Huntington Herald-Dispatch – A finding nearly four decades ago that West Virginia’s biggest landowners are headquartered out of state remains true today, according to a study released Monday by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy. Read
The report, “Who Owns West Virginia in the 21st Century?,” is coauthored by the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy and the American Friends Service Committee.
Comparing data with 2011 state tax records, researchers re-examined the 1974 reports of Tom Miller, a longtime reporter for The Herald-Dispatch. Other than a surprising shift — now out-of-state timber management companies dominate, rather than coal companies — the researchers found that the same trend remains true. Not one of the state’s top 10 private landowners is headquartered in West Virginia.