Under these agreements, the Forest Service is able to provide Law Enforcement Agency coverage in areas of the National Forest that were previously furnished only minimal service. The Law Enforcement Officers involved exercise jurisdiction under applicable Vermont statutes. There is no authority for them to enforce Federal regulations and no request has been made to furnish this service.

In this specific instance, the enactment of PL 93-622 created anticipation of increased public use of the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness. To meet this potential, the District Ranger, in cooperation with the Addison County Sheriff's Department, established a patrol schedule which includes the public road system adjoining the Wilderness. Ranger Churchill discussed this schedule with the Bristol Town Selectmen on June 3, 1975, prior to its initiation.

Using this schedule, residents in the Bristol-Lincoln area may observe Sheriff's vehicles on a regular basis in areas heretofore covered only on an as-called basis. Presence of this patrol provides opportunity for service to owners of private lands, residents, and users of the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness.

We appreciate the opportunity to respond to your inquiry. Please don't hesitate to call if you desire additional information.

Sincerely,

L. KENT MAYS, Jr., Forest Supervisor.

JUNE 4, 1975.

Mr. JOHN R. MCGUIRE,

Chief, U.S. Forest Service,
Department of Agriculture, Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. MCGUIRE: The 1974 Eastern Wilderness Act has taken effect in two Vermont areas-Bristol Cliffs and Lye Brook. As a Senate representative from Vermont and as a member of the Senate Agriculture Committee, I am interested in, and concerned about, the Forest Service administration of the statute.

I am concerned that the Forest Service implement the law fairly and equitably, and that ample opportunity is provided for individuals to have a meaningful say in the administration of the statute which directly affects them.

I understand that P.L. 93-622 was enacted into law well after budgets had been prepared for the Fiscal Year 1976. I am asking that the Forest Service carefully review the new law to assure that funds are available for its proper implementation.

The Congress authorized $5 million for the purchase of those properties offered for sale by landowners who do not wish to remain within the Wilderness areas and who are unable to exchange their property, as allowed by law, within the Forest Service.

I am told that there is less than $230,000 available for the purchase of lands offered for sale in the two Vermont Wilderness areas, and that there is no Fiscal 1976 money requested.

I ask that your review be completed quickly so that the Forest Service can assure the affected property owners that there are funds to repay them for their properties.

The Forest Service is presently writing its regulations to implement the Act. The affected property owners should have the opportunity to participate in the writing, reviewing and commenting on the regulations to define the "compatible" uses of their private properties within the Wilderness area.

I am working with those who have contacted me. I am asking for their ideas of what they consider reasonable use of their property, given the basic Congressional mandate to establish the wilderness areas in the East. I plan to pass these on to you for your further consideration.

This is landmark legislation. It was the result of the continuous effort on the part of my predecessor, Senator George D. Aiken, to set aside, in the East, wilderness areas to enable us to preserve our dwindling open spaces.

It also has considerable impact on the personal lives of the Vermonters who own land within the area-some landholdings have been within a family for years and who find suddenly their use of their property is proscribed.

Despite the efforts of the Green Mountain National Forest Service officials, there is much confusion concerning the law and a great deal of opposition to what is portrayed as "government confiscation of private property."

There is discussion of a possible court challenge to the new law to test its constitutionality. There is the argument that basic rights were violated, and the

point is made that little prior notification was given that the privately held lands were part of the Wilderness areas.

I hope these concerns can be met administratively. Some of the presently intense opposition may be lessened if the reasonable alternative-as provided by the Congress-can be implemented.

I am willing to do what I can with both the Forest Service and the affected individuals to make this new law work.

I am asking the Forest Service to do the same.

Sincerely,

PATRICK J. LEAHY, U.S. Senator.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

Hon. PATRICK J. LEAHY,
U.S. Senate.

FOREST SERVICE, Washington, D.C., June 24, 1975.

DEAR SENATOR LEAHY: I appreciate the straightforward manner in which you have presened your concerns about management of the 16 wildernesses designated by P.L. 93-622. I also appreciate your willingness to work with us in managing these areas in accordance with the law and with the welfare of private landowners in mind. You may rest assured that our aims are synonymous in this regard.

We have had some input from people who are fearful that the Forest Service will use the authorities in P.L. 93-622 as a means of wholesale land condemnations. I can assure you this is not the case. The law also provides for the purchase or exchange of lands as means of acquisition where it is necessary for management of the area as wilderness. Should a parcel of land be determined to be necessary for acquisition, we would first approach the private landowner and attempt to negotiate a land exchange or purchase of the property. Only after pursuing these two options at length and with no possible consummation foreseen would we pursue the route of condemnation. Condemnation will be our last resort for acquiring property necessary for management of the area as wilderness. There have been a number of private landowners in the two wildernesses who have indicated a willingness to sell their property to the Forest Service. We are, of course, amenable to such offers and should it be desirable to acquire the property, we would pursue the offer to sell. It is estimated that some 20 such cases could be handled in fiscal year 1976. Our fiscal year 1976 estimated budget shows approximately $2 million for purchase of private land within wilderness. Estimated levels of expenditure are set by the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation for all agencies who acquire lands or interest in lands through the Land and Water Conservation Fund System. We anticipate being able to handle a number of purchase offers in eastern wildernesses in fiscal year 1976 under this purchase level.

As you pointed out, we are currently developing regulations to implement portions of section 6 of the Act. We expect a draft of the regulations to be available within the next 60 days. These will be published in the Federal Register for the expressed purpose of inviting public comment. After a period of public input and an analysis of the input received, the regulations will be finalized and again printed in the Federal Register. We welcome any suggestions or ideas that you or your constituents may have and we appreciate your plan to pass these on to us for consideration.

We share your view that the impact of the law may have some effect on the personal lives of some of the private landowners within these areas. It may be quite difficult for us as managers at times to implement the law, as it is intended to manage the area as wilderness, and still cause the least adverse effects on the personal lives of those closely associated with it. It is our intention to implement the law as fairly and equitably as we can. As management plans are developed for these areas, they will be offered for public review and comment.

We certainly appreciate your interest in management of these areas. If a personal meeting to discuss aspects of wilderness management would be beneficial, we would be happy to meet with you at your convenience.

Sincerely,

JOHN R. MCGUIRE, Chief.

JUNE 27, 1975.

Mr. JOHN R. MCGUIRE

Chief, U.S. Forest Service, Department of Agriculture,
Washington, D.C.

DEAR MR. MCGUIRE: I have your letter of June 24. I thank you for your response to the several questions that I raised concerning the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness Area.

I was also pleased with the meeting that the Vermont Congressional delegation held with Thomas C. Nelson, your Deputy Chief for the National Forest System; Kent Mays, Forest Supervisor for the Green Mountain National Forest; and Gilbert Parker, the Forest Ranger for the wilderness area.

I am pleased by the sensitivity of the Forest Service to the problems that have confronted the private property owners and its willingness to work with the delegation in achieving a solution.

I still have some unanswered questions, however. They concern the funding and the time required for the purchase of property offered for sale by the affected landowners.

You indicate that the Forest Service can handle some 20 offers for land purchases in the coming fiscal year, based on the $2 million budget established by the Bureau of Outdoor Recreation for the acquisition of private lands. You say you anticipate being able "to handle a number of purchase offers in eastern wildernesses in fiscal year 1976 under this purchase level."

I am seeking specifics:

First: Do you have sufficient funds to cover all offers of sale in the Bristol Cliff Wilderness Area, given willing buyer-seller agreements?

Second: Do you have sufficient funds to cover the administrative expenses in promptly handling and processing these offers?

The 1974 Eastern Wilderness Act provides a $5 million authorization to purchase those properties offered for sale by landowners who do not wish to remain within the Wilderness areas and who are unable to exchange their property with the Forest Service.

Will the Forest Service request supplemental fiscal year 1976 funding to meet its obligation to purchase those lands offered for sale?

The private landowners are under the impression that there are no funds available for the purchase of their land and that, if there are funds, it may take a year or more to complete the purchase process. Considering the limits imposed on their private use of these lands, the Federal Government must be prepared to move quickly to purchase their lands so that no one suffers by the legislation. The concern being raised by the Bristol landowners today were those that I raised during my Senatorial campaign last fall when this legislation was being debated before the Congress. I understand and I support the landowners and their position.

It is my hope that the difficulties can be resolved administratively and without resort to legislative action. Therefore, it is imperative to provide the landowners substantive assurances that there are immediate alternatives to them in their present situation.

Sincerely,

PATRICK J. LEAHY, U.S. Senator.

U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE,

Hon. PATRICK J. LEAHY,

U.S. Senate.

FOREST SERVICE, Washington, D.C., July 9, 1975.

DEAR SENATOR LEAHY: Thank you for your recent letter requesting additional information on available funds for purchase of offered private lands in the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness. We will attempt to answer your questions in the order they appeared.

1. Do you have sufficient funds to cover all offers of sale in the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness, given willing buyer-selling agreements?

Under the present circumstances, yes we believe we have sufficient funds to cover these offers of sale. Regional Forester Jay Cravens has advised us that 23 property owners have offered to sell their properties in the Bristol Cliffs Wilder

ness. The estimated value of these properties is $346,000. Seven have been appraised, to date, with a combined value of $106,860.

Considering the entire National Forest Wilderness System if all current offers to sell would become valid contracts, we would not have sufficient funds to cover them all. However, offers to sell do not always end up in purchase of the properties, as in some cases agreement on price cannot be reached. In past years we have had a surplus of dollars available for purchase of wilderness private lands over actual contracts to purchase. We expect this situation to prevail for the near future. We believe that we have sufficient funds to cover the offers to sell that will culminate in actual purchases throughout the National Forest Wilderness System. This would also include those offers to sell in the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness.

2. Do you have sufficient funds to cover the administrative expenses in promptly handling and processing these offers?

Yes. We do have sufficient flexibility to cover administrative costs of acquiring the properties.

3. Will the Forest Service request supplemental FY 1976 funding to meet its obligation to purchase those lands offered for sale?

As previously stated, we believe that we will have sufficient funds to cover the offers in the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness. Should we find that more funds are needed to cover the wilderness purchases, we have several courses of action that can be taken. We can request, (1) interested groups, such as the Izaak Walton League or the Nature Conservancy, to purchase and hold the properties until such time as funds become available, (2) reprogramming of funds from areas where they have not been obligated, and (3) supplemental appropriations.

We are certainly pleased to note that the meeting with the Vermont congressional delegation was fruitful. We look forward to continued good relations with the delegation, and the users and the property owners in the Bristol Cliffs area. Sincerely,

JOHN R. MCGUIRE, Chief.

U.S. SENATE,

Washington, D.C., August 7, 1975.

To: John McGuire, Chief, U.S. Forest Service.
From: Senator Patrick J. Leahy.

Re: Bristol Cliffs Wilderness Area.

1. Please provide the original study-including any map(s)—which was the basis for the Forest Service recommendation that Bristol Cliffs be designated an Instant Wilderness Area.

2. At the recent meeting with the property owners, one said that Bristol Cliffs was initially not recommended as an Instant Wilderness Area, but that later the Forest Service asked former Senator George Aiken to include it. Is this correct? If so, why was there a change in position?

3. (a) There is a large percentage of private holdings in the Wilderness Area. Will the Forest Service provide for each private tract or area of tracts, the unique characteristic(s), following statutory criteria to warrant its inclusion in Wilderness Area?

(b) For the National Forest land, please advise what are the unique characteristic(s), following statutory criterion, that it possesses for Wilderness. Do other forest lands in Vermont, or elsewhere in the North East, possess the same characteristic(s)? Do other forest lands in Vermont, or elsewhere in the North East, possess better characteristic(s)?

(c) Please include a map locating any unique characteristic on either privately owned land or National Forest land and any photograph you may have to illustrate it.

4. The 1974 Act permits residential and agricultural uses. Please advise whether, in light of the statutory criterion, the Forest Service believes it necessary to acquire the privately owned tracts or whether the goal of an enduring Wilderness can be accommodated with a combination of ownership and use as established by the Act.

5. Several landowners have offered to sell their land to the Forest Service, but they say that the process has been extremely slow. If this area is not designated as a Wilderness, would the Forest Service be prepared to purchase these tracts and, if so, on what basis?

What is the existing schedule for acquisition of the offered lands?

I would be most appreciative if I could have your response to these questions by the end of August.

DEAR SENATOR LEAHY: The information regarding the landownership within the Bristol Cliffs Wilderness is enclosed per Betsy Samuelson's verbal request of Dick Ackerman of August 12, 1975.

As Mr. Ackerman discussed with Ms. Samuelson in their telephone conversation of August 22, the enclosed information is the latest landowner map and property data. Our work in answering Betsy's request enabled us to update our plat and ownership records.

By way of explanation, the first ownership map and list was prepared in a short period of time from available records. We are clarifying the material as time goes on, and better information is reviewed.

One other point. You'll notice the total acreage is somewhat higher than we have used. Such differences are not uncommon, and a final exact total will not be known until survey work is done on the tract. The acreages on the sheets are from the grand lists of the respective towns. Some differences will be noted in final surveyed acreages, but without specific data on each tract it might not be pertinent to revise total acreage figures at this time.

Our total wilderness acreage figure was planimetered from aerial photos and maps. The attached ownership map uses the same base as that one presently being reviewed for submission to the Congress as required by the Law. Call us if you have any questions on this material.

L. KENT MAYS, Jr., Forest Supervisor.

LAND WITHIN THE BRISTOL CLIFFS AREA-TAX ASSESSMENT FOR 1975