Show HOW TO GET PARKS AT SANE SANE PRICES Escalating land prices for years have threatened government to set aside areas for public use Usually it works this way Congress or a state will approve establishment of a park After considerable hearings funds are author Studies have to be made surveys drawn assessors sent into the field By the time any one gets down to negotiating some 12 to 18 months elapse and the land in question has gone up greatly in price often otten pushed by peculators speculators So serious has land speculation become that that it not only Increases the cost to taxpayers ers but has threatened the very veryl existence of the governments government's open spaces programs The Ford Foundation in announcing this week a major new experiment to attack the problem said it will guarantee 6 million worth of credit for the Nature Conservancy a non profit non profit organization to borrow funds for forland forland land purchases in at least 20 states The land to be bought consists of 97 tracts earmarked for federal purchase when Con Con- Congress gross gress appropriates the money The Nature ConservancY will hold tracts until one of three federal agencies the Forest Service the National Park Service or the Bureau of Sport FIsh Fisheries ries and Wildlife can purchase them at cost cast This action could and should establish a pattern for considerably larger land acquisition In the future by joint private government efforts The end result should be a substantial savings for taxpayers As an example of what can happen to land prices in recreation areas the Foundation tion cited Utah's ence with wJ acres of Ashley National Forest an area now within the proposed Flaming Gorge National Recreation Recreation tion Area In April 1956 the Flaming Gorge dam was authorized by Congress and In January 1958 the Bureau of Reclamation appraised the acres at or about 39 an acre In September 1969 the bureau bought of the acres for about 43 an acre and two years later began construction of the dam Later Senate action approved the National tion area and In December 1965 the state of Utah paid about an acre aCle for acres In April 1968 1966 the Forest Service appraised the remaining 99 acres at about an acre The average value per acre Increased from about 39 to or 1000 per cent with a small section actually going at twice tha that price Clearly it is In the best public interest for fora a private conservation group unencumbered with red tape to step In and purchase the land early then sell it to the government when funds are available In fact the Nature Con Con- Conservancy Conservancy has often done this in the tion's words rushing In ahead of real estate and other developers to rescue irreplaceably wild areas and open spaces which public agen- agen agencies agencies cies sought but lacked Immediate authoritY or funds to purchase State tate agencies of course also could use help like that the Ford Foundation is providing federal agencies in acquiring scenic areas without paying exorbitant speculative land prices Deseret News |