This note of interest was in the Iowa Association of County Conservation Board's newsletter today, written by Don Brazelton, Ex. Sec. of IACCB. >>> Governor’s Comments at Trails Conference Governor Vilsack presented comments to attendees of the State Trails Conference on Thursday, August 19th. The reason he stated that he signed the Farmland Condemnation bill that prohibits the condemnation of ag ground for recreational trails was that he heard a general distrust of government among the people he visited during the campaign, especially when it came to condemnation for what those individuals saw as recreation not being an essential purpose. He did state that Iowa needs an improved quality of life to keep Iowans here and attract new individuals to the state. He did not take questions and the thought that still miffs many trail supporters is that condemnation has been used to my knowledge fewer than 10 times - 3 times on the Cedar Valley Trail, one on the trail just outside of Swan Lake State Park in Carroll, and several times by Iowa DOT for trails along road rights-of-way. If you know of other instances. Please let our office know. <<< ----------------------------------------------------------------- To get off the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to: [log in to unmask]