Starland on receiving end of provincial land transfer
The lands involved in the transfer all at one time were private parcels and have been under the care of the province because of tax forfeiture.
“The transfer of these lands will allow municipalities to make decisions on the land that are best for the local area,” said Mel Knight, Minister of Sustainable Resource Development. “This will create opportunities for local municipalities to build stronger communities for tomorrow.”
Ross Rawlusyk, CAO of Starland County, said the lands have been around for a long time.
“These are properties that have been around since before there were MDs or counties, in the 1930’s kind of time frame,” he said. “The province has transferred about 80 per cent of these lands, and this last round was to try and clean out the rest of them.”
In Starland, he said there are nine whole or parts of quarter sections in the county that will be transferred for the nominal sum of $1, making up 1,249 acres. The province will retain another 640 acres.
He said much of the land is leased out for grazing, and the county still has to learn what the terms of each of these leases are.
There are also licences of occupations such as right of ways for utilities or oil and gas companies. These have to be replaced with private service agreements with the county before the land is transferred.
He said the County received some tax recovery land quite a few years back, and the county tendered out the sale of the property.
“Before we do that I think we would do a careful evaluation of the property we now own,” he said, adding they may retain property that could have value to the county.
He said much of the land is in Verdant Valley area, as well as in the Craigmyle area.
The Alberta government will retain environmentally significant land near rivers, water bodies and coulees while municipalities will receive land for local use.
“Our government will keep these sensitive areas as public land,” said Knight. “These lands will continue to provide valuable wildlife habitat and grazing and recreation opportunities for Albertans.”
More than 35,000 acres, worth about $17 million, will be retained because of their importance for soil and watershed protection and for the maintenance of biodiversity.
