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National Ocean Council Published on 07-28-2010

By Cassandra Anderson - BLN Contributing Writer

Thirty states will be encroached upon by Obama's Executive Order establishing the National Ocean Council for control over America's oceans, coastlines and the Great Lakes. Under this new council, states' coastal jurisdictions will be subject to the United Nations' Law Of Sea Treaty (LOST) in this UN Agenda 21 program. America'a oceans and coastlines will be broken into 9 regions that include the North East, Mid-Atlantic, South Atlantic, the Gulf Coast, West Coast, the Great Lakes, Alaska, the Pacific Islands (including Hawaii) and the Caribbean.

Because of the decades of difficulty that the collectivists have had trying to ratify the Law Of Sea Treaty (LOST), Obama is sneaking it in through the back door, by way of this Executive Order establishing the Council. Because LOST is a treaty, Obama's Executive Order is not Constitutional as treaty ratification requires 2/3 approval from the Senate. Michael Shaw said that the Agenda 21 Convention on Biodiversity treaty of 1992 failed to pass Congress so it was executed through soft law and administratively on local levels, and Obama's Executive Order is a similar soft law tactic to enact the LOST treaty.

In fact, our Constitutional form of government is being completely destroyed because buried in the CLEAR Act (HR 3534) there is a provision for a new council to oversee the outer continental shelf- it appears that this Regional Outer Shelf Council will be part of the National Ocean Council. This means that if Congress makes the CLEAR Act into law, then the implementation of the UN Law Of Sea Treaty, as part of the National Ocean Council's agenda, will be "ratified" in a convoluted and stealth manner, in full opposition to the Constitution and its intent.

The excuse for this extreme action is because of the emergency in the Gulf of Mexico. Obama and Congress have always had the legal and military power to force BP Oil to take all necessary action to stop the gusher and clean the oil spew. While there is evidence that the problems in the Gulf have been a result of collusion and planned incompetence, it begs the question, why in world should America's oceans and resources be controlled by Obama appointees?

NATIONAL OCEAN COUNCIL MEMBERS:

John Holdren, Obama's science and technology advisor, is the co-chairman of this new council. He is also a depopulation enthusiast and advocates sterilization by way of using infertility drugs in water and food as well as forced abortions which he describes in his book "Ecoscience" .

Ken Salazar, Secretary of the Department of Interior, and its subagency, MMS (Minerals Management Service) has authority over offshore drilling and responsibility for enforcing spill prevention measures. The Department of Interior's BLM (Bureau of Land Management) is the entity that controls federally managed land extending across 30% of America in 11 western states. Last week, Congressman Louie Gohmert said that Ken Salazar personally prevented drilling on land in Utah, Wyoming and Colorado, thereby also preventing energy independence. In addition, the federal lands have been grossly mismanaged and present fire dangers. The federal government is $3.7 billion in arrears for maintenance of the federally managed lands.

US Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, by way of the US Forestry Service and US Fish & Wildlife Service, has been complicit in the decline of our country's food independence. For example, US Fish & Wildlife (along with the Department of Commerce) shut the water off in California using Endangered Species Act; it was later proven that partially treated sewage was the primary culprit in killing the salmon and delta smelt that was previously blamed on farmers. This is phony environmentalism. The US Forestry Service has also misused the Endangered Species Act to limit farmers and ranchers. Remember that the USDA co-owns the Terminator Gene patent with Monsanto that makes seeds sterile.

Lisa Jackson is the EPA administrator who has threatened to impose 18,000 pages of new regulations to curb global warming which is based on lies, claiming that carbon dioxide is a danger to human health.

Department of Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Department of Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano: it is unclear how these two federal appointees will enhance environmental 'sustainability' over oceans and coasts. Traditionally, national security threats (like the War on Terror) have been used by the federal government to take control of resources. For example, many years ago when the interstate highway systems were first being built, the Feds got in on the action by claiming that they were building a defense highway system, and they encroached into an area that belonged to the states. Interestingly, there were no overhead structures on highways originally because of the Feds' claim that large missiles would be transported on these "defense" highway systems.

Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, a leading globalist, is likely to plunge our country into international entanglements and subjugation, based on her past performance; an example is her support of the UN Small Arms Treaty, which is contrary to the Constitution.

Department of Energy Secretary Steven Chu and Department of Commerce Secretary Gary Locke are logical choices for this destructive council as some of the planned funding for this program will come from permits and leases (oil drilling leases, for example). These agencies will limit America's energy independence.

Click here to see the full list of the 24 member council.

THE SMOKING GUN:

Agenda 21 Sustainable Development is the overarching blueprint for depopulationa and total control, and the National Ocean Council is clearly an Agenda 21 program:

The National Ocean Council is headed by John Holdren, an avowed eugenicist which is selective breeding through brutal means like forced abortion.

The National Ocean Counci's own report ( Coastal and Marine Spatial Planning, pg. 8) incorporates a section of the 1992 Rio Declaration which is an original UN Agenda 21 document!

In fact, the report says that it will be guided by the Rio Declaration in cases "Where there are threats of serious or irreversible damage, lack of full scientific certainty shall not be used as a reason for postponing cost-effective measures to prevent environmental degradation." (pg. 8) This means that regulations will be imposed even if the science is not understood or if the science is based on global warming manipulated data.(6)

The 3 primary tools of Agenda 21's phony environmentalism are global warming, water shortages and the Endangered Species Act; the National Ocean Council intends to exploit all of these tools to their full extent.

The National Ocean Council's main objective is to sink American sovereignty through the United Nations Law Of Sea Treaty (LOST) with the intended result of domination by the UN over our coasts and the Great Lakes. LOST originated in the 1970s as a wealth redistribution plan to benefit Third World countries. LOST sets rules for commercial activity beneath the high seas and establishes new international bureaucracies and a tribunal to interpret and apply rules to sea activity. And LOST can proceed with those rules, even against US objections! LOST threatens to complicate deep sea mining. LOST sets a precedent that US rights are dependent upon the approval of international entities. LOST also extends to ocean flowing rivers.
REGIONALISM:

Michael Shaw pointed out that non-elected councils are increasingly expanding their jurisdiction through air quality boards, water quality boards, sewer systems, transportation districts, metropolitan planning, etc. to gain control over resources. Often, large corporations and financial interests form Public- Private Partnerships with the government within these councils.

Breaking areas into regions and placing authority with non-elected councils is a Communist trick used to hijack resources, thereby usurping local and state power by re-zoning the areas that do have Constitutional authority. Appointed bureaucrats are untouchable because their jobs are not dependent upon serving the voting population. And they are usually inaccessible to the public and do not have to face those who are affected by their "insider" decisions. When state and local governments become corrupt, the public is able to confront them eye to eye, but distant bureaucrats can avoid accountability. Regionalism is used as a psychological tactic to intimidate state legislatures into creating the system for a new political and economic order.

Obama's Executive Order that has created the 9 new regions amounts to re-zoning, and his appointed bureaucrats are answerable only to him. In David Horton's testimony in 1978 on regionalism, he said that the State of Indiana made this declaration, "Neither the states nor Congress have ever granted authority to any branch or agency of the federal government to exercise regional control over the states." Horton further stated that Congress holds all legislative power that is granted in the Constitution, as opposed to Executive Orders that are not legislative. Therefore, Obama's Executive Order for re-zoning and appointing a governing body to usurp state and local power is Constitutionally invalid.

The public must become aware of state sovereignty and the Tenth Amendment to demand that state and local governments assert these Constitutional laws and principles.

COASTAL AND MARINE SPATIAL PLANNING REPORT:

This is a general overview of the new National Ocean Council's goals based on its 32-page report that uses indirect language and acronyms in order to confuse the public and local lawmakers. Depopulation advocates, globalists and collectivists, like John Holdren, faced opposition a few decades ago when they clearly expressed their objectives, so now documents are written in complicated and clouded language to fool those they wish to control.

This report states that the Council's jurisdiction will extend from the continental shelf to the coast AND additional inland areas will be involved. The National Ocean Council identifies "partners" as members of each regional planning body that will include federal, state, local and tribal authorities, with a top-down hierarchy of control.

The intentions of the Council are stated on page 8 of the report that include implementing LOST and other international treaties.  The report also states that the Counci's plans shall be implemented by Executive Orders, in addition to federal and state laws.  This section mentions 'global climate change' which is a new term used as a substitute for 'man made global warming' after manipulated data and lies were exposed in numerous global warming scandals.  'Climate change' is blamed for sea level rise and acidification of oceans; evidence exists that these are more global warming deceptions.

The stated goals of the Council include regulating investments, collaborating with unidentified international agencies, controlling public access to oceans and "protecting" ecosystems. This means that commerce and trade will be controlled by the Council, the UN will gain power over American oceans and the Great Lakes through UN subagencies, public access will be limited and the Endangered Species Act will be unleashed, with heavy regulations. Incidentally, the Endangered Species Act is based on 5 international treaties. It has never had a successful result: of the 60 species that have been de-listed, not a single species was saved as a result of any restrictions stemming from the Endangered Species Act!

The targeted areas for Endangered Species Act regulations are the the Great Lakes, the Gulf Coast, Chesapeake Bay, Puget Sound, South Florida and the San Francisco Bay (the Bay Delta is where the irrigation water for farmers was was cut off using the Endangered Species Act, causing food shortages, an increase in food imports and massive economic devastation).

While this report does not clearly outline how the National Ocean Council's schemes will be financed, regulatory permits for all activity on the water and mining (oil) leases will play a part, along with tax increases. The report does indicate that grants and assistance programs will be available so that state, local and tribal authorities will support the Council's "efforts". In other words, the Council will try to buy off the state and local governments to "collectively use" them for a base of support and influence. (pg. 28) Strings are always attached to federal money. The federal government and the Council are reliant on state and local governments for implementation through state and local legal authority, which means that state and local authorities hold the power to implement or refuse the Council's directives, especially under the Tenth Amendment.

However, the report does state that disputes will be settled by consensus, if consensus fails, then the decisions will ultimately be made by the President. He is Commander in Chief of the Navy and has the power of the military behind him. Further, the report indicates that legislative changes and more Executive Orders may be necessary to achieve control.

An important point is made on page 5, which states, "Strong partnerships among Federal, State, tribal and local authorities, and regional governance structures would be essential to a truly forward-looking, comprehensive CMSP effort." This means that the states, local governments and tribes have power. Our collectivist government needs the consent of the state, local and tribal authorities, to implement this scheme, otherwise, the feds wouldn't bother to include these Constitutional authorities. If the state, local and tribal authorities are aware of, and willing to act on their Constitutional authority, then they can limit this federal power grab through the Tenth Amendment.

The report further states that signing onto the Council's plan would be an "express commitment by the partners to act in accordance with the plan..." (pg. 20) Therefore, it is imperative that all of the states be aware of the Council's intended usurpation and carefully protect their Constitutional jurisdictions and sovereignty. There are 30 states that will be affected by this new council. (pg. 12)

The Council's strategy plan will go into effect immediately, fully developing Agenda 21 objectives and undue UN influence within 5 years. Interestingly, one article said that if state, local and tribal authorities choose not to participate in in writing the plans, the plans would be written without them. Therefore, it bears repeating that state and local governments must protect their Constitutional authority when dealing with the Council. The Constitutional authority that states and local governments have can only be taken if the power is given away.

SAVING OUR COUNTRY:

If your freedom is important to you, the most effective action that you can take is to e-mail this article and Michael Shaw's "Understanding Agenda 21 Sustainable Development" booklet to all of your State Legislators, County Commissioners/ Superintendents and City Council members.

Tell all of your friends, co-workers and neighbors about Agenda 21 Sustainable Development and how it is destroying our country. The National Ocean Council is detrimental on so many levels and the time to act is now. If state and local officials refuse to stand up against this federal incursion, they must be thrown out of office in favor of representatives who support the Constitution and the Tenth Amendment.
 

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ALERT REGARDING THE CLEAR ACT

 

-----Original Message-----
From: American Landrights [mailto:noreply@maillist.landrights.org]
Sent: Saturday, July 24, 2010 1:55 AM
To: Scott S. Shock
Subject: Urgent, Urgent, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid Are Taking Your Land

 

 

 

Land Rights Network

Keep Private Lands In Private Hands Coalition

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: https://www.landrights.org

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

 

Urgent, Urgent, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid Are Taking Your Land

 

CARA Comes Back As The CLEAR Out Of Rural America Act

(HR 3534)

 

From the Keep Private Lands In Private Hands Coalition:

 

If you liked CARA, Eminent Domain or Condemnation of private land,

you’ll love the new Multi-Billion Dollar Land Acquisition Trust

Fund being rushed through Congress by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid.

 

Rep. Nancy Pelosi and the House call it the CLEAR Act. We call it the

Clear Out Of Rural America Act (CORA). In the Senate it will be

Senator Harry Reid’s Energy bill that will contain the giant multi

Billion Dollar Land and Water Conservation Trust Fund.

 

-----And now Harry Reid brags that he is going to include a

Multi-Billion Dollar LWCF Land Grab in his Energy Bill and force the

Senate to pass it before the August recess.

 

It’s a Monster $1 billion per year automatic off budget land

acquisition trust fund attached to HR 3534 in the House, called The

Consolidated Land, Energy, And Aquatic Resources Act of 2010

otherwise known as the Clear Act.

 

We don’t have a Senate number yet but you don’t need that. Just

ask for Harry Reid’s Energy Bill with the Land and Water

Conservation Trust Fund inside.

 

-----Time is of the essence. The Democrats are moving fast on this

issue. And they are moving behind closed doors, largely in secret.

 

-----The Clear Act and Harry Reid Energy Bill both use the Gulf oil

spill tragedy as a tool to make changes to the collection of

royalties, creates a commercial leasing program for wind and solar on

federal lands and waters, establishes direct automatic funding of over

a billion dollars for the Land And Water Conservation Fund (LWCF),

Historic Preservation, and a new Ocean Conservation Fund.

 

These will end up being permanent Trust Funds that will guarantee

huge amounts of money for land acquisition, condemnation and other

uses. They will undermine local communities, destroy local economies,

severely damage small business, cost thousands of jobs, force rural

families into the cities and generally destroy rural America.

 

-----The Gulf oil spill tragedy should not be used as a political

opportunity to impose a devastating land acquisition trust fund on

the American people and destroy Rural America or push through

legislation that’s unrelated to the spill response or reforms to

offshore drilling.

 

-----There is an immediate crisis unfolding in the Gulf and our top

priorities must remain ensuring the leak is stopped, cleaning up the

oil, addressing the needs of the Gulf state communities and holding

BP 100% accountable.

 

-----The Democrats are trying to hold Halloween early. They are

hiding a wish list of land grabs and new regulations under the

plastic mask of reforming offshore drilling. And they are playing

hide and seek with you to keep you from knowing exactly what is going

on. So much for transparency.

 

Reforms are clearly needed to make American offshore drilling the

safest in the world, but Congress should not get ahead of the facts

in a rush to write new laws. There are numerous investigations

underway, including by Congress and a Presidential Commission that

just recently held its first meeting. To ensure it makes the right

reforms, Congress must first know exactly what caused and contributed

to this disaster

 

It’s just as important for Congress to find out how proposed new

laws would affect American jobs, our economy and our dependence on

foreign energy. The oil spill is causing real economic pain

throughout the Gulf region and the federal government shouldn’t

cause even greater harm to jobs and the economy by rushing to pass

laws without first understanding their impacts. They are hiding a

wish list of land acquisition measures behind the guise of addressing

the oil spill.

 

To see how the Clear Out Of Rural America Act (CORA) damages Rural

America and the country in general, look back at the impacts of CARA,

the Condemnation and Relocation Act by going to < www.landrights.org

<https://www.landrights.org/>

 > and click on the Starburst.

 

From where we sit when someone calls a chicken a duck, and we see

that it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck, it’s a duck, no

matter what the land grabbers say. The Clear Out Of Rural America Act

walks, looks and acts like CARA.

 

-----The Clear Out Of Rural America Act will destroy more private

property than any legislation in history. No inholder will be safe

anywhere near a National Park, National Forest, Wildlife Refuge,

National Trail, National Seashore, National Recreation Area, National

Scenic Area and many more.

 

The Clear Out Of Rural America will create an incentive to pass more

laws in Congress using eminent domain and condemnation creating:

 

-----Giant new Wildlife Corridors covering several states and

connecting existing parks and other areas.

 

-----Expanding existing areas like those below

 

Numerous new and expanded Wilderness Areas

 

Massive billion dollar per year off budget land acquisition trust

fund

 

More use of eminent domain

More condemnation of private land and homes

 

A huge increase in land use regulations

 

More environmental regulations

 

Many more National Monuments

New National Trails

 

New National Heritage Areas

 

New National Parks

 

New Wild and Scenic Rivers

 

New National Lakeshores

 

New National Scenic Areas

 

New National Seashores

 

New National Recreation Areas

 

New National Grasslands

 

New National Preserves

 

National Historic Areas

 

New Greenways

 

New Viewsheds

 

New Soundsheds

 

New Airsheds (air controls on industry)

 

New scenic byways with land use controls

 

The list goes on. There will be more.

 

Working together, we can stop these proposals until Congress can show

it can take care of what it has and protects private property rights.

 

-----HR 3534 and the Harry Reid Energy Bill will force thousands of

farmers and ranchers off their range. It will wipe out the mining

industry and do great damage to the oil industry. It will undermine

private forestry. It will destroy local tax bases, which will force

taxes up for those that remain and ultimately turn rural America into

a playground for the rich.

 

The race is on. The greens and their allies will seek to enlist as

many Congressmen and Senators as co-sponsors. They will seek to get

organizations like the Farm Bureau, NRA and National Association of

Counties to support the bill like they did with CARA.

 

ACTION ITEMS: You need to act fast.

 

Here’s what you must do quickly.

 

-----1. Please forward this message as widely as possible and fast.

 

-----2. Send an e-mail asking to join the Keep Private Lands In

Private Hands Coalition to ccushman@pacifier.com

<mailto:ccushman@pacifier.com>

 by simply writing “Join Private Property Coalition” in the

subject line. Be sure to put your name, address, zip, fax and e-mail

together. We will not give your information to anyone else.

 

-----3. Call your Representative to let him or her know you oppose

the Clear Act (HR 3534) or any bill with a trust fund for land

acquisition. Ask that a copy of the bill be sent to you. Be aware

that it may get another bill number so you should also refer to the

Land and Water Conservation Fund portion of the bill. That is the

funding vehicle they plan on turning into a trust fund. You may call

any Congressman at (202) 225 3121. Tell him no trust fund period. No

new entitlements. Insist that all funding go through the traditional

appropriations process.

 

-----4. Call your Senators at (202) 224-3121 to oppose Harry Reid’s

Energy bill with any multi-billion dollar land acquisition trust fund

inside. We don’t have a number yet. The Senate will not vote on the

Clear Act from the House. Ask for a copy of the Senate version of any

bill with the LWCF Billion Dollar Per Year Trust Fund inside. It is

likely to be Harry Reid’s Energy bill. They will try to play hide

and seek with you so you must pin them down.

 

-----5. Ask your Senators to hold hearings on Harry Reids Energy

Bill, the Senate version of the bill with the Billion Dollar Trust

Fund hidden inside.

 

-----6. Send your Congressman and both Senator s an e-mail AND a fax

if you have that capability even if you have called.

 

-----7. Call your Congressman to ask him or her for a meeting when he

or she come home during the August recess or later before the

election. Get a group of friends to go to the meeting with you. You

need to look your Congressman in the face eyeball to eyeball to get

across how dangerous this bill is and how much it will affect your

votes, now and in the future.

 

-----8. Ask your Senator for a meeting during the August Recess.

Attend any public meetings they hold.

 

-----9. Ask your Congressman and both Senators for their schedule

during the August recess.

 

-----10. You need to scan the newspapers for any meetings being held

locally by your Congressman or either Senator during the August

recess or as they run for re-election. Make sure you attend these

meetings and ask him or her pointed questions about the Multi-Billion

Dollar Land Acquisition Trust Fund and how they are going to vote on

HR 3534 or the Harry Reid Energy Bill with the Trust Fund inside.

 

-----11. Please make copies of e-mail and hand them out to your

friends. The more people who hear about this giant land grab the

better chance you have to defeat it.

 

-----12. Call any organizations you are a member of to urge them to

not sign on to HR 3534 or the Harry Reid Energy Bill with the LWCF

Trust Fund inside. The Farm Bureau, National Association of Counties

and NRA should be first on your list.

 

-----13. Send us the Names, addresses, Zip, Phone, Fax and e-mail of

anyone you think should be kept informed about the Clear Act (HR

3534), the Clear Out of Rural America Act or the Harry Reid Energy

Bill with the LWCF Trust Fund inside. Send us directories of allied

organizations. Help us build a team that can defeat the giant

international green industrial complex.

 

-----14. Call your friends and neighbors to get them to call your

Congressman and both Senators. Tell them to ask for copies of HR

3534.

 

Please make your calls, and send your faxes and e-mails as quickly as

you can. The more of an uprising that occurs quickly, the better

chance you have of stopping HR 3534. When a Congressman commits to

support a bill, he hates to remove his name later. Better get to your

Congressman early.

 

And forward this message as widely as possible.

 

Background:

 

*Title III of HR 3534 – *This Title makes significant reforms to

the onshore oil and gas program, once again completely unrelated to

the spill in the Gulf. Already many western states have seen the

flight of jobs and capital away from production on federal lands to

other parts of the country where access to private land is much

easier and less bureaucratic. However this process has and will

shortchange federal land communities, stifle job creation, and reduce

benefits and revenues to the federal, state and local governments.

 

*Title IV of HR 3534 - *This Title extends the authorization for the

Land and Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) and the National Historic

Preservation Fund (HPF) until 2040, another 30 years without further

Congressional consideration. In addition, the bill makes the funds

subject to direct appropriation to the tune of $900,000,000 for LWCF

and $150,000,000 for the HPF. This amounts to over a billion dollars

a year in automatic spending – unrelated to the oil spill. They are

hiding this massive spending behind the oil spill. More government. A

bigger deficit.

 

*TITLE V of HR 3534 - *This Title establishes a competitive leasing

program for commercial solar or wind energy development on the OCS,

BLM and Forest Service lands. It also allows non-competitive leasing

for resource data collection. This title also directs the Secretary

to set rates for rentals, bonus bids, and royalties for wind and

solar on federal lands.

 

-----HR 3534 DOES NOT share the revenue from renewable resources on

federal land with states or localities. The states and counties get a

portion of fees paid by other users of Federal land.

 

*TITLE VI of HR 3534 - *This Title includes the establishment of the

new “ORCA” fund for ocean conservation.

* *

This Title implements regional councils and marine spatial planning

into the OCS the goal of this title is to establish a new management

regime for the OCS based on a new program of essentially,

“zoning” the ocean. This is proposed to allow energy development

to be compatible with other uses; however, as stated above the

changes to the OCSLA elevate other uses of the OCS above oil and gas

exploration and production.

 

One of the unique realities Westerners face is that Western States

are more sensitive to Washington’s policies. This is because of the

high concentration of federal lands in the West.

 

 The United States government already owns enough land!

 

The federal government currently owns roughly 650 million acres in

the U.S.A. That means nearly 1 out of 3 acres in this country is

owned and controlled by the federal government. In the western United

States, 1 out of every 2 acres is owned and controlled by the federal

government. In 13 Western states, 51.9% of the land is owned by the

federal government. In the 37 other states, only 4.1% is federally

owned.

 

Roughly 2/3 of Utah’s lands are owned and controlled by the federal

government.

 

Easterners need to understand that there is a plan in process to

create wildlife corridors connecting all the parks and forests in the

East. This would mean eminent domain or condemnation of lots of

private land in the East. The North Woods of Maine, New Hampshire,

Vermont and New York are an especially important target for the

greens.

 

So don’t sit back and think this is just a Western issue. You are

in for a big surprise if you do not take action now to fight this

Multi-Billion Dollar Land Acquisition Trust Fund.

 

At a time when we have increasing deficits, and scarce funding to

protect and maintain the public lands we have, now is not the time to

expand federal control over more land.

 

The federal government has a responsibility to maintain and protect

our national resources for future generations. However, our public

land agencies cannot accomplish this mission if we continue to expand

federal control over more lands without considering the current needs

of our existing parks and forests.

 

Over the past 15 years, federal land acquisition funding has averaged

hundreds of millions annually. Over the last forty years, the federal

government has spent nearly $13 billion on land acquisition. Looking

at it another way: an area larger than the size of Florida has been

added to the federal estate since John F. Kennedy was president.

 

This makes no sense. Over a decade ago a report completed under the

Clinton Administration stated “land management agencies should

improve their stewardship of the lands they already own before taking

on additional management responsibilities.” The report goes on to

say “environmental objectives such as habitat protection and access

to recreation might be best met by improving management in currently

held areas rather than providing minimal management over a larger

domain.”

 

Spending billions of dollars for additional land acquisition makes

even less sense when one considers the condition of existing federal

lands. A recent Congressional Research Service report estimated the

maintenance backlog at the four federal agencies to be near $15.7

billion. Roads, campgrounds, and other basic facilities in our

existing National Parks are crumbling and not being repaired. Does it

make any sense whatsoever to spend money acquiring new lands if

we’re not properly caring for the lands we already own?

 

Federal ownership of western lands makes the Western U.S. a unique

part of this country. Indeed, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and

the U.S. Forest Service have become the planning and zoning boards

for much of the rural West. Issues that anywhere else in the nation

would be state or local, like locating a road or building a water

system, are federal issues in the West.

 

BLM and Forest Service managers decide how many cows will graze where

and at what time of year, where a pipeline or a road must go and other

details of local land use. As a result, the federal government has an

overwhelming influence on the local economies of many Western

communities. Because of this, bad federal policies uniquely target

and harm western states.

 

In 13 Western states, 51.9% of the land is owned by the federal

government. In the 37 other states, only 4.1% is federally owned.

While the federal government promised in these Western states’

enabling acts that they would sell a portion of these federal lands

and dedicate the funds to state projects, the government has instead

increased its holdings. The federal government continues to increase

those holdings, spending close to $200 million a year to acquire new

lands.

 

Through the Land and Water Conservation Fund, (LWCF), the federal

government is currently able to spend up to $900 million on land

acquisitions with virtually no restrictions.

 

It makes more sense for the federal government to sell land or focus

its resources on the maintenance and upkeep of the land already under

its control. But it is likely in the near term that some federal land

acquisition is going to continue because we have more Congressmen who

support additional purchases than oppose them. As long as the federal

government continues to buy land, we must do so with discretion and

be particularly vigilant that we protect private property owners.

 

Maintenance funding is inadequate, and the Feds can’t manage what

they already own: During his second inaugural address, President

Ronald Reagan spoke of the unique quality created by American

democracy – a government which “was not our master,

it is our servant; its only power that which we the people allow it

to have.” He spoke about his accomplishment of creating a “new

beginning” in which his Administration had reversed a trend of

asking the federal government to reign over decisions “that

properly belonged to states or to local governments or to the people

themselves.”

 

He went on to explain that the “system  has never

failed us, but for a time, we failed the system” by yielding too

much authority to the federal government. In the two decades since

the “new beginning” we have again failed the system; as President

Reagan said, “we have asked things of the government that the

government was not equipped to give.

 

Nowhere is this issue more prevalent than in the Western United

States where more than 54% of our lands are owned and controlled by

the federal government. This federal land ownership is placing a

burden on many communities that impacts not only their authority to

make decisions about how their lands are used but also their tax

base.

 

Today, the federal government owns 84 percent of State of Nevada, 69

percent of Alaska, 57 percent of Utah, 53 percent of Oregon, and 48

percent here in Arizona. This federal presence severely diminishes

the tax base in these states. The result is that Westerners are

forced to pay higher property taxes to pay for essential services

such as law enforcement, health care, and education.

 

The disproportionate share of federal land ownership in the West will

have impacts that reach far beyond our inability to control what

happens on federal land. For example, Western states, on average,

have more pupils per classroom than the rest of the country and are

projected to have enrollment dramatically increase over the next ten

years, while the rest of the country will have a decrease.

 

This means that Western states will be spending less money per pupil

than Eastern states communities especially in those states where

federal land ownership is out of control. The reason for lower pupils

per classroom and lower growth in per pupil expenditures is not the

result of states not taxing enough. The reason is that these states

cannot generate tax revenue on nearly half of the state’s land

mass.

 

Sincerely,

 July -- 2010

 

Chuck Cushman

Keep Private Lands In Private Hands Coalition

American Land Rights Association

ccushman@pacifier.com

(360) 687-3087

 www.landrights.org

 

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