The assistant secretary for real estate in the Maryland General Services Department who approved a controversial land appraisal for a Kent Island Open Space acquisition was fired last week, the day after his published comments suggesting his office might have tried to negotiate a lower price.

Assistant secretary Nelson Reichart, who had been in the post four years and is 13 months shy of a more generous 30-year pension from state government, was fired from his post by General Services Secretary Alvin Collins on June 29.