APRIL 21 (calendar day, APRIL 28), 1930.-Ordered to be printed Mr. NYE, from the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 8713] The Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8713) granting land in Wrangell, Alaska, to the town of Wrangell, Alaska, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass without amendment. The facts concerning the proposed legislation are fully set forth in the report of the House Committee on the Public Lands (H. Rept. No. 757, 71st Cong., 2d sess.), which is appended hereto and made a part of this report, as follows: [House Report No. 757, Seventy-first Congress, second session] The Committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill H. R. 8713, begs leave to report that it has had this legislation under consideration and after hearings thereon has directed me to report the same to the House with recommendation that the bill do pass. The purpose of this bill is for Congress to confirm the action of the United States Office of Education whereby the town of Wrangell, Alaska, assumed all responsibility and expense for teaching native Indian children in consideration of the use of the school building and grounds of the Office of Education. An agreement was entered into whereby title to this property would be transferred to the town of Wrangell, Alaska, with the consent of Congress. On February 3, 1930, the Secretary of the Interior reported to Hon. Don B. Colton, chairman of the Committee on the Public Lands, as follows: Hon. DON B. COLTON, DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: Referring again to your request of January 18 for a report on H. R. 8713, which would grant certain land to the town of Wrangell, Alaska, I transmit herewith a memorandum that has been prepared by Commissioner Moore of the General Land Office. After a review of the measure, I concur in Commissioner Moore's favorable recommendation. Very truly yours, RAY LYMAN WILBUR, Secretary. MEMORANDUM FOR THE SECRETARY Reference is had to H. R. 8713, authorizing and directing the Secretary of the Interior to convey the tract of land delineated as United States school reserve No. 3, on the plat of Wrangell town site, Alaska, together with a United States school building located thereon to the incorporated town of Wrangell, Alaska. It appears that the school building under consideration was erected by the office of education in 1904, for the education of the native children in that vicinity, and that under an agreement between the office of education and the Wrangell School Board, the school board assumed the duty of providing for the education of such native children on the condition that it be granted the use and occupancy of the school building and the land on which it is situated. The commissioner of education reported to you on May 17, 1929, that the Wrangell School Board has fulfilled the terms of said agreement and he recommended that this office be requested to prepare a bill for transmission to Congress, to convey the school building and the land on which it is situated to the town authorities. This recommendation was approved by the assistant secretary, and in accordance therewith a proposed bill was prepared in this office which you forwarded to Hon. Dan A. Sutherland on July 18, 1929. H. R. 8713 is identical therewith. Inasmuch as the town of Wrangell has assumed the entire responsibility of this school and the transfer of the property is mutually satisfactory to the office of education, and the Wrangell School Board, I believe that title thereto should be conveyed to the town. I, therefore, recommend the approval of the proposed legislation. O C. C. MOORE, Commissioner. APRIL 21 (calendar day, APRIL 28), 1930.—Ordered to be printed Mr. NYE, from the Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, submitted the following REPORT [To accompany H. R. 8763] The Committee on Public Lands and Surveys, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8763) to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to investigate and report to Congress on the advisability and practicability of establishing a national park to be known as the Apostle Islands National Park in the State of Wisconsin, and for other purposes, having considered the same, report favorably thereon with the recommendation that the bill do pass without amendment. The facts are fully set forth in the report of the House Committee on the Public Lands (H. Rept. No. 997, 71st Cong., 2d sess.), which is appended hereto and made a part of this report, as follows: [House Report No. 997, Seventy-first Congress, second session] The Committee on the Public Lands, to whom was referred the bill (H. R. 8763) to direct the Secretary of the Interior to investigate and report to Congress on the advisability and practicability of establishing a national park to be known as the Apostle Islands National Park in the northern part of the counties of Ashland and Bayfield in the State of Wisconsin, and for other purposes, having considered the same report it favorably to the House with the recommendation that the last sentence of the bill, reading "And there is hereby authorized to be appropriated, out of any money in the Treasury not otherwise appropriated, the sum of $1,500, or so much thereof as may be necessary, for expenses of such investigation" be eliminated, inasmuch as funds for this purpose will be available for the National Park Service for the fiscal year 1931. The facts concerning the proposed legislation are explained in brief in the two letters which follow and in the condensed review of material relative to the bill which was presented at the committee's hearing on Tuesday, March 25, 1930. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR, February 5, 1930. Hon. DON B. COLTON, Chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives. MY DEAR MR. CHAIRMAN: With further reference to your letter of January 18, requesting a report on H. R. 8763, which would provide for an investigation on the advisability and practicability of establishing a national park to be known as the Apostle Islands National Park, in the State of Wisconsin, I transmit here- Very truly yours, After a Memorandum for the Secretary. Reference is made to letter dated January 18, from the chairman Committee on the Public Lands, House of Representatives, inclosing copy of H. R. 8763, entitled "A bill to authorize the Secretary of the Interior to investigate and report to Congress on the advisability and practicability of establishing a national park to be known as the Apostle Islands National Park, in the State of Wisconsin, and for other purposes," with request for report thereon. As indicated by the title of this bill, it would authorize an investigation as to the advisability and practicability of establishing a national park in the proposed area with a view to reporting to Congress thereon. The bill would also authorize the appropriation of necessary funds for such investigation. Funds for this purpose, however, are provided for the fiscal year 1931, and it would appear that this authorization is unnecessary. Therefore, if the last sentence of the bill covering this authorization is eliminated, there would appear to be no objection to this proposed legislation. HORACE M. ALBRIGHT, Director. Further facts concerning the proposed legislation and relative to the area in question are contained in the following paragraphs, which were presented for the information of the Committee on the Public Lands of the House by Messrs. W. B. Koons and C. M. Sheridan, representatives of Ashland and Bayfield Counties, Wis., location, number, area, and accessibility of the Apostle Islands. Twenty-two in number, the Apostle Islands are located in Lake Superior around the tip of the Bayfield Peninsula, the northernmost point of the State of Wisconsin. With a land area of about 53,500 acres, the archipelago is roughly triangular in shape and occupies a land and water area of over 300 square miles. Areas of the individual islands run from mere dots on the water up to 14,000 acres. Because of their readily accessible location the establishment of a national park among the Apostle Islands would make a national playground for millions of middle westerners for whom other national parks are inaccessible. To the west the nearest national parks are the Sully's Hill National Park and the Wind Cave National Park in North Dakota and South Dakota, respectively. To the south the nearest parks are the Platt National Park and the Hot Springs National Park in Oklahoma and Arkansas, respectively, and to the east the only park is Acadia National Park in Maine. The vast area within these points is entirely without national park facilities. It comprises all of the heavily populated Middle Western States, with millions of nature-thirsty citizens in need of the advantages of a national park as easily accessible as one among the Apostle Islands would be. HISTORIC BACKGROUND OF THE APOSTLE ISLANDS In the legends and traditions of the Ojibway Indians, native inhabitants of the Apostle Islands, the dramatic history of the picturesque archipelago is carried forward from the very dawn of time. Well-authenticated chronological records of the Ojibways indicate that the tribe had its capital among the islands during the years from 1490 to 1610. The islands were discovered by whites about 1660, when Radisson and Groselliers, adventurous French traders, visited the region. Claude Allouez established the first mission west of the Sault Ste. Marie in the vicinity of the islands in the year 1665 and was followed by Pere James Marquette in 1669, who stayed for two years and then departed to achieve immortality with his discovery of the Mississippi. In 1693 a French post was established on Madeline, one of the islands, and for the century and a half that followed the Apostle Islands were the center of the tremendous fur traffic of the entire Northwest. No area of like size in the Northwest is so steeped in the dramatic and colorful history of New France. Many sites of outstanding historic interest are located on the islands and the mainland near by. 『: ת اعم لمد his p Par to the Djeca for t Messt 3 uper State SCENIC BEAUTIES OF THE ISLANDS Essentially beds of red sandstone formed from the erosion of lava from the greatest volcano the world has ever known, the Apostle Islands are covered with glacial drift on which grows the flora indigenous to the region. The battering waves of Lake Superior that come rolling down out of the northeast have carved the sandstone cliffs on the northern ends of the islands into formations of weird and startling beauty while the action of currents has formed lovely, curving beaches on the southern sides of these enchanted isles. Along the shores of a number of the islands erosion has formed large caves. In some instances these caves extend under the rock for as far as 100 feet, with the stone ceiling far overhead and the water deep beneath. Blue sky, verdant foliage, red rock, yellow beach, and azure water in an infinite variety of lovely combinations offer scenes of never-to-be-forgotten grandeur. For outstanding scenic beauty of its particular type the Apostle Islands group is unsurpassed. RECREATIONAL ADVANTAGES OF THE APOSTLE ISLANDS Among the Apostle Islands the recreational opportunities are unlimited. For the fisherman there is the finest lake trout trolling in the world in the waters in and about the Apostle Islands during the early summer. Dozens of fine trout streams within a radius of a few miles on the mainland beckon the follower of the wily brook trout. In winter the virile sport of bobbing for lake trout through the ice lures the hardier sportsmen. For the swimming enthusiast the waters of Lake Superior among the Apostle Islands offer a new and refreshing experience. Swimmers find a novel and unforgetable sensation in the cool, clear, pure, and invigorating water of the greatest of fresh water inland seas. The waters in and about the islands are ideal for all kinds of boating. In the well-protected areas canoeing, rowboating, and speedboating may be indulged in with safety and pleasure, while the interisland channels are ideal for the use of all types of launches and yachts. |