From public lands to neighborhood playground—Bureau of Land Management passes patent for lands onto City of St. George

Contact: Rachel Tueller, Public Affairs Specialist
435-865-3032 or Rachel_Tueller@blm.gov

St. George, Utah—September 26, 2008—On Tuesday September 30, 2008, at 11am local dignitaries from the City of St. George, including Mayor Dan McArthur, Leisure Services Director Kent Perkins and managers and staff from the Bureau of Land Management St. George Field Office will gather at the Cottonwood Cove Park as the BLM issues a Recreation and Public Purposes Patent to the City of St. George.

Since the process began in 1996, when the two entities signed a lease agreement under the Recreation and Public Purposes Act (R&PP), the city has consistently made improvements to the lands. Today a developed park now stands on the 2.69 acres, complete with playground equipment, picnic areas, trails and restrooms and a portion of the Santa Clara River trail system which winds through it.

For the City of St. George the acreage is a boon tying together other lands donated by neighboring developers. “This piece is kind of the hub of the spoke; it’s the center part of the park. Everything kind of plays off of this piece of land,” said Kent Perkins, Director of Leisure Services for the City of St. George. For the city, maintaining the land is a rewarding stewardship. “We see it as a really good use, it still has that open space feel to it and we’re certainly maintaining it as such,” Perkins said. And to the city, receiving the patent after years of stewardship spells success. “It proves we’ve met a goal, the goal we originally agreed upon. In fact we’ve exceeded the goal by adding real value to the site,” said Perkins

Through the R&PP program, municipalities are able to obtain land at a rate significantly below fair market value and for recreation purposes lands may be obtained at no cost. R&PP agreements pave the way for municipalities to obtain land, otherwise unavailable or unaffordable, which may then be used for a number of community oriented purposes including schools and libraries, museums, hospitals, historic monuments and recreation facilities.

For the city, the Cottonwood Cove Park represents one of the “classic uses” outlined by the Recreation and Public Purposes act. “It’s one of the purposes of the R&PP –to convert the federally cared for land to a local government use that serves our neighbors and residents well,” Perkins said.

R&PP transactions administered through the BLM's St. George Field Office have opened doors for the city in a number of other locations. To date, the BLM has passed on approximately 1,145.8 total patented acres to the City of St. George including some 646.6 acres for the Red Hills Golf Course, 361 acres for Pioneer Park, 27 acres for the Quail Creek Water Treatment Facility and 110 acres for the Sand Hollow Aquatic Center.

Successful R&PP agreements bring great job satisfaction to government employees as well. “It gives the federal government an opportunity to help communities out by making lands available to them to fulfill their needs such as parks, fire stations, etc, entities which serve the public,” said St. George BLM Realty Specialist Kathy Abbott who has worked on the project from its earliest days.  “I can drive by that park or that school or fire station and know that I had a part in facilitating that,” she said.

Abbott recognizes the positive nature of her work as bureau-wide, many realty specialists like her may not get the opportunity in their careers to work on an R&PP lease or patent. “Their communities haven’t yet recognized the opportunities that exist within the R&PP program,” Abbott said. “The unique thing about Washington County is that most communities here have caught on to the actual purpose of the R&PP act and have used this program to benefit the public—it was designed to help communities and municipalities,” she said.

For more information on this event contact Rachel Tueller, Color Country Public Affairs Officer at 435-865-3032 or Rachel_Tueller@blm.gov