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<br />000551 <br /> <br />Add 5 --- <br /> <br />citizens of the state, and they just make more sense. congress said <br /> <br /> <br />in the original wilderness Act only pristine areas, untrammeled by <br /> <br /> <br />man, are appropriate to consider for wilderness. We've already <br /> <br /> <br />created tremendous problems and the specter of endless litigation by <br /> <br /> <br />including private inholdings in wilderness areas. We can't ignore <br /> <br /> <br />the problem any longer, and we should avoid creating new legal <br /> <br /> <br />nightmares wherever possible." <br /> <br /> <br />Armstrong explained his maps of each wilderness and national <br /> <br /> <br />recreation area to community leaders. He cited the case of Buffalo <br /> <br /> <br />Peaks as an example of the difference between his boundaries and <br /> <br /> <br />those of Sen. wirth. Armstrong drew his boundaries to protect <br /> <br /> <br />Homestake, an established water supply with proposed expansions for <br /> <br /> <br />Colorado springs, and to allow habitat management for bighorn sheep <br /> <br /> <br />and elk which would be prohibited under wilderness designation. The <br /> <br /> <br />Armstrong boundary also avoids conflicts created by several mining <br /> <br /> <br />claims in an area cited by the U.S. Bureau of Mines as having high <br /> <br /> <br />potential for leasable minerals. <br /> <br /> <br />"In almost every proposed wilderness area, Sen. wirth has <br /> <br /> <br />gone beyond the Forest Service and BLM recommendations, which I've <br /> <br /> <br />largely observed," Armstrong said. In many cases, the wirth <br /> <br /> <br />proposals exceed the outer boundaries of the study areas under <br /> <br /> <br />consideration since the last wilderness bill in 1980. The wirth <br /> <br /> <br />bill includes some lands previously released to multiple-use <br /> <br /> <br />management. <br /> <br /> <br />In the Davis Peak area, another example Armstrong cited, the <br /> <br /> <br />wirth boundary line exceeds the study area and includes more than <br /> <br /> <br />three times the acreage recommended by the Forest service, for the <br /> <br /> <br />purpose of prohibiting timber harvest in the forest near the Wyoming <br /> <br /> <br />-MORE- <br />