Liberty
Matters News Service
September 12, 2006
Federal Persecutors Nail Another Lawbreaker
Federal Inquisitors have taught another dangerous environmental heretic that property rights mean nothing in modern-day America. Robert Brace, a Waterford, PA farmer has been fighting the federal government for 19 years for the right to farm a thirty-acre swamp (wetlands) that he purchased from his father in 1975. Mr. Brace, with help from the U. S. Department of Agriculture, installed drainage pipes to run water from the site, rendering it suitable to grow row crops. In 1987, after Brace had spent a considerable sum turning the unusable land into productive farmland, the Environmental Protection Agency, (EPA) brought an enforcement lawsuit against him claiming he was in violation of the Clean Water Act. In 1993, Judge Mencer of the Pennsylvania U. S. Federal District Court, ruled for Brace saying the thirty-acre site was an integral part of the farm's drainage system and was exempt under the "normal farming practices" provision. The Third Circuit Court of Appeals subsequently reversed Judge Mencer's decision and after the Supreme Court refused his petition for certiorari, Brace was forced to remove most of the drainage system and restore the thirty acres to "unusable and undevelopable wetlands 'in perpetuity.'" Mr. Brace had hoped the U. S. Court of Claims would look at his case, however, on August 4, 2006, they decided that since the government did not take "all" of his property, no taking had occurred. "In other words," Mr. Brace said, "Had those thirty acres been my only land holding, it would have been ruled a taking." Mr. Brace said he has thirty days to decide to appeal the decision. "I will fight to protect my own property until I run out of options."
U.S. Court of Federal Claims Hands
Down Brace Wetland Decision
Fire Ecologists Predict Increased Catastrophic Fires
The ecological alarmists have put together a report that predicts catastrophic fires in the nation's forests will only become worse due to climate change, i.e. "global warming." The report, "The San Diego Declaration on Climate Change and Fire Ecology," will be presented at the Third International Fire Ecology and Management Congress in San Diego in November. The report states: "[W]ildland fire conditions previously considered rare, such as extreme wildland events (e.g. high heat release and severe impact to ecosystems), lengthened wildfire seasons, and large-scale wildfires in fire-sensitive ecosystems," are becoming more frequent and severe. The "declaration" assumes that climate change must be at the root of the past two decades' catastrophic fires. The fire ecologists need to expand their research into other causes of forest fires, such as the Center for Biological Diversity, Forest Guardians, the Endangered Species Act and pandering politicians, who have allowed the forests to deteriorate into a fire zone.
Fire Ecologists: Climate Change Will
Hinder Wildland Fire Management
Tempting Fate
Resulting from a lawsuit brought by the Humane Society, a federal judge recently ruled Wisconsinites must use non-lethal methods to discourage wolves from killing livestock. Adrian Wydeven of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources admitted wolves have "saturated public forest land and are now moving into farm areas" where incidents involving wolves and livestock are three times higher than in the late 1990s. Bear hunters have had 13 dogs killed during the bear-dog training season in July and August. "Personally, in the next couple years, I think you'll see a human get killed by them," said Corey Delong, who lost four dogs. A little to the north that prediction nearly played out Labor Day weekend when a wolf attacked a family picnicking on the shores of Lake Superior in Ontario, Canada. The wolf attempted to carry off Brenda Wright's twelve-year-old son, but failed and then turned its attention to little three-year-old Leah Morgan, who suffered severe bites to her arm. The wolf was subsequently shot and killed. The Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources claims no one has ever been killed by a wolf attack in North America. Last November twenty-two-year-old Kenton Carnegie was killed and devoured by a pack of four wolves in Saskatchewan.
Court Bars Killing of Predatory Wolves
in Wisconsin
Wolf Attacks Trigger
DNR Warning for Bear Hunters
When a
Wolf Strikes, It's No Picnic
Cornyn's Vision for Texas
Senator John Cornyn from Texas has released an editorial titled "Preserving the Best of Texas," where he encourages Texan's to sign conservation easements. In a rebuttal piece by Margaret Byfield, executive director of Stewards of the Range, she commented that "Possibly, the Senator has never taken a good look at the western land's problems, which is why he is encouraging Texans to relinquish their hard fought private property rights to a Land Trust, through a conservation easement." The rebuttal points out a few reasons why conservation easements are bad for landowners; (1) the landowner turns over management and control of the land to the Land Trust, (2) the easements contain a clause which allows the Land Trust to stop any activity they want if it conflicts with the conservation purpose, (3) the tax deduction has to be approved by the IRS, and if denied, the easement is still in effect,, and (4) the easement is only in perpetuity for the current landowner, his heirs, another buyer, but not the Land Trust. If they acquire the remaining property, the easement goes away and they are free to "mine, drill, graze, log, subdivide, develop, or do anything else they might wish; with the land promised to become one of the "Last Great Places on Earth."
Preserving the Best of Texas
Conservation
Easements
Cornyn's
Misguided Vision