301 



public lands grazing and recreation alike can be 



controlled, regulated and restricted to the point of 

 extinction. 



We who are involved in the struggle to maintain the economy 

 and tradition of Owyhee County, Ideiho, emd to preserve the 

 rights of private property owners, express our profound 

 thanJcs to Representative Helen denowith for requesting that 

 we submit our views regarding the Ecosystem Project which is 

 about to totally and finally engulf our County and our 

 State. 



Those of us who are fighting for survival of a way of life 

 in Owyhee County are encouraged by this Committee's action 

 in reviewing the merits of the process by which a team of 

 federal employees is moving toward a total evasion of the 

 authority of this Congress over the public lands which make 



up most of our County and a critical part of our State, 



We know that we do not have the resources to fend off 

 bureaucratic control without your help. 



We ask that you carefully review the arrogant tnaxmer in 

 which the evasion of your authority has occurred. We urge 

 you to direct some hard questions to the members of the 

 Ecosystem Project teams regarding the scientific soundness 

 of the draft Environmental Impact Statement which has been 

 developed, the adverse economic impact the EIS and the 

 siibsequent administrative regulations will have on the 

 people of our county, and regarding^ the lack of local public 

 input into the development of the EIS . We believe that the 

 EIS is fatally flawed by the evasion of CongressionsO. 

 authority which has occ\irred, by the lack of local public 

 input and by the lack of scientific soundness evidenced by 

 the preliminary docioments. 



I. EVASION OP CONGRESSIONAL AUTHORITY 



It was not by accident that Article I of the 

 Constitution set forth the powers and limitations relevant 

 to the LEGISLATIVE body of government- -the Congress. Those 

 among the drafters who favored a stronger congress than 

 executive won the philosophical debates, and the Congress 

 was created as the driving force of our central government. 



The rationale was simple enough in the Congress the voice 



of the people could be more easily heard and implemented. A 

 member of Congress who had to return to his district, or his 

 state, and hear from his constituents was far more likely to 

 tend to the needs and desires of the people than was a lone 

 executive isolated at the seat of the central government . 



In Article I, in Section 8, the Congress was empowered to 

 "make all laws which shall be necessary and proper for 



