Liberty
Matters News Service
March 4, 2004
Anti-sprawl Measure Defeated for Second Time
A land-use control measure
went down to defeat for the second time in five years in one of California's
most populated areas. San Diego County voters, Tuesday, turned down the Rural
Lands Initiative that was patterned after Portland, Oregon's thirty-year ban on
growth. Proposition 'A' would have restricted development on nearly 700,000
acres of rolling hills and farmland by establishing minimum lot sizes of 40, 80
and 160 acres. The measure was supported by environmentalists who believe
government should dictate how private property is used. Farmers and landowners,
however, have a different view. "Rural people want to have control of their
land," said Janet Kister, president of the San Diego Farm Bureau. The Board of
Supervisors feared Prop. A would derail the county's overhaul of its long range
growth plan, one that has had considerable input from unincorporated areas.
Environmentalists who authored Proposition A said they did not trust county
supervisors (elected representatives) to sensitively manage growth in the
backcountry.
Back Country Initiative Takes a
Drubbing
No Barge Traffic on Missouri River This Season
Barge operators have decided it is not feasible to travel up the Missouri to
carry their usual cargoes for farmers and other customers this year. The
decision was based on a December 2003 announcement that U.S. Fish &
Wildlife biologists recommended raising spring flows and reducing summer water
flows in the Missouri to accommodate endangered species. However, in February,
the U. S. Corps of Engineers rejected the flow changes but, in its place,
called for leaving more water in upstream reservoirs during drought situations.
The change of plans came too late for Sioux City, Iowa terminals. In order for
the barges to deliver the seed and fertilizer by April, they would have needed
to leave the Gulf of Mexico in February and "[n]othing has happened," said
Kevin Knepper, manager of the Big Soo Terminal. "Therefore, we have lost our
spring and the most profitable season." The agricultural economy will be
severely impacted because in a normal spring 50 to 60 barges bring fertilizer
for planting and haul grain to downstream markets. Barge operators are not even
sure they will be able to get as far as Kansas City, this summer, if so Omaha
will not be getting any barge service either, thanks to government meddling in
commerce.
River Questions Mean No Barge Traffic
This Year
E-Mail Blast Seeks Insider Information
An environmental group, the
Campaign to Protect America's Lands (CPAL), has e-mailed nearly 60,000 Interior
Department employees asking them to reveal any plans endorsed by the White
House regarding management of wilderness areas and national parks. The groups'
spokesman, Peter Altman said CPAL wants the inside scoop if special interests
(timber, mining, etc.), lobby the administration to accelerate federal land
management changes. Mark Pfeifle, a spokesman for Interior derided the group's
action, saying, "[t]his is the personification of junk mail. …And in their
existence, they have never restored a single square foot of public land."
Altman defended their methods, saying it would not have been necessary if
Interior had supplied information through the Freedom of Information Act. The
activists have compiled a "dirty laundry list" of 58 policy and personnel moves
they say have "soiled and spoiled" national parks and lands, including allowing
snowmobiles in Yellowstone, loosening restrictions on coal-fired power plants
and logging on federal lands. Altman said a few squealers had already
responded.
E-mail Blast Seeks Data on Bush
Plans
2004 National Property Rights Conference, April 16 - 18
You are cordially invited to
attend the 2004 National Property Rights Conference in Sandusky, Ohio, Friday,
April 16 through Sunday, April 18. The Conference will offer information on a
wide-range of topics designed to help attendees become more effective property
rights leaders. Citizens for the Protection of Property Rights have joined
twelve other property rights organizations to present an outstanding line-up of
speakers that will share information of interest to rural property owners and
managers trying to deal with environmental regulations and business and
homeowners seeking to keep government from trampling their rights in the name
of eminent domain. The list of speakers includes; Nels Ackerson, a leading
attorney on Rails-to-trails issues; Donna and Clarence Fitz, Citizens Equal
Rights Alliance and Dan Byfield, president of the American Land Foundation, who
will speak on Landguard, a program that offers legal help to landowners. You
can register online at www.prconf.com.
Property Rights Conference Registration
Form
LOST at Sea
Beware of an attempt by
Senator Richard Lugar (R-IN) to force ratification of the Law of the Sea Treaty
(LOST). LOST was rejected by President Reagan who rightly judged it a threat to
American sovereignty. The Clinton administration took the opposite opinion in
1994 and now, with the backing of the Bush administration, including Vice
President Cheney, Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Lugar has whisked it
through committee without allowing testimony against it and kept other
committees from being briefed on the treaty. He has vowed to push it through
the Senate "as soon as possible." LOST creates the United Nation's
International Seabed Authority (ISA) that would have the power to regulate
seven-tenths of the world's surface, levy international taxes, impose
production quotas (oil production) and create a multinational court to enforce
its judgments. Worst of all, it threatens American security. Contact your U.S.
senators and urge them to reject LOST.
John Kerry's Treaty