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atian's three eastern Regional Ofllces ale identifying all rivers or river segments 25 miles or longer in their regions which appear to be relatively free from development, and have good water quality and sulflcient streamflow to provide for a quality recreation experience Alter review and consultation with representatives of Federal and State agencies, private organizations, and lhe public, the list of rivers wilt be reduced to those most likely to Qualify as candidates for the Na~ lional System A fairly detailed reconnaissance will be made of the rivers on this reduced list 10 idenlify their specific Qualities and develop a priority ranking Following approval by the Administralion, the proposed mini- mum syslem would be transmilled 10 the Congress Present plans call for completion or the defmilion of the system by the remaininQ Re- gional Ofllces in fiscal year 1978 Although not covered under the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act, the Depanmenl has a very active rivers program in Alaska In compliance With the Alaska Native Claims Set- tlement Act. P L 92-203, the Bureau of Ouldoor Recreation completed detailed studies on 28 rivers in Alaska As a result of these studies, the Secretary of the Interior has proposed adding 20 new units totaling 2,753 miles of river to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System, While 16 of these rivers he Within the bOundaries of other areas proposed for addition to the Na- tional Park, National Wtldlife Refuge and National Forest Systems, four rivers with a total ot 705 miles 01 river and 800,000 acres of adjacent lands would be established as sep- arate units ot the system. In addition, under the provisions of the Na....al Petroleum Reserves PrOduction Act P l. 9J-2$€!, studies 6 will be made of the rivers tying wholly or in part within Petroleum Reserve No. 4 In Alaska to deter- mine whether they should be con- sidered as potenlial candidates for the National System, While there has been significant progress, It has not been without problems, The designation at long slretches of river as components of the National System could be pro. hlbitively expensive if lands must be acquired in fee Because of this, methods are continually being sought to provide the necessary land use control to protect Ihe ri....er environmenl Without having to ac- Quire full fee title 10 the lands. Thus, proposals to be transmitted to Con- gress shortly will include utilization 01 sceniC easements, zoning, and other lorms 01 land use control. Control of use is one of the major management problems today: it is one which IS gOing to become even more critical as the demand for fiver recreation experiences in- creases and the supply of available quality resources decreases There must be methodology to permit de- termination 01 the carrying capacity o! a slream consistent With the preservation of the resource as classilled Once established. the fiver management plan must con- trol use at, or below, thaI capacily in order to assure preservation of the resource and a Quality recrea- lion experience for the usef Lack of acceptance on the part of some segments of the public IS another problem which must be re- solved Some of this is a matter 01 defmitlon The Wild and Scenic Ri....ers Act established three classes or -ivers-wild, sceniC, and recrea- tional The dlHerences among the var- ious classilicallons are the deglee to which there IS evidence of man's presence in the flver environmenl I)riJ573 California's fe-arher RIVe-rbe-came an "insranr" component Of rhe National Wild and Scenic Rivers sysrem, Wild rivers essentially prOVide prim- Itive experiences with IiUle or nO evidence of man's presence; they flfe generatly inaccessible except by trail Scenic rivers, while Jargely orimitlve and relatively undevel- oped, are accesslbe in some places by road Recreational rivers are readily acceSSible by road or rail- road and have some development along their shorelines, However, many people equate "Wild river" With a whllewaler experience and understand only with diftlculty how lheir remote. slow-moving stream can be considered wild. Scenic designaton seems to be fairly un- derstandable However, recreational river classiflcallon frequently brings visions of massive recreation de- velopment These and other mis- conceplions regarding Ihe program must be corrected at every oppor- tUnity so as to obtain widespread public support and understanding A great deal of progress has been accomplished since October 1968, Significant aclions are being taken to maintain the momentum generated over the past 8 years, In the ShOrl term, the Bureau is hope- ful that the Ell:ecutive Olllce of the President will release lhe study reo ports completed by Interior and Agriculture, and the legislative pro- posal to designate 20 additional rivers lor study Further, the Con- gress is expected to begin consid- ering the proposals submllled under the Alaska Native Claims Settle- ment Act. including lhe proposals 10 add 20 Alaskan rivers 10 lhe Na- lional Syslem. BOR expects to com- plete analysis 01 the Nation's re- mamlng free-flowing rivers easl of the MissiSSippi River by early 1978 and the remainder 01 the country by the end of the year Following that, a nationWide lisl of rivers will be developed for consIderation by the Congress as potential candl. dales lor study and possible addi- lions to the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System , I I