Evening star., 1936-12-15
BEACH AID FUNDS
!. URGED BY GROUP
Preservation Association to
{ Ask Roosevelt's Help
Under New Law.

President Roosevelt will be requested
10 speed relief fund allocations to all
. beach preservation and protection prof.
neering approval.
"A resolution to this effect was adopt
Cd yesterday by the tenth annual
meeting of the American Shore and
Beach Preservation Association at the
National Research Council Building.
sThe association asked the President
30 take action under authority of q
new law of last June, making 1t the
policy Of the Federal Government to
provide financial assistance for beach
preservation after the Beach Erosion
Beard has submitted reports with
recomme ndations for the amount of
financial assistance based on the Fed
eral interest" in different beaches.
Col Earl l. Brown, chairman of the
United States Beach Erosion Board,
in addressing the session, said the
hoard would welcome suggestions from
officials and citizens of shore-front
States about how the Government can
determine the amount Of such Federal
Interest in different beaches and
provide sufhcient Federal financial as
sistance for their protection from
coastal erosion"
: Yardstick Is Sought.
So far, Col. Brown said, the board
has been unable to devise q yard
stick" to measure the Federal interest.
81 ha IN cd ha nyrly
Federal interests outlined are in pro-
viding recreation, providing protec-
ton for property from which it de-
rives taxes and in providing protec-
ton for the lives of citizens. He sug-
gested communities make preliminary
surveys and submit outlines to the
beard Of engineering needs and other
data
rother speakers at the meeting dis
cussed engineering aspects Of beach
preservation work and the questions
Of public and private ownership Of
beaches. j. Spencer Smith, president
Of the association and of the New Jer-
sey State Board of Commerce and
Navigation, in his annual address said
more and more people today were ask
ing why they must pay fees for the
privilege of bathing in the ocean, while
other people are allowed to hold title
10 ocean-front property and exclude
the public from it.
Considers Fee System.
Mayors Of several ocean-front cities
said they did not see how they could
continue to protect and maintain their
beaches unless they resorted to charg-
ing fees to out-of-town visitors.
J. Raymond Tiffany. counsel to the
association, suggested it might be wise
for States to begin reclaiming title
to ocean-front property. He sug-
gested creation Of sectional interstate
beach conservation commissions on
the Atlantic, Gulf, Pacific and Lake
coasts.
DR.. Albert L. Barrows, executive
secretary Of the National Research
Council, which sponsored the creation
of the association in 1926, welcomed
the delegates. Frederic p. Reichey.
borough clerk and treasurer Of Brad
ley Beach, N. J., replied for the as
sociation.
Brig. Gen. Max c. Tyler sent mes
sage pledging continued support OF
the Corps Of Engineers of the Army
to the work of the association. He
suggested the association now seek
State laws along the lines Of the new
Federal beach protection act. Report
ing on some of the Beach Erosion
Boards activities, Gen. Tyler re-
vealed that recently it had received
an application for a survey OF beach
conditions in Rhode Island from the
State Planning Commission there.
Suggests Congressional Aid.
Representative Mcmillan of Charles
ton, S. c., advised the association to
arouse local interests to make known
their beach protection needs to Con-
sress. Representative Mcmillan said
1t was necessary for Congress to en-
act even broader legislation for beach
preservation than the present law,
but that this could be done only after
the association had organized all the
local groups in the different States in
Q united drive for its enactment.
H. E. Weatherwax, field co-ordi-
nator of the National Park Service,
Department Of the Interior, described
the technical work on the North Caro-
lima beach protection project and dis
cussed the services desires to establish
a number Of seashore national recrea-
tion areas. He said the National Park
Service has selected II sites on the
Atlantic Coast that would be suitable
for this purpose, based on their prox-
unity to centers Of population and
other factors, and that he hoped to
be able to tell the next meeting Of
the association that Congress had
sanctioned acquisition of some Of these
areas.