Well, you asked for it, Katrina. :wink:
This ranch with Snake Falls on it is a 3,100 acre property that Nebraska Game and Parks is considering buying for $9,000,000. Yes, that is nine million dollars--right close to three thousand dollars per acre for some pretty common pasture ground. If this sale goes through, it most certainly will affect taxes for the rest of the county. There were competent speakers that brought out these facts and concerns.
My own comments were more along the lines that Nebraska Game and Parks are already short of funding. All of their parks are trying to operate with less money, less staff, and many have cut back hours of operation. A local area attraction is a case in point.
The Arthur Bowring Ranch State Historical Park is a lovely ranch north of Merriman, Nebraska, owned by Nebraska Game and Parks. The management and staff do a magnificent job of running the park. The only problem is that funding has been cut back. Now instead of being open seven days a week, from Memorial Day week-end until Labor Day week-end, the historical park is only open five and a half days per week. Another nearby attraction is the Cottonwood Lake Recreation Area, just east of Merriman, which the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission also has responsibility to oversee. In the past, money has been available for the care of this pretty little lake and campground but now no funds are allocated. The management and staff of the Bowring Ranch volunteer of their own time to keep the picnic area and campground open, but the NGPC would almost rather just shut down this facility.
Mrs. Arthur Bowring was our long-time neighbor. She willed her fine ranch of 7200 acres to the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission, so future generations could see and understand what ranch life in the Sandhills was all about. Revenue from the ranch comes in each year to Game and Parks because a neighboring rancher leases much of the pasture and hay ground. Another perk that is in favor of Game and Parks is that they only pay taxes based on what the taxes were at the time of Eva Bowring’s death in 1985. This is approximately one third of what the tax rate is now, which the rest of us adjoining landowners have to pay. With a nice ranch given to them free gratis, why cannot the Nebraska Game and Parks make it work? What makes them think that buying a nine million dollar ranch of less than half the size of the Bowring Ranch will cash flow any better? Financial support for many other parks all across the state has also been severely curtailed. Another glaring example is the old abandoned Chicago Northwestern Railroad line, which was supposed to become a rails-to-trails project named the Cowboy Trail. Again, lack of funding has delayed if not completely stopped progress. I have no qualms with NGPC cutting back on expenditures due to tough economic times; in fact it is admirable. However, it does seem that the Nebraska Game and Parks already owns enough land and facilities. They need to quit land grabbing and continue to be good stewards by taking care of what they already have.
Soapweed