A different easement path

Star Tribune Sat, 19 Jan 2008 01:12:11 GMT
Wanted: Land with a permanently spectacular view

To protect water quality, the Minnehaha Creek Watershed District has begun buying -- and selling -- land.

Moving aggressively to save the woods, wetlands and meadows that can naturally remove pollutants from storm water before it reaches Lake Minnetonka, the watershed district has outlined 17,000 acres, mostly in the far western suburbs, where it would consider buying open land.

Initially the water board plans to spend about $2 million a year for land acquisition. Over the next 10 years the total could reach $30 million.

The watershed district is moving into real estate acquisition because new home construction upstream of Lake Minnetonka is the greatest impending threat to water quality in the lake, said Mark Ten Eyke, manager of the land conservation program for the watershed district.

One of the district's first purchases was a picturesque 38.62 acres near Painter Creek in Minnetrista, where it plans to restore prairie along a tributary to the creek and keep most of the land free from development forever. The district paid $778,100 for the tract on Jan. 4, 2006, and plans to recoup $350,000 by selling 7 acres for three home sites overlooking the protected open space.

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the accompianing graphic:
Star Tribune Fri, 18 Jan 2008 22:46:21 GMT
A NEW LAND CONSERVATION ZONE

The Minnehaha Creek Watershed District, (MCWD) has entered the real estate market. Under a new land conservation program designed to promote clean water, the district will consider buying any land that may go on the market in the areas outlined below. In many cases, the district would buy the land and impose permanent easements to protect open space and then resell it as a choice piece of property with a view that will never change.

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