OCR Text |
Show TABLE 2.-Summary of major deficiencies in basic economic data needed for river basin planning-Continued Item of deficiency B. Functional studies-Con. 2. Forestry______....... 3. Commercial fishery and trapping;. 4. Manufacturing and mining. 5. Tourism and recreation. 6. Transportation and navigation. Description of deficiency Initial surveys to obtain information on the location, area, stocking, vol- ume, kind of trees, condition, growth and drain are needed on some 200,- 000,000 acres of forest land. In addi- tion, resurveys of areas covered about 10 years ago should be made as rapidly as possible. Data are also needed on stand improvement and reforestation needs, and on cost and returns on various forest proj- ects. In connection with broad river basin planning, there is a major deficiency in the amount of production, em- ployment and income data presently available by States. Such data are needed for the harvesting, process- ing, and distributing levels of these industries. More information re- garding the fresh-water fishing in- dustry is needed by States and by major bodies of water within each State. More information regarding fur trapping is needed by States and by counties within each State. A major deficiency is the use of water (quantity and quality) by different types of industry and mining corre- lated with other characteristics of the industry such as employment. Information on present usage and circumstances of use by different sources of water (direct river, munic- ipal water and ground water) also are needed. Deficiencies in produc- tion and other data are not cited here inasmuch as needs for these data are more directly related to other than river basin planning needs. Most data requirements can be satis- fied by special surveys in connec- tion with contemplated projects for basin developments. Readily available basic data on costs (not rates) of transportation by com- peting means, such as railroads, truck, and alternative waterway routes; costs of operation of airlines and airports; economic costs of operation of bus lines, private passenger cars. Lack of complete coverage of costs and economics of completed water- ways in operation. Data on basic origin and final destina- tion of commodities. Need for the data Satisfactory development of water resources requires adequate infor- mation on the condition of the forest land, because of its economic impor- tance in terms of income employ- ment and other benefits. These data are all required to evaluate properly the role of this activity in the economy of the region, and to make proper program provisions in connection with water resource planning. As rivers are more fully developed, the problem of competition among the several uses will become real. Intelligent planning should take into account the use of water for industry. Adequate data on indus- trial and mining use of water do not exist to forecast such use even if the future level of manufacturing in the area were known. Mineral resource data are needed to provide advance indication of where mining and de- pendent manufacturing industries are likely to decrease because of exhaustion of reserves and con- versely where new mining and manufacturing industries may start because of the development of new deposits. Special surveys are required to fit recreational potentialities of pro- posed water resource developments into proper balance with regional and local needs. For determination of most economical alternative means of transportation in evaluating waterway improve- ments; determination of flood losses and benefits to transportation in flood control studies; estimating costs of operation on relocated routes in project cost estimates. Sufficient data has generally been available or obtainable by special effort; data are needed for evalua- tion of transportation savings by new improvements. Comment and recommendation The United States should be covered by a forest inventory every 10 years. This means surveying 62,000,000 acres l«r year. Such surveys should be Intensified and adjusted to meet the needs of water resources develop- ment. Needed data might be collected jointly by the Bureau of the Census, the Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Individual States. Much of the in- formation could be obtained by increasing the coverage of the Census of Manufactures and through the collection of more detailed income data by county and by principal occupational sources of income. Additional information regarding fish and fur production could be obtained through more intensive surveys by the Fish and Wildifc Service and the States. Tlie necessary data can be secured for manufacturing in 1 of 2 ways: (P T- the Census a. ~ , ,.nien I ill permit correlation with other data, and (2) a sample survey of different types of industries which will permit a fuller set of questions. Vor mining, the collection of data on water consumption perhaps could be made part of the Bureau of Mines program. Tourism and recreational aspects of v liter developments should be inves- tigated concurrently with surveys for other purposes which should be wordinated closely with data the Ecological Survey will collect. Diita affecting railroads and commer- cial trucking costs could be collected liy Interstate Commerce Commission in regular reports by the carrier; for iilrlines and airports, by the C. A. A. Mure widespread study of economics !ind costs of transportation on com- pleted waterways. 368 |