SAN MARCOS HATCHERY PLANNING FUNDS

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. The problem I see here is for example, in one case there is a basic question that we are now concerned with related to the proposed fish hatchery at San Marcos, Tex. A long range judgment will have to be made as to whether we will proceed with the development of this facility. If so, the funds for that item will be used for the purpose for which it was originally appropriated, but if a basic decision is made not to proceed, then the remaining money will be considered for reprograming.

Senator BIBLE. I understand. I understand the San Marcos situation. Senator Young?

IMPROVED FISH AND WILDLIFE HABITAT

Senator YOUNG. I want to say that you are doing an excellent job. I believe the program for better hunting and fishing is one of the most popular programs that the Federal Government has undertaken. Unfortunately there are many other new multi-billion-dollar Government programs that are much more glamorous that get more public attention at the present time. It might be that the money we are spending on your program is peanuts compared to some of the other projects and I think much of the money spent on them is wasted.

In my own State, for example, the fishing is better than it ever was. You are helping tremendously in preserving the wildlife in our State. We have better deer hunting than we have ever had. Some birds are in danger of becoming extinct but they would have been extinct by now if it were not for the work that you are doing. I cannot help but feel that you have a program that is popular with people all over the United States but it has not been given the attention that it should be given when money is going for other billion dollar programs.

NORTHERN PRAIRIE WILDLIFE RESEARCH CENTER

Let me ask you about some projects in North Dakota. I note you are requesting $700,000 for continuing the operation of the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center this year. This is the same level as it was last year, is it not?

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. That is correct.

Senator YOUNG. Your budget does not include any additional construction?

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. That is correct.

Senator YOUNG. It would seem to me that by completing your construction program at this facility you would be able to make more efficient use of it. What do you estimate your requirements for construction and additional staffing would be at this laboratory? What was asked originally for this?

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. In our planning budget, we provided for the Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center in North Dakota, $125,000 for staffing and increased costs of operations, and $100,000 for necessary construction of the facilities.

The Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center has several specific construction needs, some of which were included in the original design

and which we have not received funds to complete, and some in the category of new work which will be required to remedy certain problems that have developed there. In the first category the laboratory needs additional outside ponds for experimental work. Sixteen are scheduled or have been completed but a total of 64 ponds for experimental use in waterfowl experiments had been planned originally.

We estimate it would cost about $54,000 to complete all of the originally planned ponds.

For experimental development, for field projects of other types, including temporary water control structures and fences, an additional $15,000.

WATER SUPPLY

Now in the other category of repairs, replacements to take care of problems that have developed since the laboratory was put into operation, first an item that we think would cost about $100,000 is the replacement of the water system. We have determined, as I am sure the Senator knows since it is a common problem in North Dakota, that we have a very high chemical content in the water in use in the laboratory. This is eroding the plumbing system and in order to prevent very great damage, we think it will be necessary to connect with the city of Jamestown water supply at a cost of about $100,000.

The original asphalt roads that were built leading down into the Center and the parking lots will need about $10,000 of work to bring them up to a satisfactory level of maintenance.

PUBLIC INTEREST IN FACILITY AT JAMESTOWN

There is a great interest, as the Senator indicated in his opening remarks, in wildlife and wildlife conservation all through America, and this is true at our research establishments. As a result we get many visitors who want to see wildlife and learn something about what is going on, but by virtue of the nature of the establishment, it is sometimes very difficult to show them wildlife in such a way that it constitutes a real worthwhile educational experience. Thus, we would like to put in a public display pool so that the different kinds of waterfowl that we are working with at that station can be put on display for the enjoyment of the public.

PROPAGATION OF WATERFOWL IN NORTH DAKOTA

Senator YOUNG. Dr. Gottschalk, as you know, North Dakota is the number one propagation State. Maybe a brief description of what you do at this comparatively new laboratory would be helpful.

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. I think it would make a major contribution to the appreciation of the work of the laboratory and in developing the greater interests in the technical aspects of waterfowl in North Dakota. It is certainly true that North Dakota is the No. 1 breeding State for ducks. I had better qualify my statement to say it is the No. 1 of the lower 48 in waterfowl production and not get concerned with a dispute between Alaska and North Dakota on ducks. But it would be a wonderful thing indeed, to have display facilities there

for the public who come to the laboratory and have trouble seeing the things that do constitute an educational experience. The pools would cost approximately $10,000.

PRODUCTION OF BETTER WHEAT BROWSE

The last item would be a facility for the production of wheat browse. There are units available which can be used to produce wheat and oats and other kinds of browse through hydroponics, a system in which chemical nutrients are added to water on a sort of filter paper base. Large quantities of the newly sprouted plants can be produced in this manner. This is valuable for use as forage by ducks and geese and other kinds of wildlife held under concentrated conditions in laboratories and in pens.

Senator YOUNG. It is a new development, is it?

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. This would be a new facility, a new unit at the laboratory. The cost of one of these units is about $10,000. We think it would materially facilitate our ability to hold waterfowl in captivity. They will receive the nutrients that come from this fresh green browse, the minerals and the other direct additives, but also the vitamins that are produced under these circumstances.

The total, then, Senator, is about $200,000 for construction.

INCREASED OPERATING COSTS

In addition, if we are going to maintain our 1971 program level where it has been in the past, because costs are constantly increasing, with rising maintenance costs and the increased costs of conducting field research programs, it will cost us an additional $125,000 just for operating expenses at Jamestown in the next year.

In other words, with no increase in our budget, we are slipping behind at Jamestown. I regret to say this and I have to put it in the context that this is one of the areas we think is very important, but in view of the high priorities for other work, we were simply not able to find room in our planning allowance for the needed funding at Jamestown.

Senator YOUNG. Isn't this the only laboratory of its kind that you have in the United States?

POTHOLES FOR PRODUCTION OF WATERFOWL DISAPPEARING

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. That is correct, sir. It is the only laboratory that focuses on the very crucial problem of how to treat the natural potholes in such a way as to increase the production of ducks. It is a fact, as the Senator well knows, that our potholes are disappearing whether we like it or not. This is a fact of life. We are doing all we can through our acquisition program to stem this tide of drainage but in the long run we are going to have to learn how to get more ducks out of the potholes that we have remaining.

The objective of this station, simply stated, is to figure out ways of getting two ducks out of the pothole that now produces only one. Senator BOGGS. Will the Senator yield?

Why are the potholes disappearing? What is causing them to disappear?

ECONOMIC FACTORS IN DISAPPEARANCE

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. The primary cause is the economic factors involved in our total agricultural situation. Farmers are seeking additional land they are draining, they are filling or otherwise destroying potholes in order to get a little more land--in the hope that the little additional production will give them that little additional profit margin. This same phenomenon is true not only in our own prairie region but it is true in adjacent Canada. The wheat glut in Canada has put tremendous strains on the natural duck breeding areas of that country by virtue of the fact that farmers are unable to sell last year's wheat, it is still piled up in bins, even some from the year before. The only way that they can break even with a bad price situation or feel they can stay in the business is to put a little more land in production, and this is the direction that this whole phenomenon has been taking now for several years.

Senator YOUNG. Of course there is another reason. It is terribly expensive to farm around these potholes. The farmers are draining them at their own expense now because they can no longer afford to farm around them as well as pay real estate taxes on them. Both farming costs and taxes keep going up year after year.

I think it means that we are going to have to buy more land for duck propagation or lease it or do something about it.

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. The Senator is much more aware of this by virtue of the knowledge he has about the local situation, but all the statistics we get from our field personnel certainly support what the Senator has just said. We are in the business of course, of acquiring a substantial acreage in North Dakota.

LAND ACQUISITION IN SOUTH DAKOTA

Senator YOUNG. What about the waterfowl production areas program? For several years now you have been operating a pilot program aimed at more intensive use of your waterfowl production areas. It makes a great deal of sense to me to utilize the land you already own to its fullest capability in producing more wildlife of all types.

What has been your experience in South Dakota with this project? Dr. GOTTSCHALK. We have about 32,000 acres of wetlands in South Dakota in separate tracts, all of which were acquired for the purpose of saving the prime waterfowl habitat. With funds provided in the past largely through the interest of this committee, we have carried out improvements in the habitat ranging from seeding native grasses and protecting these kinds of plants which provide nesting cover, to improve the potholes themselves, in a few cases by putting in low dams and making small impoundments and also by opening up the marshes through blasting. Obviously we were not able to purchase only the water surface, we had to go beyond that. So we have upland habitat available for deer and pheasants. That has been improved. We have put in some shelter belts and then, of course, we have fenced and posted these areas.

In general this has been the program that we have carried on in South Dakota.

GOALS IN THE WETLANDS AREA

We have 32,000 acres in South Dakota. Our goal through the period of 1976 is 110,000 in fee, with an additional 409,000 acres in easements for a total of 519,000. Now that is just in South Dakota. In North Dakota we have a similar goal that is double that, 1,064,000 acres of land we hope to have either in fee or easements as protected migratory nesting bird habitat and in addition to that, 207,000 acres in the State of Minnesota and 20,000 acres in Nebraska. I would be glad to submit a tabular recitation of all these facts and figures for the record if you so desire.

Senator BOGGS. I think that would be good, if you would do that.
Dr. GOTTSCHALK. Thank you.

(The information follows:)

LAND ACQUISITION ACCOMPLISHMENTS TO DATE IN WATERFOWL PRODUCTION AREAS (MINNESOTA, NEBRASKA, NORTH DAKOTA, AND SOUTH DAKOTA), AND GOALS

Dr. GOTTSCHALK. Now one of the features of the program has been an effort to utilize these areas not only for wildlife production but also as outdoor classrooms. We have been cooperating both with the school system of Madison, S. Dak., and a group known as the Environmental Sciences Service Center, which is located in Minneapolis. We have been carrying out training demonstration activities with local grade and high school teachers. This spring we are going to conduct an intensive program in Madison for not only school teachers, but for members of the staff of the State college at Madison, to give them more know-how in utilizing wild places and natural situations in their environmental teaching.

RECREATIONAL VALUE

This is a sort of side value of these waterfowl production areas that was not originally anticipated. I think everyone recognizes that we need to try to take advantage of multiple-use opportunities provided there is no detriment to the original purpose for which the areas were acquired. Certainly this can be done, as most of the potholes can be viewed in the fall of the year without any detriment. In fact, it is a great sight to see the waterfowl on their southward migration using these ponds. Now, if in some cases we do have to keep the young people out of areas where the ducks are nesting, this can all be integrated in a way that it makes a wonderful experience for young