CARA Vote Wednesday - UPRISING  STARTS  NOW!!!

CARA (HR 701) will be a source of pain that will never stop.

from American Land Rights Association - Land Rights Network
PO Box 400 - Battle Ground WA 98604
Phone: 360-687-3087 - Fax: 360-687-2973 - Email: <alra@pacifier.com> -
http://www.landrights.org
Legislative Office: 508 First St SE - Washington DC 20003
Phone: 202-210-2357 - Fax: 202-543-7126 - Email: landrightsnet@aol.com

July 21, 2001 - Washington, D.C. - Federal land agencies become less friendly neighbors in direct proportion to increases in land acquisition funding.

It is unbelievable how the money subverts and destroys communities.

If you like the ability of the greens to use the Endangered Species Act to
shut down communities like those in the Klamath Basin, you'll love CARA.
  CARA will give the greens and government bureaucrats the money and
incentive to make many more farming areas into new Klamath Basins.   Take
the water.  Force farmers to sell.  This strategy applies to other
industries and businesses.

Below is a list of just a few of the land acquisition related horror
stories over the past 30 years.   There is a constant ebb and flow of good
relations and bad relations when the agencies get a burst of land
acquisition money.

It is almost like the agencies deliberately play good cop, bad cop.  When
they get in a bunch of money, they send in hard case managers to run the
parks, forests and refuges.  Their legacy will be the body count of acres
they are able to buy, coerce or extort from landowners, ALWAYS  USING
  CONEMNATION  AS  A  THREAT.

ACTION ITEMS:

-----1.  Look at the Congressmen on the Resources Committee listed below.
   One or more may be from your state.  CALL EVERY ONE from your state.
   Every Congressman and Senator may be reached at the Capitol Switchboard
at (202) 225-3121.   One number gets them all.

There is a temporary FREE NUMBER of (800) 648-3516.   That will also get
you every Congressman.    This line may get busy.   If so, use the direct
dial line below or the regular switchboard number.  Do not fail to make
your calls.

DO NOT TAKE ANY CONGRESSMAN FOR GRANTED.

Those that you most trust and rely on need a shot in the arm.  They need to
hear from you.  Several could go sideways on you in the CARA vote unless
you bury their offices in calls and faxes.   Your enemies are lobbying them
hard.  Some county commissioners are lobbying your Congressman hard and
selling out your long term future for short term economic gains for their
counties.


-----2.  Fax each Congressman from your state.  A letter will be too late.
  The Members you need to focus on are listed below with their fax number.

An easy fax to send is the NO CARA, NO LAND GRABS poster on the following
website.  Just download it, add a few remarks and fax it to the Congressmen
who are on the Committee from your state.  Go  to http://www.landrights.org

You can also download an updated TESTIMONY QUESTIONNAIRE to fill out and
fax to your Congressman.


-----3.  If no Congressman from your state is on the Resources Committee,
fax your Representative a message that you want him to urge the Members of
the Committee to vote against CARA.  This will also help prepare them for a
possible House floor vote.

-----4.  Call at least five friends to get them to call and fax.

-----5.  Call any radio talk shows in your area.  National talk shows too.

-----6.  Take a short, very short, letter to the editor down to your local
newspaper


Neighbors - Follow The Money

THE  MORE  MONEY  THE  FEDERAL AGENCIES  GET,

THE  WORSE  NEIGHBORS  THEY  BECOME.

Excerpted from written testimony submitted by Chuck Cushman, Coordinator of
the Keep Private Lands in Private Hands Coalition.

Much of the following material is documented on the American
Land Rights Website.  Go to http://www.landrights.org


SOME SPECIFIC CASE STUDIES FROM THE 70'S.

Lake Chelan National Recreation Area in Washington State-----was created at
the same time as the North Cascades National Park.  Lake Chelan was made a
NRA so that the small community of Stehekin could continue its pioneering
subsistence way of life.  It was necessary for the community to have access
to wood, water and power to continue.

Lake Chelan offered a unique opportunity to provide the handicapped,
elderly, and children a truly wild experience at the end of a 40 mile boat
ride, the only regular method to get into Stehekin.  There were only 1,600
acres of private land.  According to the GAO, the Park Service purchased
most of these, cutting off the ability of the community to provide for many
visitors.

In fact, it has been said that by 1980 there were half as many beds
available to disadvantaged recreationists as there had been in 1968 when
the area was made a National Recreation Area.  The Park Service had
purchased some of the facilities and closed them down.

Lake Crescent in Olympic National Park----There had been more than fifteen
recreation resorts and destinations at Lake Crescent before the Park
Service went on its land acquisition rampage. Now there are only two.  How
many handicapped, elderly and children will not get that fine experience
they would have had with those facilities still operating?

The Buffalo National River in Arkansas-----While preparing for a debate on
the "Today" show on NBC in 1988 between myself and Denis Galvin of the Park
Service, the NBC staffers found that the Park Service had started out with
1,103 landowners.  The law clearly encouraged easements and did not intend
to destroy the special cultural communities along the river.  The culture
was so unique it was featured in National Geographic.  However, NBC said
there were only eight landowners left in 1988, the 20th anniversary.

I served with former Parks Committee Chairman Roy Taylor on the National
Park System Advisory Board and Council in 1982.  He told me personally that
Congress never intended for the people of the Buffalo to be destroyed.

St. Croix River in Minnesota -----According to a 1978 report on rivers by
GAO, they found the Park Service had acquired 21,000 acres when they were
only supposed to acquire 1,000 acres of access sites according to the
legislative intent.

St. Croix River----- Another GAO report issued in 1979 found the Park
Service had 2,100 acres under condemnation, which was 900 acres over the
legal limit.  The Park Service agreed but said that when they concluded the
condemnation trials on people enough to reach the limit, the rest would
receive scenic easements.

St. Croix  River ----- Park Service was found guilty by the Justice
Department of using project influence to pay landowners less than fair
market value.  Justice planned to make the agency go back and re-appraise
the land and pay for what it had taken illegally.  American Land Rights had
to pressure the Justice Department to follow through.

St. Croix River-----Park Service is now over its legal limit for using
condemnation to buy fee title.  They are now threatening landowners with
excessively restrictive public access easements that only leave the
landowner with the right to pay taxes and liability for personal injury.

St. Croix River-----Ironically, one of the best examples of the use of
easements was not by the Park Service.  The Kettle River is a tributary
under the responsibility of the State of Minnesota.  The state purchased
land protection in the form of easements for a fraction of the average cost
paid by the Park Service in adjacent areas.

Boundary Waters Canoe Area, Minnesota----The Forest Service used LWCF funds
to buy up and remove many resorts throughout the whole region of Minnesota.
  The result was not more recreation but recreation transferred to the young
and healthy at the expense of the elderly, handicapped and children.  There
was a massive loss of access to traditional hunting and fishing areas
further reducing broad-based family recreation.

Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota-----The Park Service admitted in a 1979
GAO report that they had acquired enough land for the park from the timber
companies and did not need to acquire all the private landholdings that
dotted this sparsely populated area.  The agency went on to acquire the
inholders.

Fire Island National Seashore in New York-----The Park Service was found
guilty by the GAO in a 1981 report of acquiring an expensive home
completely surrounded by other homes and not available for any form of
public recreation.  The Park Service justified its condemnation simply
because the landowner had built his deck a little too large and had
received a zoning variance from the local town.  The cost to the taxpayer
was $100,000 for nothing.

C & O Canal in Maryland ----- The Park Service threatened all landowners
with condemnation in the years around 1974.  Even though they were required
to offer landowners a life tenancy under the 1969 Uniform Relocation Act,
the agency failed to provide each landowner notice of his rights because
park officials wanted to limit any use and occupancy reservations to 25
years.  The result is that now the landowners are fighting to get what was
fairly theirs.  Their Congressman, Roscoe Bartlett, has worked tirelessly
to try to save the former landowners from Park Service eviction.

Mt. Rogers National Recreation Area in Southwest Virginia-----A Forest
Service area created in 1966.  Congress had specified that the agency
should acquire 39,500 acres, 40% of them in fee title that would have
allowed the communities to stay.  When questioned by congressional
investigators and the author in 1979 about how many acres they had
purchased in fee and how many easements, they responded that they had
purchased over 26,000 acres in fee and no easements.  The agency thought
Congress didn't really mean what they said in the law.  They viewed it as
just a suggestion.  It took a surprising amount of hard work by former
Congressman Bill Wampler of Virginia to stop a massive new round of
condemnation actions planned by the Forest Service.

Yosemite National Park in California-----76 year old James Downey, a
survivor of the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake, was threatened with
condemnation in 1971 because he wanted to add a bathroom.  He had no tub
and had a double size septic tank and there was a covered breezeway under
which the bathroom was to be built.  There would be no new land coverage.
  The Park Service said what he was doing was an incompatible act and he
would be condemned.  They came back to him two weeks later after realizing
their political insensitivity and said that if he would sell them his home,
they would lease it back to him and then it would be OK to build his
bathroom.  Was the goal to stop the bathroom or buy the house?

Yosemite National Park----- Harold Tischmacher's home burned down in
December 1977.  When he tried to rebuild it on the same foundation, the
Park Service started condemnation proceedings because they said it was an
incompatible act.  He was saved by congressional intervention by
Congressman Bernie Sisk (D-CA).

Cuyahoga Valley NRA-----There are so many bad things to say about Cuyahoga,
it is hard to know where to begin or end.   It is certainly the best
documented case history with the film, a book, and much more.

One of the reasons CARA is so dangerous is the lack of oversight.   The
Resources Committee promises oversight but it doesn't seem to happen.
   Look what happened to the planning and money efficiency at Cuyahoga.  The
agency said they wanted to protect the " best"  places.   It was supposed
to allow the communities to stay there.   The Park Service was supposed to
use easements and allow the people to stay.  But what they really did was
buy from "willing sellers" first.  Then they planned the park.   When all
the criticism came in about condemnation and abuses, the agency finally
produced a master plan designed around where the "willing sellers" had
already sold their land.  In other words, whoever sold first really set the
design program in motion for the whole area.   'Best ' places didn't count.
  Who sold first counted.   Those who sold first were the disabled, elderly,
handicapped, engaged in a divorce proceeding and all the other reasons why
people sell property.   But not the way to protect the "best" land.   The
plan should have come first.  Then the acquisition.

Unfortunately these cases are just the tip of the iceberg.  Hundreds and
perhaps thousands more have not been recorded.  Investigators can find
these kinds of stories at nearly every park or other special designation
Federal area.

NO  LAW  TO PREVENT  THESE  ABUSES  HAS  BEEN PASSED.  CARA  WILL ONLY
  MAKE  THEM  WORSE.

       In the 1980's condemnations went down because the Reagan
Administration opposed the use of this tool wherever possible.  Offshore
oil and gas money was reassigned to other social priorities by sending it
directly to the treasury.

THERE WERE ABUSES IN THE 80'S

Foresta Fire, Yosemite National Park-----In the late 80's a fire got out of
control in Yosemite National Park, roared up a canyon and wiped out the
entire village of Foresta, about 80 homes.  Park Service Superintendent
Michael Findley had turned down help from the Forest Service and the state
forestry service.  After the fire, Findley requested that Congress give him
immediate permission to condemn all the home sites because he could buy
them cheaply since fire insurance would pay for the lost houses.  When he
was denied, he then set up as many roadblocks as possible to prevent the
landowners from rebuilding, thereby forcing some to sell.

Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming-----In an important national case a
landowner had been trying to sell his 160 acres to the Park Service for 10
years.  They've had the money.  The problem was the bad faith negotiations
extending all the way up the highest levels of Park Service management.
  The landowner finally had to threaten to subdivide his land in order to
get them to make the purchase.  The landowner did not want to subdivide and
had been a good steward.

The agency condemned him.  During the next five years this case took, the
landowner offered to settle with the Park Service and it was agreed to
right up to the Directors level.  William Mott overturned the agreement for
$1.8 million.  The case then went to trial and ultimately cost the
government over $3.2 million, far more than the agreed upon settlement.
  The judge was not complimentary to the bad faith negotiating by the Park
Service.  To make the case more bizarre, this piece of land was the highest
priority acquisition for the Park Service in the country and they still
could not manage to negotiate in good faith.

Santa Monica Mountains NRA in California-----In the Murphy Duane case the
landowner spent years going through all the vast permitting process and
Coastal Commission approval to get to the point were he could build his
dream home.  The Park Service strategy was to let him go.  Only when he had
spent thousands of dollars and man-hours to get local approval, did they
say they were going to condemn his land.  Intervention by Members of
Congress stopped this abusive example.

Chesboro Canyon, Santa Monica Mountains NRA in California-----The Park
Service had enough money to purchase this Trust For Public Land Property
for $8 million leaving hundreds of small landowners in another area of the
NRA laying helpless and strangling.  This is the exact kind of case that
gives the impression that lots of landowners want to sell and that there is
the need for HR-701 because there isn't enough money.

The plain fact is that if the Park Service had used its money wisely to buy
hardships and willing sellers they knew existed, there would be no cry for
more money.  It was lobbying by the Trust For Public Land that allowed the
$8 million to go for property the Park Service did not need to purchase
thereby preventing the truly needy landowners from being paid.

Golden Gate National Recreation Area, Sweeney Ridge in California-----The
Trust For Public Land acquired an option on this property for $8.5 million.
  They then negotiated a sale to the Park Service for $9.6 million.  The
Park Service really did not want to buy the property at all.  Both the
Carter and Reagan Administrations agreed that the land was not of park
quality and should not be purchased.

However, as is often the case with large land trusts, TPL orchestrated a
political campaign and forced a political confrontation.  They obtained
appraisals to show that the land was valued at anywhere from $21 million to
$24 million.  The landowner, part of a large oil company, hoped to obtain a
large tax deduction.  Our investigation showed the land worth from $7 to
$10 million.

Interior Secretary Bill Clark ultimately negotiated a sale near the $8.5
figure, due in part to our campaign against this unfortunate use of land
acquisition funds.  The figure was 8% of the entire land acquisition budget
for the Park Service.  Many other deserving landowners were left out
because of this misuse of money.  The problem is not that there wasn't
enough money, but that the money was spent unwisely.

Appalachian Trail, Hanover, New Hampshire-----The Park Service, working
closely with the Dartmouth Outing Club, attempted to use LWCF funds to buy
a greenway around Dartmouth College.  They did this by moving the
Appalachian Trail over to make it go through the middle of farmlands rather
than along the fence lines as they were supposed to do and using a 1000
foot corridor to build their impact.  They were found to be lying to
Washington officials about their activities when called in to explain and
ultimately had to move the trail back to the fence line and share the
impact among adjacent owners.  They were forced to use easements even
though they tried to avoid using them.  Only American Land Rights
intervention saved their lands.

Appalachian Trail, Sheffield, Massachusetts----- Park Service ignored the
Land Protection Planning Process and ran the trail through town without
consulting local officials, holding hearings or meetings or producing a
land protection plan for the area that had been shown to either local
landowners or officials.  In fact, the Park Service had deliberately
rerouted the trail at the request of the green groups to run it through the
land that was planned to be used for a high tech, low impact recycling
plant the greens wanted to stop.  The Appalachian Trail has often been used
as a weapon.  Park Service officials repeated this kind of abuse over and
over along the Appalachian Trail.

As in the earlier examples, this is the tip of the iceberg.  When there is
little oversight there is no reason for the agency to even attempt to obey
the law.  And they end up spending billions of dollars that do not have to
be spent.

HOW ABOUT THE 90'S?  THE ABUSES CONTINUED.

Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore in Michigan-----Riverside Canoes
owned by Kathy and Tom Stocklen has been serving the public well for many
years.  Even the Park Service admitted they ran a good clean recreation
business.  But they would not sign over an easement type contract to the
Park Service without compensation.  The Park Service had already purchased
two other canoe liveries and a campground either in condemnation or under
threat of condemnation.

Finally, in 1990, the Park Service condemned the Stocklens.  After several
meetings with Park Service officials in Washington, no one at the agency
could justify the condemnation, yet it went forward none the less.
  Finally, in 1992 just before the election, American Land Rights planned a
huge demonstration in front of the Interior Building in Washington, DC.
  The Interior Department forced a settlement that gave the Stocklens back
their land and compensated them for their attorney's fees prior to the
demonstration.

Sleeping Bear was originally set up as a National Recreation Area.  That is
what a National Lakeshore is.  It is tough to have full access to
recreation when the managing agency buys out all the services providing
certain types of recreation.

Moosehorn Wildlife Refuge in Maine-----The FWS wanted to expand the refuge.
  They promised the local people they would only buy from willing sellers.
  The others relaxed.  After the willing sellers had been purchased, the
agency came back, denied they had ever said they would only buy from
willing sellers, and began threatening condemnation.  This is a pattern
that repeats itself over and over again.

Saddleback Mountain Ski Area in Maine-----Time after time, for over 20
years, the family that owns Saddleback has tried to work out a settlement
of the route for the Appalachian Trail so that they could modernize and
complete their ski area.  Bad faith followed by bad faith by the Park
Service in negotiations continues to this day.  In fact, Saddleback
recently offered the Park Service twice the land they could condemn under
law just to settle the matter.  Yet Saddleback sits twisting in the wind.
  The losers are the family, the community that loses jobs and $40 million
of much needed economic activity per year for the region.  The recreation
ski community loses access to what would become one of the finest ski areas
in America.  The greens want new National Parks in Maine.  It is hard to
imagine why Maine or Congress would allow the Park Service to take over 5
to 10 million more acres in Maine when they cannot seem to solve problems
and get along on a simple trail.

Little River Canyon National Preserve in Alabama-----Here is an example of
pure politics at work.  The former Congressman from the area essentially
told the Park Service to find him a park in his district.  He apparently
needed another monument.  Fortunately, the agency found the Little River
Canyon, which we consider of national significance.  The State of Alabama
and the Alabama Power Company owned it.  As usual, the Park Service wanted
much more.  They tried to include the homes and farms of over 500 nearby
landowners.  American Land Rights helped fight the proposal, which
ultimately was settled by Congress using just the state and power company
land.  The cost to the Park Service was minimal.  It was totally
unnecessary to include the 500 landowners.  This kind of expansionist
process that is imbedded in the Park Service culture raises the cost of
parks and hurts the taxpayer.

Appalachian Trail -----Park Service Condemns the Tumbling Rund Game
Preserve in Pennsylvania in 2000.  The Tumbling Run Game Preserve, a
beautiful piece of property owned by 24 families in Cumberland County,
Pennsylvania since the 1920's is an excellent example of private
conservation.  It is a good neighbor to the Michaux State Forest, and has
voluntarily allowed access to hikers along the Appalachian Trail.

In 2000 the Park Service formally condemned and took to court the owners
because they did not want the trail to run through the middle of the game
preserve.  They were willing to donate a corridor less intrusive.  Never
mind.  That's what the Game Preserve Association gets for being a good
steward for 80 years.   Power hungry bureaucrats who manage the Appalachian
Trail had to have it their way, period.  Even more incredible, NPS intends
to use a procedure called a "Declaration of Taking."  This is a law passed
in 1931 that allows, in cases of national emergency, the federal government
to seize land immediately, and pay the property owner an arbitrary amount
at some point in the future!  That's right - Steal Now, Pay Later!  There
is virtually no control over the threat of condemnation by the National
Park
Service.________________________________________________________________
_________


Appalachian Trail AGAIN!!-----Holy Land Grab!  NPS Condemns Friars Land In
New York in 2000.  The Park Service tried to condemn the Franciscan Friars
of Attonement at Graymoor in New York.  The Friars offered them a corridor
for FREE but wanted to protect their ability to build a retirement home for
the Friars and their future.  For years, hikers had applauded the Friars as
great hosts who were good for a bed, meal and bath anytime.  The best place
on the trail they said.  The that was not enough for the Park Service.
  They had to have it their way.  After many threats and much publicity, the
Park Service finally settled with the Friars but it was an ugly story in
the history of the Appalachian Trail.   If you are considering allowing a
new national trail to be your neighbor, you want to think carefully before
you allow the Park Service to move in next door.

More money from CARA won't make the NPS a good neighbor.  CARA will
guarantee that the Park Service and other Federal land agencies will never
be good neighbors.  If CARA passes, it will mean that Members of Congress
will have to become management consultants constantly trying to blunt the
attacks by the Park Service against their constituents.


Can It Happen Again?
HR-701 Makes It Appear Impossible To Avoid!

       Congress has passed no law that would prevent a return to the
terrible days of the 70's.  The only difference is money.  A simple change
in policy by the Interior Department or less enforcement of the present
policy that already falls short is all it would take.  HR-701 will bring on
a nightmare to rural communities across America.


Here are the Committee Members you need to call and fax organized by state:

Jeff Flake (AZ)---Phone:  (202) 225-2635---FAX:  (202) 226 4386

Elton Gallegly (CA)-Phone:  (202) 225-5811---FAX:  (202) 225-1100
Ken Calvert (CA)---Phone:  (202) 225-1986---FAX:  (202) 225-2004
Richard Pombo (CA)---Phone:  (202) 225-1947---FAX:  (202) 226-0861
George Radanovich (CA)---Phone:  (202) 225-4540---FAX:  (202) 225-3402
Calvin Dooley (CA)---Phone:  (202) 225-3341---FAX:  (202) 225 9308

Joel Hefley (CO)---Phone:  (202) 225-4422---FAX:  (202) 225-1942
Scott McInnis (CO)---Phone:  (202) 225-4761---FAX:  (202) 226-0622
Bob Schaffer (CO)---Phone:  (202) 225-4676---FAX:  (202) 225 5870
Thomas Tancredo (CO)---Phone:  (202) 225-7882---FAX:  (202) 226 4623

Mike Simpson (ID)---Phone:  (202) 225-5531---FAX:  (202) 225 8216
C.L.  "Butch" Otter (ID)---Phone:  (202) 225-6611---FAX:  (202) 225 3029

Mark Souder (IN)---Phone:  (202) 225-4436---FAX:  (202) 225 3479

Dennis Rehberg (MT)---Phone:  (202) 225-3211---FAX:  (202) 225 5687

Walter Jones JR (NC)---Phone:  (202) 225-3415---FAX:  (202) 225-3286

Thomas Osborne (NE)---Phone:  (202) 225-6435---FAX:  (202) 226 1385

James Gibbons (NV)---Phone:  (202) 225-6155---FAX:  (202) 225 5679

Brad Carson (OK)---Phone:  (202) 225-2701---FAX:  (202) 225 3038

Greg Walden (OR)---Phone:  (202) 225-6730---FAX:  (202) 225 5774

John Peterson (PA)---Phone:  (202) 225-5121---FAX:  (202) 225 5796

John Duncan (TN)---Phone:  (202) 225-5435---FAX:  (202) 225-6440

William Thornberry (TX)---Phone:  (202) 225-3706---FAX:  (202) 225 3486
Solomon Ortiz (TX)---Phone:  (202) 225-7742---FAX:  (202) 226 1134

James Hansen (UT)   Chairman-Phone:  (202) 225-0453---FAX:  (202) 225-5857
Chris Cannon (UT)---Phone:  (202) 225-7751---FAX:  (202) 225 5629

Ron Kind (WI)---Phone:  (202) 225-5506---FAX:  (202) 225 5739

Barbara Cubin (WY)---Phone:  (202) 225-2311---FAX: (202) 225-3057


Please forward to your entire list.  Thank you for the help.

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