Willing Seller, A Myth, Stop The LWCF Land Acquisition Fund

—–Urgent Action By You Is Necessary

—–CORRECTED: This message includes BOTH the House and Senate LWCF Highway Bill Conferees including their e-mails and fax numbers updated.

—–Congress is considering spending 1.4 billion dollars extra for land acquisition through the LWCF (Land and Water Conservation Fund).

The Greens want to use this as a precedent for spending every year.

When does Congress start considering the debt and deficit?

These funds are taken right from the taxpayer. Some have the impression that the funds come from the Gulf Oil Spill penalty money.

Not so. The 1.4 billion dollars comes right out of your pocket.

—–That is 1.4 billion on top of their normal appropriations. If you don’t want the Park Service, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service and BLM to run crazy buying private land, you better stand up now. You must be all over them’

—–Please forward this message to at least 10 people. Your whole list if possible.

—–Willing Seller? “Although the LWCF provision in the Highway bill supposedly protects unwilling sellers from the new money, Cushman said, “Everyone knows that when Federal agencies get a big block of money there is no such thing as an unwilling seller.”

“That’s because the government always can find away to pressure and force the landowner to sell, Cushman said. And even though Condemnation and Eminent Domain cannot be used with the new LWCF money, the Park Service and other agencies can use old money to threaten and carry out eminent domain (condemnation). The bottom line is that Condemnation is threatened by the Park Service and other land agencies in every conversation with a landowner. The key to stopping these abuses is to cut off the money.”

—–Willing Seller A Myth

 ”John Jones is a willing seller. He didn’t want to sell and held out as long as he could. First the Park Service came in and purchased the homes, farms and timberlands of his neighbors who did want to sell.

There will always be some.

 Then the agency began to search out those families who were in some kind of financial distress such as from a death, divorce, loss of job and other reason.

 ”Jones watched as his community was checkerboarded by the Park Service. He remembered being told when the park was created that he would not be forced out. But a huge Trust Fund passed Congress which gave the Park Service money automatically every year without going through the appropriations process. The Park Service had more money than it knew what to do with. Eminent domain and condemnation were now commonplace.

 Jones remembered that the Trust Fund has been slipped in to a bill dealing with the Gulf Oil Spill in by Senator Harry Reid of Nevada.

He could not explain what buying billions of dollars of private property had to do with an oil spill. Or why Reid and the Congress had acted so quickly before their own investigations and Commissions were complete.

 Now the Park Service was targeting local businesses and the county itself. Many small businesses were purchased and put out of business.

Others just withered and died due to lack of business. The Park Service purchased the holdings of several large timberland companies and large farms.

 There were always hints of eminent domain, and some were already in court. People were told they would have to sell eventually, so they might as well do it now as “willing sellers” while the Park Service was spending money here and before the infrastructure deteriorated.

 Smaller timber owners and farmers began to sell as they saw that the logging and agriculture infrastructure might eventually not be there.

The mill eventually had to close because it could not get enough wood. Like a natural ecosystem, the economic s ecosystem of a community can become increasingly fragile, but all the government and the environmentalists talked about were the fragility of the ecosystem while pretending they were improving the economy.

 ”As more timberland and farms were purchased, more homes and then more farms began to disappear. The Park Service began to focus on the farmers and ranchers. Many residents wanted to hold out but with fewer jobs in the county, the value of their homes and property began to go down. As the Park Service purchased them, they lay empty for months or even years because the agency said they it did not have the funds to clear them out. They became havens for vandals and drug houses, and targets for mysterious fires.

 It is hard to understand how the Park Service and other agencies have the money to buy out local communities but according to reports we have seen, they are over $10 billion behind in deferred maintenance.

 ”The Nature Conservancy and other land trusts began to circle like buzzards. They would buy from financially distressed landowners, and then turn the land over to the Federal government.

 Time after time this happened, quietly, secretly and silently they helped undercut the community gradually eliminating the tax base, the economic base, and the population. Yet nicer homes with nice views seemed to be selectively occupied by strangers with connections, who were frequently heard touting the Park Service. Some of them were park officials.

To learn more, go to:

Land Rights Network

American Land Rights Association

PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604

Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973

E-mail: alra@pacifier.com

Web Address: http://www.landrights.org

Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003