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County Commissioners Pan Sale of Forest Service Land

Posted on: Wednesday, 1 March 2006, 18:00 CST

By Jacob Luecke, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.

Feb. 28--Boone County commissioners today strongly criticized the possible sale of National Forest land during a meeting with forest officials.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service has listed about 21,500 acres of the Mark Twain National Forest for possible sale, including 119 acres in Boone County and 120 acres in Callaway County.

The local parcels are part of the 16,500-acre Cedar Creek District.

Carol Trokey, Cedar Creek district forester, and district Ranger Elrand Denson explained the sale and other forest programs to the Boone County Commission during a work session.

Southern District Commissioner Karen Miller said selling public land was shortsighted in an urbanizing county.

"As we build out, it may be one of the only natural areas we have left," she said.

Northern District Commissioner Skip Elkin proposed that the commission write a letter to Congress showing their distaste with the idea.

The discussion came as the Forest Service prepared to open this afternoon a 30-day period for public comment on the sale.

Forest Service spokesman Dan Jiron said instructions for commenting on the sale will be posted on the Forest Service Web site, www.fs.fed.us. People who lack Internet access should call their local Forest Service office, Jiron said.

The Cedar Creek District phone number is (573) 592-1400.

More than 300,000 acres of national forest land have been marked for sale nationwide. The forest parcels listed are generally smaller and harder to manage than the rest of the forest.

The Bush administration hopes the sale will raise $800 million to fund the Secure Rural Schools Act. The act doles out annual payments to counties that host national forest land. The money is supposed to make up for property taxes not paid when government owns land.

Schools in Boone County have not received funding through the schools act. Instead, county road projects have received about $29,000 through the act since 2000.

John Smith, the Missouri Department of Conservation assistant director for field operations, said yesterday he is concerned about the potential loss of public hunting and fishing grounds. Nonetheless, he said, the department doesn't have an official opinion about the sale.

"Just like other citizens, we're going to be watching it carefully to see what ultimately happens," Smith said. "But beyond that, we need a lot more information at this point."

The conservation department and the Forest Service manage their lands independently of one another. But there is some crossover in how the conservation department regulates hunting and fishing in the national forest. In addition, the two groups sometimes work together to put out forest fires.

Tim French, the regional supervisor for the conservation agency's forestry division for Central Missouri, said he agrees with the general concept of the federal proposal selling off smaller, disconnected chunks of land.

"From a public land management standpoint, that's not a bad idea," he said.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Columbia Daily Tribune, Mo.

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Source: Columbia Daily Tribune

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