Liberty Matters News Service
June 19, 2001
CARA
Hearing
The
House Resources Committee is scheduled to take up the controversial H.R.
701, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act, June 20th, that
would put over $3 billion of offshore oil and gas receipts into
conservation and acquisition programs.
Private property owners have virtually been left out of the
hearing process and only those that support the bill are testifying.
The bill creates environmental entitlements for federal and state
acquisition of private property. If
you have a congressman on the Resources Committee, call them this week
to voice your opinion. We
must stop CARA again. Remind
them that environmentalism is no excuse to convert our nation to a
socialistic state where government owns, controls and directs our land
and our people. Call (800)
648 2516 or (202) 225-3121 to call any Congressman at the Capitol
Switchboard.
Resource
Committee Members
By
some accounts, an estimated 3,000 people turned out June 16th
for the congressional field hearing led by Representative Richard Pombo
(R-CA) on the federal cut off of water in Klamath Basin Oregon.
The US Bureau of Reclamation decided to shut off irrigation water
to over 1500 Oregon farmers last April to increase stream flow for the
suckerfish and coho salmon protected under the Endangered Species Act.
The hearing took a political twist when the Democrats in the
district where the meeting was held pulled a no-show.
This lead the Republicans to accuse them of being “much like
the arrogant French royalty centuries ago, [the] congressional
Democrats’ message to Oregon farmers is let them drink dirt.”
Biologist Dave Vogel was asked what was the most serious flaw in
the decision to shut off the water, Vogel responded, “The single
minded approach that more water is always better for fish.
And it’s not.”
Glimmer
of Hope for Endangered Farmers and Their Communities
The
“greens” are blaming President Bush for a moratorium on listing new
endangered species and are livid over the proposed restrictions on
“citizen lawsuits.” They
have conveniently forgotten that the moratorium is a holdover from the
Clinton administration. Interior
Secretary Norton says her agency can do nothing to help so-called
endangered species because of the avalanche of lawsuits, filed not by
citizens, but by two radical environmental groups: Earth Justice and The
Center for Biological Diversity. Kieran
Suckling, the Center’s leader, says the suits are necessary to
“save” critters and plants. The
Center has done its part by filing a “citizen lawsuit” every 32 days
for five years, not to save species, say critics, “but to reshape
society, stop growth, and promote its anti-human agenda.”
These are also the groups that have the two-dozen citizen
lawsuits demanding the FWS designate over 80 million acres as critical
habitat.
Greens
Angry With Moratorium on Listing of New Endangered Species (pdf)
Former
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt has launched a lucrative new career as
land broker for the wealthy who want to develop their property while
stifling criticism from environmental watchdogs.
Babbitt has been hired by the Hearst Corporation to help put
together a $200 million-plus development of parts of the 18 mile, 83,000
acre corporate ranch in San Simeon, California.
He has also been hired by Washington Mutual Inc., to help
convince critics, who have stalled the company’s 3,050 homebuilding
project in Ventura County, to surrender peacefully and let the project
proceed. This battle has
been going on since 1992. Babbitt
was Secretary of Interior all that time, but did nothing.
Now, he will, no doubt, be amply rewarded if he is able to make
the objections to their projects disappear.
Babbitt had nothing to say about his latest hypocrisy.
First
Ann Richards Now Babbitt;;
Babbitt's
About-Face
And
in the Developer's Corner: Babbit
(pdf)
Rails-to-Trails
Victory
In
a precedent-setting case, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal
Circuit ruled on May 23rd that the government must pay a
Burlington, Vermont couple $234,000 plus fifteen years worth of interest
– more than double the award – for a 500-foot strip of land taken
for a bike trail. They also
can apply for attorney’s fees and expenses.
Paul and Patricia Preseault have been in court for almost two
decades fighting the government for the illegal taking.
The case was actually heard by the U.S. Supreme Court that said
the federal rails-to-trails legislation did not violate the
Constitution, but also said the Preseaults may be entitled to
compensation under the Fifth Amendment.
The Preseaults then filed a claim in the US Court of Federal
Claims, which was denied, but later prevailed in their appeal. According
to the attorneys for the Preseaults this is the first ever damage award
against the United States for property converted from rails to trails.
Congratulations to the Preseaults and The Ackerson Group who represented
the family.
Government to Pay Landowners for "Trail Taking"