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Date Posted: 13:53:09 09/17/99 Fri
Author: Anonymous
Subject: New Info on Palmyra Atoll

WASHINTON TIMES
August 24, 1999

(Condensed)

Island deal a dead duck, Dingell says

A House Democrat says he will block a Fish and Wildlife Service proposal to spend $30 million from Duck Stamps proceeds and guns and ammunication duty fees to buy an island near Hawaii where there are only 10 ducks and no hunting.

The Interior Department agency is negotiating with the Fullard-Leo family of Honolulu to buy the uninhabited atoll, located 1,000 miles south of Hawaii for a national wildlife refuge.

Rep. John D. Dingell, ranking Democrat on the House Commerce Committee, says the agency's plan conflicts with the original purpose of the sportsman's conservation funds, which is to benefit habitats with sporting uses.

"Should the Service bring such a proposal before the Migratory Bird Conservation Commission (MBCC), I will vigorously oppose it," Mr. Dingell wrote in an Aug. 8 letter to Interior Secretary Babbitt.

"Duck Stamps and duties on imported guns and ammunition are the primary source of the funds for the MBCC, yet the Fish and Wildlife Service wants to spend $30 million to buy an inaccessible island where there is no hunting and a duck population of only 10," said Rob Gordon, director of the National Wilderness Institute.

The Nature Conservancy is negotiating to purchase the island, and then would sell it to the federal government and manage it jointly with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Mr. Dingell also questioned the cost of the island, which computer tycoon Bill Gates once considered purchasing last year when the asking price of the island was $47 million.

The estimated cost of $30 million for the 680-acre island equates to $44,118 per acre.

The island has been for sale on and off for the past four years. Fish and Wildlife began exploring purchasing the island last year, and completed a draft environmental assessment in November last year.

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