In Kirby Forest Industries v. United States, 467 U.S. 1, 16, 104 S. Ct. 2187, 81 L. Ed. 2d 1 (1984), the federal government instituted a direct condemnation action for several thousand acres of land. Id. at 7. The government filed its complaint in August of 1978, and the trial as to the value of the land began in March of 1979. Id. The parties stipulated that the date of the taking of the land would be the first day of the valuation trial. Id. The judgment was not entered, however, until more than two years later, in August of 1981. Id. at 8. In its judgment, the district court awarded interest on the property's determined value from the date the condemnation action was filed to the date compensation was paid. Id. The district court entered this award because it found that the institution of the condemnation action had effectively denied the landowner the "viable use and enjoyment of its property and therefore had constituted a taking." Id. The Fifth Circuit reversed the retroactive interest award, and the Supreme Court affirmed. Id. at 9. In so doing, however, the Supreme Court held that, regardless of when a condemnation action is instituted, a "petitioner is constitutionally entitled to the fair market value of its property on the date of the taking." Id. at 16. The Supreme Court further determined that, under the federal direct condemnation statute, the date of the taking is the date the government tenders payment, not the date that the initial condemnation complaint was filed or the date on which the valuation trial began. Id. at 11-13. It thus held that because the government was obligated to pay the value of the property as of the day it tendered payment, it would not suffice to pay the value of the property as of some earlier date together with interest thereon to the date of payment. Id. at 17-18.