Resolution of the Parks Association to Support the Eleven Point State Park

Whereas, the Missouri Parks Association has been made aware that a Judgement has been entered in the Circuit Court of Oregon County, Missouri, Circuit Division 1, in the case of Van McGibney, et al., Plaintiffs, vs. Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Defendant, Case No. 17AM-CC00021; and

Whereas, the Judgement rendered on September 22, 2020 directs the Missouri Department of Natural Resources to divest itself of those lands located within the bounds of the Wild and Scenic Easement; and

Whereas, this region of the Lower is at present only sparsely represented in the Missouri State Park System; and

Whereas, the new state park near the Eleven Point River can respect the integrity of the existing easements that have long-protected the special qualities of that stream which is part of the National Wild and Scenic Rivers System and has been since 1968; and

Whereas, the Eleven Point State Park property was legally acquired from willing sellers with grant funds approved for that purpose, and offers a landscape character and diverse natural and cultural history that is of great interest, beauty, and value and with a high degree of suitability as parkland; and

Whereas, the divestiture of the 625 acres provides no guarantee of the recovery of full market value for the land, provides no direction for disposition of the recovered funds, and orders sale by questionable process, potentially to unspecified private interests which would deprive the state, the county, and the citizens of Missouri of the recreational, environmental, and economic benefits of the development of the 4197-acre Eleven Point State Park; and

Now, therefore, be it resolved, by the Board of Directors of the Missouri Parks Association at its Quarterly Board Meeting on September 24, 2020, that the Governor of Missouri, Attorney General of the State of Missouri, Director of the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, and the Director of Missouri State Parks are encouraged to protect this State Park Property and the interests of all of the citizens of the State by appealing the judgement of the court in order to retain the easement portion of the Eleven Point State Park property in Oregon County.

PASSED BY THE MISSOURI PARKS ASSOCIATION THIS 24TH DAY OF SEPTEMBER 2020

Terry Whaley, President Missouri Parks Association