Keep eyes on the prize.

Byline: The Register-Guard

As controversy and debate over Measure 37 swirls in the wake of last week's tsunami of claims, Lane County officials must stay focused on the decades-old dream of making the Wildish Land Co.'s 1,200 acres along the Middle Fork of the Willamette River part of the adjoining Howard Buford Recreation Area.

Land use planning advocates were understandably upset with Lane County commissioners' 4-1 vote Wednesday to approve Wildish's claim, which seeks the right to build a 408-unit subdivision on riverfront property that has been restricted to mining, logging and agriculture since the 1970s.

Measure 37 allows property owners to demand compensation for losses in property value caused by land use restrictions imposed after their properties were purchased. It remains unclear how the forest, farm use and mining zonings imposed by the county reduced the value of property that Wildish for decades has used intensively for those very purposes.

Even if commissioners were swayed by Wildish's argument that the zoning prevented the company from later converting the site to other uses, they should have challenged Wildish's appraisal of the property's "fair market value" at $15.6 million.

As Oregon State University economist William Jaeger notes in an article in today's Commentary section, the use of standard appraisal methods to determine a property's reduction in value due to regulation can produce misleading and incorrect values. County officials should have done a more thorough job of questioning Wildish's appraisal and the methodology used to make it.

Now, county officials must focus on the critical challenge of reaching agreement with Wildish to buy the land for use as a public park. With the county's decision to grant the company's Measure 37 claim, the stakes have become immense: Either the county will achieve the long-cherished goal of adding the Wildish property to Buford park, creating a nearly 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 - or Wildish will proceed with plans to plop a large subdivision next to the iconic and much-beloved Mount Pisgah.

County officials certainly didn't enhance their negotiating position by approving Wildish's Measure 37 claim. But they didn't necessarily weaken it, either.

Land use planning advocates argued last week that the decision to approve Wildish's waiver request puts extra pressure on the county to buy the land at the company's $26 million asking price in order to protect it from imminent development.

But county board Chairman Bill Dwyer rightly noted that the county "has the last say in this thing" and that commissioners can ultimately exercise the county's power of eminent domain to condemn the Wildish property if they choose.

Once the smoke from that warning shot has cleared from Wildish's bow, county officials should get back to the task of working out an agreement to buy the site. That will require lining up the long list of public and private sector partners needed to pull off this momentous task.

At the top of that list should be the Oregon Parks Department, which has funds available for parks acquisitions thanks to voters' approval of a 1998 ballot measure that dedicated a portion of state lottery revenues for the purpose. More than three decades ago, the state Legislature authorized the purchase of Coast Fork and Middle Fork property as part of the Willamette Greenway. When the allocated funds proved sufficient to purchase only the Buford park property, it was assumed the Wildish parcel would be added later.

The time has arrived to acquire the Wildish property and to create a recreational jewel unrivaled anywhere in the state.

County officials must stay firmly focused on this task - and on doing whatever it takes to ensure that this extraordinary opportunity does not slip through their fingers.