My desire to see local land trusts receive the support they deserve is not limited to my experiences as a landowner and a conservationist. As a taxpayer, I have become concerned about the practice by national land trusts of purchasing ecologically valuable land from private owners for the purpose of reselling it to federal agencies. Taxpayers should hold government accountable for wise use of funds and tax exemptions, especially when the result is often to remove land from public access. Yet the federal government often overpays, to the enrichment of the national trusts involved. According to a 1992 report of the Interior Department's inspector general:
- Between 1987 and 1989, the Fish and Wildlife Service paid the Nature Conservancy $13.5 million for 11,502 Texas acres, including $500,000 paid in undocumented fees that boosted the price above market value. The same agency paid the same seller $4.5 million for Oklahoma land appraised at $3.5 million.
- In 1987, Fish and Wildlife paid the National Audubon Society $1 million for 777 acres in California appraised at $700,000. The agency reasoned that it had asked Audubon to acquire the land in 1983, when Audubon had to pay $1 million for it.
- The Nature Conservancy purchased 3,735 Arkansas acres in 1989. In 1991, Fish and Wildlife bought 1,153 acres of this appraised at $747,000 for $914,000, including interest and overhead charges of $251,000.
