Nebraska National Forests & Grasslands deputy supervisor Steve Lenzo has approved a land swap involving 760 acres of federal land on the Oglala National Grasslands in Sioux County and 800 acres of nearby private property.
Lenzo says the Sand Creek Land Exchange with Walter and Virginia Whitcher will consolidate land ownership in an area where private and National Grasslands are intermixed…connecting two very large federal parcels and making managing the area much easier for both owners.
“This is one of several land exchanges we’ve been working on for a number of years. It will plug in a big hole that we had and exchange a piece that was separate from our contiguous holdings. It’s less boundary we have to manage, it’s easier for private owners to manage their property as well, and just saves time and time and is more efficient.
Lenzo says that under federal rules, property involved in land exchanges must be of roughly similar value rather than similar acreage, so the Sand Creek swap has no impact on local taxes.
“It’s an equal exchange of value, so there’s no change in the tax base and no change to money that comes to the county. It’s between obviously a willing landowner and the federal government, and it’s really a win-win situation.”
A checkerboard ownership pattern between public and private land has been a long-time problem for the NNF&G, but Lenzo says years of working with willing owners on land swaps is paying off.
“It’s less and less as we complete these land exchanges. I know we’ve been extremely successful in the Conata Basin in terms of moving from a checkerboard to a much more consolidated base.”
The Sand Creek swap was formally announced Thursday, starting a 45-day appeal period limited to individual or groups who’d provided comments or expressed interest in the swap during official comment period.
Lenzo’s full findings and an Environmental Assessment of the land swap can be viewed and printed from the Forest Service website www.fs.usda.gov/projects/nebraska/landmanagement/projects, Sand Creek Land exchange.
A hardcopy version of the exchange documents may be viewed at the NNF&G Supervisors Office, 125 Main Street in Chadron