Opinion ID: 1323824
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 20

Heading: $30 Million Outlay

Text: E. M. Olliver, supervisor of the Forest Service in Elkins, said the federal government has plans to develop the entire area for recreation and tourism at a total estimated cost of $30 million, and work on it already is under way. The development plan was completed in March, 1965 for presentation to Congress, after months of work on it by the Forest Service. One month earlier, on Feb. 25, 1965, Selmet Properties was incorporated in New York by Jerome L. Grometstein, a New York Attorney who certified the office of the corporation was to be located in the city of New York. A bill authorizing the project was introduced in Congress in April and passed in September, 1965. On March 12, 1966, Selmet bought approximately 2,900 acres from Henry Regnery and his (See SPROUSE, pg. 11, Col. 1) [At the top of Page 11 above the continuation of the story the following headline appeared in normal size headline type and extending across six columns:] Sprouse Owns Choice Land Beside $30 Million U. S. Resort [Beneath the headline and also covering six columns appeared a reproducton of a map showing the general area where the land was located, beneath which appeared the following caption:] This is a map of the area where the federal government has plans to spend $30 million developing one of the major tourist attractions of the Eastern United States. A New York corporation headed by Democratic gubernatorial nominee James M. Sprouse owns some choice land in the area as shown by the heavy arrow between the community of Riverton and the road leading to Spruce Knob, the highest point in West Virginia. The knob and Seneca Rocks, a few miles from the corporation holdings, will be the chief attractions, but others are shown in this map prepared by the U. S. Forest Service, which will operate the recreation area in the Monongahela National Forest. [Beneath the map and caption appeared the following two-column headline in oversize type:] Continued SPROUSE PENDLETON BONANZA DISCLOSED [Thereafter appeared the continuation of the story from the front page as follows:] wife for $134,620 and paid cash for it according to the deed on record in the Pendleton County courthouse. Between May 6 and June 7, 1966, Selmet conveyed seven parcels to various individuals for $67,932.75, with all of the deeds signed by Sprouse as president of the corporation. Much of the property was sold for $1,000 an acre in the bottomland of the North Fork of the South Branch of the Potomac River and U. S. Route 33, a main traffic artery between the two great natural attractions. More than two months after it started selling property, Selmet registered in the office of the West Virginia secretary of state, required of foreign corporations before they can own property or do business in West Virginia according to the law. Sprouse signed as president and Hedrick as secretary-treasurer, and stated Selmet owned 1,600 acres of land worth $75,000, as of Aug. 25, 1966.