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I 



Briefly, I will address several concerns we have regarding the 

 bill. 



Private Property Rights 



We have serious reservations about the language of Section 107 

 concerning private property rights. This section of the bill 

 would permit adjacent property owners to file claims against 

 the government if they believe the value of their land has been 

 reduced because the Federal land has been designated as 

 wilderness. We believe such language is ill-advised. The 

 language could encourage numerous invalid clc^ims, unnecessarily 

 adding to the cost and complexity of wilderness management. 

 The language presents no guidelines as to how such claims would 

 be considered nor how the validity or amount of the claim would 

 be determined. The potential remedy surpasses that already 

 provided under existing law. We suggest that existing 

 procedures for placing claims against the government under the 

 Tucker Act are adequate to respond to landowners' concerns 

 about possible loss of property value. 



Water Language 



A key to resolving the Idaho wilderness issue is whether the 

 wilderness water resource is adequately protected. Our 

 position has been that protecting wilderness values generally 

 requires full natural flows, less any valid rights which exist 

 at the time of designation. The bill in effect prevents the 



