Abstract:
This case focuses on the Trust for Public Land's effort to protect land within the Columbia River Gorge in Klickitat County, Washington State. Lyle Point was an ancestral fishing site for local Native Americans, who actively opposed residential development of the property. After the local government approved a subdivision, a struggle ensued, pitting conservationists and their tribal allies against developers and their rural government supporters. TPL sought to orchestrate a conservation land transaction that would take the land out of private hands, and off the tax rolls, and protect it in perpetuity. TPL was faced with balancing its national conservation goals against uncertain local political dynamics, while ensuring that the potential transaction did not put the organization at undue financial risk.
Learning Objective:
In addition to portraying the tensions between rural America's local governments and urban conservation interests, this case provides students a cost/benefit analysis, when grappling with the decision-making process associated with conservation land transactions.
