Andy socal
New member
Story below is going to air on FoxNews: http://www.foxnews.com/national/072100/whoowns.sml
Who Owns America?
Many Property Owners Feel Loss of Control
Friday, July 21, 2000
Americans used to sing along when folksinger Woody Guthrie crooned, "This land is your land, this land is my land." But times have changed, and some Americans are singing a different tune.
AP/Wide World
Tourism at the Grand Canyon has been limited: Sightseeing flights over the monumental hole in the ground are no longer allowed
They say they've lost their property rights, and even the right to use public lands, to a federal government that kowtows to environmentalists and ignores the wishes of private citizens.
Government officials say it's conservation needs — not the environmental lobby — that make restrictions necessary.
It's a clash that's repeated across the country, especially in the West.
The Endangered Species Act is one of the most frequent battlegrounds for the government and Americans such as Dave Pechan, who wants to build on his own property.
Pechan is a farmer living in Marana, Calif., where the fairy shrimp thrives. When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — which administers the list of endangered species in America — discovered that the tiny, endangered crustacean was spending its short life on Pechan's property, it moved to prevent him from building there.
"They took control of my whole property. They said I had no right to be out here doing anything," Pechan said. He added, "I used to work for Friends of the Earth. This is not what I was part of in 1980. I was all about common-sense use of pesticides, but this — this is craziness."
USFW spokeswoman Pat Foulk defended the policy, saying the fairy shrimp needs protection. "We are not listing species because environment groups say we should," she said.
A Green Agenda Making Many See Red
Public lands often seem like America's playgrounds, with space for boating, camping and snowmobiling, but these too come under the influence of U.S. environmental policy.
Few public beaches allow motor vehicles on the sand, jet skis have been banned from Lake Tahoe and while no new roads will be built on 43 million acres of national forest, roads on an additional 60 million acres will be closed.
"We try to close as little of an area as we can, but sometimes we just can't help it: We have to close off a road, which then closes off a tremendous area to the public," said Mark Behnke of the U.S. Forest Service.
But Ed Waldheim, president of the California Recreational Vehicle Association, called the policy "discriminatory against myself and the other people who want to recreate with a motorized vehicle for whatever purpose it is."
Even tourism at the Grand Canyon has been limited: Sightseeing flights over the monumental hole in the ground are no longer allowed.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said it's because of the noise, which "has been a continuous source of irritation and frustration for all of us who use and love the Grand Canyon."
A 'Monumental' Problem
While few argue that the Grand Canyon deserves classification as a national landmark, many have problems with what they see as the government's eagerness to declare millions of acres of land, mostly in the West, national monuments.
Declaring land a national monument prevents all future grazing, mining, hunting, road-building and recreational use. Even some of those charged with protecting the environment say the government is treading on local toes.
"There's a kind of arrogance about it that really offends people in the West ... ," said Greg Walcher, who heads Colorado's Department of Natural Resources. "I suspect it would be a whole different reaction if you proposed that on the East Coast."
President Clinton has established or expanded 10 monuments during his tenure, more than any president since Theodore Roosevelt. Ten Western governors last month signed a letter of protest, and both the House and Senate are reviewing presidential powers in these situations. Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, declaring a national monument does not require congressional approval.
"Now does he (Clinton) have any idea that he is locking up 62 billion tons of the cleanest, most environmentally sound coal in the world?" asked Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
The Clinton Administration's "environmental policy may be a short-term gain for a small number of people, but in the long term it's very destructive," said Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, adding that the policy is the work of Vice President Al Gore, who is known for his green image. "I don't think he (Gore) understands the dynamics of the management of natural resources."
Environmentalists, however, have embraced the declarations.
"Basically, it gives an added layer of protection ... so these areas are protected in perpetuity from exploiters," said Bruce Hamilton, the assistant executive director of the Sierra Club.
------------------
"No democratic government can long be much better or much worse than the people it represents." Henry Adams
Who Owns America?
Many Property Owners Feel Loss of Control
Friday, July 21, 2000
Americans used to sing along when folksinger Woody Guthrie crooned, "This land is your land, this land is my land." But times have changed, and some Americans are singing a different tune.
AP/Wide World
Tourism at the Grand Canyon has been limited: Sightseeing flights over the monumental hole in the ground are no longer allowed
They say they've lost their property rights, and even the right to use public lands, to a federal government that kowtows to environmentalists and ignores the wishes of private citizens.
Government officials say it's conservation needs — not the environmental lobby — that make restrictions necessary.
It's a clash that's repeated across the country, especially in the West.
The Endangered Species Act is one of the most frequent battlegrounds for the government and Americans such as Dave Pechan, who wants to build on his own property.
Pechan is a farmer living in Marana, Calif., where the fairy shrimp thrives. When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service — which administers the list of endangered species in America — discovered that the tiny, endangered crustacean was spending its short life on Pechan's property, it moved to prevent him from building there.
"They took control of my whole property. They said I had no right to be out here doing anything," Pechan said. He added, "I used to work for Friends of the Earth. This is not what I was part of in 1980. I was all about common-sense use of pesticides, but this — this is craziness."
USFW spokeswoman Pat Foulk defended the policy, saying the fairy shrimp needs protection. "We are not listing species because environment groups say we should," she said.
A Green Agenda Making Many See Red
Public lands often seem like America's playgrounds, with space for boating, camping and snowmobiling, but these too come under the influence of U.S. environmental policy.
Few public beaches allow motor vehicles on the sand, jet skis have been banned from Lake Tahoe and while no new roads will be built on 43 million acres of national forest, roads on an additional 60 million acres will be closed.
"We try to close as little of an area as we can, but sometimes we just can't help it: We have to close off a road, which then closes off a tremendous area to the public," said Mark Behnke of the U.S. Forest Service.
But Ed Waldheim, president of the California Recreational Vehicle Association, called the policy "discriminatory against myself and the other people who want to recreate with a motorized vehicle for whatever purpose it is."
Even tourism at the Grand Canyon has been limited: Sightseeing flights over the monumental hole in the ground are no longer allowed.
Interior Secretary Bruce Babbitt said it's because of the noise, which "has been a continuous source of irritation and frustration for all of us who use and love the Grand Canyon."
A 'Monumental' Problem
While few argue that the Grand Canyon deserves classification as a national landmark, many have problems with what they see as the government's eagerness to declare millions of acres of land, mostly in the West, national monuments.
Declaring land a national monument prevents all future grazing, mining, hunting, road-building and recreational use. Even some of those charged with protecting the environment say the government is treading on local toes.
"There's a kind of arrogance about it that really offends people in the West ... ," said Greg Walcher, who heads Colorado's Department of Natural Resources. "I suspect it would be a whole different reaction if you proposed that on the East Coast."
President Clinton has established or expanded 10 monuments during his tenure, more than any president since Theodore Roosevelt. Ten Western governors last month signed a letter of protest, and both the House and Senate are reviewing presidential powers in these situations. Under the Antiquities Act of 1906, declaring a national monument does not require congressional approval.
"Now does he (Clinton) have any idea that he is locking up 62 billion tons of the cleanest, most environmentally sound coal in the world?" asked Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah.
The Clinton Administration's "environmental policy may be a short-term gain for a small number of people, but in the long term it's very destructive," said Rep. Helen Chenoweth, R-Idaho, adding that the policy is the work of Vice President Al Gore, who is known for his green image. "I don't think he (Gore) understands the dynamics of the management of natural resources."
Environmentalists, however, have embraced the declarations.
"Basically, it gives an added layer of protection ... so these areas are protected in perpetuity from exploiters," said Bruce Hamilton, the assistant executive director of the Sierra Club.
------------------
"No democratic government can long be much better or much worse than the people it represents." Henry Adams