814 NATIONAL PARK HOSPITALITY ASSN. v.
DEPARTMENT OF INTERIOR Stevens, J., concurring in judgment
nearly 600 concession contracts in 131 national parks fall outside of the CDA. Lodging of Federal Respondents 6.
Petitioner is a trade association whose members are parties to such contracts and periodically enter into negotiations for future contracts. They are undisputedly interested in knowing whether disputes that are sure to arise under some of those contracts will be resolved pursuant to the CDA procedures or the less favorable procedures that will apply if the Park Service regulation is valid.
II
In our leading case discussing the "ripeness doctrine" we explained that the question whether a controversy is "ripe" for judicial resolution has a "twofold aspect, requiring us to evaluate both the fitness of the issues for judicial decision and the hardship to the parties of withholding court consideration." Abbott Laboratories v. Gardner, 387 U. S. 136, 148-149 (1967). Both aspects of the inquiry involve the exercise of judgment, rather than the application of a black-letter rule.
The first aspect is the more important and it is satisfied in this case. The CDA applies to any express or implied contract for the procurement of property, services, or construction. 41 U. S. C. § 602(a). In the view of the Park Service, a procurement contract is one that obligates the Government to pay for goods and services that it receives, whereas concession contracts authorize third parties to provide services to park area visitors. Petitioner, on the other hand, argues that the contracts provide for the performance of services that discharge a public duty even though the Government does not pay the concessionaires. Whichever view may better reflect the intent of the Congress that enacted the CDA, it is perfectly clear that this question of statutory interpretation is as "fit" for judicial decision today as it will ever be. Even if there may be a few marginal cases in which the applicability of the CDA may depend on unique facts, the regula-
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