February 9, 1998--Volume II, Issue 2

On December 23, 1997, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in a move that could prove a benchmark in all future wetlands cases, overturned the conviction of James Wilson for filling a wetland. The Appeals Court found that the Army Corps of Engineers definition of "waters of the United States" is unauthorized by the Clean Water Act as limited by the Commerce Clause [of the Constitution] and thereby exceeded constitutional authority. Additionally, the court found that the District Court failed to instruct the jury that it must find Mr. Wilson had knowledge of each essential element of the alleged violation of the Clean Water Act. If the District Courts standard of burden of proof had held, the government would not have had to prove knowledge or intent to get a conviction. Using that scenario, just about every backyard gardener could have wound up in federal prison. Faxback doc. 222 (court ruling 11p)

The Forest Service recently announced there would be a moratorium suspending all road construction in roadless sections and other "special areas" in the National Forest System for the next 18 months. Eliminating access to these areas shuts out all natural resource industries and recreational groups. Early estimations indicate the policy could triple the amount of wilderness in the Forest System while the timber industry will loose an estimated 800 million in timber sales scheduled in roadless areas for 1998 – 1999 alone. Previously roaded areas will also be affected as the rule also applies to other "special areas" which have been determined by the Regional Forester to have "unique ecological or social values." Eliminating access combined with the push for ecosystem management, sustainable development, and the elimination of property rights, is a clear indication this policy is paving the way for "The Wildlands Project." Comments must be made by February 27th to the Director of Ecosystem Management Coordination Staff, Mail Stop 1104, Forest Service USDA, PO Box 96090, Washington D.C. 20090-6090. Faxback docs. 223, 225

The Endangered Species Act has "made life miserable for scores of bureaucrats as well as the ranching, timber and real estate interests" reports a Washington Post story dated February 1. Referring to how the ESA is being abused by environmental organizations, it was reported that the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity launched a full scale legal war against federal agencies to protect 66 species on 21 million acres of land in Arizona and New Mexico. Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Center said grazing "just doesn’t belong in the Southwest…Yes, we are destroying a way of life that goes back 100 years. But it’s a way of life that is one of the most destructive in our country. Ranching is one of the most nihilistic life styles this planet has ever seen. It should end. Good riddance." Senator Kempthorne has been touting his ESA reform bill as good for landowners pointing to the many new "incentive" programs he’s created, but just compensation is still not one of them. When will Washington learn, we don’t need more bureaucracy, we need property rights protection. Faxback doc. 224 (promo for S1180)

The administration, not content with already owning 40% of America’s land, has listed 100 high priority purchases to be made with $328 million in special funds appropriated in last years budget agreement. The list was presented to Congress in a letter with the 1999 budget, along with a request for another $290 million in land purchases for the coming fiscal year. Among the goodie list is $15.1 million for more lands along the Appalachian Trail, $13 million for a "safety zone" for Yellowstone National Park’s Bison herds, $86 million for the destruction and removal of a dam on Washington State’s Elwha river and $11.1 million to dispossess private landowners in a number of Civil War Battlefields.