As Boise looks to a future of growth and expansion, it is hoping to acquire nearly 2,000 acres of unused federal land from the Bureau of Land Management. But a neighboring suburb also wants to claim the land.
The Boise suburb of "Kuna filed a plan with the Bureau of Land Management to spend $78.5 million to build everything from picnic areas and playgrounds to an industrial site and a golf course on 1,760 acres."
"It's a bold proposal by the fast-growing city of 14,000, which has a total annual budget of about $13.3 million (not including a $30 million Local Improvement District). The city's application to BLM says the sites would be developed through public-private partnerships."
Several municipalities have been interested in the two parcels, prompting one open-space advocate to call for a regional approach to planning recreational and other public uses there.
This public land rush is enabled by the Recreation and Public Purposes Act, which was enacted by Congress in 1954 and is administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
The law authorizes the sale or lease of public lands for recreational or public purposes to state and local governments and qualified nonprofits.
Read the full story: Valley cities are drawn to BLM lands
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City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability (SEAS)
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority