WATER AND WATERFRONTS 151 



Statement of Senator HART. In this setting there is no need to 

 argue the case for the acquisition of needed waterfront areas for 

 recreation purposes. Everyone in this room is well aware of the 

 findings of the Outdoor Recreation Resources Review Commission 

 Report and the many other studies which call attention to our vanish- 

 ing shoreline. 



The point I would hope to make here today is that, although the 

 case for action has been made over and over again, we are not moving 

 fast enough. Every day that passes, additional stretches of shoreline 

 disappear from public view behind the "Private Property No Tres- 

 passing" signs. 



It is truly a case, as the Pennsylvania Dutch say, of "The faster I go, 

 thebehinderlget." 



Or, as one of my constituents wrote me, our Michigan slogan 

 "Water Wonderland" will soon be all too true the average man will 

 wonder where the water is. 



The States are slow in reacting to the need because of lack of finan- 

 cial resources. The Congress, while making some notable progress 

 on acquisition of areas of national significance, has not yet saved some 

 of our last remaining beautiful shorelines. Will we ever be able to 

 save Indiana Dunes, Oregon Dunes, our Sleeping Bear Dunes in 

 Michigan, and Assateague? 



In addition to the obvious political problems which are difficult if 

 not impossible to straighten out, there are always powerful voices of 

 one sort or another seeking to bring us to a screeching halt. 



No one wants to railroad through the Congress a measure of the 

 dimensions of these shoreline bills. Many people are affected, and we 

 must be responsive to their concern. But while we labor over these 

 proposals ad infinitum, they begin to price themselves out of our 

 reach. 



Let me sound a note of warning on the price situation. At home 

 in Michigan the property owners at Sleeping Bear are even as you 

 and I would be worried whether they will receive adequate com- 

 pensation for their property if they decide to sell. Actually, all our 

 experience is that the price of land within these recreation areas rises 

 so substantially that we may as a nation and as taxpayers find our- 

 selves barred from Federal acquisition. 



To illustrate. My information is that Point Reyes in California, 

 for which we planned to spend $14 million in acquisition, may cost 

 $40 million ; Padre Island in Texas is likely to go up from $5 million 

 to $16 million; Cape Cod from $16 million to $35 or $40 million. 



