Richard Pombo: “I have here on a map the Cady mountain wilderness area, the proposed area. If Members will see where the bright spots…”

“I have here on a map the Cady mountain wilderness area, the proposed area. If Members will see where the bright spots are, they represent 640 acres of privately owned property. In between these borders, there are no roads currently existing within the bill. What my amendment would propose to do is leave open these existing roads through the middle of this proposed wilderness area so that these private property owners will have access to their property. It does no good to tell the property owners that they are going to be able to maintain their private property and maintain ownership, continue to pay taxes, continue to pay their mortgage if we do not allow them to have access to it. Mr. Chairman, this is the same thing that we have seen over and over again in many bills that have been put before this House and before these committees, is that they put up the false hope that someone is going to be able to maintain ownership of their private property but in reality it is a taking by the Federal Government of the private property rights of these owners, because we are, No. 1, diminishing the value without just compensation of their property, and, No. 2, we are refusing to allow them to have access to property that in many instances has been in a family for generations just in an effort to lock off this property from the valid private property owners who exist there.”