59 



see any reason to continue to extend a preferential right advantage 

 to Canyon de Chelly or any other park. 



H.R. 773 in addition to providing us with a real chance to com- 

 pete also provides for the Park Service to select the best bid overall 

 instead of just the bidder offering the highest fee. I feel that this 

 will assist Navajo people in preparing competitive bids. 



There is another reason that I believe H.R. 773 gives the Navajo 

 a real chance to compete while H.R. 2028 does not. H.R. 2028 pro- 

 vides that the concessioner owns the facility in which they make 

 improvements, while in H.R. 773 their improvements value is slow- 

 ly reduced as the property is used and amortized. 



The weight of equipment that I use for my guide and ranching 

 business slowly loses resale value after years of use. I know that 

 the value of White Dove's possessory interest in their facility was 

 roughly $1.4 million in 1991. If White Dove, Incorporated, suddenly 

 had ownership in them and values were set at the appraised fair 

 market value formula outlined in H.R. 2028, I know that no Navajo 

 business will be able to buy these facilities. 



I do not think it is right that the private companies should have 

 ownership in the property on national parks in Navajo land. Na- 

 tional park lands belongs to all American people, and these Navajo 

 lands belong to my people. 



Mr. Chairman, the Navajos are a proud people. I do not ask for 

 special treatment with this concession business. Just give us a 

 chance to compete on a level playing field with everyone else. I be- 

 lieve that H.R. 773 would do that while your bill would not. Thank 

 you for your time, and thanks for the opportunity to testify before 

 you. And I am glad to answer any questions. 



Mr. Hansen. Thank you, Mr. Bigwater. I appreciate your testi- 

 mony. Mrs. Chenoweth, any questions for this panel? 



Mrs. Chenoweth. Mr. Chairman, I have two surprises for you. 

 Number 1 is I have no questions, and the second surprise is that 

 Mr. Vento and I agree on something, and that is that I would go 

 to any length to divert his questioning. Thank you. 



Mr. Hansen. Well stated. Again, the same as the last panel. Let 

 me thank you. There is nothing in cement here. This is how we 

 fmd things out. If you want the chapter and verse, by all means, 

 tell us where to change it. We will look at this thing. We just threw 

 something on the table. 



We have to have a beginning point somewhere. We are not en- 

 tirely happy with last year's. We diJn't think it was a good piece 

 of legislation. However, it has been changed somewhat since last 

 year. There are some parts in it that we found offensive last year 

 that we feel OK about. So if you want to give us some chapter and 

 verse on something, we would appreciate it. 



We have some questions for you, but we will mail them to you. 

 We would really appreciate it if you would give us some response, 

 and we know there are a variety of interests sitting there at that 

 panel now. And in this business you can't please anybody. You just 

 do what you think is right, but we have got to have the input. So 

 we will get it from you. 



And, Mr. Brown, we don't mean to be offensive to the river run- 

 ners. Please don't take it that way. I think that we were a little 

 offended in the Utah delegation. The governor, both Senators, and 



