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Show contain restrictions on use, designed to protect such values. This practice should be employed without regard to whether state or local zoning regulations are in force. Acquisition Techniques The acquisition policies of the public land administering agencies are a vital part of their management programs. Acquisitions are the key to extension of the Federal public land programs, such as those of the National Park Service and the wildlife refuges, which do not depend for their implementation primarily on lands already in Federal ownership. They are also important management tools for agencies like the Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management, whose primary responsibilities are confined largely to the efficient management of large land areas already in Federal ownership. Consequently, the Commission has viewed land acquisition authority and practice from two principal viewpoints: (1) Whether such authority is adequate to accomplish basic missions of the agencies; and (2) whether there should be greater restraints on the exercise of such authority, however broad. The latter concern seems to stem from apprehension about further reduction of the state and local tax base in Federal land-impacted areas, and from fear that lands with significant economic potential might be taken in unreasonable amounts for other programs which might adversely affect the state and local economy. In general, we conclude that: (1) The agencies' acquisition authority ought to be compatible with their basic missions, and adequate to help accomplish their efficient implementation; and (2) as a corollary, that there is need for better statutory guidelines and institutional arrangements to prevent unnecessary land acquisitions. Although our recommendations are framed generally with regard to the four agencies most concerned with the management of the resource values of the public lands-the Forest Service, National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, and Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife-they appear equally well suited to acquisitions by the Bureau of Reclamation and the Corps of Engineers for water resource development projects. Consistency of Acquisitions with Missions Recommendation 119: The general acquisition authority of the public land management agencies should be consistent with agency missions. Acquisition authority is granted to public land management agencies to help them implement their basic management responsibilities. But changes in these responsibilities over the years have not always been accompanied by changes in acquisition authority. For example, the basic National Forest purpose, under the 1897 Organic Act,3 was keyed to timber production and to the improvement and protection of stream flows, but has since been expanded to the broad, multiple use program exemplified in the 1960 Multiple Use Act.4 Yet, basic acquisition authority for the Forest Service remains the Weeks Act,5 which was enacted in 1911 and is limited to the scope of Forest Service missions at that time. Under that authority, acquisitions may be made only of such lands as "may be necessary to the regulation of the flow of navigable streams or for the production of timber." The vast bulk of current Forest Service acquisition, however, are predominantly for recreation purposes. Similarly, in light of the multiple use management authority that we recommend elsewhere for the Bureau of Land Management, its general acquisition authority should be broadened. This recommended updating of the acquisition authority of those two agencies parallels recent similar action by Congress with respect to the National Park Service 6 and the Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife.7 While we favor a general clarification and broadening of the agencies' acquisition authority to make it compatible with their basic missions, we recommend that the specific needs for which lands may be acquired by each public land agency be enumerated by statute. Revision of Acquisition Authority Recommendation 120: The general land acquisition authority of the public land management agencies should be revised to provide uniformity and comprehensiveness with respect to (1) the interests in lands which may be acquired, and (2) the techniques available to acquire them. Existing law provides uneven treatment of these two subjects with respect to particular agencies and among individual statutes governing particular acquisitions by a specific agency. Many statutes provide simply for acquisition of "lands or interests in lands" by the Secretary, which appears broad enough to include any kind of real property interests. However, other statutes specify particular interests, such as 3 16 U.S.C. §475 (1964). 4 16 U.S.C. §§ 528-331 (1964). 5 16 U.S.C. §§480, 500, 513-519, 521, 552, 563 (1964). « 16 U.S.C. §§ 4601-10a, 10b, 22 (Supp. V, 1970). 7 16 U.S.C. §§ 668bb, 668dd(b) (Supp. V, 1970). 267 |