Whitlow

Included in 82 and a fraction acres of defendants’ (Whitlows’) lands condemned by the state were 37.55 acres already under lease to the state. The jury found the fair market value of all land taken to be $67,110 with no severance damages to adjoining land not taken; it also found $12,034 as the value of the leasehold interests already owned by the state, leaving a net recoverable sum of $55,076. The Whitlows’ appeal raises this contention: Nothing should have been deducted from the state’s leasehold interests which (appellants urge) became “merged with the fee” at the time of the filing of the complaint. Assuming arguendo that the leasehold values can be considered at all, the Whitlows also contend: Optional extension periods in the state leases should not have been considered, and an improper method of valuing the leasehold interests was adopted. They further contend: State appraisal witnesses were improperly allowed to adopt “speculation” as the highest and best use of the property in their evaluations.

We uphold the trial court’s judgment against all the above contentions.

The subject property, generally classified as “cut-over” timber lands with some small fir and pine trees…