BUYING OUTDOOR PLACES TO GO

JEFFERSON CITY -- Missourians have spent $188 million since 1977 to buy themselves an outdoor place to go.

The Conservation Department has summarized its land purchases over the past 13 years, since the one-eighth cent sales tax for conservation passed in 1976, and went into effect.

The total is $188,550,069 for 288,782 acres in 838 tracts at an average cost of $653 per acre.

More money has gone to wildlife areas than to any other $81.7 million for 251 areas. But the Fisheries Division has bought more tracts, 290, for $46.3 million (many fisheries areas are small in size, like a river access). Forestry has bought 168 areas for $41 million and Natural History 122 areas for $13.6 million.

Of the total areas bought, 301 are within 50 miles of a population center (St. Louis, Kansas City, Springfield, Joplin, St. Joseph, central Missouri and Cape Girardeau).

The Department has bought 48 areas near St. Louis totaling 35,614 acres for $28.6 million. The total is 50 areas near Kansas City totalling 29,896 acres for $24.6 million.

There are 48 new areas near Springfield, totaling 28,558 acres, which cost $15.9 million. The Joplin area totals are 38 areas, 23,696 acres for $13.9 million. St. Joseph area residents have 47 new areas totaling 29,021 acres which cost $24 million.

In central Missouri, there are 42 new areas with a total of 30,851 acres that cost $20.9 million, and around Cape Girardeau, there are 26 areas of 34,227 acres that cost $20.7 million.

About three-fifths of Missouri's population lives within 50 miles of either St. Louis (1.8 million), Kansas City (about 900,000) or Springfield (nearly 400,000).

The highest number of areas bought was in 1983-84 at 111 (that totaled 33,269, also the most acres in a year). The next year, 1984-85 saw the lowest number of areas, 33, bought.

The average cost-per-acre of all the purchases since 1977 is $653. That ranges from a high of $943 in 1989-90 to a low of $403 per acre in 1987-88.

In 1981-82, the Department had its highest land purchase total of $19.9 million.The lowest outlay came in 1987-88 at $8.9 million.