Number: 1985-26
WHEREAS, Land Between the Lakes (LBL) is the second largest contiguous Federal ownership (the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is number one) east of the Mississippi River where public lands are at a premium. TVA is managing and developing LBL as a national demonstration in outdoor recreation, environmental education, and resource management; and
WHEREAS, LBL serves as the focal point for a $150 million annual tourism industry. A study conducted by Murray State University found that the total dollar impact of the LBL’s existence in Fiscal Year (FY) 1981 was approximately $44.7 million. The impact in 1984 would be greater because annual visitation at LBL has increased from 1,641,296 in FY 1981 to 2,078,984 in 1984, a 26.7 percent gain; and
WHEREAS, over 300 employees would be affected and approximately 1,800 regional jobs in many, many businesses would be adversely impacted if LBL were closed; and
WHEREAS, more than 6,200 programs to the general public and resident groups in FY 1984 have been provided; and
WHEREAS, an estimated 250,000 people participated in education/recreation related programs during FY 1984; and
WHEREAS, visitors represented all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and twenty foreign countries; and
WHEREAS, camping in family campgrounds and group camps exceeded 200,000 visits in 1984; and
WHEREAS, another 450,000 visits were recorded at LBL’s informal use areas; and
WHEREAS, resource stewardship activities are conserving and improving the forests and fields, wildlife and fisheries populations on the 275 square miles of LBL; and
WHEREAS, about 225,000 hunter visits were recorded in 1984; and
WHEREAS, deer hunters alone spent over $1.5 million within 25 miles of LBL; and
WHEREAS, about 250,000 visits associated with wildlife viewing, nature photography, and other nonconsumptive wildlife uses generated $2.8 million last year; and
WHEREAS, fishermen coming to LBL numbered 264,000 in 1984, spending $5.3 million in the immediate area. Another 410,000 came across the lake to fish LBL’s secluded embayments; and
WHEREAS, the cooperative farming program is worth more than $1 million annually to area farmers; and
WHEREAS, the timber harvest program accounts for about 100 full time jobs and adds over $1 million annually to the regional economy; and
WHEREAS, President John F. Kennedy, in 1963, in agreeing with the recommendations of the Secretary of the Interior, charged TVA to develop and manage LBL as a demonstration of “how an area with limited timber, agricultural and industrial resources can be converted into a recreation asset that will stimulate economic growth of the region.” The major goal, then and now, is to develop the area into a recreation complex under a multiple-use philosophy that would attract millions of visitors annually; and
WHEREAS, various programs that currently exist under TVA would be reduced or eliminated if LBL were transferred to another agency. The major fallacy of transferring LBL to another public agency, however, is that other agencies, like TVA, would require congressional, State, or local appropriations to operate the area; there would be no real savings to the public. A transfer to the private sector would require a complete change in LBL’s character — allowing development, commercial concerns and eliminating educational and free use to the public;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the National Wildlife Federation, in annual meeting assembled March 14-17, 1985, in Arlington, Virginia, strongly urges Congress to continue funding of TVA natural resource management programs at least to the 1984-85 level and that no land transfers take place either between agencies or to the private sector.