Nature Conservancy purchases acres - Officials fear Lawrence Co. could lose taxes if land annexed to national forest

(Note: "The federal government makes a payment in lieu of taxes for the land it owns, but that payment pales in comparison to having it on the tax rolls." Amen and AMEN! This latest action by TNC is another piece of the puzzle to implement The Wildlands Project throughout the Appalachian Mountains. These counties are in the foothills. The simple substitution of the word 'control/controlled' in place of 'protect/proteced' or 'manage/managed' in this article will give you the fast track to understanding the real agenda. Recreationists and other multiple use proponents, beware! TNC does NOT like recreationists, no matter what they are promising! Also, consider the gutting of these counties' school systems, courtesy of the large chunk of money removed from the tax rolls. This also applies to fire protection and emergency medical services. These counties are already poor, and Mead/Westvaco's sale to TNC just sucker-punched them. TNC is certainly a friendly inholder, because the intent is to sell to the Federal Government ASAP.)
December 6, 2003
 
By David E. Malloy
 
 
The Herald-Dispatch
 
P.O. Box 2017

Huntington, WV 25720
 
304-526-2796
 
 
To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@herald-dispatch.com (200-word limit)
 
Blackfork, Ohio - The Nature Conservancy has made its largest ever single purchase of land in Ohio by buying 2,515 acres of land in Washington Township for more than $1.9 million.

The transfer of the 13 parcels of land from MeadWestvaco Corp. to the environmental group's Ohio chapter for $1,922,762.38 was filed Thursday at the Lawrence County Courthouse.

The Nature Conservancy also is in negotiations for another 1,700-acre parcel in Lawrence and Gallia counties, Randy Edwards, director of communications for the environmental group, said Friday.

About 1,200 of those acres are in Lawrence County.

The property transfer finalized this week is within the boundaries of the Wayne National Forest.

"We hope it will become part of the Wayne National Forest," Edwards said.

"In the meantime, we'll protect it. The Nature Conservancy has a long history of protecting land."

The U.S. Forest Service already owns more than 22 percent of the available land in the county.

Several years ago, the federal government was prohibited from buying any more land for the Wayne National Forest after the Greater Lawrence County Area of Commerce, among others, expressed concerned about having enough land for economic development. That moratorium subsequently was lifted.

"It would be difficult to support (adding the land to the Wayne National Forest) unless there's some way to put land back on the tax rolls," said Bill Dingus, the chamber's executive director.

He said he has a major concern with the government's inability to put land in service. "It exempts it from future development."

Dingus said that unless creative, alternative plans are developed -- concerning the use of forest service land in Lawrence County -- the chamber would oppose the sale of the property from the Nature Conservancy to the Forest Service.

The federal government makes a payment in lieu of taxes for the land it owns, but that payment pales in comparison to having it on the tax rolls, Dingus said.

Local school districts like Symmes Valley and Rock Hill lose tens of thousands of dollars every year in potential tax revenues from land owned by the government, he said.

Gloria Chrismer, Ironton district ranger for the Wayne, said the forest contributes to the local economy in other ways.

For example, she said, the hunters in the forest this week for the start of deer-gun season brought tourist dollars to the county.

"I want to work with the chamber," Chrismer said. "I think our relationship will improve."

The Nature Conservancy made the purchase because it provides an opportunity to protect a large, intact forest in Ohios Appalachian region, a priority area for the groups Ohio Chapter, Edwards said.

Jarel Hilton, director of conservation programs for the Western Allegheny Plateau [part of The Wildlands Project] for the Nature Conservancy, said the forest is less than 50 years old. About 1,000 acres of the property is reclaimed strip-mined land.

She said local residents and hunters who used the property under an agreement with the Ohio Division of Natural Resources should see little change in the way the property is used.

"Mead historically made it available to hunters, fishers and hikers," she said. "We want a similar management agreement with the Ohio Division of Natural Resources."

The land transfer is a "clean way to keep Ohio's forest land intact," Hilton said.

The Nature Conservancy's Ohio Chapter, founded in 1958, owns and manages some three dozen preserves totaling more than 20,000 acres throughout Ohio.

Edwards said MeadWestvaco Corp. paid agricultural value in its property taxes and the conservation group will continue to pay a similar rate.

"We want to see large tracts of land conserved," he said. "We want to protect viable, working forests. We are not a zero-cut organization. We believe in healthy forests."

Until last month, timber cutting was prohibited in the Ironton Ranger District for several years, until a federal lawsuit was resolved in favor of the Forest Service.

Two timber sales that had been held up for several years, resumed last month.

That timbering was cut short, however, by the wet weather.

It won't resume until the area dries up, Chrismer said.

The Forest Service prohibits the use of heavy equipment in the national forest when the ground gets saturated, she said.

On the Web: Ohio Chapter of  The Nature Conservancy

http://www.nature.org/Ohio

Copyright 2003 The Herald-Dispatch

 
Main website for TNC: http://www.nature.org