United States v. 162.20 Acres of Land, More or Less, Situated in Clay County, State of Mississippi, and F. E. Uithoven

GARZA, Circuit Judge:

We are squarely confronted with an issue of law which this court has never addressed: is alleged noncompliance by federal authorities with the mandate of Section 470f of the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, [NHPA], 16 U.S.C. § 470 et seq., a legally sufficient defense to the condemnation of private property for use in a federal project under the Declaration of Taking Act, [DOTA], 40 U.S.C. § 258a? Our answer depends upon a resolution of the tension between the vast discretionary condemnation power given the government under DOTA, and the pervasive reach of the…