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NPS Expansion: 1930s
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Recreation
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Expansion of the National Park Service in the 1930s: Administrative History Chapter Four: New Initiatives in the Field of Recreation and Recreational Area Development |
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D. The Park, Parkway, and Recreational-Area Study Act of 1936
Meanwhile, the National Park Service was proceeding with its efforts to obtain new comprehensive land planning legislation from Congress to continue on a permanent basis the cooperation with the states that it had established through the ECW program. The need for such legislation stemmed from the fact that planning information for selecting and developing additional park and recreation areas to round out park systems was meager on the state and local levels. Few states had formulated long-range plans on the basis of indepth studies of land utilization and recreation needs. An inventory and analysis of existing park, parkways, and recreation facilities at the federal, state, county, municipal, and private levels was necessary to establish and maintain standards that were both adequate and feasible in terms of available resources for the increasing demand of leisure-time needs of the nation. There was a need to bring together the plans or proposals for future development that had been drawn up at those various levels, to analyze and appraise the findings, and to make recommendations. The probability that the submarginal lands being retired for recreational purposes would eventually come under the jurisdiction of the states also served as a strong motivation for drafting new land planning legislation. [15]
On May 28, 1934, Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes submitted the draft of "A bill to aid in providing the people of the United States with adequate facilities for park, parkway, and recreational-area purposes, and to provide for the transfer of certain lands chiefly valuable for such purposes to States and political divisions thereof," to both Rene L. DeRouen, chairman of the House Public Lands Committee, and Robert F. Wagner, chairman of the Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys. Along with the drafts, Ickes provided the objectives and rationale behind the proposed legislation:
This legislation proposes to establish a cooperative and helpful relationship between the Federal Government and the park agencies in the several States comparable with relationships already existing in the field of forestry, education, etc. It is offered and urged for passage primarily because it is believed that it will assist greatly in promoting such park and recreational development in them [sic] States as will complement the public service rendered by the national parks and as will ultimately give this country a system of park and recreation areas genuinely national in scope and usefulness.
The bill provides that the Department of the Interior, acting through the National Park Service, shall represent the Federal Government in this proposed new relationship; that the National Park Service shall undertake a comprehensive study of the park, parkway, and recreational-area programs of the United States and of the several States and political subdivisions thereof; that it cooperate with and seek the assistance of Federal officers and employees, private agencies and individuals, State and local officers and employees, in the conduct of such study; and that the services of this Bureau shall be available for cooperation with the States and subdivisions thereof in selection and delimitation of park and recreation areas, and in planning the sound development of such areas.
It provides also for transfer to the States, or to political subdivisions of the States, subject to approval by the President, of lands acquired under the Federal program for purchase of submarginal lands, whenever these lands are found to be chiefly valuable for park or recreation purposes.
Few present-day undertakings possess such social importance to the Nation as a whole as those designed to provide increased opportunity for healthful and profitable employment of leisure time. The park systems of today--national, State, and local--are making a magnificent contribution to solution of the "leisure-time" problem. It is because of the conviction that their social service can be materially increased by cooperation rendered by the Department through the National Park Service, which is so well equipped for the task, that I earnestly request favorable action on this proposed legislation. [16]
The bills (H.R. 9788 and S. 3724) were acted upon favorably subject to several amendments by both the House Committee on Public Lands and the Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys. They were introduced late during the second session of the 73d Congress, however, and failed to pass the House. [17] Similar bills (H.R. 6594 and S. 738) were introduced during the first session of the 74th Congress and again both committees acted favorably subject to a few amendments. [18] The National Conference on State Parks, American Planning and Civic Association, Association of State Foresters, and other conservation and land-use planning organizations endorsed the legislation, but it was not brought to a vote in Congress. [19]
The bill was reintroduced during the second session of the 74th Congress, and the House bill (H.R. 10104) was taken up in place of the Senate version. As summarized in Senate Report 1694, H.R. 10104 provided
. . . for a study by the Secretary of the Interior, through the National Park Service, other than on lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture, of the park, parkway, and recreational-area programs of the United States and of the several States and political subdivisions thereof, and of the lands throughout the United States chiefly valuable as such areas; authorized cooperation and agreements with other Federal agencies and instrumentalities, and States and political subdivisions thereof; and authorized acceptance of donations and gifts from private agencies, instrumentalities, and individuals. The Secretary was further authorized to aid the several States and political subdivisions in planning, establishing, improving, and maintaining such areas therein, such aid to be made available through the National Park Service in cooperation with regional interstate or State agencies. . . . With the approval of the President, the Secretary was authorized to transfer to any State or political subdivision thereof, by lease or patent any right, title, or interest in lands heretofore or hereafter acquired by the United States or any agency or instrumentality thereof if the land was chiefly valuable for park, parkway, or recreational-area use, and in lands donated or devised to be devoted to the purposes of the act as the Secretary might accept on behalf of the United States. Provision was made for submission of the transfer to Congress and for its taking effect after the expiration of 60 calendar days. The consent of Congress was given to the States to enter into compacts or agreements with reference to planning, establishing, developing, improving, and maintaining parks, parkways, and recreational areas, with the condition that a representative of the National Park Service and a representative from each of the several Federal departments and agencies having jurisdiction of lands involved should participate in the negotiations. [20]
As noted above H.R. 10104 contained a provision excluding from the purview of the bill all lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture. According to Secretary Ickes this provision had been added "because of the determined, and what I believe to have been the unreasoned opposition of the Forest Service." The enactment of the bill, however, could not be secured until such a provision was made. Later Ickes would remark in a letter to President Roosevelt:
It is needless for me to point out to you that the amendment which was adopted to satisfy the opposition of the Forest Service greatly reduces the value of the study and survey which the bill authorizes. It is difficult to appreciate why an agency of the Government should insist on excluding lands under its jurisdiction from legislation which would do nothing more than authorize the National Park Service to make a survey and study of public and private lands for the purpose of determining their value in satisfying the park and recreational needs of the States and communities of the country. Indeed, it is somewhat amazing to me that the Forest Service should feel that its lands should be exempt from a study to be conducted in furtherance of a recognized public interest or treated differently than other lands of the United States in public and private ownership. [21]
The bill was reported favorably by the House Committee on Public Lands, and it passed the House with little opposition. [22] More opposition was voiced in the Senate, however, indicating a measure of hostility to the National Park Service and to the further expansion of the park system. Some western Senators expressed a concern that the establishment of more parks would reduce the availability of grazing lands and that Congress could not often act in time to prevent transfers, however unwise they might be. [23]
On February 11, 1936, however, the Senate Committee on Public Lands and Surveys reported favorably on H.R. 10104 as passed by the House subject to a number of amendments. [24] The amended bill recommended by the committee contained these provisions:
The substitute reported by the committee limits the bill to a study of park, parkway, and recreational-area programs and authorizes no transfers of land. It is further provided that no such study shall be made in any State without the consent and approval of the appropriate State authorities. There is retained the authority of the Secretary to aid the several States and political subdivisions thereof in planning park, parkway, and recreational-area facilities and in cooperating with one another to accomplish those ends; but all authority with respect to establishing, improving, and maintaining such areas, as well as cooperation with regional interstate agencies, is omitted. The provision authorizing the consent of Congress to State compacts is retained but no provision is made for participation by any representative of the United States. [25]
Finally on June 23, 1936, both houses of Congress agreed to the Senate version of the bill. As passed, the act (Public Law No. 770-1/2) read:
An Act to authorize a study of the park, parkway, and recreational-area programs in the United States, and for other purposes, approved June 23, 1936 (49 Stat. 1894).
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, that the Secretary of the Interior (hereinafter referred to as the "Secretary") is authorized and directed to cause the National Park Service to make a comprehensive study, other than on lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture, of the public park, parkway, and recreational-area programs of the United States, and of the several States and political subdivisions thereof, and of the lands throughout the United States which are or may be chiefly valuable as such areas, but no such study shall be made in any State without the consent and approval of the State officials, boards, or departments having jurisdiction over such lands and park areas. The said study shall be such as, in the judgment of the Secretary, will provide data helpful in developing a plan for coordinated and adequate public park, parkway, and recreational-area facilities for the people of the United States. In making the said study and in accomplishing any of the purposes of this Act, the Secretary is authorized and directed, through the National Park Service, to seek and accept the cooperation and assistance of Federal departments or agencies having jurisdiction of lands belonging to the United States, and may cooperate and make arrangements with and seek and accept the assistance of other Federal agencies and instrumentalities, and of States and political subdivisions thereof and the agencies and instrumentalities of either of them (16 U.S.C. sec. 17k).
Sec. 2. For the purpose of developing coordinated and adequate public park, parkway, and recreational-area facilities for the people of the United States, the Secretary is authorized to aid the several States and political subdivisions thereof in planning such areas therein, and in cooperating with one another to accomplish these ends. Such aid shall be made available through the National Park Service acting in cooperation with such State agencies or agencies of political subdivisions of States as the Secretary deems best. (16 U.S.C. sec. 17L.)
Sec. 3. The consent of Congress is hereby given to any two or more States to negotiate and enter into compacts or agreements with one another with reference to planning, establishing, developing, improving, and maintaining any park, parkway, or recreational area. No such compact or agreement shall be effective until approved by the legislature of the several States which are parties thereto and by the Congress of the United States. (16 U.S.C. sec. 17m.)
Sec. 4. As used in sections 1 and 2 of this Act the term "State" shall be deemed to include Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, and the District of Columbia. (16 U.S.C. sec. 17n.) [26]
Reaction to the passage of the act was mixed. Director Cammerer noted in his 1936 annual report that the act "will, it is hoped, be a vital factor in making possible the continuation of the close relationship between the States and the National Park Service already established, regardless of the extent to which the emergency work may be continued." [27] On the other hand, President Roosevelt informed Secretary Ickes on June 25 that, while he had approved H.R. 10104, the bill was "too narrow." He suggested that "the preliminary work be done by the National Park Service but that when this is done, the National Resources Committee receive the preliminary report of the National Park Service and invite the comment and suggestions of the Department of Agriculture and its several agencies." What he wanted was "a completely comprehensive report substantially approved by all Federal agencies having anything to do with recreation." [28]
Chapter Four continues with...
Implementation of Park, Parkway, and Recreational-Area Study
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Last Modified: Tues, Mar 14 2000 07:08:48 am PDT
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