305 



pretations, there is no doubt that the Secretary can 

 refuse on conservation grounds to grant a permit under 

 the Rivers and Harbors Act. 



Due Process 



Landholders next contend that the denial of a permit 

 without a hearing before the Fish and Wildlife Service 

 is a deprivation of property without due process of 

 law. Administrative law requires that before an agency 

 can regulate a party, it must allow that party to be 

 heard. Here, Landholders were given such a hearing 

 before the Corps of Engineers, the body empowered 

 to grant or deny a permit. They were not entitled to 

 a hearing before the Fish and Wildlife Service because 

 it is not "the one who decides." Morgan v. United 

 States, 1935. 289 U.S. 468, 481, 56 S.Ct. 906, 912, 80 L.Ed. 

 1288, 1295. They were allowed to rebut the findings 

 and conclusions of tlie Fish and Wildlife Service before 

 the deciding body and thus were not denied due process 

 for lack of a hearing. 



VI 



Taking Without Compensation 



Landholders* last contention is that their private sub- 

 merged property was taken for public use without just 

 compensation. They proceed this way: (i) the denial 

 of a permit constitutes a taking since this is the only 

 use to which the property could be put; (ii) the public 



