Publications and Reports

THE NATION'S RESOURCES AND THE DEFENSE PROGRAM

The role of the United States Department of the Interior in any national military crisis which might result from extraordinary world conditions was explained this month by Secretary Ickes in an article, "The Nation's Resources," which appeared in the Army and Navy Journal (Vol. L.XXVII, No. 45, pp. 1097, 1103).

"It would be difficult to imagine the plight of a nation in an international crisis," wrote Mr. Ickes, "if it had no, or few, basic resources.

"Consider what our situation would be if we had little coal, no great supply of lumber, only a few minerals, not much power, and a paucity of petroleum. Without an abundance of resources it would be virtually impossible to manufacture quantities of tanks, guns, planes, munitions, ships, and other material necessary for successful national defense.

"Fortunately, we have the recources. With the exception of a few strategic and critical minerals, the United States possesses the basic raw materials necessary for modern industry, and, consequently, for national defense. Our chief problem is not supplies, but coordination and production. . .

"The Department of the Interior plays a fundamental role in national defense. The work of the Department is almost entirely devoted to the appraisal, discovery, management and conservation of the nation's resources. . . It is fully prepared and instantly ready to offer its facilities, its skills, and its resources for the national defense. Orders have already been issued that defense matters are to be given priority. To coordinate defense activities, a Departmental Defense Resources Committee has been established. This Committee has been established as a clearing house on all defense problems and will provide a mechanism by which outside agencies may quickly be put into contact with the Bureaus and technical experts who can render the assistance required.

"The Department of the Interior, in short, is ready and able to do its full share in the defense of our democracy."

SOUTH CAROLINA PARKS INCLUDED IN AMERICAN GUIDE SERIES

South Carolina State Parks, a 44-page booklet copiously illustrated with photographs, drawings, and maps, has been published cooperatively by the South Carolina State Commission of Forestry and workers of the Writers' Program and the South Carolina Art Project of the Work Projects Administration. Each of the 15 park areas is described and its facilities are explained and illustrated. Commenting upon the development of the state system, one of the newest of the country, the foreword says:

"For every person in South Carolina---the young, the old, the rich, the poor, the sportsman, the mother of a family, the laborer, the farmer, the college professor, and all others---there is a state park within approximately 50 miles of home, where picnic shelters provide for a day's outing, where sanitary bathing facilities may be found, or well equipped cabins accommodate guests for a longer vacation.

"The 15 parks in South Carolina, completed or under construction, dot the state from sea level to the highest mountain in its area. In 14 of the parks swimming facilities are provided; in six there are 45 cabins; in three there are summer camps; in three there is opportunity for salt water fishing; and in many others there is fresh water fishing."

NEW NATURE PUBLICATION ISSUED BY GEORGIA

The third number of Outdoor Georgia, edited by Charles N. Elliott, acting commissioner of the state's Department of Natural Resources, appeared this month. The publication, launched in May is issued monthly "in the interest of Georgia wildlife and for fishermen, hunters, nature lovers, and conservationists." Articles in No. 3 include "Beyond Distant Horizons," a study of the state park system; "Highroads of the Wilderness," "Wildlife and the Soil," and "Chinooks of the Chattahoochee."

The magazine is a sales publication at 15 cents.

NEW KENTUCKY ARCHEOLOGICAL MATERIALS AVAILABLE

Recent additions to the University of Kentucky series of Reports in Anthropology and Archaeology include "Cypress Creek Villages, Sites 11 and 12," a 41-page report by William S. Webb and William G. Haag, and "Ricketts Site Revisited, Site 3, Montgomery County, Kentucky," prepared by Professor Webb and W. D. Funkhouser. The latter publication is a 67-page indexed booklet.

Both numbers of the series were prepared with the assistance of the Work Projects Administration.