April 20, 1998 Volume II, Issue 7

Within 24 hours of last Thursday’s request by Liberty Matters, Competitive Enterprise Institute and American Land Foundation, 106 organizations and more than 150 individuals responded nationwide (and they’re still coming in!) to help stop the Central Texas Rare Species Conservation Plan (Plan). The Plan adopts one of Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt’s federal land use schemes known as "Safe Harbor." It will lock up over one million acres of private property in a 49 county area in Central and West Texas for two alleged endangered birds and several plants. "Voluntary," "suitable" and "potential" habitat for the two birds will be delineated on maps created by the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department (TPWD) instigating federal enforcement of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) in a state with over 95 percent privately owned property. The Plan will initiate federal land use controls over a 23 million-acre area in Texas where U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will deputize the state TPWD to become their agent and enforcer of the ESA. You still have time to get your organization and name on the letter opposing this effort by ordering Faxback doc. 1803 alert,  270 briefing paper,  274 copy of letter

After several months delay, President Clinton has quietly issued an executive order establishing the 12 member American Heritage Rivers Initiative Advisory Committee. The panel will pick 20 rivers from the list of 160 nominations received, 10 of which will be designated this year. In contrast to the Sept 11, 1997 media blitz which accompanied that Executive Order establishing the program, this Order appeared only on the White House Website. No spokesperson was available to answer questions from the media. To date, hundreds of elected government officials {local, state and federal} have opted out their areas, with more coming in every week. For background and opt-out information order Faxback Docs. 250 Listof Non-inclusion Resolutions 

Environmentalists struck a deal with the USFS last week that results in several New Mexico ranchers being forced to fence out their cattle from the streams on over 60 grazing allotments. The agreement came after a federal Judge rejected an offer that would have affected over 100 allotments. The environmentalists claim that the deal will help protect several species they consider endangered. Opponents of the deal claim the Forest Service has not performed the necessary studies to determine if cattle are negatively impacting any species. The New Mexico Cattle Growers filed a motion to block the agreement last Thursday. In the meantime, the Forest Service is preparing to honor the deal and has indicated that the ranchers will have to shoulder at least some of the expense of building the fence. Sounds a lot like being forced to dig your own grave. Since surface water is so scarce in the region, cutting off the cattle’s water sources could force many of the ranchers out of business. But then, it’s no secret that’s what the environmentalists had in mind all along. UPDATE Articles 272    273

On April 17-19, 1998 the Liberty Matters Website www.libertymatters.org was noted by ESR, the Journal of Modern Conservatism as Conservative site of the day. The site experienced 50,047 hits last month and will exceed 60,000 for April. Please let us know what you think about our internet site and how we can improve it to better suit your needs. 

The latest edition of the Liberty Matters Journal was mailed last week. This issue recaptures the courage of George Washington and also features a personal interview with Congressman Helen Chenoweth, articles on The Wildlands Project, The Bricker Amendment, the Dolan Victory, the 1998 Legislative Outlook and much more. If you haven’t subscribed to the Journal call us today at 1-800-847-0227. Subscriptions are $25 dollars a year and include a year's membership with Liberty Matters.