In the state of Missouri, the Missouri Conservation Commission and all of its offices reserves the right of " eminent domain" , which means, they can and will regulate or aquire any property, public or private, for how they see fit, under the law of the highway commision.

In other words, if you own 640 acres of property in Missouri, and the MDC decides they need that property for a wildlife refuge, public hunting or fishing property, ect., they pay you fair market price and aquire the property, whether you like it or not. Just the same as many states have new highways going thru private property and the land owners have no choice but to let them.

Now, the chances are very remote that they will do this, but they can if they see fit. I have never personally ever heard of anything that drastic, and I agree with most of the things the MDC does for this state. That is why they are considered a leader in conservation efforts for the U.S., with a good many more states following their lead. The only thing remotely close to hearing about this is a piece of property that was being bid on next to a wildlife refuge (across a 2 lane blacktop) and several people were planning on bidding on said property in an auction. The MDC came in and bought the property.

Keep you head up, there is more property to be found elsewhere. I thought the same thing about 10 years ago when I lost the rights to a goldmine of a property by way of the death of the owner, and the insuing legal battle to sell the place by his surviving niece and nephew. Then I kept banging on doors, inching my way in by help around a place, or starting out slow by asking permission to hunt in the spring for turkeys with a bow. That is my favorite way of getting a property. It seems that most owners are not so shy of the bow in the spring and tend to think it is more harmless and safe than asking to hunt with a rifle or gun. I did this for 2 or 3 years, then gradually worked my way , little by little, into rifle hunting once the owner seen that I was responsible hunter. Helping out free of charge around the farm is another ticket of success, whether it be clearing brush, mending fence, feeding livestock, ect. I now have about 1800 acres to myself and no one else, to hunt on in several different places by doing this very thing. And the only cost it is to me is the processing of a deer to give some meat to the land owners, and a little elbow grease.