Public land hunters, prepare to lose again to private interests. This deal is going to cost us 15,000 acres of mostly accessable BLM land. And what are we getting in exchange? Well, Steamboat Springs will get a large chunk of state-owned land that could otherwise be added to the State Trust Land program that allows access for hunting and fishing. Looks like we'll lose on both ends here. Glad to see the BLM is looking out for our best interests.
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John Husband, the Bureau of Land Management's northwest Colorado field director, was looking at a map on his office wall showing dozens of isolated federal parcels when he had what he thought was a great idea.
He knew the scattered BLM parcels are hard to manage or inaccessible to the public because many are surrounded by private land. He had also heard about a Steamboat Springs group trying to save Emerald Mountain from development.
Husband reasoned: Why not sell those parcels to neighboring landowners and use the money to buy the mountain? But he figured the deal needed the help of a group of well- connected former state and federal officials, and he knew just the people: the Denver-based Western Land Group.
With more than 100 swaps under its belt and tens of thousands of acres in exchanges, Western Land Group is no stranger to controversy. But despite working for such clients as designer Ralph Lauren, former Gov. Roy Romer and major ski resorts, it has kept a low profile.
Nearly every year the federal government swaps thousands of acres of government land for other property. But land swaps, especially near ski resorts and in other prime locations, are often mired in controversy. Critics charge that the government is getting land worth less than what it is giving up and that the arcane land-exchange process is susceptible to meddling by lawmakers sympathetic to developers who want to profit off of government lands.
The Emerald Mountain/Steamboat deal is similarly controversial, but opponents have also raised questions over Western Land Group's role and the roughly $1 million the company stands to make from the deal.
...Poe said the firm's goal is to preserve untouched land for public use while allowing building near developed areas and most of their swaps are not controversial.
But an exchange five years ago near Crested Butte did have a lot of opposition. Western Land Group coordinated an exchange in which the Crested Butte Mountain Resort traded land worth $7 million for land that critics say could be worth as much as $40 million.
Swap opponents say appraisals are difficult to do because the land is unique and the private landowners often outwit government officials.
For example, in the Steamboat Springs/Emerald Mountain case, they have worked with adjacent landowners to convince them to buy the land, organized appraisals and environmental studies, and called politicians to make sure they do not try to block the trade when deluged with calls from opponents.
But the swap has the potential to become one of the company's thorniest. Proponents want to sell about 15,000 BLM acres for at least $15 million to buy the 6,300- acre, state-owned mountain southwest of Steamboat Springs.
Full story here
Oak
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 11-07-2003 10:59: Message edited by: Colorado Oak ]</font>
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John Husband, the Bureau of Land Management's northwest Colorado field director, was looking at a map on his office wall showing dozens of isolated federal parcels when he had what he thought was a great idea.
He knew the scattered BLM parcels are hard to manage or inaccessible to the public because many are surrounded by private land. He had also heard about a Steamboat Springs group trying to save Emerald Mountain from development.
Husband reasoned: Why not sell those parcels to neighboring landowners and use the money to buy the mountain? But he figured the deal needed the help of a group of well- connected former state and federal officials, and he knew just the people: the Denver-based Western Land Group.
With more than 100 swaps under its belt and tens of thousands of acres in exchanges, Western Land Group is no stranger to controversy. But despite working for such clients as designer Ralph Lauren, former Gov. Roy Romer and major ski resorts, it has kept a low profile.
Nearly every year the federal government swaps thousands of acres of government land for other property. But land swaps, especially near ski resorts and in other prime locations, are often mired in controversy. Critics charge that the government is getting land worth less than what it is giving up and that the arcane land-exchange process is susceptible to meddling by lawmakers sympathetic to developers who want to profit off of government lands.
The Emerald Mountain/Steamboat deal is similarly controversial, but opponents have also raised questions over Western Land Group's role and the roughly $1 million the company stands to make from the deal.
...Poe said the firm's goal is to preserve untouched land for public use while allowing building near developed areas and most of their swaps are not controversial.
But an exchange five years ago near Crested Butte did have a lot of opposition. Western Land Group coordinated an exchange in which the Crested Butte Mountain Resort traded land worth $7 million for land that critics say could be worth as much as $40 million.
Swap opponents say appraisals are difficult to do because the land is unique and the private landowners often outwit government officials.
For example, in the Steamboat Springs/Emerald Mountain case, they have worked with adjacent landowners to convince them to buy the land, organized appraisals and environmental studies, and called politicians to make sure they do not try to block the trade when deluged with calls from opponents.
But the swap has the potential to become one of the company's thorniest. Proponents want to sell about 15,000 BLM acres for at least $15 million to buy the 6,300- acre, state-owned mountain southwest of Steamboat Springs.
Full story here
Oak
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 11-07-2003 10:59: Message edited by: Colorado Oak ]</font>
