Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1953-08-06
By james BirchfieId

By james BirchfieId
Extensive areas on the CheSa-
peake Bay and the Potomac
River-the water gateway to the
Nations Capital-are under the
control or the armed services for
testing arms and ammunition.
On land, the development Of
the Bay is being hampered, OBJ
servers believe. by growing mill
tary encroachment. Federal own
ership, it is believed, is retarding
other developments.
Restrictions on the waters are
creating a hardship for profess
Sional fishermen who must take
a living from the Bay and its
tributaries and for pleasure boat
owners who constantly must en-
dure risky delays while bombs
and shells burst and underwater
explosives detonate.
A member of the Capital Yacht
Club said sailing on the Bay
these days is a game Of tag
jumping from one restricted or
prohibited area to another. Zone
never knows where one should
be at any specified time" he said.
Gradually, over the years, the
Bay has become a gigantic lab
oratory for testing guns, shells
bombs, ships and planes and
amphibious landing techniques.
The Defense Department lists
more than so military install
lations in the Bay region. Many
of these use the great reaches Of
water. where military uses take
precedence over other activities
save the passage of regular COM
mercial shipping. Congress has
specified that regular shipping
lanes must be kent open.
Moreover, the States of Mary
land and Virginia, in whose
boundaries most of the Bay
water lie. have little control
over water restrictions. The
State may protest the establish
ment of a new restricted area,
but the final action rests with
the military.
History Of MiIitory Control
The growth of military control
of the navigable waters of the
Nation has been a slow one. In
1924 Congress appropriated
funds and authorized the Army
to clear sand bars from the Ohio
River and snagS from the Mis-
sissippi. In this early day most
of the trained engineers were in
military service.
Later. on March 3. 1899, the
Rivers and HarborS Act gave the
Army control of navigation. This
act authorized the military to
regulate navigation, and to con-
troll the construction of docks,
the removal of wrecks and other
nagivational aids.
The act which gives the mill
tary control over restricted areas
in navigable waters was passed
in 1918 to protect life and prop
erty in target practice"
Citizens Are ResentfuI
Understandable resentment on
the part of State officials, fisher
men, residents and boating en-
thuSiaStS has arisen.
While scientists say that I'M
derwater blasts cause little dam
age to flshlife, fishermen insist
that thousands of fish have been
killed by these explosions.
DR.. r. v. Truitt. director of the
Maryland Department of Re-
search and Education, says only
the fish close to an underwater
explosion may be killed. If the
explosion occurred near a school
of fish. the death rate might be
high, he explained.
John E. Simms of Cobb Island
on the Potomac, who has spent
more than Is years on the water,
says. however, he has seen the
river covered with dead fish"
at times. These dead fish are
seen. according to Mr.. Simms,
after underwater explosives tests
upstream.
There is no demand that the
military should clear out en-
tirely, but that military growth
in the area should be controlled
so as not to retard civilian de-
velopment.
Handy to Pentoeon
There is a feeling that the mil
itary tendency is to place too
many testing facilities in handy
proximity to the Pentagon.
Raymond V. Long, Virginia
commissioner of planning and
economic development, points
out that in the Yorktown and
James River areas there is little
shore left for civilian develop
ment.
Mr.. Long says the military
often takes land where there
seems to be no apparent need.
He believes that military growth
should be controlled for the eco
nomic welfare of the region.
A Maryland member of the
House of Representatives from
the Eastern Shore, Edward T.
Miller, expressed it another way;
There must be in the entire
United States" Mr.. Miller said.
some sparsely settled areas
where testing ranges might be
- placed to better advantage
Here is an outline of the sit
uation as it exists, both on water
and on land in the Chesapeake
Bay Region.
WAR