Liberty
Matters News Service
November 2, 2005
Colorado's Tancredo Proposes Federal Land Sales
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO ) has offered the spendthrift Congress a painless and profitable means to off-set the costs of rebuilding the hurricane-torn Gulf states - sale excess government land (5.1 million acres by government estimate) and invest it in accounts to cover the enormous costs of rebuilding the Gulf Coast states following the back-to-back assaults from Katrina and Rita. "Every year we acquire more and more land," Tancredo said. "It doesn't make any sense." Sarcastically labeled "sagebrush rebels" by liberals, western lawmakers continually attempt to wrest control of the 654 million acres in the 12 Western states from the feds, but liberal members of Congress manage to squelch their efforts each time. "There are still folks out here who think it's a good idea, so it's a way to buy some votes," sneered Gregg Cawley, a political science professor at the University of Wyoming. Janine Blaelock, director of the Western Lands Project, bristles at the very thought of selling the nation's "national heritage." "It's our heritage, not a savings account that you start drawing from," she said. Sale of the excess land could bring $148 billion under current land prices. Professor Cawley says the proposal sounds good but; "one of the problems with it is who wants to buy the land?" "I'm not sure who would buy it but let's put it up for sale and let's see," Tancredo replied.
Colorado Lawmaker Propose Land
Sales
D. C. Property Owners Won't be Bulldozed
Washington, D.C. city fathers aren't getting much cooperation from the people whose homes and businesses they want to bulldoze to make way for the new Nationals baseball stadium. So far, out of the 23 property owners targeted, only one has agreed to sell. At least one, the owner of a trash-transfer business is holding out for more money and help in relocating the business, something the firm's attorneys say is part of the City's obligations. "We're pretty upset," said M. Roy Goldberg, attorney for the Eastern Trans-Waste. "The District hasn't done anything for us. Not a thing. We've pointed out that if they do not comply with the obligations, their entire attempt to take [the land] may be enjoined." The proprietor of several adult-oriented businesses, Robert Siegel, is afraid he won't be welcome anyplace else if the District doesn't help him relocate. "My guess is we're not going to reach agreement and we'll fight," said Dale Cooter, Siegel's attorney. Opponents of the eminent domain action argue that the $535 million ballpark is a private project for Major League Baseball, but D. C. officials claim the new stadium will be an economic shot-in-the-arm, that "could" lead to significant tax revenue. Thanks Kelo.
Stadium Property Owners Balking
A Room with a View
New Hampshire tax districts have put an entirely different and expensive meaning to E.M. Forster's classic 1908 novel "A Room with A View." David Bischoff's one-room cabin has no electricity, no running water, and no phone service, but it does have a spectacular view of nearby hills and mountains, and that makes it seven times more valuable in terms of property taxes than if it were sitting in the bottom of a ravine. Mr. Bischoff, chairman of the Orford Board of Selectmen, and other Orford residents are leading a revolt against the "view tax" and have developed a following with many other disgruntled rural New Hampshire residents. State tax officials say it is a "view factor," not a "view tax." Because of the rising property taxes, "We're going to drive the people off the land who have been living on it and working it for generations," Orford timberland owner Tom Thomson warned. Orford City officials voted in September to set aside the property revaluation until the state can formulate some objective standards to replace the haphazard methods now in place. In the mean time, the value of Bischoff's one-room, with a view, cabin has shot up from $22,900 to $140,000 and his property taxes will increase by $2,500.
Anti-Grazing Elitist Buying Cows
Grazing rights on nearly one million acres between the borders of Arizona and Utah have been purchased by two environmental groups; the Grand Canyon Trust and the Arlington, Virginia-based Conservation Fund. Interestingly, they plan to run 800 head of cattle on their property, roughly, 1200 acres per Animal Unit. The grazing rights along with 1,000 acres of private ground were purchased from Californian David Gelbaum, for $4.5 million. Wal-Mart Corporation contributed $1 million as part of its ten-year, $35 million "Acres for America" program. Michael Ford, southwestern director of the Conservation Fund said, "We believe you can do more for conservation with money than without money. And you do that by involving the private sector - foundations, major corporations…" Utah ranchers and some county officials think the "conservation" groups intend to retire the grazing permits in spite of their promises and have filed suit to reverse the transaction. "The very purpose of a grazing allotment is to make substantial use of it for grazing purposes," says Kane County Commissioner Mark Habbeshaw. "To acquire the allotment for "conservation" purposes, we think, violates the grazing act." "The little rancher cannot compete with environmental funding," he continued. "If this keeps up, everybody's going to get bought out and all of our public lands will be run by conservation groups."
Lack of Grazing in Grand Staircase
Irks Some Locals
The Eco-Cowboys: Big
Land Buys Signal Greens are Moving into Ranching