Description: With the billions of dollars of state funds spent in recent years or available for expenditure (from existing bond funds) for land acquisitions for resource conservation purposes, it is important that the purchase price of these acquisitions be supported by a sound appraisal process. However, our review found that the quality and objectivity of state resource-related appraisals are impeded by both a lack of comprehensive standards and insufficient independence of the appraisal function from the land-acquiring agencies. We also found that limits on the public disclosure of appraisal-related information make public and legislative oversight of resource acquisitions difficult. In this report, we make several recommendations to improve the appraisal function for resource acquisitions, ultimately to protect taxpayers from being overcharged in these transactions.