[at-l] Trail History Clarification Requested

[spiriteagle99 at hotmail.com (Jim and/or Ginny Owen)]

Weary wrote:
>As pointed out before, ATC has no power to grab land. ATC, rightly, as land
>comes on the market does seek to create buffers for the narrow corridor. It 
>does
>this mostly by seeking "conservation buyers," though occasionally it seeks
>federal funds. The ATC's one person "land trust" most usually works with 
>private
>investors, who are willing to buy a few acres -- occasionally a few hundred
>acres -- next to the trail, impose an easement adjacent to the trail, while
>reserving the right to build a home as far away from the corridor as the
>property permits.

Mmmmm - for the most part, ATC's land acquisition efforts have moved away 
from ED (although not entirely), but they're a little more complex than you 
depict there.  The one person "land trust" is augmented by a number of 
volunteers for one thing.  And they operate under constraints that you don't 
have in Maine.  For one thing, you may be able to find large tracts of land 
for $300 an acre (is that still true?) , but the land in VA is more likely 
to be in the $10,000 and up per acre range.  For Rick's information - the 
roughly $5,000 per acre paid to Greymoor, considering the location - was 
basic theft.  Or maybe a "gift" id you're capable of believing that.   But 
don't try to tell me it was "market value."  Market value in that area runs 
more like $10 - 12 K or more (much more) per acre.


>I'll need far more evidence than I've heard so far to convince me that most 
>of
>these alleged horror stories are anything more than typical property rights
>rhetoric.

C'mon, Bob - there's no chance that any amount of evidence would convince 
you because you don't want to be convinced and you're not open-minded enough 
to weigh the evidence impartially.


>I'm on the mailing lists of a couple of these groups, mostly because I
>want to see what the opposition is saying. The errors, distortions and just
>general silliness are pretty obvious to rational people.

Yup - and your version of "rational" differs greatly from mine, doesn't it?


>The groups see villains
>everywhere. One recent piece, urged supporters to fight against land 
>trusts, who
>buy land from private owners, using donated money.

That statement doesn't impress me much cause there's no data to make any 
kind of judgement about - just your opinion that it's "silly."  But I'll ask 
anyway - why do you think they don't have reason?  <G>

Walk softly,
Jim

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