New Straitsville in Perry County will have the opportunity to develop land and grow economically with a recent real-estate deal involving land in the area.
A recent land swap involving New Straitsville, Good Builders Inc., The Nature Conservancy, a private land owner and the U.S. Forest Service will help to preserve areas of the Wayne National Forest while benefiting the community of New Straitsville.
Sept. 16 was the closing date for the real-estate exchange that included the transfer of 105 acres of New Straitsville land from the Forest Service to Good Builders Inc., in exchange for three areas of land totaling 95 acres, said Regina Martin, realty specialist for the Forest Service.
One of the three parcels given to us includes Tansky's Marsh
a 14-acre wetland rare for this part of Ohio Martin said. The other two tracts of land are secured by the village of New Straitsville.
Logan resident Larry Gerstner owned a portion of the land that was turned over to the Forest Service, including the 14-acre wetland.
Gerstner said the exchange worked out so that Good Builders had to pay Wayne National Forest $37, 992 in addition to the three parcels of land they received.
It wasn't quite an even trade so we paid them the additional amount
he said. The land Steve Good (President of Good Builders) and I got will be very good for the community of New Straitsville because people can now buy land on the property we own and can build their own homes.
Gerstner said the land owned by Good Builders is currently in the process of being surveyed to determine how many lots it can be divided into.
The Nature Conservancy got involved with the exchange because their goals are to preserve plants, animals and natural communities, said Randy Edwards, The Nature Conservancy spokesman.
It's important to us that the Wayne National Forest continues to develop as a large
intact forest landscape
he said.
This exchange is giving New Straitsville an opportunity to grow economically
while at the same time allowing the U.S. Forest Service to take good care of the wetland and other forest areas.
The Nature Conservancy played an important role in the exchange by purchasing 46 acres, including the wetland, for around $56,000 and holding it for New Straitsville and the U.S. Forest Service until Wayne National Forest approved the land exchange, Edwards said. If the Nature Conservancy did not temporarily hold the land, it could have been developed.
Anytime land like that is in the hands of a private owner there's no certainty that it will be protected
Martin said. But now that it's in the hands of the Forest Service we can be sure it will be preserved.
