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The Department of the Interior defers to the Depart-
ment of Agriculture for a position on S. 1926 and H.R.
2156 since the purpose of the legislation is to establish a
national monument and a national memorial in the Ange-
les National Forest, administered by the U.S. Forest Serv-
ice in Los Angeles County. Both the national monument
and the national memorial would be located at a site that
is not under the jurisdiction of the Department of the Inte-
rior, and this bill does not provide for any management or
funding by the National Park Service.
The Saint Francis Dam was one of several large infra-
structure projects constructed in the early 20th century to
help control water flow to southern California. On March
12, 1928, the dam breached, and the resulting flood took
more than 400 lives. The collapse of this dam is considered
one of the worst civil engineering failures in the 20th cen-
tury. S. 1926 and H.R. 2156 authorize the Secretary of Ag-
riculture to establish the memorial to honor the disaster
victims. The bills also authorize the creation of a 440-acre
Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Monument that will
encompass the site of the Saint Francis Dam National Me-
morial.
The National Park Service has management responsi-
bility for a large number national memorials and national
monuments, and the public often associates both types of
designated sites with the National Park Service. In this
case, however, the national monument and the national
memorial would be located deep within the Angeles Na-
tional Forest and would fall within the responsibility of the
Forest Service.
Mr. Chairman, this concludes my statement. I would be
pleased to answer any questions you or other members of
the Subcommittee may have.
The testimony provided by the U.S. Department of Agriculture at
the August 15, 2018, hearing on S. 1926 and H.R. 2156 follows:
STATEMENT FOR THE RECORD CONCERNING S. 1926—SAINT
FRANCIS DAM DISASTER NATIONAL MEMORIAL ACT
Mr. Chairman and members of the subcommittee, thank
you for the opportunity to present the views of the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) regarding S. 1926, the
Saint Francis Dam Disaster National Memorial Act.
S. 1926 authorizes the Secretary of Agriculture to estab-
lish the Saint Francis Dam Disaster Memorial at the Saint
Francis Dam site in Los Angeles County, California, for
the purpose of honoring the victims of the Saint Francis
Dam disaster of March 12, 1928. The Act would establish
a National Monument on 353 acres of the Angeles Na-
tional Forest, as depicted on the map titled ‘‘Saint Francis
Dam Disaster National Monument—Proposed’’, dated Au-
gust 2, 2017. The Memorial would be created for the pur-
poses of conserving and enhancing the cultural, archae-
ological, historical, watershed, educational and rec-
reational resources of the dam disaster site.

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