Selected Articles from the LAND Newsletter
President's Report
By Richard Volk, LAND President
Hello and Happy St. Patrick's Day! Winter is just about over. I do not remember ever having a winter this warm and with no wind! However, I am not complaining.
In my research, I have come to the conclusion that the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a very serious threat to the livelihood of farmers, ranchers, loggers and other property owners. Not because of the act and what it stands for; but because of the alliance between powerful federal regulatory agencies and wealthy environmental groups.
The environmental groups, especially the Sierra Club, have been able to amass humungous amounts of money. Those funds are used to purchase land (taking it out of private ownership) or to trigger lawsuits which have shut down logging and mining operations AND have kept property owners from deriving the economic benefit of their land.
I want to mention the dams built on the Snake River, which runs through western Idaho and across Washington State. These dams produce enough electricity to power all of Seattle and then some. After all of the dams’ operating expenses are paid the federal treasury receives a check for close to $1 billion.
If these dams were taken out (“breached” as they say), then the federal government would not receive this check. The people and communities that rely on the industries and recreation activities created or enhanced because of the dams would be compromised. Here again, the economic benefit would disappear.
The message is clear enough. "Protection" means excluding tracts of land, large and small, from the activities which provide jobs and revenue to our rural areas. Once the economic base is destroyed people will leave to find greener pastures. This is what the land grabbing environmentalists want. Let's beware and educate others on these horrendous acts.
