A timely hand-off.

Byline: The Register-Guard

Lane County's decision to surrender its lead role in negotiating the public purchase of 1,200 acres from the Wildish Land Company near Mount Pisgah enhances the possibility that this decades-old dream will eventually become reality.

Despite last week's 5-0 vote by the Lane County Board of Commissioners, this was no easy decision. Since Wildish filed a Measure 37 claim last June as a step toward building 300 homes on the land, long-running efforts to add the Wildish property to the county's adjoining Howard Buford Recreation area have gained urgency. The result of such an addition would be a 3,500-acre park and nature preserve extending from Mount Pisgah to the confluence of the Coast Fork and Middle Fork of the Willamette River.

Commissioners still harbor hope that the long-cherished goal can become reality. But they prudently recognized that the county, struggling to maintain basic services as a result of the loss of $40 million in annual federal funding, is in no position to lead the charge.

Jim Johnson, the former county administrator who has led the county team that has been reviewing the Wildish offer to sell the land for $26 million, rightly cautioned that the county's efforts to acquire the property have already created public confusion about the county's priorities. "The perception, even though it's not true, is we're finding money for parks when we can't find it for sheriff's deputies," Johnson said.

From the outset, county officials have made it clear that most of the money for acquiring the Wildish site would have to come from outside the county - a cocktail of federal, state, local and private contributions. But inevitable confusion over the county's role would have undermined both the park acquisition effort and the county's plans for an income tax to replace lost federal funds.

By handing the negotiating baton to the Nature Conservancy, commissioners freed themselves to focus on the county's fiscal crisis without worrying about a potential conflict with a Wildish deal. They also engaged the services of a highly regarded land-protection organization that has an extraordinary record of success in putting together complex land transactions.

The Nature Conservancy has played a key role in such previous transactions as the protection of more than 1,000 acres of west Eugene wetlands. Last fall, the nonprofit organization coordinated the $7 million acquisition of 2,800 acres targeted for addition to the Upper Klamath Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

The Nature Conservancy is well equipped to deal with the challenging job of appraising the Wildish property and maneuvering a formidable maze of Measure 37 valuation issues. The organization also has proven adept in securing public and private contributions for land purchases and has won the trust of federal, state and local governments.

The hand-off needn't preclude a county role in the Wildish acquisition. With funding likely to come from sources ranging from the Oregon Parks Department to the Bonneville Power Administration to private individuals, the county may prove best suited, as the long-time steward of Buford Park, to provide coordinated management under an arrangement similar to the one under which the city of Eugene manages the west Eugene wetlands.

When - make that if - the county's fiscal situation stabilizes, it may even be in a position to become a minor partner in a Wildish land deal, possibly raising money through a bond levy or a systems development charge on new development. The county also retains the power of eminent domain, should public condemnation become a necessary course.

It will take time, perhaps a lot of it, for the Nature Conservancy to put together this deal. Patience will be essential. But the prize promises to be well worth the wait - a recreational jewel unrivaled anywhere in the state, and a dream that will be sweeter for the decades it took to become reality.