4.W64":676' 7? HEARINGS BEFORE THE SELECT COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE RESOURCES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES SEVENTY-NINTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION PURSUANT TO H. Res. 75 A RESOLUTION TO AUTHORIZE THE SELECT COMMITTEE OF WILDLIFE 91163 NOVEMBER 1, 1945, JUNE 10, 11, AND 12, 1946 Printed for the use of the Committee on Wildlife Resources UNITED STATES WASHINGTON: 1946 CONTENTS Page 308-322 Assistant Commissioner, testimony of... Deason, Dr. H. J., special assistant to the Director, testimony of... 107 Gabrielson, Dr. Ira Ñ., Director, testimony of... Higgins, Elmer, Chief, Division of Fishery Biology, testimony of 1-14, 18-20 James, M. C., Assistant Director, testimony of Lincoln, Frederick C., in charge, distribution and migration of birds, Forest Service, Department of Agriculture: Swift, Lloyd W., Chief, Divi- sion of Wildlife Management, testimony of.. Grazing Service, Department of the Interior: Ryan, Archie D., Assistant Beard, George L., Chief, Flood Control Division, testimony of.. 289, 290, 291, 295 Kinney, C. W., engineer in Office of Chief of Engineers, testimony of.. 283 National Park Service, Department of the Interior: Cahalane, Victor H., 234-275 Soil Conservation Service, Department of Agriculture: Graham, Dr. Ed- 217-234 D'Ewart, Wesley A., Member of Congress from Montana.. 123 124-130 Sportsmen's organizations and individuals Report of the Committee on Wildlife, National Research Council. 130-132 CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1945 HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, SELECT COMMITTEE ON CONSERVATION OF WILDLIFE RESOURCES, Washington, D. C. The committee met at 10 a. m., in room 448, House Office Building, Representative A. Willis Robertson (chairman) presiding. The CHAIRMAN. The committee will come to order. The first agency to be heard is the Fish and Wildlife Service. As usual the Fish and Wildlife Service has prepared a written report of its activities for the past year. In going over that report it was discovered that there was no discussion in it on the subject of stream pollution. That was probably due to the fact that while the war was in progress little, if anything, could be done on that important subject. But in view of the fact that in some areas war industries have increased our pollution menace, and in other areas the war effort has led some manufacturers to believe that stream pollution has ceased to be a matter of major concern to those interested in the matter of conservation, I requested Dr. Gabrielson, when representatives of his Bureau appeared before us today, to designate someone to discuss the problem of stream pollution. As the members of this committee know we have three pending bills in Congress on the subject, and studies are now being made by a number of State fish and game departments and it is one of the livest conservations problems that we have. Therefore, Dr. Gabrielson tells me that Mr. Elmer Higgins, chief of the Division of Fishery Biology of the Fish and Wildlife Service, has come today to discuss the stream-pollution problem. As he will have to leave the city this afternoon, Dr. Gabrielson has asked me to call him as the first witness. The committee will now be glad to hear Mr. Higgins. STATEMENT OF ELMER HIGGINS, CHIEF, DIVISION OF FISHERY BIOLOGY, UNITED STATES FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE Mr. HIGGINS. Mr. Chairman, I am intensely interested in the subject of clean streams, and I believe it is a postwar goal that can be realized. Despite the distractions of war and reconversion, Government agencies such as the State fish and game commissions and the United States Fish and Wildlife Service continue to receive numerous complaints that stream pollution is killing fish, reducing the food supply, ruining recreation, and causing damage and general nuisance throughout the land. These complaints arrive so frequently and 1 The report herein referred to will be found in the testimony of the Fish and Wildlife Service on June 10, 1946. 1 |