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Show laws, (d) outstanding interests of the United States in lands patented, conveyed in fee or otherwise, under the public land laws, (e) national forests, (f) wildlife refuges and ranges, and (g) the surface and subsurface resources of all such lands, including the disposition or restriction on disposition of the mineral resources in lands defined by appropriate statute, treaty, or judicial determination as being under the control of the United States in the Outer Continental Shelf. Only Indian reservations were, therefore, excluded from consideration.5 The Commission thus generally examined matters pertaining not only to the lands included within the definition of its Act, but also to lands that are managed in conjunction with defined public lands, or that have characteristics similar to them. Of the 2.2 billion acres of land within the United States, the Federal Government owns 755.3 million acres, of which 724.4 million acres are specifically within the definition of lands concerning which the Commission is charged with the responsibility of making recommendations. As discussed in this report, there are both known and unknown values in these lands. This Commission never lost sight of the potential significance that its recommendations might have because of these values. 2. The Commission was charged with making a "comprehensive review of [public land] laws, and the rules and regulations promulgated thereunder" as well as "the policies and practices of the Federal agencies charged with administrative jurisdiction over [public] lands insofar as such policies and practices relate to the retention, management, and disposition of those lands" in order "to determine whether and to what extent revisions thereof are necessary." This broad charter meant that the Commission was required to do much more than codify existing statutes. Although it is a law review commission, its members recognized that the laws could not be reviewed under the above-quoted statutory language without having a comprehensive examination of the lands and their resources, as well as the uses and potential uses. 3. The Act requires the Commission to "compile data necessary to understand and determine the various demands on the public lands which now exist and which are likely to exist within the foreseeable future." The Commission's work was based on a determination that the year 2000 is the limit of its "foreseeable future." Such data were compiled and were referred to as the Commission made decisions. 4. The Commission is then charged with the re- r> The United States holds legal title to Indian reservation lands for the benefit of the Indians. A body of law has developed for these lands wholly separate from those commonly termed public land laws. For these reasons, Indian reservations were specifically excluded from the Commission's study by the Act establishing the Commission. sponsibility of recommending "such modifications in existing laws, regulations, policies, and practices as will, in the judgment of the Commission, best serve to carry out the policy" that the "public lands of the United States shall be (a) retained and managed or (b) disposed of, all in a manner to provide the maximum benefit for the general public." (§§4, 1) The Commission held its organizational meeting in Washington, D. C. on July 14, 1965, at which time it elected unanimously Representative Wayne N. Aspinall (D-Colo.) as Chairman; a Presidential appointee, H. Byron Mock, as Vice Chairman; and Milton A. Pearl as Director. The Director was charged with the responsibility of assembling a staff and formulating a program that would produce all the information and data necessary as a foundation for the Commission's deliberations, conclusions, and recommendations. The Commission then chose 25 members of the Advisory Council to be, in the words of the statute, "representative of the various major citizens' groups interested in problems relating to the retention, management, and disposition of the public lands," to whom were added liaison officers appointed by the heads of Federal departments and agencies which have an interest in or responsibility for the retention, management, or disposition of the public lands.6 Thereafter, each of the Governors of the 50 states, in response to an invitation from the Chairman, designated a representative to work with the Commission, its staff, and the Advisory Council.7 The first meeting of the Advisory Council, with the Governors' Representatives participating, was held on March 24, 1966. In June of the same year, the Commission held the first of a series of public meetings designed to obtain the views of all interested persons and groups. During the course of those meetings, which were held throughout the country, over 900 witnesses presented statements that were helpful in focusing attention on problems and their possible solutions.8 The meetings of the Advisory Council with the Governors' Representatives participating and the presentations by members of the public contributed substantially to the Commission's understanding of the impacts of public land laws, policies, practices, and procedures. The Commission is indebted particularly to members of the Advisory Council and the Governors' Representatives for their dedicated service in providing comments and recommendations. The members and staff of the Commission benefited from 6 A listing of the Advisory Council appears on page vi. 7 A listing of the Governors' Representatives appears in Appendix C. 8 See Appendix D, Attachment No. 3, for a listing of the public meetings. |