Katherine Strasburg - Page 16




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               In Wheeler's 1998 report, he did not discuss why the market            
          in Sweet Grass County, especially along the Boulder River, was              
          not a "high-end development" market.  In Wheeler's 1993 report,             
          he stated that rural land located along the Boulder River in the            
          area surrounding petitioner's property is "rarely exposed to the            
          market."  He went on to state that the area surrounding                     
          petitioner's property was "influenced by the recreational                   
          amenities of the Boulder and Yellowstone Rivers and the Absaroka            
          and Beartooth Mountain ranges which are located directly south of           
          the subject."  Finally, Wheeler stated:  "Small-scale subdivision           
          has taken place along the Yellowstone and Boulder Rivers, and the           
          area is attracting national attention due to land purchases by              
          celebrities and investors who are buying smaller ranch retreats             
          in the area."                                                               
               Given the limited amount of river frontage property in Sweet           
          Grass County and its apparent recreational attractiveness to                
          investors, petitioner's property certainly can be said to be in a           
          high-end development market as that term was used by Wheeler.               
          Accordingly, Wheeler's omission of recent comparable sales from             
          other high-end development markets is questionable.                         
               Additionally, Wheeler stated in his 1998 report that if an             
          "Appraiser was analyzing a conservation easement on a property in           
          Jackson Hole [one of the high end development markets] * * *                
          easement encumbered sales in the direct area would be                       






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