Smaller parcels, not as much "wealth". After the Walker flood in 1997 several pieces of property along the river were bought by FEMA, turned over to the state who gave them to the county to deal with. A few years later grant money to develop opportunities for physical exercise was available (the reason there is a parcourse [growing weeds] just south of town)
Part of the plan was to build trails that would access these public parcels, the park and the river along the way. I walk so these proposals made me happy but the BS that ensued was epic. "It will lower our quality of life." "We don't want those kind of people walking by our homes." etc, etc. Someone began a rumor (I know who it was - and I know this is how politics operate in this miserly little town) ) that the county was going to use eminent domain (the river is public to the average high water line) Another rumor was of a "truck stop" that was to be built south of town (the actual county plans call for a fish hatchery in that location) Supposedly there were going to be a half dozen bridges built across the river (yeah, right) There were other absurd declarations that a quick look at the county plans could have dispelled but that is not how people in this town operate.
I attended a public meeting. I got up and spoke - introducing myself as "one of those people" and apologized for altering the quality of life of the homes I walked by on the way to the meeting. I reminded them I was walking and asked what kind of harm I could do - walk off with their big screen TVs? One couple whined that people walking by made their dogs bark. The county had to repeatedly silence the eminent domain lie and one character who has a home on the river (who may have believed the lie in the beginning) finally stood up in his denim coveralls, shouted "I feel like I've been dipped in sh**" and walked out.
The county shrugged their shoulders and gave up. The trails were not built and the county owned parcels have been essentially gifted to the adjacent landowners who have continued the time honored tradition of questioning, harassing and running off anyone who dares to use the public land and the river. I think the old guy who carried a shotgun in these encounters died. I don't know if someone else has taken his place.
But now I understand a little better. My next door neighbors own an adjacent parcel that several people (including me) use to access the BLM land above our homes. A few years ago someone got into their downstairs rooms and took life jackets and other small stuff that could be carried off. They now lock their gate, their doors and installed security cameras (when we bought this house 30 years ago we asked for the keys - there were none) The other access to the public lands in the vicinity has also become problematic as it is not a county maintained road yet it cannot be designated "private" because of the trailhead at the end of it. Unfortunately a few of the homeowners do not wish to or are incapable of grasping the nuance. In spite of living here and using the trailhead for 30 years I've been threatened and harassed enough that I avoid the road and cross the private property of a friend instead. One of the houses at the end of the road has a history of allowing their dogs to run loose which for all practical purposes keeps the public out but that may have changed some when the horse owners and other "important" people in the area complained. My calls to Animal Control must have been lost.
It is complicated. The public is entitled to access to public lands but far too many of the public are lacking in decency.
