Liberty Matters News Service
April 2 , 2003
Alert:
Faith Based Initiative Headed To Senate Floor
D.C.
insiders warn that S. 476, the CARE Act of 2003 also know as the
President’s Faith Based Initiative, which contains the tax favoritism
provisions for environmental groups, could be voted on the Senate Floor
any day. Sections 106 and
107 of S. 476 provide a 25% reduction in capital gains to landowners who
sell property to non-government organizations or federal agencies for
the purpose of conservation.
The Nature Conservancy and other land control organizations would
gain advantage over private sector buyers, as well as churches, private
schools and social service agencies.
The provisions offer unfair advantage to environmental groups
because sales to private interests would not be eligible for the tax
savings. Contact
your Senators immediately and request Sections 106 and 107 be stricken
from S. 476. You can obtain
a sample letter to e-mail at www.PropertyRights.Org
under “Take Action.” Environmental
groups must not receive special tax benefits at the expense of genuine
faith-based organizations. Also,
call the Capitol Switchboard (202) 224-3121 and ask for your senators’
offices. Temporary
toll-free numbers are: (800) 648-3516 or (877) 762-8762.
CARE
Alert 2003 Letter
S 476, CARE
Act Of 2003 – Sections 106 And 107
Epidemic
Of Conservation Easements
Conservation
easements are rapidly becoming a major method of land control across the
nation. The Gallatin County
Montana commissioners recently approved spending $350,000 in bond money
to buy a conservation easement on 1,500 acres of the Wally Brown farm.
The deal turns on the availability of federal grant money to
complete the $1.4 million transaction.
A Kendall County, Texas man has placed his entire 120 acres in a
conservation easement to protect it from development.
And Art Wilson, a neighbor and board member of the Cibolo
Conservancy, hopes to educate landowners in neighboring counties of
Comal, Bexar, and Guadalupe Counties to do the same.
The Texas Legislature is considering a bill to create the Texas
Legacy Council to encourage landowners to sell their development rights
to non-governmental organizations.
In Nevada, a Douglas County commissioner has decided to enlist
the help of Interior Secretary Norton to preserve working ranches in the
Carson Valley. Jacques
Etchegyhen, who is also Nevada director of the American Land
Conservancy, has had his plans rebuffed over the last five years and now
wants to persuade Sec. Norton to supply funding for the easements
through a land act. He
reasons, that it is the logical method to preserve private land in a
state that is already 87% federally owned.
Colorado lawmakers last week approved legislation to include
water rights in conservation easement plans.
H.B. 1008 will extend state income tax credits to the value of
any water rights included in the easements.
The California Chapter of the American Farmland Trust is working
to preserve farmland by buying the development rights. The
Trust claims 50,000 acres of farmland are lost to development each year
and are paying landowners to relinquish their rights to sell to the
highest bidder. The
California Farmland Conservancy Program has “preserved” 21,000 acres
in the state since its inception in 1996.
Conservation easements create perpetual contracts on private
property that can be transferred to a government entity which becomes
the managing partner in that land.
For more information on the dangerous impact of conservation
easements, go to PropertyRights.org.
Conservancy Helps Preserve
Farmlands
Farmers Sign Up
Group Working To Save Texas
Land
Not
Even In Time Of War
The
president’s Homeland Security plan is designed to protect U.S.
citizens from every act of terror with the exception of rigid and
ridiculous environmental laws. The
Armed Forces of the United States are not allowed to conduct training
missions on large parts of their bases because they must not bother
endangered plants or animals.
Consider this: 72%
of Fort Lewis in Washington state is restricted to troops because it is
‘critical habitat’ for the Northern Spotted Owl – though none live
on the base; 22,000 acres
of California’s Fort Irwin are largely unusable because of the Desert
Tortoise; 77% of Fort Hood
in Texas is restricted at some time during the year because of species
and cultural artifacts. A
General Accounting Office report says that the situation is becoming so
serious that it “limits [military] units’ ability to train as they
would expect to fight.” The
Pentagon has asked Congress to relax environmental rules and limit
lawsuits that interfere with military training, but the greens are
unwilling to budge. The
Natural Resources Defense Council and others deny there is a military
readiness problem and Michigan Democrats Carl Levin and John Dingell are
obstructing the common sense proposals, labeled by Dingell as
“despicable.” The only
things we find “despicable” are lawmakers and environmentalists that
stand in the way of our nation’s security.
Birds
And Warriors
“Thirty
years from now, someone will look back and see I voted for a salamander
crossing. They won’t
remember anything else, but they’ll remember that,” said Homewood,
Alabama City Councilman Walter Jones of his vote to place salamander
crossing signs on a road that salamanders use on the way to their mating
grounds. The slimy guys are
not endangered and their range extends from Canada to Mississippi.
They are colorful, sporting suits of black with scattered orange
or yellow spots and their diet consists of worms, which must be
plentiful, for the amphibians can grow to nine inches in length.
What a waste of tax-payer dollars.
Salamander
Crossing Signs