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Land acquisition, the opposing view

Fishbonker

Fishbonker

Life Member
Recently the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation sent out an email to their members regarding the acquisition of land by state and counties. The email was in response the SF 2206 the bill that would fund the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund, but it also speaks volumes to their stance on SSB 3134 the bill that would cap what the State and County Conservation Boards could pay per acre for land. Currently the Farm Bureau is registered against SF 2206 and has not yet registered on SSB 3134. But read the following and draw your own conclusions on how this "deepest of deep pocket" corporations feels about land acquisitions for recreational and perhaps even soil conservation efforts.



Dear Iowa Farm Bureau Member:

Iowa has always been farm country but a plan gaining traction in the State Senate would give state and local governments tens of millions in new dollars, annually, to buy up more of our state’s precious farm land and pasture ground.

As part of SF2206, the State Senate’s tax reform bill, the statewide sales tax would be reformed. That move would automatically trigger 3/8 of a penny from the sales tax that you pay going into the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund, a Constitutionally protected state fund that would be constantly refilled in perpetuity.

If passed, even with a change in the formula for how the money is allocated and spent, this law would turbo-charge the acquisition and accumulation of land by both state and local governments and make it harder for farmers like you to compete for land.

Luckily, with your help, there is still a chance to stop this part of the bill before it gains any further momentum.

Send Your Message NOW to Stop Iowa's Land Acquisition Tax Plan

We need your help to send a CLEAR and IMMEDIATE message to your State Senator that they should stop their plans to accelerate the government’s ownership of land.

Send Your Message NOW to Stop Iowa's Land Acquisition Tax Plan

Young farmers trying to increase their operations or livestock producers looking for new pasture ground would struggle to find opportunities with a never-ending flow of your sales tax dollars buying land.

In the past four years alone, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR), leveraging federal, state, and local funds have purchased over 14,000 acres at a cost of over $33 million and that does not include all the land amassed by county conservation boards and other government entities. While that is an alarming figure, it would pale in comparison to the acceleration of land acquisition that would take place if the Natural Resources and Outdoor Recreation Trust Fund were triggered.

That’s why we are asking you to take 5 minutes TODAY, using a link embedded in this message, to send a personalized comment to your State Senator opposing any plans to super-charge the state’s acquisition of land. Your important and personalized comment will be automatically sent to your State Senator at the Iowa Capitol.

Send Your Message NOW to Stop Iowa's Land Acquisition Tax Plan

Thanks, as always, for your timely grassroots help. It does make a difference.

Sincerely,

D Mc

Iowa Farm Bureau Federation




There is absolutely nothing wrong with a group that has an interest in legislation sending out this type of letter. I just thought I might share what the opposition is thinking.
 
Maybe not so much an issue of right or wrong, but rather what do most Iowans want?

Iowa has the most altered landscape of any state. Maybe 1-2% of our native tall grass prairies remain, ~78% of total land in agricultural production. 49th or 50th in % of public land.

On the other hand, we have a robust agricultural economy, including many ag jobs in machinery, seed and chemicals, ethanol, etc.

Should we remain on the extreme edge of ag production so as to preserve our ag legacy? Or, should landowners have a path to convert their property to boost a fledgling public land legacy?

Personally, I’m not a fan of the state having such a heavy hand in guiding our future one way or another, and a major reason I oppose SSB 3134.
 
The fact of the matter is the state is not buying good tillable ground. They just arnt. I don't understand why the farm bureau feels the need to push this. What am I missing?
 
I'm a lifelong farmer, member of FB, 20 yr. treasurer of our PF chapter, 5yrs. on our county conservation board and current chairman of same. I'm also an avid hunter and conservationist. This letter is what I hate about FB. It's scare tactics plain and simple. 14000 acres in 4 years out of 35.7 MILLION acres in Iowa. That's AMASSING land? My experience with PF in trying to help fund land acquisitions is that it's becoming almost impossible to do at current prices. Land owners have to offer it at a lower price. If a chunk of land is just out there sitting by itself, it isn't even considered unless it's floodplain. Almost all land desired by the DNR is additions to already existing public lands. It's already been published elsewhere what the CSR values are for DNR land. Farmers aren't lined up to farm this poor land no matter what the price of corn is. Our county conservation board has turned down land because we just can't take care of more without more staff, and the county won't fund that. We're not a threat to any farmers that's for sure. I don't know how much money will be raised by this tax increase that will be specified for land acquisition but I doubt any of it will be used in a land auction to buy 10 to 14 thousand dollar an acre prime farmland away from a farmer so the DNR can plant hunting habitat on it. To quote our dear leader, "C'mon man !" The biggest threat WITHOUT A DOUBT to farmland is urban sprawl. I'm as conservative and Republican as I can be, but a few more bike trails, parks, and public land acres just make Iowa a better place and isn't a threat at all to farmers, at least not at the current price of land. When the state gets to the point of using eminent domain to forcibly take land, that's a totally different story and I'll be raising hell in DSM at that point. Right now, land only becomes DNR land if the landowner WANTS it to, at least that's what I've seen. Isn't that their right?
 
So if there’s almost zero threat of significant public land acquisitions, why is FB pouring so much into this? Don’t they have bigger fish to fry?
 
FB has always been a staunch supporter of personal property rights when it comes to landowners in general and farmers in particular. As such, they deplore gov't intervention of pretty much everything. Land being owned by the DNR or county conservation is thus the ultimate gov't intervention. I understand and support this concept in general terms, but the issue here is the amount of land we're talking about. I think FB has a zero tolerance policy on this issue much like gun groups do on gun control, give an inch and the gov't will take a mile. If deer respected property lines the FB would have no problem with a landowner having 200 deer per square mile, that's your right. But if I'm trying to farm next door, it's my right to shoot any thing that eats my property, i.e. my crops. So if the DNR creates a wildlife area, it can harm nearby farmers, besides taking land out of commission for farming. Again, the issue here is the scale of land acquisition, which I believe isn't a big threat now but I have to admit I can see a problem if we had a different party in power in DSM.
 
Here is the DNR's fact sheet on public lands:





What are Iowa’s Public lands?

Iowa’s public lands include lakes, streams, forests, prairies, preserves, hatcheries, wildlife areas, and parks. The DNR

only works with willing sellers; eminent domain is NOT used by the DNR.

Did you know?

● The DNR is one of the only state agencies that pays property taxes on Iowa’s public lands. In FY22, the DNR

paid a total of $1,226,514 in property taxes.

● Iowa has 36 million acres

● 81,791 – total number acres for which the DNR pays property taxes

● 390,111 – total number of state-owned acres under the jurisdiction of the DNR publicly available for use

including state parks, wildlife management areas, public hunting areas, trails and lakes.

● 1% - total percentage of Iowa that are state-owned acres under the jurisdiction of the DNR available for use

by Iowans.

● 32 – average Corn Suitability Rating (CSR) of public lands

● $2,193 – FY21 average purchase price per acre for public lands by State of Iowa/DNR

● $9,751 – 2021 statewide average farmland value per acre, as of November 2021

● 51% of state-owned public lands under the jurisdiction of the DNR are located within the 100-year Floodplain

● 80% of state-owned public lands under the jurisdiction of the DNR are classified as Highly Erodible Soils (HEL)

outside of the Floodplain

● 22.6% of state-owned public land acres under the jurisdiction of the DNR are classified as Hydric

● 42% of public lands are forested

● 15% of public lands are water; including more than 60 sovereign natural lakes totaling over 40,000 acres.

● 919,405 – number of acres of public lands in Iowa’s Road Right-of-way

● Iowa ranks 47th in the nation for fewest acres for public use, according to the U.S. Census, Statistical Abstract

of the United States

How it works:

The vast majority of sellers make initial contact the DNR about land they are wishing to sell to the Department. Often,

landowners want their land permanently protected and available for Iowans to enjoy. The DNR does not

automatically accept; however, the land must meet the following criteria:

● There must be a large benefit for conservation, recreation or the environment. Functional habitats, water

quality, etc.

● It must provide a public benefit and access.

● DNR staff must be able to efficiently manage the land.

The Department does turn down land purchase offers and donations often due to not meeting the above

objectives.

Funding Sources:

REAP Open Spaces funding is used, in part, to purchase public land for outdoor recreation. Land purchased is ONLY

acquired from willing sellers and at appraised market value. These lands remain on county property tax rolls.

Primary funding sources for these activities include:

● REAP Open Spaces

● Wildlife Habitat Stamp

Federal:

● Duck Stamp

● Federal Receipts

● North America Wetland Conservation Act

● State Wildlife Grant

● Pittman/Robertson Act

● Federal Endangered Species

● Federal Mitigation Funds

● Federal Highway Administration (Scenic By-Way)

Other:

● Private/Partner Organizations

Land Inventory:

The Department of Natural Resources has created an interactive Land Inventory Report that depicts these State

Owned lands under the jurisdiction of the DNR. It can be located on our website at




This was just updated this past January. I cut the header off to save space.
 
Just the perspective from NE Iowa, but I'd be more inclined to support a proposal like this if places like the Yellow River SF were more actively having timber sales and getting the saw instead of letting letting prime red oak lay down 5 years after a wind storm. Or another acre getting rolled into a federal monument that isn't interested in even allowing hikers on paths without decades of environmental studies, much less hunters.
 
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