, protection, and general administration of the national forests, and for the management of lands under title III of the Act of July 22, 1937, and the Act of August 11, 1945 (7 U. S. C. 1010–1012); $44,300,750: Provided, That the Secretary may sell at market value any property located in Yalobusha, Chickasaw, and Pontotoc Counties, Mississippi, administered under title III of the 70 Stat. 269 Act of July 22, 1937, and suitable for return to private ownership under such terms and conditions as would not conflict with the purposes of said Act. Fighting forest fires: For fighting and preventing forest fires on or threatening lands under Forest Service administration, including lands under contract for purchase or in process of condemnation for Forest Service purposes, and for liquidation of obligations incurred in the preceding fiscal year for such purpose, $5,250,000, of which $1,750,000 shall be apportioned for use, pursuant to section 3679 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, to the extent necessary to meet emergency conditions. Control of forest pests: For the control of white pine blister rust pursuant to the Act of April 26, 1940 (16 U. S. C. 594a), including the development and testing of new control methods, $2,734,000, of which $355,000 shall be available to the Department of the Interior for the control of white pine blister rust on or endangering Federal lands under the jurisdiction of that Department or lands of Indian tribes which are under the jurisdiction of or retained under restrictions of the United States; and for carrying out the Forest Pest Control Act (16 U. S. C. 594–1–594–5), $2,386,000, of which $1,751,000 shall be apportioned for use pursuant to section 3679 of the Revised Statutes, as amended, for the purposes of said Act to the extent necessary under the then existing conditions; $5,120,000. Forest research: For forest research at forest or range experiment stations, the Forest Products Laboratory, or elsewhere, in accordance with the provisions of sections 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 9, and 10 of the Act approved May 22, 1928, as amended (16 U. S. C. 581, 581a–581c, 581f–581i), including the construction and maintenance of improvements; fire, silvicultural, watershed, forest insects and diseases, and other forest investigations and experiments; investigations and experiments to develop improved methods of management of forest and related ranges; experiments, investigations, and tests of forest products; marketing research and service on timber and timber products; a comprehensive forest survey; and investigations in forest economics; $10,000,000: Provided, That funds may be advanced to cooperators under such regulations as the Secretary may prescribe when such action will stimulate or facilitate cooperative work. forest roads and trails For expenses necessary for carrying out the provisions of section 23 of the Federal Highway Act approved November 9, 1921, as amended (23 U. S. C. 23, 23a), relating to forest development roads and trails, including the construction, reconstruction, and maintenance of roads and trails on experimental areas under Forest Service administration, $24,000,000, which sum is authorized to be appropriated by the Act of May 6, 1954 (23 U. S. C. 23), to remain available until expended. acquisition of lands for national forests Weeks Act For the acquisition of forest lands under the provisions of the Act approved March 1, 1911, as amended (16 U. S. C. 513–519, 521), $100,000, to be available only for payment of the purchase price of any lands acquired, including the cost of surveys in connection with such acquisition: Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be used for acquisition of any land which is not within the boundaries of a national forest: Provided further, That no part of this appropriation shall be used for the acquisition of any land without the approval of the local government concerned. 70 Stat. 270 Special Acts For the acquisition of land to facilitate the control of soil erosion and flood damage originating within the exterior boundaries of the following national forest, in accordance with the provisions of the following Act authorizing annual appropriations of forest receipts for such purposes, and in not to exceed the following amount from such receipts: Cache National Forest, Utah, Act of May 11, 1938 (Public Law 505), as amended, $10,000: Provided, That no part of this appropriation shall be used for acquisition of any land which is not within the boundaries of a national forest: Provided further, That no part of this appropriation shall be used for the acquisition of any land without the approval of the local government concerned. state and private forestry cooperation For expenses necessary for cooperation with the various States in forest-fire prevention and suppression, in forest tree planting on non-Federal public and private lands, and in forest management and processing, pursuant to the Act of August 25, 1950 (16 U. S. C. 568c, 568d), and sections 1, 2, 3, and 4 of the Act of June 7, 1924 (16 U. S. C. 564–567c), and Acts supplementary thereto; advising timberland owners, associations, and other appropriate agencies in the application of forest and management principles to federally owned lands leased to States and to private forest lands, and advising wood-using industries in processing of forest products, so as to attain sustained-yield management, the conservation of the timber resources, the productivity of forest lands, and the stabilization of employment and economic continuance of forest industries; $12,190,000. cooperative range improvements For artificial revegetation, construction, and maintenance of range improvements, control of rodents, and eradication of poisonous and noxious plants on national forests as authorized by section 12 of the Act of April 24, 1950 (16 U. S. C. 580h), $700,000, to remain available until expended. general provisions, forest service Sec. 201. Within the unit limit of cost fixed by law, the lump-sum appropriations and authorizations made for the Forest Service under this Act shall be available for the purchase, in addition to those specifically provided for, of not to exceed 133 passenger motor vehicles for replacement only, and for the hire of such vehicles, necessary in the conduct of the work of the Forest Service outside the District of Columbia. Sec. 202. Of appropriations herein made which are available for the purchase of lands, not to exceed $1 may be expended for each option to purchase any particular tract or tracts of land. Sec. 203. Except to provide materials required in or incident to research or experimental work where no suitable domestic product is available, no part of the funds appropriated to the Forest Service shall be expended in the purchase of twine manufactured from commodities or materials produced outside of the United States. Sec. 204. No part of any appropriation to the Forest Service in this Act shall be used for publicity or propaganda purposes to support or defeat legislation pending before the Congress.