HOT SPRINGS – The courtroom at the Fall River County Courthouse was filled to overflowing Tuesday as Jeff Vonk and Tony Leif from the South Dakota Department of Game, Fish & Parks attended a special hearing on the proposed sale of approximately 5,350 acres for use as a wildlife habitat.

Vonk, the secretary of GF&P and Leif, the Wildlife Division manager, attended at the request of the Fall River County Commission, to hear from people in the area on both sides of the issue, prior to a GF&P Commission meeting Thursday and Friday, where action may be taken on the sale of the property. The hearing was part of the regular county commission meeting.

The state agency has proposed to purchase the property around the Angostura Reservoir southeast of Hot Springs, and develop it into a wildlife habitat, primarily for hunters. Vonk said that the property includes 450 to 500 acres of irrigated land that would be used as pheasant habitat.

“This proposed purchase would be made with Pittman-Robertson funds,” Leif said. “These are excise taxes that sportsman pay when they purchase supplies, which are dedicated to purchases just like this.”

Many opposed to the proposed purchase pointed to the continued purchase of land by governmental agencies.

“Right now, in Fall River County, we have 325,000 acres that are owned by the federal government, the state or the Nature Conservancy,” said state Rep.  Lance Russell, R-Hot Springs.

Another issue was how the land would be taxed, should the sale go through. Commissioner Glen Reaser noted that the land is assessed as agriculture land at a value of approximately $100 per acre. “It sound like the purchase price would be somewhere around $1,400 per acre. Couldn’t this be taxed at current valuation instead of the ag designation?”

Vonk said that he would expect the property to be treated the same as any other land in the county.

On Tuesday the commission passed a resolution requesting a new property tax designation so that lands are taxed at fair market value.

Paul Nabholz said he opposed the plan, “Because Game, Fish & Parks have made promises that haven’t been kept.”

Nabholz lives near what has become the Friendshuh Game Production Area, which was purchased by GF&P in 2004 north of Hot Springs. “John Cooper (then GF&P secretary) came down and told us it would be an ‘elk hunters paradise’ and that there would be horseback riding and big horn sheep. None of that happened.”

Nabholz added that not all the sportsmen who purchase equipment are willing to see the sale go through. “I purchase ammo and I certainly don’t approve of the sale,” he said. “Game, Fish & Parks can’t keep their promises.”

State Rep. Betty Olson,  R-Prairie City, said she recalled a time when “Secretary Cooper said that the Friendshuh purchase would be the last land that Game, Fish & Parks purchased West River. Now you want to buy more?”

Commission Chairman Mike Ortner asked all those in support of the project to stand up, so Vonk could get an accurate reading. After making the same request of those opposed, Ortner noted that it was, “about 50-50.”

Vonk said that the Game, Fish & Parks Commision would discuss the matter at its meeting at 8 a.m. Thursday at the Best Western Ramkota Hotel in Pierre. According to the commission’s online agenda, land acquisitions and trades are under the Wildlife Department portion of the meeting and are scheduled early on the agenda.

Read the complete article from Rapid City Journal »