morse_dh4.doc

June 27, 2000

VIA FED EX

Ed Morse
Morse & Company
2101 Lakewood Drive, Suite 225
Coeur d’Alene, ID 83814

RE: Camas Prairie Abandonment

Dear Ed,

I have enclosed several documents for your information. First is a copy of my most recent letter to the Department of Interior’s Attorney in Portland regarding the disposition of documents being held in the “Records of the Sec’ry of the Interior.” Since I have not received any response to my previous letter dated June 9, I do not hold out any particular hope that I will hear from Marlene as a result of this letter. I have asked the Tribe’s counsel as well as a contact here in the Attorney General’s Office whether they would hazard a guess about the inferences to be drawn by the notation that the Secretary of Interior is maintaining the records. My colleague here in the office agreed that it was reasonable to infer that the notation means that the individual allotments sold to the railroads were held in trust by the Secretary of the Interior for members of the Nez Perce Tribe. This inference and the Department’s view that the Railroad had an “easement” lead me to believe that this type of property is reversionary. I have also asked Professor Dennis Colson up at the University of Idaho whether he might be familiar with the phrase or practice.

Second, I have enclosed a copy of your direct testimony and cross-examination from the PUC hearing. If your verified statement differs from your PUC testimony (e.g., reduced NLV for land), you should explain reason(s) for the change. This will eliminate Heffner’s assertions of inconsistency. I have also enclosed for your information a synopsis of the National Marine Fisheries Service Section 4(d) rules regarding the protection of the “threatened” steelhead. The Citizen’s Guide lists several types of activities that are prohibited—including many activities similar to salvage operations.

In addition to those ROW issues mentioned during your PUC testimony, I would envision that your verified statement would discuss the validity of the comparables used to value the land parcels, your concerns about the reviewer, the sell-off time period, and the appropriate discount rate. I expect that you will want to attach some or all of the “Schedule of Property” tables from the maps as exhibits.

I need to file your verified statement with the STB no later than Monday, July 10, 2000. In order for me to review, copy and prepare your verified statement for filing, I would like to receive it no later than Wednesday, July 5, 2000. If you like, as you draft certain portions of your verified statement, you could fax them to me for review and I can fax them back to you. At such time as you have calculated your final net liquidation value (NLV) on the land discounted for sales over a number of years, I need to provide that figure to Joe Plaistow so he can incorporate it into his financial exhibits.

If necessary, we may be able to use Saturday and Sunday to final the various verified statements. What we may want to do is to have all those preparing verified statements to submit two “original” signature pages to me. I would then forward one to Joe Plaistow in Alexandria, Virginia. In the event that we needed to work over the weekend, we could electronically transfer information to Joe who could download it, print it, and then attach one of the original signature pages to the downloaded material. Please let me know if this schedule presents any problems for you.

Call me if you have any questions [phone].

Sincerely,

Donald L. Howell, II
Deputy Attorney General

Enclosures

cc: Joe Plaistow

bls/L:morse_dh4
Ed Morse
June 27, 2000
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