The Big Show

I was recently asked by Mr. Copeland to be part of a cable TV program that "the majority" is putting together about conservation easements. I decided not to participate. I cannot believe that they are so determined to push through their desires without allowing any real discussion of the actual impacts of conservation easements or of what other options may be available which could produce similar results. You may recall that two meetings ago I made a motion to stop having the staff continue to work on conservation easements until we as a council were provided equal time researching the other alternatives. They voted no.

Last night we had the third or fourth workshop put on by the city about conservation easements. At this one at least it was mentioned that there are alternatives, but the person giving us the information was the representative from the MN Land Trust (the easement people). She indicated a couple of times that she was not knowledgeable about the other options, although she was aware that they existed.

So now they are going to produce a one-hour cable show about easements. They wanted me to spend the last 20 minutes of the show debating the mayor on the issue. Lets see, she has the benefit of four workshops and one seminar on her side and I have the research I have done plus a person that does not have the insight into the alternatives talking for about ten minutes.

That is not to say that I could not put some good ideas forward, like the fact that conservation easements are sold as lasting FOREVER. Even if the Land Trust could actually do that, I have trouble with the concept of depriving the future people in Maplewood their ability to decide issues for themselves democratically. I certainly believe that we should always have open space. We should always have the amount that we have now if not more. But I do not believe that I know what issues will face Maplewood between now and FOREVER. Then there is the fact that people who are not citizens of Maplewood or elected officials of Maplewood would be making decisions for us about how we can use our land. Or the fact that we will pay them for the privilege of having them tell us what we can do with our land. No one has said how much that taxpayer-funded payment will be but the early indications are somewhere between $100,000 and $400,000. That does not include the staff time, which adds maybe another $50,000 to $100,000. Why don't we just take that money and buy more open space? Then we would actually get something for our money. We could also use that money to do some of the upkeep that we could be forced to do under a conservation easement. That's right, at last night’s meeting we talked about Jim's Prairie and the fact that its value is that it is a wonderful native prairie. Since conservation easements are intended to protect the environmental value of land, we could end up with the obligation of preserving that value FOREVER. This is despite the fact that in the last three years we have reduced the person’s time whose job it is to take care of the open spaces to one third of her total time due to budget constraints. Good thing that we can choose to cut back when money is tight and are not forced to maintain the open spaces on someone else's schedule.It would be easy to go on and on, there are so many unanswered questions and more questions that are yet to be asked.

I decided that if I played their cable game I would be going into a situation that is completely out of my control and at best making their continued march towards conservation easements valid. Also it does not seem right for me as a candidate to have the additional exposure without allowing the other candidates to participate. Maybe that would be the best thing to do if they want a debate, invite all the candidates to discuss the issue.

After saying all of this I will tell you that I believe that there are some parcels of land that might be good fits for conservation easements. But without an in-depth look at all the possible ways to insure that Maplewood will always enjoy having open land, I or anyone else will never know if we are making the best choice. Don't expect Rebecca, Erik and Diana to take the time to explain it all. They are too busying making TV shows to present what they have already decided.