Free Republic

A British farmer who stood up to Robert Mugabe and was beaten, abducted and finally had his house burnt down has travelled to Washington to ask the Obama administration to put pressure on the Zimbabwe government before it seizes the last remaining white farms. Ben Freeth and his wife Laura with their children Anna, Phillip and Josh. Ben Freeth, who moved to Zimbabwe from Kent, joined his father-in-law Mike Campbell in taking Mugabe to an international court to stop the farm seizures. Their secret footage of the campaign of intimidation launched against them will form part of a film to...

A land rush may soon be on in Colorado, and the prospectors could be home-rule cities seeking property outside their boundaries. At least that's how we read one possible outcome of Monday's state Supreme Court decision letting Telluride use eminent domain to seize 600 acres of private property sitting outside the town limits. The opinion distorts the straightforward language in the state constitution regarding the relationship between home-rule cities and the state. And in the process, the court has enabled those cities to condemn land in nearby counties or non-home-rule towns, with state lawmakers powerless to stop them. Using this...

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - South Africa, seeking ways to speed up the redistribution of land, said on Tuesday its constitution does not specify that the sale of land must be voluntary and at market prices. "The willing-buyer, willing seller approach is not something provided in the constitution," Deputy President Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka told parliament during a regular question-and-answer session with legislators. Land is a sensitive issue in South Africa where the white minority still owns the most of the agricultural land more than a decade after the end of apartheid. The government has been careful to distance itself from the approach...

Jesse Hardy has ended his years-long eminent domain fight with the state Department of Environmental Protection over property in Collier County that is considered vital to Everglades restoration. Senior Judge Jack Schoonover signed papers Wednesday approving a deal by which Hardy will get $4.95 million for Hardy’s 160-acre homestead in Southern Golden Gate Estates. The DEP has tried since 2002 to negotiate a deal to buy Hardy’s land for an Everglades restoration project. Hardy had refused offers for as much as $4.4 million to leave. He also rejected several land swap offers. The deal approved Wednesday allows Hardy to stay...

After routing the opposition at the polls last year, Venezuela's President Hugo Chávez has signalled an escalation of his offensive against the country's elites with a "war" on latifundio, big rural estates that he blames for rural poverty. This is a mistake. Land reform is likely to weaken the farm sector. It has regularly failed Latin America in the past and is especially pointless in Venezuela, where nine out of 10 people live in urban areas. Land reform that gives the government the ability to expropriate land that is idle or unproductive or where owners are unable to prove legal...

The Great Chinese Land Grab is onBy Xia Yunfan HONG KONG - The Great Chinese Land Grab is hurtling on, flouting official diktats, benefiting the rich and robbing poor farmers of cropland in a vast nation that has relatively little arable land. Over the past seven years, China has lost 66,670 square kilometers in arable land, according to the Ministry of Land Resources, an estimate that many experts consider grotesquely below the actual figure and not reflecting desertification, poor management and unbridled illegal land grabs. While China is a vast country, the amount of arable land for a population of...

<p>DETROIT -- In a case that could redefine the power of Michigan governments to take property for development projects, the state Supreme Court is revisiting its landmark 1981 decision that allowed the clearing of the city’s Poletown neighborhood to make way for a General Motors Corp. plant.</p>

China demands Japan 'unconditionally' release activists The Chinese Foreign Ministry lodged a solemn representation Wednesday afternoon with Japan for illegally detaining seven Chinese citizens who landed on Diaoyu Island, a Chinese island in the East China Sea. Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Zhang Yesui Wednesday afternoon summoned Chikahito Harada, charge d'affaires of Japanese embassy in China, to lodge the representation. Zhang stated the stance of the Chinese government on the Diaoyu Island issue. He pointed out that Diaoyu Island and the attached islets have been a part of the Chinese territory since ancient times and China has indisputable sovereignty over these...

Saturday, February 28, 2004 Roundup Shuts Gila Forest Site By Richard Benke The Associated Press Gila National Forest officials say they're closing the Diamond Bar allotment to the public this weekend to allow a contractor to prepare for a roundup and impoundment of all cattle on federal land used by the ranch. "The area closure goes into effect tomorrow," Gila public affairs officer Andrea Martinez said Friday. "That's to allow the contractors to begin their preparation." A contractor who would round up more than 400 cattle from the Diamond Bar was found during the past week, she said. The preparations...

Famine and despair take over the lush garden of Africa (Filed: 12/01/2004) Peta Thornycroft, in Darwendale, traces the seizure of 90 per cent of Zimbabwe's land and the destruction of more than 4,000 businesses in the process that has left a million black farm workers and their families without jobs or homes. To anyone familiar with the formerly well-tended, red-soiled farms of Zimbabwe, the lands which once fed a nation, the sight of barren land is devastating. A few patches of short, yellowing maize, enough for a small peasant family for a few months. A couple of scraggy cattle, infested...

'Open Fields' bill would pay farmers to open lands to public use Do you think landowners should be able to receive public funds for letting hunters, bird-watchers and other outdoor enthusiasts use their land? Senators have introduced a bill that would fund state programs to do just that. The "Open Fields" bill was introduced by Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), and is co-sponsored by Senators Byron Dorgan, Mark Dayton, Max Baucus, Mike Enzi, Tim Johnson, Tom Daschle, John Kerry and Tom Harkin. Harkin today called the bill a win-win for landowners and outdoor enthusiasts. Open Fields,...

Why Do Conservatives Continue To Support The Republican Party? By Chuck Baldwin August 1, 2003 It should be obvious to every rational person that the Republican Party has totally lost whatever conservative moorings it had. Since seizing control of the federal government and many state governments, Republicans have consistently promoted bigger and bigger government, have betrayed virtually every conservative cause, and have broken virtually every conservative promise. Even columnist George Will observed that under President Bush, conservatism has developed "an identity crisis." However, the greater crisis is the willingness of grassroots conservatives to continue to support such a party. Since...

Homestead Land and Water Alliance 12752 Platti Road Tracy, CA 95304 (209)835-7974 "mailto:sharon@inreach.com"sharon@inreach.com June 7, 2003 Dear Editor, A recent Tracy Press article, “County to Benefit From New Agriculture Program” sounded so philanthropic! It spoke of a program, PACE (Purchasing Agricultural Conservation Easements), developed by Great Valley Center and American Farmland Trust, two big Non-Governmental Organizations (NGO) to help save the poor farmers in their time of need. These NGO’s are going to give farmers “a nice lump sum of money that they can use to improve their operation or for anything they want”. A major problem with these ‘free...

Sharon Votaw April 21, 2003 My husband and I bought some farmland in the California Delta over 30 years ago. This is prime agricultural land with deep, rich soils, ample water and a long growing season. In the beginning we would plant a crop; either beans or tomatoes or alfalfa, hay, wheat, corn, oats or barley. Then we hoped for favorable weather and a strong market. Farming has always been gambler’s choice. Some years were good and some years were lean, but we paid our bills and enjoyed life. Unbeknownst to us, in the early 1990’s the government again became...

Lower Greenbrier River Byway Wins Grant to Make Plan by Chris Chanlett The Lower Greenbrier River Byway project is awaking from a long winter’s nap. Recently the West Virginia Department of Transportation informed the group that its grant application to write a Corridor Management Plan [ this is the whole problem right here, they get the money , write up their plan, then the WVDOH and The NPS, Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife and so on, come into play, rip up the local’s plan, and then goes to the process of Environmental Impact Plans, that turn out to not get...

National Park Service ...Friend or Foe? What an interesting question! We have all been reared to believe that the NPS was so good for the preservation and conservation of lands for the protection of future generations. Well, many have screamed out against the NPS since around the early 70’s, but their voices fell on deaf ears or those ears that did not have the time or inclination to listen. And of course the lack of media coverage to bring the pro’s and con’s to the awareness level of the public commons....those of us that live on the land and really...

National Park Service ...Friend or Foe? What an interesting question! We have all been reared to believe that the NPS was so good for the preservation and conservation of lands for the protection of future generations. Well, many have screamed out against the NPS since around the early 70’s, but their voices fell on deaf ears or those ears that did not have the time or inclination to listen. And of course the lack of media coverage to bring the pro’s and con’s to the awareness level of the public commons....those of us that live on the land and really...

Property rights activists are worried that a renewed push to combat non-native “invasive species” could end up granting massive new powers over private land to the federal government. “This could expand the federal government’s power far beyond what the Endangered Species Act has done,” said R.J. Smith, director of the Center for Private Conservation. “Few people have endangered species on their land. Almost everyone has non-native species.” Smith and other pro-private-property activists are keeping an eye on the Interior Department as it works on a major invasive species control proposal. Smith said environmentalists are trying to use the legitimate problems...

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- PARK WARS, PART 1 Debate roars over future of Yosemite Protesters, communities mobilize to fight Clinton-era anti-car plan -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Posted: May 12, 2003 1:00 a.m. Eastern Editor's note: This is the first of a two-part series exploring the controversy surrounding a massive plan underway by the U.S. Park Service to reduce the level of human access to America's most beloved national park – Yosemite. In this installment, WND explains the history of the plan and the efforts of local communities to put a stop to it. By Sarah Foster © 2003 WorldNetDaily.com In late December 1996, a tropical storm...

Conservationists have scored some impressive victories in their efforts to keep southwest Montana from becoming suburbia, largely by buying conservation easements on big ranches. But despite protecting thousands of acres, there are still many more rural properties at risk of development. To keep land from being further cut up and developed, a group of scientists, real estate agents and conservation groups have formed the Conservation Land Network, which encourages recreational buyers to protect the most important properties. "We can't buy them all," Network Director Katie Kelly said. "So it's a matchmaker arrangement where we're trying to match the properties...

BIG GREEN : Inside the Nature Conservancy Nonprofit Land Bank Amasses Billions Charity Builds Assets on Corporate Partnerships ___ The Nature Conservancy ___ SPECIAL REPORT Documents on the organization's transformation from a grassroots group to a corporate juggernaut. Read Today's Documents:Internal Conservancy ReportConservancy Letter to The PostFocus Group ResearchConservancy Opinion SurveyGraphic: Expanding CompanyGraphic: Corporate Friends _____More Stories_____ • How a Bid to Save a Species Came to Grief (The Washington Post, May 5, 2003) • On Eastern Shore, For-Profit 'Flagship' Hits Shoals (The Washington Post, May 5, 2003) • The Beef About the Brand (The Washington Post, May 5, 2003)...

Congress drew a circle around the 75,000 acres in the New River Gorge National River in 1978. It's taken the National Park Service (NPS) less than 25 years to take-over 65,000 of those acres. Senator Robert Byrd (D-WV) just obtained more tax dollars for the NPS to take 6,800 more acres in the area, while Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) got millions more for a new NPS visitor center, currently under construction, to serve as the front door to the New River Scenic Parkway. Some land is donated to the NPS (as required by law), some is bought outright, some is...

David will take on Goliath, Mar. 13, as Southern Golden Gate Estates property owner Jesse Hardy fights the state of Florida for 160 acres of land he has called home for 27 years.Located in what is called the "Hole in the Donut," the property is part of the state's 55,000-acre buy-out to restore natural water flows to the SGGE, once slated for development.Hardy says his property is not necessary to the restoration project and will not be adversely affected by it."I'm not against any of the environmentalists' work to re-hydrate the Southern Golden Gate Estates," he says. "I'm all for...

(CNSNews.com) - Environmental groups and conservationists say the Bush administration has launched an "assault" on the nation's public lands. "We are simply witnessing the most sweeping attempt to weaken or eliminate environmental protections for these lands in the history of modern environmental policy," said Marty Hayden, legislative director for Earth Justice at a recent Washington press conference. A coalition of green groups participated in a briefing titled "Full Scope of Bush Assaults on U.S. Public Lands." Hayden said the Bush administration's land use policy seems to be: "leave no forest behind" and "leave no oil and gas well un-drilled." But...

WASHINGTON — There is no need to explain to Franklin Adams about the plight of the Florida panther. As a former chairman of the Florida Wildlife Federation Board of Directors, he's fought for more protection for the endangered species as development encroaches on their habitat. As a Naples resident, he has seen the problem firsthand, as recently as last week when he came upon a dead female panther while driving along Route 29. Adams was in Washington on Wednesday to magnify how severe the problem is as the National Wildlife Federation designated the Florida panther the wildlife species that is...

Greens just can't make up their minds! http://www.cnsnews.com/ViewCulture.asp?Page=\Culture\archive\200302\CUL20030220a.html Environmental Says Blizzard Consistent with 'Global Warming' Trend By Marc Morano CNSNews.com Senior Staff Writer February 20, 2003 (CNSNews.com) - The record-breaking blizzard of 2003, which left more than two feet of snow in some areas of the mid-Atlantic and Northeast, was "very much in line with the predictions of climate models" that predict human-caused "global warming," according to an environmentalist in Washington. When asked whether predictions of "global warming" have been altered by the unusually cold and snowy winter, including the recent blizzard, Melissa Carey, a climate change policy specialist with...

Land Trusts Attempt Stealth Tax Cut TAX FAVORITISM for the Nature Conservancy approved by Senate Committee!! Democratic Senator Max Baucus (D-MT) and Republican Senator Charles Grassley (R-IA) propose huge new benefit for the Nature Conservancy and other land trusts - at the expense of private property owners, communities and other charities. S.256, Sections 106 and 107! *** ALERT *** TERRIBLE LEGISLATION *** TAX FAVORITISM for the Nature Conservancy and other land trusts!!! Here is the FIRST bill out of the chute that is moving in Congress that impacts private property rights. It has ALREADY been approved by the Senate Finance...

http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/display/inn_news/news2.txt “This is such an important issue that everone should read this." Andy Martin, Editor, Siskiyou Daily News. February 16, 2003 http://www.siskiyoudaily.com/display/inn_news/news2.txt What caused salmon deathss? The Klamath Basin issue on the California-Oregon border, where water was held back from more than 1,400 farmers and ranchers in 2001, made national news. The water had been shut off when a court ruling based on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) forced farmers and ranchers to do without their irrigation water to protect sucker fish and threatened coho salmon. The water was eventually restored in 2002 after it was determined that the shutoff...

Lawsuit will seek return of water pumped to Rogue Basin By JEFF BARNARD The Associated Press 1/30/03 7:29 PM GRANTS PASS, Ore. (AP) -- Environmentalists warned the federal government on Thursday they are going to court to restore water to salmon in the Klamath Basin that is now pumped over the Cascade Range to irrigate valuable pear orchards in the Rogue Valley. The move represents an escalation in the legal battles over sharing water between fish and farms in the Klamath River Basin, with environmentalists sympathetic to Indian tribes and fishing downstream making a new demand for water controlled by...

WASHINGTON (AP) - More than 2 million acres of federal land in five Western states will remain protected as national monuments in keeping with former President Clinton's orders, a federal appeals court ruled Friday. Justices affirmed lower court rulings that dismissed challenges by property rights advocates and industry to the constitutionality of the 1906 Antiquities Act. The cases challenged seven monuments in Arizona, California, Colorado, Oregon and Washington. A conservative legal foundation promised an appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. During his eight years, Clinton created 19 and expanded three monuments, bringing under federal protection 5.9 million acres. Congress also...

Their T-shirts are green. Their bumper stickers are green. And their bank account is full of green — in part with contributions from the county's largest developers, campaign contribution reports available Monday show. Conservation Collier, the political action committee pushing a greenspace tax on the Nov. 5 ballot, has raised $87,256 since its formation last November. The PAC has pledges of more than $102,000. That outpaces by far the $5,981 that a PAC called Keep Collier Paradise had raised by this time in 1996 in its failed effort to get voters to pass a sales tax increase to buy green...

by Danny E. Meek, EsquirePublished 08. 26. 02 at 10:24 Sierra Time PFNS, Naples, FL The Collier County Fairgrounds on the outskirts of Naples, Florida can hold rodeos, boat shows, Latin music festivals, rock music festivals, country music festivals and, obviously, huge crowds of people, machinery, and animals for the yearly county fair. However, the facility is apparently not big enough to hold the members of "The Sawgrass Rebellion."The Sawgrass Rebellion, which now includes over seven hundred groups pledging their support, is an umbrella organization founded to protect the property rights of South Florida residents through legislation, litigation, and public...

Intended Consequences: Natural Process v. Environmental Arrogance By Sean FinneganPublished 08. 19. 02 at 18:58 Sierra Time Sean Finnegan, who reported regularly from Klamath Falls for The Sierra Times, will be providing exclusive coverage of the Sawgrass Rebellion - the convoy headed toward Florida. As expected, The Sierra Times will provide regular coverage of this event. Finnegan begins his series on the battles in the Western States.DISPATCHES:· In the early morning of October 18, 1998, fire destroyed five buildings and four ski lifts in Vail, Colorado. Two days later an underground terrorist group known as the Earth Liberation Front...

Letter to the Editor The environmental war on the west that destroyed whole communities is here in the east , southeast , far south, as well as the north. That means basically that the environmental war is everywhere now in these great United States! What is this war? It is a well orchestrated environmental movement using federal regulations that is destroying the livelihoods of rural Americans all across the country. The main weapons of this war is such wonderful propaganda and rhetorical terminology such as “preservation and conservation” From these two words alone come some of the most horrific instances...

FOLKS, YOU ARE INVITED! The Largest Property Rights Rally ever held in America will take place in Naples and Homestead, Florida, Oct 17, 18 and 19. A major celebrity band is booked, the food will be tremendous and 80 acres of free camping are available. At stake is the Agricultural industry in Dade County, Florida and a massive property grab by a mixed bag of federal, state and county agencies that threatens to displace thousands of property owners. Convoys are forming in several states at present. We urge you to join us, but whether you are coming to Florida or...

American Land Rights Association - Land Rights Network PO Box 400 - Battle Ground WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 - Fax: 360-687-2973 - Email: - 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 "Heritage Area" Zoning Scam Returns! *** "Heritage Area" Zoning Bill Alert!*** Scheduled for House Floor Vote Within TWO WEEKS!!! YOUR Hard Work Seriously Wounded it in Committee More Hard Work Can Help Kill it On the House Floor ACTION ITEMS BELOW!!! As early as the week of July 15, the House of Representatives will consider legislation attacking...

Sheila Davis PO BOX 202 Jumping Branch, WV 25969 PHONE: (304) 466-3676 FAX: (Same, picks up on 4th ring) country357@stargate.net Fred VanKirk, P.E. Secretary/Highways Commissioner West Virginia Department of Transportation Division of Highways 1900 Kanawha Boulevard East * Build Five * Room 110 Charleston, WV 25305-0430 * (304) 558-3505 Dear Mr. VanKirk: I am in receipt of your letter dated May 28, 2002 concerning State Project X241-125-0.00 02, New River Parkway, Raleigh and Summers County. I must say that this letter is of grave concern to me in that along with the letter is an enclosed map, "SANDSTONE FALLS ADDITION",...

Grant County citizens take a stand 05/19/02 MICHAEL MILSTEIN JOHN DAY, OREGON Frustration is boiling over in Eastern Oregon's Grant County as logging that has always been the rural county's lifeblood slips away, taking jobs and families with it. Locals are mounting Oregon's own brand of Sagebrush Rebellion, challenging federal management of surrounding national forests. They know it could spark the kind of angry confrontation that has flared where other Western counties have attempted to take control of public land. But they say Grant County has no choice. "For us, we have nothing more to lose," says Herb Brusman, a...

To: "country357" > Sent: Sunday, May 05, 2002 1:40 AM > Subject: an attachment to the scenic highway picture in WV! **** Please is the hyperlink does not open correctly, will someone that can and know how copy and paste the picture?**** > > > > *trying to copy and paste this because I don't think the hyper link is > > working > > The following link does display a truly beautiful Scenic Highway in WV with > of a remarkedly well kept roadway, all black and pretty and the > strips newly painted with out a pot hole...

Feds to Homeowners: Make Room for a View Sheila Davis has lived near the beach in Florida, but she chose to raise her family in Hinton, W.Va., a city nestled along the New River in an area known for its railroad history and national historic district. She owns an acre of land where she shares her mobile home with three teenage daughters and her husband and plans to build a log cabin. But a road improvement plan that ballooned into a federal park project has threatened to force Davis and dozens of other Hinton residents from their homes, all to...

Hinton, West Virginia: Same Old Government Land Grab More Articles April 30, 2002 By Tom DeWeese Hinton, West Virginia, is a small rural community of approximately 5,000 people. Most residents have lived their entire lives in the town or surrounding countryside. Many live in the same houses built by long-departed relatives. Hinton is paradise and they don’t care to live anywhere else. Ann Roach is a new comer. Just a few years ago she discovered Hinton while on a "Mystery Tour" aboard an Amtrak train journeying through the countryside to view the Fall foliage in the valley of the New...

In today's Hinton News, Doug Tolbert, Coordinator of the New River Parkway Authority, is begging for letters IN support of the New River Parkway! This is the road to no where! Yet it will deprive landowners of their homes and heritages, as well as cost ALL taxpayers over 35 Million dollars because it will be 80% federally funded! Mr. Tolbert's comments include such statements as.."because of a 'few opponents' we stand to lose federal funds!" The same funds that would strip families of their livelihoods and heritages, as well as the taxpayers all across America for a roadway that goes...

West Virginia landowners fight viewshed plan When Ann Roach of Ironton, Ohio visited the steep mountainsides of Hinton, West Virginia, she fell in love with the majesty and peace of the hills. She and her husband built a summer cabin there in 1995. Little did she know that her adopted countryside would be a battleground where she and her neighbors would fight for their homes and their livelihoods. This grandmother of nine came reluctantly to the fight. At first, Ann and her neighbors embraced a plan by the New River Parkway Authority (NRPA) to rebuild their hairpin mountain road and...

**ALERT!** Federal Zoning Vote! THIS THURSDAY, April 25, the bill to mandate land use zoning by the federal government across the United States will be voted on!!!!This is the same bill that was brought up for a vote two weeks ago, but pulled from consideration at the last minute. The land-grabbers have regrouped, and are trying again!Senate bill 975 - S. 975 - will be voted on in the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Thursday afternoon. The grassroots made the difference and turned away the bill two weeks ago - NOW it is time to do it again!!!YOU MUST...

<p>A state agency has sold a 418-acre chunk of San Mateo County that once was part of a hotly contested piece of California coastline to a longtime farmer.</p> <p>The land sale was part of a compromise that allowed two state land agencies, the California Coastal Conservancy and the Trust for Public Land, to purchase in 1985 more than 4,000 acres of beautiful, nearly untouched land along the coast -- the point at which the Santa Cruz Mountains roll into the untamed beaches of San Mateo County.</p>