Keep in mind the information I am relaying here is just what I heard at the board meeting. I don't work for them or the state. But, at several points, they mentioned they had "approved appraisers." I don't know who they may be.

Also mentioned was one tract which had been proposed last year but was withdrawn by the landowner because the landowner did not like the appraisal.

Patti Powell, the Lands Director, said the purchase money and the 15% stewardship fund comes out of the Forever Wild trust money collected through royalties. So, as she explained it, in order to buy a piece of property which is appraised at $100, they have to have $115.

She also said they attempt to utilize the interest off of the stewardship fund for maintenance rather than principle. That leads me to believe the stewardship fund money all goes in one account for maintenance of all tracts, rather than separate accounts for each parcel.

Here is a link to Amendment 543

http://law.justia.com/constitution/alabama/CA-246386.html

Looks to me like the stewardship account is authorized from trust funds in Section 3(e)..

Can't remember, but I believe FW can team up with other orgs like DU or Nature Conservancy and pool money to purchase land. Seems like that's what happened with one of the tracts in Jackson County and also in the Delta.

I went to the Forever Wild Board meeting in Spanish Fort today. After Commissioner Guy made some preliminary remarks, the floor was open to public comment. Several landowners spoke to the board requesting Forever Wild buy their land. There was no arm twisting by the board, these people specifically want to sell to Forever Wild.

Big Canoe Creek Preserve in Springville received supporting comments from their local State Representative, a St. Clair county commissioner, and the mayor of Springville. The Mayor said while some counties don't appreciate Forever Wild, St. Clair county and Springville have done the math and they understand the economic and conservation benefits and they are ready to go.

All of the procedures for land purchase were discussed at length. It was clear Forever Wild cannot pay more than appraised value, so they have no way to outbid anyone. Also, Forever Wild must set aside 15% of the appraised value in a stewardship fund for maintenance, so, yes, they did think of that.

There were 26 properties on the short list for consideration, but only $7.6 million available for this fiscal year. The properties are evaluated based on highest use and graded accordingly. The board is tasked with making final decisions regarding best use of the available money.

The experience was enlightening and well worth the time. It's clear the arguments often made against Forever Wild are simply untrue. Some special properties are being considered for addition to our public WMAs, which is great news considering our net loss of WMA land over the last few years. I would definitely recommend everyone attend one of these meetings.