Murrell letter: Wilks brothers
Regarding the article in Jan. 12. The billionaire Wilks brothers from Texas have bought considerable acreage in Montana and Idaho. Previous owners allowed residents to hunt and recreate on this land. The Wilks brothers will not. Expect the same denial if public agencies take over, that our taxes currently pay the feds to manage. I fear Idaho citizens will have to pay big bucks to use it. According to the article, Idaho County commissioners seem to be more concerned about property taxes that pay their salary than local citizens. If you notice, the brothers have already started on legislators, by making large donations to people currently running for office. Who else are they trying to buy off so they can activate their plans for the huge amount of acreage in Idaho and Montana?
By the way, I wonder how much taxes will be assessed on this land, since I have read, agricultural land has not been appraised since 1980. Wake up, everyone. The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. There is no longer a middle class, yet we are the ones paying the bills and suffering the consequences by the choices of our public administrators.
Arlene Murrell, Boise
This story was originally published January 26, 2016 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Murrell letter: Wilks brothers."