The Nation's River Part 15

5. The U. S. Army Corps of Engineers should continue to regulate the development of structures built into the navigable waters and, in cooperation with local ent.i.ties, study means of ridding the Potomac estuary of permanent and semipermanent debris and floating debris.

6. To guard against the loss of public a.s.sets of great worth along the estuary, the General Services Administration, in cooperation with the Department of the Interior, should give full consideration to recreation, fish and wildlife, scenic and other conservation values at the time any Federal installation becomes surplus to defense of other needs.

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D. State fish and wildlife conservation agencies in the Basin need to strengthen their programs if hunting and fishing opportunities are to meet the growing demand and if the broad spectrum of wildlife essential to a healthy landscape is to be maintained:

1. High priority and ample funds should be a.s.signed to the improvement and development of wildlife habitat throughout the Basin, and special attention paid to the stimulation of good hunting and fishing opportunity on private lands.

2. Research and management programs of the fish and wildlife agencies are vital, and need expansion based in broad public support and adequate funding.

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E. National Forest lands are the most ma.s.sive scenic, ecological, and recreational a.s.set in public ownership in the Basin, and Forest Service programs have beneficial effects far beyond the National Forests'

limits. Action specifically relating to these lands and programs is vital to landscape protection and recreational development, and should involve the following:

1. To preserve the natural beauty of the North and South Forks of the Shenandoah River above their confluence, to a.s.sure public access, to provide for development and public use of the recreational potential of the streams, mountains, and forests in this area and conservation of its watersheds and natural resources, a National Recreation Area should be established, to be administered by the Secretary of Agriculture and to be comprised of the existing Ma.s.sanutten Unit of the George Washington National Forest and such adjacent areas as may be needed to accomplish the purposes enumerated above.

2. Development of the Spruce k.n.o.b-Seneca Rocks National Recreation Area, designated by Congress in 1965, should be accelerated.

3. Other National Forest lands in the Basin should also be adapted to a variety of compatible recreational uses, and their beauty and natural functioning protected by watershed management and the improvement of wildlife habitat, at an accelerated pace for early results.

4. In the interest of consolidation of this great resource, the Secretary of Agriculture should continue discussion with States, local governments, and private citizens, leading to extension of the National Forests on the upper reaches of the Potomac.

5. To enhance and increase the widely sought opportunity for water-related recreation in the National Forest lands as well as to contribute to the Forests' functional health, two measures are recommended:

a. Acceleration of work to improve the hydrologic characteristics of these lands, with the purpose of decreasing damage from rapid runoff and increasing the flow of clean natural water in the streams during critical low-flow periods.

b. Installation of that portion of the Department of Agriculture's upstream watershed improvement program consisting of some 40 small reservoirs within the National Forests, and recreational development of the sites in a manner compatible with State recreation planning.

6. To encourage and help non-Federal forest landowners in the Basin to maintain forest cover and develop their woodlands for fish and game production, natural beauty, and recreation, existing Forest Service, State, and private forestry programs should be accelerated.

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F. The public's opportunity to appreciate and enjoy the rich variety of the Basin's landscape is hampered now by a shortage of suitable routes designed to furnish that opportunity. Two systems of such routes would link together the Basin's most fundamental attractions and connect it with the amenities of other regions:

1. Studies are already well advanced toward the definition of needs for recreation and scenic motoring tied in with the existing George Washington Memorial Parkway, Skyline Drive, and Blue Ridge Parkway.

They should be completed and implemented when feasible in consultation with the Department of Transportation. A route that warrants equal consideration would be the extension of the George Washington Memorial Parkway from Mount Vernon to Yorktown as recommended in the _Potomac Interim Report to the President_.

2. A Basinwide system of trails for hiking, bicycling, and horseback travel has been studied and its details are presented in a separate report. This compatible and organic means of putting town and city people in touch with the natural environment and the countryside is an indispensable element of a full recreational program for the Basin, and it is strongly to be hoped that the establishment of the Potomac Heritage Trail along the river and the protection of the ridgeline Appalachian Trail--the two trunk elements of the system--will be promptly achieved under the legislation recently acted upon by the Congress.

G. Some of the most basic beauty of the Potomac Basin is found in its older towns and its inhabited countryside, where centuries of history are reflected in structures, historic sites, and types of land use. To protect this beauty and richness against unnecessary destruction and degradation, vigorous action is indicated:

1. The Basin States should consider the possibility of utilizing their State Historical Survey Commissions not only to designate and protect significant townscapes and rural landscapes as historical districts, but also to monitor encroachments and inappropriate construction affecting esthetic and a.s.sociative values at or near historic sites. State legislation to restrict the exercise of eminent domain by utility companies for pipelines and transmission line routes in such areas is highly desirable.

2. If the Basin's traditional farms are to be preserved not only for their beauty and as open s.p.a.ce near towns and cities but as an element in the economic health of the region, action at all levels of government will be needed. Tax relief as a tool to encourage continued farming on land in danger of urban development needs to be utilized more widely by counties. Programs should be developed that will help preserve the contribution that farms make to the life and landscape of the Basin. Imaginative new approaches are mandatory if there is to be any hope of coping with this problem.

H. At all levels of government also, a concerted effort must be made to clean up junk, spoil, and debris inherited from misuses of the past and to prevent new acc.u.mulations. Over 10,000 acres of surface-mined lands need reclamation, thousands of junked cars mar the landscape, and trash and litter clutter the land and streams. Existing programs must be accelerated and new ones devised. Legislation now before the Congress would establish a cooperative Federal-State program to regulate surface mining operations and to a.s.sure the reclamation of areas mined in the future. In addition, it is imperative that Basin Federal and State installations promulgate regulations to prevent acc.u.mulations of junk and debris on their lands.

III. To help ensure that future planning and action in relation to the Potomac Basin's water resources, water-related land resources, and amenities shall proceed in a wise and coordinated manner, we recommend:

A. That citizens of the Basin interested in its overall well-being give serious thought of joining together in a broad-based organization to promote all aspects of that well-being by public education, discussion, monitoring abuses, pressing for good local planning and land use, and reviewing proposals for environmental action in the Basin.

B. That the Federal and State governments continue their efforts to define and establish appropriate inst.i.tutional arrangements for the management and operation of this Potomac Basin program and the furtherance of its principles of protection, preservation, good water management and flexibility. The Potomac River Basin Compact, as proposed in draft form by the Potomac River Basin Advisory Committee, is receiving careful consideration by Federal agencies and citizens, antic.i.p.ating consideration by State legislative bodies, and the Congress of the United States.

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