I. The department is authorized to purchase, receive or exchange, with consent of the governor and council, lands or interests in lands for use as reservations and to make provisions for their management.
II. If the department cannot agree with the owners as to the price of a reservation to be used for public recreational or park purposes, it may condemn the same under the power of eminent domain, and the value shall be determined upon petition to the superior court as in the case of lands taken for highways.
III. On the payment of the value as finally determined, the title to the land so taken shall vest in the state and be forever held for the purposes of a reservation, and the tract shall at all times be open to the use of the public.
Source. 1995, 299:1, eff. Jan. 1, 1996.