Liberty Matters News Service
August 14, 2001
U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service Backs Off
Over
a year ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the
expansion of one of their Wildlife Refuges by 34,000 acres (it later
became 80,000 acres). They
didn’t ask, they just told over 200 families that their land was being
considered to expand the national wildlife refuge system, but that they
would only purchase from “willing sellers.”
To FWS’s dismay, no one wanted to sell.
Lead by the American Land Foundation, every landowner within the
expansion area, save one, signed a letter to then Secretary of Interior
Bruce Babbitt, telling him they weren’t interested in selling their
land. After no response, a
second letter was sent demanding the boundary of the expansion be
withdrawn because it created an encumbrance to the title of everyone’s
land. Still no response.
Finally, after the appointment of a new Secretary and the help of
Texas’ Commissioner of Agriculture Susan Combs, U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service has backed off. In
a letter from the FWS, it states that “[B]ecause you are unwilling to
sell your property to the Service, we will not contact you about selling
your property or pursue any other means to acquire your property, unless
you offer it for sale…[and]…private land remains in the full control
of the owner…” Needless
to say, hundreds of letters are pouring into FWS’s office.
Letter
to Landowners from FWS
Letter
to Commissioner, Texas Dept. of Agriculture from FWS
Endangered
Humans Act
The Washington Times
is calling for an Endangered Humans Act, lashing out at federal
bureaucrats for placing a higher value on the lives of endangered
species than of their fellow man. Four
young firefighters died because Forest Service officials feared
repercussions from environmentalists if they took water from an
endangered species river. For over nine hours the fire fighters pleaded
for water while the Forest Service debated if they could use it.
“The local officials involved at best weighed the lives of
humans against those of fish, and at worst, weighed the cost of a
lawsuit against saving human lives….how devoid of human decency and
pathos…..were the bureaucratic machinations that caused the
firefighters to burn to death.” The
Times calls the Endangered Species Act, an anachronism that has
been the cause of increased mega-forest fires, in the first place and
concludes the “robotic bureaucrats” obviously need new legislation
allowing them to save human lives.
Institute
an Endangered Humans Act
Bush
Backs 10-Year Plan to Fight Wildfires
Federal
Land Closed to the Public
Take heed, National Rifle
Association. Federal
bureaucrats of the Arizona Tonto National Forest have announced closure
of 80,000 acres of the forest to public outdoor marksmanship practice.
Officials had assured interested citizens that there was no
blanket closure planned, but few were surprised that total closure was
the plan from the outset. The
feds claimed the closure was necessary because of hundreds of acts of
criminal conduct, although they were unable to produce proof of arrests
or disciplinary actions. Tonto
officials claimed they had insufficient personal to enforce the shooting
rules, but now they are poised to add more agents to enforce the new
land closures. This should be a warning to NRA and other sports and
recreation groups who support CARA as a means to expand their outdoor
sporting opportunities. Adoption
of CARA will not guarantee more freedom, but less.
Forest
Closures Planned, Executed
Claims
Court Says Congress Violated Fifth
In 1997, Congress singled
out the owners of the fishing vessel, Atlantic Star, for financial ruin.
The owners relied on information from the U.S. International
Trade Commission that indicated large vessels like the Atlantic Star
could efficiently harvest abundant quantities of mackerel and herring to
improve the competitive fish market.
The owners of small vessels objected to the competition and urged
congress to legislate her out of business, which they did by limiting
vessel size. The U.S. Court
of Claims has ruled on the side of the “Star’s” owners, saying the
huge investment of work and millions of dollars was made, “virtually
at government invitation.” The
court decided that Congress violated the Fifth Amendment, by
deliberately putting the Atlantic Star out of business.
Then-Sen. John Ashcroft wrote in 1998 that the action “raises a
serious question of taking property under the Fifth Amendment of the
U.S. Constitution.” In
the decision, Judge Eric Bruggink wrote that the government’s action
“took plaintiff’s property interest in the use of its vessel.”
Congressional Expropriation