Saturday, August 05, 2017

Government Has No Clue How Much Land It Bought With $815 Million

Interior Department officials have no idea how much land they bought for $815 million, nor if the properties are being used for their intended purpose, a government watchdog reported Wednesday.
The department’s officials couldn’t provide its inspector general with data about land purchase programs, the watchdog’s report said. The inspector general consequently surveyed 108 programs and found that 16 of them awarded 701 grants between 2014 and 2015 to purchase $815 million worth of land. The Interior Department “does not centrally track information about grants awarded for the purpose of acquiring land,” the inspector general said, adding:

As such, [the Interior Department] is unable to identify how much grant money has been used to purchase land, how much land has been purchased and whether that land is being used for its intended purpose. Without an adequate process in place to monitor funds used to purchase land, [the department] is potentially exposed to significant risk of wasted funds.
Additionally, less than half of the 278 grant recipients reported their land inventories to the department programs that funded them, which violated federal regulations, according to the report.
With “less than 44 percent of grantees reporting … we are concerned that both the awarding agencies and the grantees are either unaware or noncompliant,” the report said.

2 comments:

Samuel said...

How much of that land was "purchased" Constitutionally?
There is a mode and purpose specified
"and to exercise like Authority over all Places purchased by the Consent of the Legislature of the State in which the Same shall be, for the Erection of Forts, Magazines, Arsenals, dock-Yards, and other needful Buildings;"

Anonymous said...

Oh -- I'm sure the government has a clue -- it's the John Q public not having a clue, even when presented with the facts -- that's the real problem here.

The very unpopular new gas tax in CA is allocating funds ($5 million each) to wildlife corridors, land aquisitions, and construction of parks' restrooms -- as stated in SB 1.

Also, on Environmental Protection Information Center's web page, (wildcalifornia)there are a couple of articles about how the highway funds and the transportation funds are going to fund their wildlife corridor projects (80%-20%, respectively).

They also talked of how they're partnering with Caltrans -- the same Caltrans that has been neglecting the potholes and highway repair.

This website is very anti-grazing, debunking Bundys and Finicum, yet they go over and beyond to help pot growers understand the permitting process, - which doesn't seem near as stringent for them as what's being shoved down John Duarte's throat.

SB 50 will give CA right of first refusal to buy, or arrange for another party to buy, any federal land that becomes available -- most likely with the new gas tax Gov. Brown said was needed to fix potholes.