MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Patagonia: free access to rivers and lakes or expropriation

Ted Turner in one of his ranchers

Argentine Patagonia Nahuel Huapi National Park administrators have started expropriation proceedings against landowners, among them US media tycoon Ted Turner. Landowners have consistently refused free public access to rivers and lakes, park sources said.

Nahuel Huapi Park legal adviser Jorge Olguín said the agency managed to create more than a dozen access ways, for both pedestrians and drivers, to the shores of the Limay river, between Bariloche and Confluencia Traful â€" 66km north of that city, as some landowners had denied people the right to go through their lands to reach the rivers. "In those cases we have started expropriation proceedings," Olguín said, pointing out that this was a long and difficult process that, among other things, requires new national legislation. He went on to confirm that, in spite of the difficulties, the National Park would proceed "with firmness and without delay due to the consensus on free access to the country's shoreline." About Ted Turner's property "La Primavera" he said "several alternatives" were available. "One is fully expropriating the eastern shore of Lake Traful, the source of the river of the same name, which the local community has been seeking access to, and which the owner has always denied". The place in question is regarded as particularly attractive both for its natural beauty and for its wealth of fish life. However, access has been restricted since Turner bought the property ten years ago, raising complaints from visitors, who were not able to enjoy some of Argentina's most famous tourist locations. Expropriation proceedings have also started against landowners who deny access to several sections of the Limay River in the Valle Encantado region. The Nahuel Huapi National Park, meanwhile, has distributed a leaflet informing the public that access is now possible