Hi Folks!

I would urge a bit of caution before jumping on the State of Maryland for trying to dispose of "excess" land.  In my 19 years as a Land Planner for Prince George's County I have often had to review land that the County has received and had to determine if it might be better off sold than  retained.  The County regularly obtains ownership of land by failure of the landowner to pay taxes.  No public funds were used to acquire the land.  Part of my review is to determine if the land has more value as open space than as something that "could"  be developed in some fashion and provide tax revenue.  One prime reason to "excess" property is to remove the maintenance responsibility from the County.  I am certain that some of the property the the State of Maryland is proposing to excess is land that they obtained at little or no cost, the expense to maintain the land outweighs the benefit to the general public and the potential for tax revenue is a bonus.

A review of each parcel has probably been completed by the State.  I suspect that these reviews are public documents.  Check the particulars of each parcel and do not make a blanket "We think this is a bad idea."

Perhaps someone from the State of Maryland could provide appropriate links to give us all a better prespective.

Good Birding!

Jim

Jim Stasz
North Beach MD