Editor:

I’m continually amazed at how that many intelligent people can be so easily duped into believing that The Nature Conservancy is such a wonderful environmental organization.

For over the many years that I have been observing this large organization, I’ve mostly noticed that they will buy large tracts of prime land, and then later sell it to one of our government agencies for usually a substantial profit, some even doubling their investment.

So, it’s not any wonder that they have now gown into one of the most powerful and rich non-government agencies in the world. And like any investment group, they are always looking for the good deals, in which they can profit handsomely.

And while they are not officially a government entity, they are most definitely holding hands with several of them, such as the Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and the Department of Interior, where we can now see these agencies so full of Greenies, that they can barely function as they were once meant to. And too, we can find The Nature Conservancy in constant contact with these agencies regarding potential land deals, and where they regularly receive governmental grants.

All this should tell us just how powerful and connected they have become.

And as a few of us here are well aware, there is a plan being carried out by some of these enviro groups to make this area another large national park, which has already been named the Chief Joseph National Preserve and is to be managed by the U.S. Park Service.

I would think that any property owner in this area should be very much concerned about these land purchases that are being made here by The Nature Conservancy, since I’m almost sure that it fits into this park plan, too.

Chester Hanks

Enterprise

Editor’s note: In the interest of clarity, the Chieftain has researched some of the claims made by Hanks. In presenting this information, we offer no opinion as to whether or not the actions of The Nature Conservancy or any other agency are desirable.

The Nature Conservancy does purchase private land for conservation uses, such as the Zumwalt Prairie Reserve, which was supported by money from the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board and Bonneville Power Administration.

The Nature Conservancy also sells tracts of land back to the government, particularly when they are “inholdings” (private land locked inside public land), but does not sell them for “handsome profits.”

“We don’t make a profit on sales of land to the government,” Anderson said. “Sometimes we don’t recover our costs.”

As to the proposal for a Chief Joseph National Preserve in our area, that was made by the Hell’s Canyon Preservation Council (HCPC). Although HCPC does work in concert with The Nature Conservancy on conservation projects they do not purchase land in partnership.

The Nature Conservancy was not involved in the proposal at any point according to HCPC executive director Greg Dyson. Furthermore, the Chief Joseph National Preserve plan “is no longer an active plan as far as we are concerned and it never involved private land,” Dyson said.

Furthermore, no government agency support was actively sought because “the proposal for the Chief Joseph National Preserve never got that far,” Dyson said.