$6 Million Marshland

Memo to Maryland's public officials: The next time you're planning to protect some land from developers, you should ask two questions before you buy it:

1. Are we being overcharged?

2. Is there any chance anyone is actually going to develop this land in the first place?

To see what happens when you neglect such queries, read this exposé by the Baltimore Sun's Rona Kobell. (Full disclosure: That's my wife.)