The Land Report

Spring 2017

The Magazine of the American Landowner is an essential guide for investors, landowners, and those interested in buying or selling land. The award-winning quarterly is known for its annual survey of America's largest landowners, The Land Report 100.

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S P R I N G 2 0 1 7 | The LandReport 71 LANDREPORT.COM THE BATTLE OF BOIS D'ARC CREEK W hen Harold "Thump" Witcher (above) mows a hayfield, cleans a fencerow, or feeds his cattle, he works land he may soon lose — not to a bank or to a buyer but to a certain vision of progress. In order to "ensure continued economic growth" of the Dallas–Fort Worth region, water developers want to build a major reservoir on a diminutive creek that flows along the eastern boundary of Thump's family lands. Thanks to their quasi-governmental status, they have every right to do so. If this dam is built, 16,641 acres of hardwood bottomland, upland forest, and excellent grazing and cropland, including all of Thump's property, will be drowned beneath the waters of Lower Bois d'Arc Creek Reservoir. And the kicker? To satisfy federal environmental requirements, a yet undetermined acreage – likely more than 15,000 acres – will also be acquired, improved, and managed in an attempt to mitigate the loss of superb wildlife habitat that Thump and his neighbors lost. by Henr y Chappell photo g raphy by Russell Graves "Thump" UNDER THE GUISE OF PROGRESS, EMINENT DOMAIN REARS ITS UGLY HEAD YET AGAIN.

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