Mr. CANNON. Is the land covered with a virgin timber growth? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir; it is the finest stand of sugar pine left. Mr. SNYDER. Are there any streams running through the land, or is it well watered? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir. It is at the headwaters of several streams. The streams forming the South Fork of the Tuolumne River run through it. Mr. CANNON. What is the assessed value of the land? Mr. DEMARAY. The assessed value is, of course, much less than the market price. These facts were all put in the hearings before the House and Senate Public Lands Committees, and I can easily refer to those hearings and give an answer to that question. Mr. TABER. What is the appraised value? Mr. DEMARAY. That is the question I was answering for Congressman Cannon. Mr. TABER. You have not answered it. Mr. DEMARAY. I do not recall it offhand, but all those appraisal figures were put in the hearings before the Senate and House Public Lands Committees. Mr. LUDLOW. Do you know, approixmately, how much it is per acre? Mr. DEMARAY. No, sir; but it is very low. Mr. LUDLOW. The price of this 6,700 acres would be almost exactly $300 per acre. Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir. Mr. CANNON. Is a great deal of the land accessible for cutting operations, with the exception of the area adjacent to the railroad? Would it be possible to get the other timber cut and to market? Mr. DEMARAY. They have a plan to completely gridiron this particular area with logging railroads. They have at the present time an incline at the end of the logging railroad down to the main line of the Yosemite Valley Railroad. They have a big mill operating on the Yosemite Valley Railroad. Mr. CANNON. This land is worth nothing after it is cut over. Mr. CANNON. The price that they are asking is at least three times the price of the best improved lands in any section of the country. This price of $300 per acre is an exorbitant price for land anywhere in any condition. Mr. DEMARAY. This is probably one of the heaviest stands of valuable commercial timber anywhere in the United States. Mr. SNYDER. Is there any other timber besides sugar pine on this land? Mr. DEMARAY. It is mixed with a number of other species, but the predominant species is sugar pine. We have been working with the Forest Service, and we are using their experts in checking the work of the company's cruisers with the expectation that it may go to condemnation. Mr. LUDLOW. Are the trees in shape now for cutting? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir; and the operations will continue. Mr. LUDLOW. What is timberland around in that section bringing? Mr. DEMARAY. I do not know that I can answer that offhand, but I might add that we had a discussion of values before the House Public Lands Committee. We had timber experts there who answered those questions. Mr. LUDLOW. Do you know what their testimony was? Mr. DEMARAY. I do not recall. Of course, the value is based on the number of million board feet. The land, after the timber is cut, is not worth anything, and it would probably be thrown back on the county as worthless land. I can assure you that not one cent more than is necessary will be used in the acquisition of this land. Mr. CANNON. Do you know what they paid for the land originally? Mr. DEMARAY. That was a long time ago. A lot of it was acquired under the public-land laws. Mr. LUDLOW. Does that mean that the land will then be denuded of trees? Mr. DEMARAY. It will be lost forever for this purpose. There will be no generation on earth today that will see another forest of this character on that land. LOCATION OF PROPOSED LAND Mr. TABER. Where is it located with reference to the main body of the Yosemite Park? Mr. DEMARAY. It is adjoining it. That is indicated by the green line, and the yellow line shows what will be acquired. Mr. TABER. Is it land through which there are roads, or is it absolutely wild land? Mr. DEMARAY. It is partly so. Mr. TABER. There seems to be two or three roads through it. Mr. DEMARAY. They extend up to Hetch Hetchy, passing near the Carl Inn. If any of you gentlemen have been to the Hetch Hetchy Dam, you passed the Carl Inn; you should have seen this timber. Mr. LUDLOW. In your opinion, is all of this tract of 6,700 acres essential to round out the park? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir; it is a natural boundary, or block of timber. Mr. LUDLOW. Is it all equally covered with this timber? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir. I think that in the testimony before the House and Senate committees, it was agreed by even the opponents of the bill, both the lumber company and the railroad company opposed it because of its economic value, that it was a magnificently timbered area. Mr. SNYDER. How far is this from San Francisco? Mr. DEMARAY. In time, it takes about 7 hours to motor from San Francisco to Yosemite. Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. Who are the owners of this region now? Mr. DEMARAY. The owner is the Yosemite Sugar Pine Lumber Co. Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. They own the entire region? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir; their holdings are extended out quite a bit west of this area. Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. The money that is to be paid to this company is to be taken out of relief funds, is it not? Mr. DEMARAY. They are reappropriated, but they were Public Works funds transferred under the Relief Act of 1935, on the approval of the President, and they have been held by the Budget Bureau in that status ever since. They were reappropriated by the 1937 Relief Act, but the authority to purchase land was not included in that act. Therefore, the authorizing legislation having passed on July 2, this legislation is necessary. If this bill, Public, No. 195, had passed a few days earlier, the Executive order would have been issued, and the Attorney General would have been asked to institute condemnation proceedings. The money would then have been available. It is just a question of the few days between those actions that has prevented the use of the money for this purpose. Mr. TABER. How much land is in the park itself? Mr. DEMARAY. There are 640 acres in a square mile, and it would be something like 700,000 acres of land in the park. NOTE. There are 752,744 acres in the park. Mr. TABER. This item represents about 1 percent of the acreage of the park. Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir. Mr. TABER. Is the park itself covered with trees of about the same type? Mr. DEMARAY. No, sir; the sugar pine does not extend as high as the general altitude of the Yosemite National Park. It is found along the lower edges of the park, along the western boundary. Mr. TABER. Are there any sugar pines in the park? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir. Mr. TABER. How much acreage of it is in the park? Mr. DEMARAY. There is probably a larger acreage than is included in this proposal. This information is all in the hearings before the House and Senate committee. If you will recall, about 1930 Congress appropriated $1,600,000, and Mr. John D. Rockefeller, Jr., matched it with an equal amount, for the acquisition of lands that are now within the Yosemite National Park. This land had sugar pine on it, and was the eastern extremity of what we are now acquiring. Mr. TABER. About how much was it? Mr. DEMARAY. The amount was $3,200,000. Mr. TABER. That was paid for how many acres? Mr. DEMARAY. It was a larger acreage than this area that we are now trying to acquire. Mr. CANNON. That amount was paid jointly by the Government and Mr. Rockefeller. Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir; the amount paid jointly was $3,200,000. This purchase is about two-thirds of the acreage involved in the other purchase. Mr. TABER. Are such lands as that higher now than they were at that time, or are they lower? Mr. DEMARAY. The lumber company in its testimony before the Public Lands Committee testified that they were higher today because when this other land was purchased timber was at its lowest price. The lumber industry will claim that the prices are much higher today. Mr. TABER. How much more sugar pine is there besides what is in this particular tract, outside of the park? Mr. DEMARAY. Practically all of it is in private ownership. Mr. TABER. I was not asking that. How much of it is outside of this park, or how much outside of the park is there in that neighborhood? Mr. DEMARAY. I will not be able to answer as to the acreage; but the sugar-pine belt extends in a northwesterly direction from Yosemite, extending almost to the boundary between Oregon and California. 148745-37-31 Then it extends along the west side of the Sacramento Valley. That is the only place, I believe, in the world, where there are extensive sugar-pine forests. Mr. TABER. How much territory does that cover, if it extends up to the Oregon line? Mr. DEMARAY. That is quite a good distance. Mr. TABER. 200 miles? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir, several hundred miles. Mr. WIGGLESWORTH. It would be more than that. Mr. TABER. Then, there is a very considerable block of sugar pine extant. Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir; there is a considerable block of sugar pine extant. COMMERCIAL VALUE OF SUGAR-PINE TIMBER Mr. BACON. Will all of that be chopped down in the future, except what is in the park? Mr. DEMARAY. It is all privately owned, or subject to cutting and as the demand for this type of timber continues, it will be cut. This is the only place where we are absolutely certain that this sugar pine will be preserved for posterity. Mr. BACON. Does it have any special commercial value? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir; it has a very high commercial value. Mr. LUDLOW. Do you know what the lumber content would be of the timber on this 6,700 acre tract? Mr. DEMARAY. No, sir; I cannot give that information. So Mr. LUDLOW. Do you know what its commercial value would be? Mr. DEMARAY. If its commercial value is on the basis of what we paid for the other purchase back in 1930, it would be about what we have asked to have allocated here. The lumber company in testifying before the House committee claimed that the values had gone up. we feel that we will have to resort to condemnation to get it for that price. We have had assurances from timber experts, who have had more experience that we have had ourselves, in reference to this purchase. Mr. LUDLOW. You do not know what the maximum value per acre has been for that kind of land in that area? Mr. DEMARAY. That is a difficult thing to determine. It depends on whether you have milling facilities ready for operation. This company has mills and is ready to go. Mr. LUDLOW. It is your opinion that you will have to resort to condemnation? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir. Mr. WOODRUM. What about the element of time? Mr. DEMARAY. As to the element of time, they are already cutting in the area, and they have already given instructions to start felling the trees adjacent to the railroad grade in section 3. We have no assurance that they will stop there. Mr. WOODRUM. How does the rest of the sugar-pine belt, extending up to the Oregon line, compare in the matter of accessibility with this particular acreage of sugar pine? Mr. DEMARAY. I presume that some of it is not accessible without a great deal of construction work, while other parts are accessible. There are portions that are probably as accessible as this. Mr. BACON. Is this the pick of the sugar-pine belt? Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir; I think that anyone would say that it is the pick of the sugar-pine belt. It is the climax of the forest. Mr. WOODRUM. Speaking of the element of time, the deficiency bill in which this item would be included, if allowed, would probably come along within the next 2 to 4 weeks: Would that be in time to meet your purposes? Mr. DEMARAY. I would think so; yes, sir. Mr. WOODRUM. There is no reason why it should be rushed more than that? Mr. DEMARAY. No, sir; I do not think so. I think we would be safe as to time. Mr. LUDLOW. The purpose here is to preserve for posterity a typical stand of this beautiful pine species in its virgin condition. Mr. DEMARAY. Yes, sir. Mr. LUDLOW. Could not that be done with the acquisition of a lesser tract than 6,700 acres? Mr. DEMARAY. It just happens that this will round out naturally, more or less, the boundaries of the park. Mr. LUDLOW. If you had 1,000 acres of choice timber of this species, would not that serve the purpose? Mr. DEMARAY. I can answer that by saying if you will read the language which Congress has already enacted, you will see that they have insisted that all of it be saved. That matter was threshed out before the House and Senate. Originally the wording was that if we could not buy all of it, we would get a part of it, but Congress has insisted that all of it must be acquired before it is added to the park. Mr. LUDLOW. I was wondering if á lesser acquisition would be sufficient. Mr. DEMARAY. It is more or less a natural boundary, and it seems to be the consensus of opinion that we should acquire this entire tract of sugar pine and save it. Mr. WOODRUM. All right; we thank you for your statement. THURSDAY, AUGUST 5, 1937. ALLOCATION OF EMERGENCY RELIEF ADMINISTRATION FUNDS FOR ACT OF 1937 FOR ACQUISITION OF LANDS STATEMENT OF A. E. DEMARAY, ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR Mr. WOODRUM. You have the following item in Document No. 334 [reading]: For completing the acquisition of certain lands to carry out the purposes of the Act of March 31, 1933, in areas designated by Executive Order No. 6542, dated December 28, 1933, the President is authorized to allocate not to exceed $192,568 from funds made available by section 1 of the Emergency Relief Appropriation Act of 1937. Please tell us about this item, Mr. Demaray. Mr. DEMARAY. Under that Executive Order No. 6542, dated December 28, 1933, we had an allocation of $2,325,000 for the acquisition of various lands by the United States within certain areas. The situation we have gotten into is something new in my experi ence. We have had a suit in condemnation for acquiring lands in |