Following is the text of a letter from the President to the 

 President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House trans- 

 mitting a development program for the National Forests. 



The White House, 



September 21, 1961. 



Dear Mr. Speaker : (Dear Mr. President :) 



I am pleased to transmit to the House of Representatives (the Sen- 

 ate) a report- prepared by the Department of Agriculture setting 

 forth "A Development Program for the National Forests." 



This report is the response of the Department of Agriculture to the 

 request I made in my messages to the Congress on natural resources 

 and on American agriculture that forest development on public lands 

 be accelerated. The developmental program recommended in the re- 

 port modifies and supplements the 1959 National Forest Program sub- 

 mitted by the preceding Administration. The principal components 

 of the new program are (1) substantially broadened and intensified 

 recreation resource management, (2) acceleration of timber harvest- 

 ing and management, (3) adjustment of the road and trail program to 

 provide needed multiple-purpose roads and, (4) acquisition of needed 

 tracts within national forests boundaries, especially those having rec- 

 reational values. 



As our nation's population increases and our industrialization 

 grows, the obligation to preserve and to protect our nation's forests 

 becomes greater. The forward-looking program outlined in this re- 

 port holds great hope. Congressional interest in our national forests 

 has always been high — an interest this Administration shares. I am 

 confident that this program will be carefully reviewed by the appro- 

 priate Congressional committees and that significant progress can be 

 made in this important field. 



Sincerely, 



John F. Kennedy. 



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