Welcome to waste, fraud, abuse - Forest Service style

In the space of one minute, two deed transfers were filed in Mineral County. They are consecutive filings 099968 and 099969. In that one minute of filing difference the properties value changed from $10 to $404,000. Who got the windfall profit for their cheap purchase you may ask, and the answer is the Five Valleys Land Trust, Inc.

Who purchased the property for the outrageous higher amount again you may ask and the answer is you. The federal government through the U.S. Forest Service did.

That is right, here in Montana, if you are Five Valleys Land Trust, you can broker a deal like this and get the taxpayers to give you a profit of 40,400 times your investment.

I think all of us would like to be able to make a $1,000.00 investment here and get a comparable return from the Forest Service of $40,400,000. I demand to know where to be able to get my share of this windfall. My family has ever-growing medical bills and with the cost of fuel these days I am not foolish enough to pass up this new opportunity.

This isn’t a get-rich scheme. It is a legally documented action that is documented by signing, sealing, and delivering. Just think, I own a couple of lots, with home and garage, and I could safely say it would appraise at $200,000. Now, I want to have the U.S. Forest Service give me $80,800,000,000 for my property. I will give the U.S. Forest Service a warranty deed.

Realize that this is $80,800,000,000. And if I reinvest it in property, I can delay paying taxes on it.

So, how do the rest of you Mineral County landowners feel? And how do all of you taxpayers feel?

Larry Price

Superior