First of all, there is no greater good than the preservation and protection of natural systems*, so it doesn't matter how much federal and state money it takes to do so. *Be certain to read Thomas Friedman's op-ed piece today.

In reality, the only public money used to purchase the land is from BPA which contributed to the cost as mitigation for environmental damage caused by its power generating operations. The labor to restore the confluence is provided by The Nature Conservancy, Buford Park staff, and many, many, many volunteer hours for which we are all very grateful.