1/22/99
perry@uninets.net
When it comes to 'land grabs' this latest news out of
Washington tops everything we've written so far - read on.
It seems that Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) is planning this
coming Tuesday to file a bill which will increase funding for the
Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF), giving the federal
government unprecedented power to transfer private lands into
federal ownership.
Murkowski's bill could place up to 1.5 billion dollars into the
fund each year, off budget, which means that this money will not
be subjected to annual congressional appropriation or review. And
this bill has the support of the Republican leadership.
And we find that Representative Don Young (R-AK) will file a
companion bill in the House next week. Young is chairman of the
House Natural Resources Committee.
All this is somewhat surprising because in the past Young and
Murkowski have opposed increasing funds to purchase private
lands. This time, however, they have made a deal to get their
hands on the revenue derived from offshore oil and gas
activities. They want this money shared with the states instead
of going into the deficit reduction fund where it is currently
spent. To get that through, they had to make a deal with
environmentalists. They decided to threaten our private property
so they can have more federal funding.
At $250 per acre. 1.5 billion dollars will buy half again as much
acreage as exists in all of Connecticut and Rhode Island
combined. 1.5 billion dollars, at $250 per acre, equals about six
million acres. We don't know where, but I'll bet you can not
purchase that large an acreage without wiping out a town,
villages, countless homes and schools. OUR JOB IS NOT TO LET THIS
HAPPEN!!!
Since 1965, the LWCF has been used to buy up lands sought by the
radical environmental agenda by moving valuable resources out of
private control and into the hands of environmental groups and
local and federal governments. By 1995 over 4.2 million acres of
land had been transferred directly to federal ownership. It is
not known how many acres have been added under the aggressive
Clinton-Gore agenda.
Over one-third of this nation's land is currently owned by the
federal government; the figure exceeds 40% if state and local
government lands are included. The land acquisition proposals by
this Congress and the Clinton-Gore agenda make a mockery of the
concept of limited government. They will expand the power of
government over private property far beyond the limits set by our
Constitution.
Quite typically, supporters of this land acquisition have told
callers that this plan, their bills, are not for land
acquisition. Do you really believe them? I don't.
Tied to all this is the urban sprawl program announced by Clinton
and Gore last week. They too want the offshore oil and gas
revenues, but not for the states - to fund more land
acquisitions. We do not need our friends working against us!
Young and Murkowski should drop their land acquisition program
and get back to protecting our property rights from federal
control, federal harassment and federal acquisition.
At a press conference on January 12th, Secretary of the Interior
Bruce Babbitt, told us what to expect as national parks are shut
down. He said there will be no roads, no trails, no hunting, no
RVs and no snowmobiles. When Babbitt and his environmental
friends say they want our forests to be 'forever wild', they mean
just that. The national parks will simply be closed to people.
That you can bet on! Let these proposed bills and initiatives
pass and much of Maine will be a national park.
You are urged to contact your congressional delegates:
Hiram
Perry, 6 Miles Road, Newburgh, Maine 04444 |