Liberty
Matters News Service
January 6, 2006
Bears in the Vineyards
Marauding bears have become a serious problem to Napa Valley vineyard owners, so much so that the owners have lawfully asked the California Fish and Wildlife Department to eliminate the grape-gobbling bruins. Four black bears were shot by agents between August 24 and October 25 of 2005, an act that riled the Aetna Springs vineyards' bear-loving neighbors. "They damage the fences on a daily basis almost faster than we can repair them," said vineyard owner, Paul Maroon. "The bears eat the grapes, as do the deer, and they both damage the vines..." Maroon must protect the hefty investment in his Cabernet grapes which bring $5,000 to $7,000 a ton, but neighbor Bill Dakin, a retired San Ramon Valley Fire Department captain obviously considers the bears more valuable than a man's livelihood. He believes Maroon could have just accepted the fact that the bears were there first.
Grape Eating Bears Killed as
Vineyards' Territory Expands
Ninth Circuit Backs Environmentalists
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has once again pulled a decision out of its top hat that favors radical environmentalist positions. The Court ruled against the U. S. Forest Service's decision to salvage what is left of the 74,000 acres of Lolo National Forest that burned in 2000. Writing for the majority, Justice Betty Binns Fletcher found the Forest Service's 1,900 page Environmental Impact Statement, illustrated with 150 maps and accompanied by 20,000 pages of background information to be "arbitrary and capricious." "While the Ecology Center (the plaintiff) does not offer proof that the proposed treatment causes the harm it fears, the Service does not offer proof that the proposed treatment benefits or at least does not harm old growth dependent species," she wrote. Justice Margaret McKeown dissented, saying the decision crossed the line from administrative review to decision making. In another case, U. S. District Judge Donald Molloy has ordered three environmental groups to post a $100,000 bond to cover the costs of delaying logging of a beetle-killed forest south of Butte, Montana. The Native Ecosystems Council, Alliance for the Wild Rockies and the Ecology Center all cried foul, saying they should only have to post $1.00. A spokesman said there is no precedence for such a move. "If it were allowed to stand, it would have a chilling effect on citizens who are trying to stop illegal logging and protect fish and wildlife on public lands."
Judge Orders Environmental Groups to
Post Bond in Logging Case
Appeals
Court Rules Against Lolo National Forest
Enviro Terrorist Sentenced
Late last month, a 23-year-old animal rights activist, Chris McIntosh was sentenced in Seattle for the 2003 torching of a McDonald's Restaurant. U. S. District Judge Thomas Zilly sentenced McIntosh to eight years in prison, two years less than federal prosecutors had requested. McIntosh exhibited no remorse for his crime, telling Judge Zilly; "[T]he earth is being destroyed [and] animals are being led to mechanized slaughter. .. I don't consider myself a terrorist, but the earth is being terrorized by corporate greed." Assistant U. S. Attorney Andrew Friedman, arguing for the ten year sentence, said it was necessary to "protect the public." McIntosh was "proud of his crime," Friedman wrote, and, given the chance, he would do the same thing again." Earlier in December, the FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms announced the arrest of six other persons in connection with four separate arsons and destruction of an energy facility in the northwest, dating to 1998. Damages to the Superior Lumber Company in Glendale, OR and Jefferson Poplar Farms in Clatskanie, OR, amounted to over $1 million each. A fire at the Animal and Plant and Health Inspection Services facility in Olympia, WA, caused $1.2 million in damages. The six suspects have ties to the same organizations, Earth Liberation Front and Animal Liberation Front, as McIntosh.
Cracking Down on Animal Rights
Violence
8 Year Sentence for 2003
Arson at Eatery
No Justice in Riviera Beach
Some 6,000 residents of Riviera Beach, FL. may soon be sacrificed to the gods of mammon if the mayor and his henchmen have their way. City officials plan to condemn the homes and businesses of the mostly black, blue-collar residents to make room for a waterfront yachting and residential complex for the wealthy. Residents are fighting the plan to replace their private property with structures that would generate more tax dollars. "What they mean is that the view I have is too good for me, and should go to some millionaire," said Martha Babson. Ms. Babson, skeptical of the City's claims the area is blighted and in need of demolition, took to the streets to conduct her own survey. She found the city's study was riddled with errors and miscalculations, if not down right falsehoods. Lots labeled as vacant actually had homes on them, built as late as 1997 and a house deemed 'dilapidated' was only two years old. The redevelopment project is expected to take 15 years to complete and will involve moving U. S. Highway 1 and digging an artificial lagoon for a yacht basin. "We're definitely in Tiananmen Square: one little guy in front of all those tanks," Ms. Babson said. "We've slowed them down, but we haven't stopped them."