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<br />M055, <br />Add 6 --- <br /> <br />border. It would also foreclose mineral activity and motorized <br /> <br />recreation in a large area. <br /> <br />"The purpose of wilderness designation is not to halt <br /> <br />development or to usurp private property rights in areas which don't <br /> <br />qualify as wilderness in the first place," Armstrong said. "It is <br /> <br />to preserve, where legally and practically appropriate, beautiful <br /> <br />wild lands in their natural state." <br /> <br />The Armstrong bill also orders the Secretary of Agriculture <br /> <br />to study and report to Congress on the current management problems <br /> <br />associated with the inclusion of valid existing rights in Colorado <br /> <br />wilderness areas. <br /> <br />"We need to develop some facts to resolve the problems we've <br /> <br />already created," Armstrong said. <br /> <br />"What would it cost to the <br /> <br />government to buyout the private rights? How expensive will it be <br /> <br />for both sides to pursue litigation that, in some cases, has already <br /> <br />dragged on for 17 years? In our enthusiasm to protect wilderness, <br /> <br />it would be irresponsible to forfeit our most basic concepts of <br /> <br />private property or to ignore problems arising from past and present <br /> <br />inclusion of private inholdings." <br /> <br />-30- <br />