By Associated Press
Greensboro AL – The Alabama Department of Corrections has accepted an offer from a land conservation group to buy part of the state's Farquhar Cattle Ranch in Greensboro for more than $4 million, officials said Friday.
Prisons commissioner Richard Allen said his agency plans to close the deal with the Alabama Forever Wild Land Trust within the next few weeks.
"I think that Forever Wild is a good disposition and it still keeps (the land) in the public domain," Allen said Friday.
Forever Wild is a public trust established in 1992 by a constitutional amendment and acquires land with money that's mostly derived from royalties from offshore gas leases.
The trust began the process of buying 2,031 acres of the Hale County ranch in September ordering and receiving two appraisals and committee members voted to make an offer Thursday.
Allen said Friday the group has now decided to buy two more parcels of the property, which would put all but 470 acres of the ranch into the trust.
"If they will go forward (with the two additional parcels) that will be fine with me," he said.
Allen and Gov. Bob Riley announced in July that five pieces of corrections property would be sold to help pay for more than $90 million worth of capital improvements.
Critics of the plan have questioned the wisdom of selling prison system land for one-time gain. However some, including Allen, say selling the farm to the conservation group is a good compromise that keeps the land from going into the private sector.
The West End Swamp, a 540-acre parcel on the cattle ranch that was prime for hunting and fishing, went for $1.65 million in a controversial sale last spring.
The remaining 3,869 acres was appraised for $9.058 million. Allen said Forever Wild's offer of $4.4 million for the 2,031 acres was "in the ballpark" of DOC's appraisal on the land.
So far the department has sold its old headquarters building, and $5 million from the sale of all but 364 acres of the 2,215-acre Red Eagle Honor Farm in Montgomery was deposited on Friday, Allen said.
Still up for sale is 32 acres in Wetumpka on Highway 231 North and 10 acres at the old Kilby prison in Montgomery.
"My saying is everything takes too long and costs too much. I'm happy that we're getting there. We announced this plan a year ago and we're just now getting the first two big ones sold," Allen said. "So it's taken a long time."