Posted on 11/05/2003 4:07:18 PM PST by freedomdefender
WASHINGTON, D.C - Pacific Legal Foundation Monday filed suit against the federal government in a highly publicized case that pits a rustic family of Alaska wilderness landowners against the National Park Service (NPS). At issue in the case is the Park Service’s closure of the 15-mile-long McCarthy-Green Butte road that traverses federal land and provides the only overland access to property owned by Robert Hale, commonly known as Papa Pilgrim, and the 16 members of his family. Pilgrim purchased the 410-acre parcel in the Spring of 2002, and the family has lived in the old miner’s house situated on the property continuously since that time. Pilgrim’s purchase of the property was with the understanding that the road connecting it to town, basically used as a driveway to his home, would be continuously accessible so that food and other provisions could be carried in by vehicle. State regulations allow for such use of the road.
In April 2003, the Pilgrim’s house and most of the family’s belongings were destroyed by a fire. The Park Service closed the road to traffic a few days after the fire, leaving the Pilgrims the option of traveling into town by horseback, or flying in small quantities of supplies to an airstrip on the property (the family does not own an airplane).
With winter approaching and below-freezing temperatures already upon them, the Pilgrims’ plight has received national media attention. The matter has been complicated due to the family’s need to bring in heavy materials to rebuild the house, and prepare for sub-zero weather.
"For the Pilgrim family, access means survival," said Pacific Legal Foundation Attorney Russ Brooks.
"Rather than being a responsible regulatory agency, the National Park Service has forced a standoff with Papa Pilgrim, who merely wants to continue use of the road to provide for his family’s needs. The Pilgrims are in an emergency situation. Yet, the Park Service callously claims that the family’s predicament isn’t considered an emergency ‘under federal regulations.’ The Park Service has drawn a line in the sand, dismissing the urgent needs of peopleincluding small children living in Arctic conditions," said Brooks.
At the heart of the dispute is the Park Service’s concern for spawning fish and possible damage to unfrozen ground. The road to the Pilgrims’ property crosses McCarthy Creek several times. The Park Service contends that by using the road, the fish swimming in the creek might be subjected to harm. As late as last week, the Park Service was demanding that an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) be completed before discussions about a permit for the Pilgrims could begin. Such an expensive study would take nearly nine weeks to complete.
According to Rick Kenyon, who writes for the Wrangell St. Elias News, the Park Service is trying to "break the Pilgrims and destroy them financially." The Pilgrim property sits in the middle of the Wrangell St. Elias National Park and Preserve.
"The Park Service is seeking to lock up national parks and prevent access to private land. This is nothing more than another chapter in the federal government’s ongoing land grab," said Brooks. "Tragically, women and children are being placed in harm’s way."
The local community, out of concern for the Pilgrims’ well-being, recently came together to fund an airlift to the Pilgrim property in order to provide them with essential items for their temporary survival. To date, more than 60 airplane trips have resulted in the transfer of approximately the same amount of supplies that could have been transported in a single trip using a 16-foot trailer. On October 10, 2003, a plane carrying supplies to the Pilgrim property crashed. According to an Associated Press story that appeared nationally, "Everyone connected with the airlift suggested immediately that this accident was completely unnecessary and was a direct result of the Park Service’s denial of ground access."
The lawsuit filed by PLF today seeks declaratory and injunctive relief under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act (ANILCA) and former Revised Statute 2477. According to the complaint, in passing ANILCA, Congress set the bar high for road closures to ensure Alaska’s
citizens that access guarantees were real. The law provides that the Park Service allow, at a minimum, adequate and feasible access to owners of private land within national parks and preserves. As part of the Mining Act of 1866, Section 2477 of the Revised Statutes provides in its entirety, "The right-of-way for the construction of highways over public lands, not reserved for public uses, is hereby granted."
About Pacific Legal Foundation
Founded in 1973, Pacific Legal Foundation is a Sacramento-based public interest legal organization dedicated to preserving individual and economic freedoms, including ownership and reasonable use of private property. More information on PLF is available at www.pacificlegal.org.
About the Pilgrim Family
More information on the plight of the Pilgrim family can be found at the American Land Rights Association website: www.landrights.org. ALRA has been in the forefront of publicizing the Pilgrim case and working to coordinate emergency aid.
For Pilgrim's first wife, not being alone with Pilgrim might have meant survivial.
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There is nothing in the article about the government having any responsibility for maintaining the road, only to let them use the road.
Just as man can't exist without his body, so no rights can exist without the right to translate one's rights into reality -- to think, to work, and to keep the results -- which means: the right of property. -- From "Atlas Shrugged" by Ayn Rand.
Are you sure you're not in a bad mood tonight and trying to stir up trouble? This is the second thread in a row where I have read a post of yours making derogatory remarks.
Meanwhile, the dispute has gained national attention, with a story last Sunday in the Washington Post. That story explored Robert Hale's background and found, among other things, that in 1958, he eloped with the 16-year-old daughter of John Connally, the Texas governor who was wounded in the Kennedy assassination. Connally's daughter, Kathleen, died in a room with Robert Hale on an apparently self-inflicted shotgun blast to the face. Hale declined to comment on the incident.
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