Liberty Matters News Service 

July 30, 2000

New FaxBack Number – 1-512-352-3030

With generous support from the American Land Foundation, we recently moved the Liberty Matters News Service and Faxback operations to our Texas office. The move will reduce expenses and give us increased capabilities to get more information into your hands. Please let us know if you experience any problems receiving your News Service by calling 1-800-847-0227, or faxing to 208-336-7054, or e-mailing to libertymatters@aol.com. Thanks for your patience.

H.R. 701- Referred to Two House Committees

H.R. 701, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, has been referred to both the House Agriculture and Budget Committees to determine if any of the $3 billion in CARA will affect other federal spending programs. It is crucial that you contact the Chairman, Ranking Minority Member and your Congressman if he is a member of either committee and let them know of your concerns for this bill. These committees can only "amend" or offer changes to the bill, but they can send it back to the House Resources Committee with "killer" amendments. For a list of members and their telephone numbers, order # 2005.

Forest Service Regs Circumvent Congress

In another blatant attack by the Clinton-Gore Administration, the Forest Service has proposed regulations that will change economic and recreational uses of the national forests and adversely impact private property rights and interests. The proposal establishes "ecological sustainability" as the sole criteria for forest planning, in clear violation of congressional mandates for multiple use. Under the proposal, forest supervisors are given total discretion to analyze all existing uses for compatibility with "ecological sustainability." If not compatible, the use will be restricted or terminated. The regulations claim an expansion of public involvement in the planning process, but in fact they hand unfettered discretion to the forest supervisors to decide when public input will be allowed. Statutorily mandated coordination with local government is replaced by "collaboration" with the general public. All these changes benefit the extremist environmentalists who want to close down the forests. Only Congress can halt the implementation of these regulations. Public comments must be postmarked by this Thursday, February 3rd. For the Forest Service address, order # 2001.

Clinton’s Liberal Legacy

Touting the Vice President’s "liberal" (Livability) Agenda during his State of the Union address, president Clinton reaffirmed his and Al’s desire to lock up this country from sea to shining sea. Earlier this month, following the advice of Bruce Babbitt, the President unilaterally placed millions of acres of the West under federal lock and key by invoking the 1906 Antiquities Act. Standing on the rim of the Grand Canyon and claiming the approval of the Almighty, Clinton announced the creation of the Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument, the Agua Fria National Monument (together over 1.7 million acres in Arizona) and the California Coastal National Monument (840 miles of California coast and thousands of islands). He also added 7,900 acres to the existing Pinnacles National Monument south of San Jose, CA. He made his announcement on January 11, 2000, ninety-two years to the day when Teddy Roosevelt first used the Antiquities Act to place the Grand Canyon under federal jurisdiction. Trying to appease irritated locals, Clinton said: "This is not about locking lands up, it is about freeing them up from the pressures of development and the threat of sprawl for all Americans, for all time." Order #’s 2002, 2003.

The Tennessee Plowboy Wants $1.3 Billion for Farm Programs

Vice President Gore last week announced another round of government spending programs, the latest carrying a price tag of $1.3 billion to encourage family farmers to invest their efforts into government approved environmental projects. Among the initiatives slated to receive funds are the Wetlands Reserve Program, whereby the government pays for 100 percent of wetland restoration costs and fair market value in return for permanent or 30 year easements. The Farmland Protection Program, part of Clinton’s Lands Legacy Initiative, provides matching funds, up to 50 percent of fair market value, to permanently protect farmland from urban and suburban sprawl. Order # 2004.