Liberty Matters News Service

5/4/99

Senate Hearing on Land Acquisition Bill

Hearings will be held on the Senate counterpart to Don Young’s HR 701, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act of 1999 (S 25), in the Senate Energy and Natural Resource Committee Tuesday, May 4th at 9:30 am. This bill would place $2.1 billion off budget annually into the Land and Water Conservation Fund earmarking $620 million for federal and state land purchases and $1.16 billion in impact assistance for off-shore drilling. According to a story published in Greenwire April 21st, the National Parks and Conservation Association released a report claiming $4 to $6 billion were needed to repair and protect our current National Park System. Even the environmentalists agree the government is unable to maintain current federal land holdings and by their own report substantiate that the government has no business buying up more private lands. The current federal spending for maintenance and operations is currently estimated to be $12 billion according to Grover Norquist of Americans for Tax Reform and would increase dramatically if the land acquisition bill passes.

Nature, Not Pollution Deforms Frogs

For years, environmentalists have claimed that frog leg deformities were a result of man’s toxic pollutants and that the problem was growing into epidemic proportions. However, new research published in the journal Science, indicates that in fact the deformities may be the result of a simple parasite found in nature. Apparently, the tiny parasite worm bores into tadpoles rearranging the cells responsible for leg growth before they turn into frogs. Environmentalists have claimed pollution created the deformities in the frogs and that more worldwide malformations could be expected in other species, including humans. Typical of the environmental community they capitalize on scare tactics and ignore the facts in order to implement their political agenda. Hopefully, common sense and good science will shine the light on other subjects like this before we lose all our freedoms.

Radical (terrorist) Wing of Sierra Club to Take Over

According to a Conservation News report as a result of last week’s elections, the radical "John Muir" wing of the Sierra Club is expected to take over the organization in June. A likely candidate for president of the group is David Brower, long known for his radical views concerning environmental protection. This follows Dave Foreman’s election to the board previously, Foreman is the founder of Earth First and advocated destruction of property and violent acts to further the green agenda. This faction is opposed to logging, mining, well drilling and any form of the internal combustion engine. Expect the rhetoric and green intimidation to heat up.

Wetlands Figures All Wet

A General Accounting Office (RCED-98-150) report released last year admits that the U.S. Government really has no accurate idea as to how many wetland areas there are, nor whether they are expanding or diminishing. The report identified that at least 36 agencies were involved in wetlands related activities and total expenditures varied from $508 million in 1990 to $787 million in 1997. Staffing dedicated to these activities ranged from 3271 full-time staff years in 1993 to 4308 in 1997. After all this money and effort the report concluded, "the consistency and reliability of wetlands acreage data reported by the federal agencies are questionable." Faxback Doc. 402

Field Hearing on HR 883 Held Saturday in Missouri

The House Resource Committee held field hearings in Rolla, Missouri this past Saturday on the American Land Sovereignty Protection Act. The bill would require prior congressional approval before any designation of U.S. lands can be made under the UN Man and Biosphere program, RAMSAR Wetlands, or World Heritage sites. The highlight of the hearing was the testimony of Mary Denham of Take Back Arkansas. Denham outlined the process and grassroots action that ultimately defeated the designation of the Ozark Highlands Man & Biosphere Reserve. HR 883 has been introduced in the Senate by Sen. Ben Whitehorse Campbell as S. 510 Faxback Docs. 403, 404