Liberty
Matters News Service
September 9, 2004
National Property Rights Conference
Several national property rights organizations are helping
sponsor the 2004 National Property Rights Conference to be held September 10-12
at the Sandusky High School in Sandusky, Ohio. Break-out sessions will discuss
conservation easements, eminent domain, rails-to-trails, grants and
fundraising, grassroots organizing, internet activism, legal options, lobbying,
political activism, media and public relations. Sponsors and participants
include American Land Foundation, American Land Rights Association, Competitive
Enterprise Institute, and the National Federation of Independent Business.
Conference cost is $65, which includes Friday evening reception, all meals and
snacks on Saturday and Sunday breakfast. If you want good, sound advice and
ways to fight for your property rights, try to join the crowd in Sandusky, Ohio
this weekend. Register online by going to:
www.prconf.com.
Three States Attempt to Reduce Government Holdings
After the Utah legislature
rejected a proposal to require the state to purchase private land for
preservation purposes, the Utah Chapter of the Nature Conservancy tried to get
the issue on the November ballot. The Conservancy paid workers $3.00 for each
signature they obtained but in spite of spending $300,000 TNC didn't make the
July 9 deadline gathering signatures of 10 percent of all registered voters in
26 of the state's 29 counties. The 26-county-law was enacted in 2003, in an
effort to make sure initiatives are approved statewide and not just in small
pockets of special interest groups. In San Mateo, California more than 5,000
citizens rejected a proposal by the Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District
to annex 140,000 acres of coastal land. The voters feared land would be taken
from unwilling sellers and diminish an already shrinking tax base. Michigan
lawmakers are considering selling some state property to private interests.
Michigan State Representative Jack Hoogendyk has introduced legislation to sell
the state fairgrounds in Detroit. The two-hundred acre fairgrounds could
generate $57 million if privately operated. It now costs the state $2 million
per year to operate. Another Michigan bill would allow for the sale of certain
forest lands, estimated to bring in $50 million the first year. On the federal
level, the House Interior Appropriations Subcommittee stunned everyone on June
3rd by slashing all funds designated for new land acquisitions. However,
Committee members retained $50 million for existing land acquisition programs
and $91 million for Park Service grants to individual states, but refused to
fund the Bush administration's request of $225 million for land acquisition in
2005. Unless a House/Senate Conference Committee this fall makes changes, the
decision will stand.
Utah Citizens, Others Reject Initiative to
Expand State and Federal Lands
Another Notch on Big Government's Gun
Kit Laney, embattled New
Mexico rancher, has finally capitulated to the overwhelming power of the
federal government. Laney decided to plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges;
assault on a federal officer and obstruction of a court order. If the pleas are
accepted by federal prosecutors, Laney will avoid the possibility of spending
63 years in prison. Laney's legal advisor, Charles Aspinwall said; "It's been a
long, hard fight… and he's done. He's out of money, he's out of resources,
he's out of luck. He can't fight anymore." Laney was accused by the government
of using deadly weapons (his saddle, reins and spurs), to attack Forest Service
officers guarding his impounded cattle last March. Laney has had a running
battle with the Forest Service over grazing rights on the 146,000 acre Diamond
Bar allotment since his grazing permit expired in 1996. Laney and his partner,
Sherry Farr maintained they retained the grazing rights because they were tied
to their water rights. Despite a court order requiring them to keep their
cattle off the allotment, the two moved the cattle back in the spring of 2003,
prompting a federal judge to order the confiscation and sale of their herd.
Laney was arrested and languished in jail for several weeks before a hearing
was granted after which he remained under house arrest under the supervision of
Otero County rancher Bob Jones. The 411 Diamond Bar cattle brought $200,000 at
auction, but the government maintains Laney still owes it $230,000 in
expenses.
Rancher
Kit Laney Expected to Plead Guilty
Bush E. O. Calls for Cooperative Conservation
President Bush, last month, quietly signed
an Executive Order directing government agencies to consult with local
interests before issuing environmental regulations that could have negative
economic impacts upon private landowners and state and local governments. The
Order calls for "cooperative conservation" in areas related "to use,
enhancement and enjoyment of natural resources, protection of the environment,
or both." Government agencies are to report their actions to the Council on
Environmental Quality then CEQ is suppose to schedule a White House Conference
to review and determine if the requirements of the EO are being met. President
Bush has made "cooperative conservation" a centerpiece in trying to balance the
needs of the environment with the needs of people and governments. It is a
drastic departure from the heavy-handed approach used by the previous
administration when vast areas of land were arbitrarily designated national
monuments that left them virtually off-limits to many historic uses. Carl Pope,
executive director of the Sierra Club, predictably denounced the President's
move "[as] another signal to federal agencies that they're supposed to ignore
enforcing the law and defer to local governments and landowners."
Bush EO Directs
Agencies to Cooperate with Landowners and Local Governments