On the recordNovember 17, 2014
Mr. Speaker, I just want to say in closing that not only do we have huge bipartisan support for this bill, but I just want to point out, as an example, in 2012, we spent, essentially, an equal amount of money on both the fee simple land purchase and the easement. Around $16- to $17 million each. But look at the bang for the buck we got. We purchased 14,747 acres fee simple, but on easements we got 48,144. So it is obvious that not only is this a huge savings to the taxpayer, this is a much better deal, but also think about the maintenance costs that are now going to be unnecessary because landowners with the easements will continue to maintain the land rather than taxpayers. And with that, Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.
