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..., L'? Q:l ~ considered as damages and therefore weighs against the cost side of the project. using an interest rate of 3-1/4 percent, as was used in the project report, the sum of $900,000 as a mitigating expense does not destroy the economic feasibility of the project. Last year, however, the discount rate of 3-1/4 percent was replaced by a rate of 4-5/6 percent. Applying this rate to the project its economic feasibility becomes critical, and the $900,000 additional cost assessed to mitigate big game damages serves to further aggravate the critical balance between benefits and costs. .~ The second and more overriding issue is the proposition advocated that the owners of private lands must pay a penalty for placing their lands under irrigation. Let us assume for purposes of illustration that the 14,000 acres of private lands on Oak Ridge and the 15,740 acres of land proposed to be irrigated are in the same ownership. Under the principle proposed in the project report, these landowners would be forced to forfeit almost fifty percent of their total holdings for the privilege of placing their remaining lands under irrigation. This is indeed a novel principle of which we know of no legal or equitable precedent. Such a concept destroys the use and ownership of private lands in a manner wholly incon- sistent with our constitution and laws. There apparently is a prevalent feeling in this country that public lands are constantly being diminished in acreage. Nothing could be further from the truth. The actual fact is that private lands are being taken over by the federal and state govern- ments at the rate of several million acres each year. In Rio Blanco county alone about 72 percent of all the lands in the county are now owned and controlled by various state and federal governmental agencies. Governmental ownership of lands in terms of basic economy contributes almost nothing. This Board has consistently followed a policy of favoring water resource development compatible with the preservation and enhancement of fish and wildlife values. Virtually all of the major water-oriented recreational areas in the state have been developed as a direct result of water conservation and flood control projects. There are a number of other recommendations contained in the Yellow Jacket Project report pertaining to the development and enhancement of fish and wildlife and recreational values. All of these other recommendations have been approved. The total project cost contains an allocation of $5,887,000 for fish and wildlife and recreational improvement. Memo -4- September 3, 1970