Acres Of Land

When conservationists talk about "saving" this and "protecting" that, logical questions might be: Saving it from whom? Protecting it from whom? And why should the government force what you want on someone else - who obviously wants something different, or there would not be an issue in the first place? After all, the Constitution says that all citizens are entitled to the "equal protection of the laws." Such questions almost never get asked. Nor do evidence or logic play much of a role in most conservation issues.

In the middle of his Aberdeen equipment shop, Paul Burkheimer, 62, sweeps some bolts and other construction parts off a blueprint on his workbench and frowns at what the renderings reveal. Where the view from his home and adjoining business is now dominated by rolling hills and farmland - as well as a scenic view for golfers at the nearby Wetlands golf course - a developer wants to build thousands of townhouses and single-family dwellings. Worst of all, in his view: The development was largely made possible by Burkheimer's 64-year-old brother, William, who agreed to sell his property next door, which has been in the family for over 50 years, for about $10 million.

RINGGOLD, Texas -- Two days after a fierce brushfire swept through this rural cattle town, cinders still smoldered in the ruins yesterday. The air was heavy with the smell of smoke and everywhere there were mangled metal, ash heaps and ugly swaths of black, charred earth. "It came up on us so fast there was nothing to do but get out of the way and watch the town burn," said Kent Hanson, 49, who lost 300 acres of land in the blaze. Here in Ringgold and elsewhere across Texas, Oklahoma and New Mexico, frequent high winds and a lingering drought have turned bone-dry communities into giant tinderboxes.

1963: Rouse purchase unveiled As Columbia residents gather this week for a series of meetings to chart the future of the city's downtown, consider this: On Oct. 29, 1963, developer and financier James W. Rouse told county officials that his was the "mystery" firm that had purchased more than 14,000 acres of land in central Howard County and he intended to turn in into a "balanced planned community." According to an Oct. 30 article in The Sun, the announcement "ended months of speculation on the identity and purpose of the `mystery' buyer of what had been termed as a `land grab' in some quarters."

Rezoning plan comments clarified There has been a great deal written about the rezoning of 24 acres of land in the Brooklyn Park Small Area Plan. While most of the information reported by The Sun has been accurate, a recent letter to the editor, (Mr. Eamonn McGeady, Oct. 2) was filled with inaccuracies and misquotes. I cannot allow these mischaracterizations to be published without correcting them. First, the Brooklyn Park Small Area Plan represents years of work on the part of the citizens and community groups in Brooklyn Park.

Offering the most detailed explanation to date of his administration's search for surplus property, Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. promised yesterday an open process to decide what public land the state should dispose of and insisted that parks and public forest "never were and never will be for sale." Ehrlich made the pledge in an unusual written statement that sought to reshape the debate over the possible public land sales. The governor said his administration was reviewing parks and all other agency land holdings to fulfill a campaign promise and bring smart management to Annapolis.

CLARIFICATION - An article in Saturday's editions said the state Department of Natural Resources is considering the sale of 3,000 acres of land, including 584 acres that form a buffer zone around Deep Creek Lake in Garrett County. Because of an editing error, a sentence was deleted that said any construction on this Deep Creek parcel is prohibited by conservation easements and the land is being offered to adjacent property owners under a several-years-old agreement, according to Anne Hubbard, a spokeswoman for the state Department of General Services.

The Baltimore County Council approved last night the creation of a new zoning classification designed to limit development of some rural tracts. The council voted unanimously to create the classification, which would allow one lot to be developed on properties of 10 acres or less and three lots to be developed on a 50-acre tract. The bill had limited development at four lots for properties of more than 50 acres, but it was amended yesterday to allow one more lot to be developed for each additional 50 acres of land.

Harford farmers fear they could lose up to half the equity in their property - money they count on for their retirement - as the county moves forward to implement a new master plan designed to direct growth over the next six years. Councilman Lance C. Miller said a provision of the land-use plan that would end farm family conveyances in three years and a bid to down-zone farmland to allow one building right or house for each 20 acres of land, threatens the economic viability of the farming industry.

The state has bought the development rights to 98 acres in the Piney Run Rural Legacy area for $328,300, an action that will safeguard farmland in northwestern Baltimore County, The purchase of a conservation easement on the Davidson land allows the third-generation farmers who own the property to continue working their family's land, but prohibits them from building on it. Jack Dillon, executive director of the Valleys Planning Council, a private land-preservation...