Missouri ordered to sell parts of planned state park along Eleven Point River

[jdmidwest]

6 minutes ago, Al Agnew said:

I agree with you there.  But there is no evidence that the state planned to do some kind of big development like Echo Bluff.  In fact, what I read previous to this bit of news is that they planned nothing more than a campground and hiking trails.  Yes, the people should have a say in how it would be developed, but that's ALL the people, not just the people of Oregon County who were against it and the Republicans in the legislature.

I had not heard anything about it since Nixon left office.  We were out there 2 weeks back and talked about it wondering whatever happened to it.

Looks like there was another court case in August that spurred this decision.  Gonna have to look into it.

[jdmidwest]

From the Columbia Tribune, a different perspective with more details.

An Oregon County circuit court judge has ruled that a state agency can’t buy some key land along the Eleven Point River to create an Eleven Point State Park.

Circuit Judge Steven Privette agreed with nearby landowners who sued the Department of Natural Resources to block it from acquiring 625 acres of land along the river that had previously been designated a Wild and Scenic Easement.

The Wild and Scenic Easement bars use of the land for boat access to the river, or for camping or other recreational uses. The judge agreed with the landowners’ argument that since the land couldn’t be used by the public, the state parks agency could not use tax dollars to buy it.

“As presented to the Court at trial, DNR has acquired as a state park lands which cannot under any reasonable interpretation be used as a state park,” Privette wrote. “As such its actions are arbitrary and capricious.”

Privette ordered the department to divest itself of the land it acquired in the Wild and Scenic Easement.

A spokeswoman for the department declined to comment on the judge’s ruling.

The Missouri Sierra Club, which has supported creation of the Eleven Point State Park from the beginning, urged state officials to appeal the decision.

“Sierra Club believes the judge issued a flawed decision that will result in the loss of the Eleven Point State Park without an appeal,” said Jennifer Conner, chapter chair of club.

“We encourage Governor Parson and Attorney General Schmidt to appeal the decision because state parks are beneficial for rural economies and provide places of refuge for Missourians throughout the state, especially during COVID-19. We encourage citizens who care about our state parks to contact the Governor and Attorney General and ask them to appeal the decision.”

 

The state purchased 4,197 acres in Oregon County with plans to create Eleven Point State Park. However, 625 of those acres that run along the edges of the Eleven Point River carry the Wild and Scenic Easement, barring public use or access.

End

The easement was established when 44 miles of the Eleven Point River was designated a national scenic river in 1968. The easement and land in question lies along the Eleven Point River, from Thomasville to the State Route 42 bridge in Oregon County.

The U.S. Forest Service manages the easement, but the judge found that the state agency made no effort to work out an arrangement with the Forest Service to modify the strict rules barring public access in the easement.

Without access to the river within the acreage the department purchased for the new state park, a key reason for establishing a park on the river became moot with the judge’s order.

Even if the judge’s order stands, Conner said there are still viable reasons to move forward with the new state park.

“Even if parks would not be allowed to operate a boat ramp there are put-ins and take-outs above and below the park that could be used,” she said. “There is also the historic farm where the Beatles stayed on this property so there are many different fascinating aspects to the park-land!”

“We are worried that this ruling, if not challenged in a higher court, will result in losing the entire park,” Conner said.

The landowners who sued are Van and Elizabeth McGibney and trustee James Conner. The News-Leader has reached out to their attorneys, Devin and Derrick Kirby of Doniphan, for a comment on the judge’s ruling.

[jdmidwest]

Much like Echo Park that was created without river access, there is a reason for the uprise.

The rivers are governed by the Federal Government and they issue permits for Commercial Access to the river for Commercial Gain.  If the State proceeds, the commercial floats will have to be accessed by other licensed vendors in the area who have already contracted the accesses.  The Federal Government will be in control of allowing more traffic on the river by anything other than private river usages at accesses.

[tjm]

3572A they can still use, that's 5 1/2 square miles of hiking trails and play ground equipment be a park

DNR can sell the 625A  to MDC or the Sierra Club and it won't become a pig farm. It's less than a section of land anyone of you who are worried about it could jump on it and put it in a forever trust so that it never gets used.  I don't think it takes much to create a non-profit "friends of 11P woods" and have raffles to pay off the mortgage.

Didn't they buy that from some friend of Jay's to start with?

[Al Agnew]

23 hours ago, jdmidwest said:

From the Columbia Tribune, a different perspective with more details.

An Oregon County circuit court judge has ruled that a state agency can’t buy some key land along the Eleven Point River to create an Eleven Point State Park.

Circuit Judge Steven Privette agreed with nearby landowners who sued the Department of Natural Resources to block it from acquiring 625 acres of land along the river that had previously been designated a Wild and Scenic Easement.

The Wild and Scenic Easement bars use of the land for boat access to the river, or for camping or other recreational uses. The judge agreed with the landowners’ argument that since the land couldn’t be used by the public, the state parks agency could not use tax dollars to buy it.

“As presented to the Court at trial, DNR has acquired as a state park lands which cannot under any reasonable interpretation be used as a state park,” Privette wrote. “As such its actions are arbitrary and capricious.”

Privette ordered the department to divest itself of the land it acquired in the Wild and Scenic Easement.

A spokeswoman for the department declined to comment on the judge’s ruling.

The Missouri Sierra Club, which has supported creation of the Eleven Point State Park from the beginning, urged state officials to appeal the decision.

“Sierra Club believes the judge issued a flawed decision that will result in the loss of the Eleven Point State Park without an appeal,” said Jennifer Conner, chapter chair of club.

“We encourage Governor Parson and Attorney General Schmidt to appeal the decision because state parks are beneficial for rural economies and provide places of refuge for Missourians throughout the state, especially during COVID-19. We encourage citizens who care about our state parks to contact the Governor and Attorney General and ask them to appeal the decision.”

 

The state purchased 4,197 acres in Oregon County with plans to create Eleven Point State Park. However, 625 of those acres that run along the edges of the Eleven Point River carry the Wild and Scenic Easement, barring public use or access.

End

The easement was established when 44 miles of the Eleven Point River was designated a national scenic river in 1968. The easement and land in question lies along the Eleven Point River, from Thomasville to the State Route 42 bridge in Oregon County.

The U.S. Forest Service manages the easement, but the judge found that the state agency made no effort to work out an arrangement with the Forest Service to modify the strict rules barring public access in the easement.

Without access to the river within the acreage the department purchased for the new state park, a key reason for establishing a park on the river became moot with the judge’s order.

Even if the judge’s order stands, Conner said there are still viable reasons to move forward with the new state park.

“Even if parks would not be allowed to operate a boat ramp there are put-ins and take-outs above and below the park that could be used,” she said. “There is also the historic farm where the Beatles stayed on this property so there are many different fascinating aspects to the park-land!”

“We are worried that this ruling, if not challenged in a higher court, will result in losing the entire park,” Conner said.

The landowners who sued are Van and Elizabeth McGibney and trustee James Conner. The News-Leader has reached out to their attorneys, Devin and Derrick Kirby of Doniphan, for a comment on the judge’s ruling.

I don't think the facts in that article are exactly right.  The easement does NOT say the public CAN'T go onto that land.  It basically leaves it to the landowner as to whether they will allow the people to hike, hunt, camp, or whatever; it just bars any development.  So since the DNR owns it, they can and would allow the public to use it, probably with hiking trails to the river if nothing else.  And I still don't understand what business it was of the landowners who sued.  I think the judge's ruling was very flawed.  

[MOFishwater]

Update: Last night HB 1046, sale of Eleven Point State Park, passed out of committee and can now be heard on the Missouri House floor anytime. Vote could come as soon as today, here's a link to contact your reps if you'd like to voice your opinion. Done. 

 

Please contact your State Senator and Representative and ask them to oppose HB 1046, the Eleven Point State Park sale.

Please ask them to vote to remove this language if it is amended on to any other legislation.

This site was purchased legally from a Superfund settlement using no significant state tax funds. The park funds cannot be used for anything else, like remediation or clean-up for residential areas. $40 Million specifically went for cleanup in the place where the damages happened. Then the approximately $35 million additional dollars were to be used only for natural resource protections by acquiring equivalent resources.

According to the Oregon County Collector, taxes on the parcels comprising the more than 4,000 acre park were $4,542, so the economic benefits from tourism will far outweigh the property tax revenue loss.  Local economies will flourish as our state parks have an annual economic impact of $1.7 billion dollars, and every dollar Missouri spends on their state parks, the economy sees a $26 return.

 

http://t.congressweb.com/t/?YYWRNCKCXOMWUHS&publicGRRecID=23DBECC2-5056-92E0-690691BB47D5FD3D

 

 

[tjm]

 

6 hours ago, MOFishwater said:

According to the Oregon County Collector, taxes on the parcels comprising the more than 4,000 acre park were $4,542, so the economic benefits from tourism will far outweigh the property tax revenue loss.  Local economies will flourish

I don't believe that at all. The ~2000A state park near me just removed the land from the tax roles and has not and probably never will add any tourist  dollars to the local economy.  Hyped with creek access and and to be developed as a camping area, since 1992 has been developed only as a very small parking lot and ~3 miles of trail through second growth woodlands away from the creek. That trail is the only permitted usage.  The current plan for this "Park" is to never develop it further, that plan was changed by Parks employees for no reasons but their own. DNR is not bound to develop the park according to the projected plans, and until it is fully developed and operational it adds nothing to the local economy. It will however be budget allotment that Parks can use for whatever.  And in some rural counties $4542 is a more significant sum than it would be in an urban county. 

[MOFishwater]

To all members and friends of St. Louis Audubon:   We'd like to call your attention to a troubling bill that is now scheduled for a vote in the Missouri House, although which day is not yet known. It's designated HB 1046, and it authorizes the sale of the Eleven Point State Park. Every conservation and environmental organization in Missouri opposes it.   St. Louis Audubon is a partner of the Conservation Federation of Missouri, a private nonprofit that monitors all bills relating to conservation, wildlife, and outdoor sports in the state. They support some bills and oppose others; right now they take this bill to be one of the two most serious problems to arise this year.   On the CFM website is a Legislative Action Center that allows each of us to send our opinion on a bill to our own representative by a simple click. We urge everyone to take this action by going to https://www.confedmo.org/lac/#/, scrolling down to the second listed item, "Oppose HB 1046," and clicking on the button that says "Save 11 Point State Park." This will require your name, address, zip code, and phone number and will send a message directly to your representative (you don't need to look up their address or even their name). They provide some text already written, but you can edit it or add to it if you wish.    This message is going out on April 6, and for your opinion to have the greatest impact, you should take this action right away. If you wish to contact your representative on your own, or give his or her office a call, that's excellent, but the CFW website allows you to do this in the quickest and easiest way. We strongly recommend that you express dismay over this proposal and ask your representative to oppose it.   Note that we are hoping to see this bill fail in the House. If it passes and goes to the Senate, we will let you know and will again ask for your help.   Many thanks,   Dennis Martin, President Bill Rowe, VP for Education and Outreach Jean Favara, VP for Conservation