And This Is A Good Thing?

How much land should the government own?  Is it not better in this environment to sell off some of these parcels to tax paying entities.  What about all the new jobs coming back to America?  Factories, once privately owned, running, and paying taxes, have since been turned into low or elderly housing. It must just be me but when all the manufacturing jobs come back to America,  promised by the politicians that made the policies that send them abroad in the first place, some of this "open space" might be needed to expand private industry.  For way too many years government has been spending tax dollars to buy land that they can't afford and can't maintain.....  Where's the money ?

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick Thursday announced at Plymouth’s Halfway Pond that efforts made by the Patrick-Murray administration to conserve state land have resulted in the protection of over 100,000 acres of open space.
“I am extremely proud to announce that the commonwealth, partnering with local municipalities, land trusts, conservation organizations, businesses and private landowners, has protected over 100,000 acres of land since 2007,” Patrick said in a statement.
The release indicates that the amount of protected open space in Massachusetts now stands at 1.25 million acres which, for the first time, exceeds the amount of developed land in Massachusetts.
Energy and Environmental Affairs (EEA) Secretary Rick Sullivan added in a statement that, since the inception of the program, Patrick has committed $287 million to land conservation.
“The commonwealth has also identified 10 ‘habitat reserves’ — unfragmented ecosystems across the state that include unique large habitats — including mountain tops, wilderness areas, sustainably managed forests, forest reserves and wild rivers,” the release stated. “To date, more than 16,000 acres have been permanently protected and 10-year forest management agreements have been established on 45,000 acres in these areas.”

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