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Show servation districts for surveys and drainage plans. While the assistance offered under these programs is for improvement of croplands that offer little or no wildlife habitat, there may be certain areas of swamp or marshlands that are drained. From 1941 through 1948 approximately 888,000 acres of land were drained in the Ohio River Basin under Pro- duction and Marketing Administration programs. As discussed under problem B-2, the serious pol- lution condition in large areas of the basin has adverse effects on fish and wildlife. Current and proposed programs for abatement of pollution will serve to reduce those effects. Conclusions As part of a multiple-purpose river basin pro- gram, Federal, State, and local agencies should cooperate to the fullest extent to conserve and enhance the fish and wildlife resources of the Ohio River Basin. Such a program should include con- struction of any justifiable facility required to compensate for fish and wildlife losses at project sites; addition to projects of any justifiable facility for enhancement of fish and wildlife benefits; par- ticipation by the Fish and Wildlife Service and State conservation departments in the planning of proposed Federal or private drainage projects affecting wildlife lands and subsidized directly or indirectly by the Federal Government; determina- tion of tiie final use of the land area on the basis of land classification investigations which will indicate the highest use of the land; and considera- tion of maintenance of fish and wildlife values as a purpose in pollution control programs. 9. Planning for Recreational Use of Reservoirs The Problem Planning and providing for recreation use of reservoir areas in the interest of maximum bene- ficial use. The Situation The Corps of Engineers, the major Federal con- struction agency in the Ohio Basin, is authorized to plan and construct facilities for recreation on reser- voir lands under its control and to permit States and localities to develop and operate recreation facilities on reservoir lands. Through authority of the Park, Parkway and Recreational Area Study Act of 193610 the National Park Service, on request of the Corps of Engineers, conducts studies of the recreation potentials of proposed reservoirs. In addition, the Park Service is authorized under this act to cooperate with and provide technical assist- ance to State agencies for the purpose of coordi- nated recreation planning. Coordination among the Corps of Engineers, the National Park Service, and other Federal, State, and local agencies in studying recreation potentialities of reservoir sites has been effective in the Ohio River Basin. To date studies have been made by the Park Service on 23 such reservoirs, upon request of the Corps of Engineers, to determine their recreation potentialities. The reports of these studies recom- mended that State Park areas should be developed at five of the reservoirs (Dewey and Wolf Creek Reservoirs in Kentucky, Berlin, and Eagle Creek Reservoirs in Ohio, and Tygart Reservoir in West Virginia); that 15 were suitable for day use activi- ties such as boating, fishing, picnicking, and swim- ming, with organized camping a possibility in sev- eral instances; and that three had no recreation significance. Using the reports submitted to it by the National Park Service and the data received from other rec- reational interests, the Corps of Engineers prepared master recreation plans on each reservoir having such potentialities as a guide to future recreation development. The heavy concentrations of population and the relative scarcity of natural lakes in the Ohio Basin are factors making the recreation use of reservoirs certain unless conditions are unusually adverse. It is noted that some of them which have been com- pleted for some time, such as Tionesta Creek Reser- voir in Pennsylvania, have a considerable amount of recreation use despite lack of formal development. State parks are at present being planned in con- junction with other reservoirs such as Wolf Creek in Kentucky. An example of successful management of the recreation features of a water-control project is in the Muskingum Watershed Conservancy District. Fourteen dams were built for this project, and the district owns 65,000 acres of land located in 16 counties. Eight of the lakes have been or are being developed for recreation use according to a plan prepared by the conservancy district with the co- operation of the National Park Service. Although artificial reservoirs generally have 10 Act of June 23, 1936, § 2, 49 Stat. 1894, 16 U. S. C. 17-1. 679 |
