Posted on 07/18/2004 8:49:27 PM PDT by NormsRevenge
Along a stretch of a state highway leading to Yosemite National Park, a band of conservationists has been buying up vacant land.
The group has cobbled together about 400 acres in a desirable meadow off Highway 120.
But the scrappy Tuolumne County Land Trust is no match for a proposed golf-course community that would rise next to its land onto a spur of Table Mountain, a 500-foot lava formation fabled by Western author Bret Harte. "A little land trust like ours - nobody even listens to us," said Marlee Powell, who also is Sonora's mayor.
The only way to compete with developers is to get more money, she said. So the land trust is closely watching a bill in the Legislature that would create a Sierra Nevada Conservancy.
AB 2600 is five years in the making and would create a massive government branch stretching across 20 counties in the snow-capped mountain range.
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
NJ just went through this, it's a constituency problem, the conservation of land has very few immediate losers, and arguably many long term winners. The fact that the mayor of the town with citizens who have the most to lose, is leading the charge for further conservation, also invokes serious agency issues.
ON one side, with each property bought by a Conservancy,is a single landowner and a few dozen contractors if it's to be developed, versus every environmental group, every state politician trying for easy "enviro" cred without harming his voting constituency, and every feel-good liberal, from the area hardest affected and from locations outside the area working in concert, makes for a long hard uphill battle. Which will be ultimately decided by a panel of judges, over Constitutional rights of private property vs. the "public good".
It leaves little room for the manuevering and pressuring that FR is capable of.
>>>>Can someone explain it to me???
>>2004 election.....Soros......||||War on Terror....Iraq;.....Iran;;;;Pakistan;;;;;;Waziristan.... the list goes on....
I know there is alot going on in the world.... but a Saddam may take over California if we don't start payin' attention at home, too. JMHO.
From what I understand, the AM was operating upon the consideration that there was no direct call for an organized action or event. Such strikes me as more than a bit counterproductive, or at least questionable simply because activism proceeds from making issues visible, to enlisting support, and then organizing an effort. It's pretty hard to put together a plan for activism when enough people don't know about the issue to form an interest group, much less get people to understand what the issue means to them.
The Sierra Nevada Conservancy is an issue that meets the criteria for FRN's charter as issue activism. The plan is a horrible blow to property rights, statewide, simply because of its scale and its potential effects on the availability of water for human use, statewide. It will also go a long way toward controlling land use and raising housing and energy prices.
There are a number of interests looking to cut off urban areas from Sierra Nevada water in order to force the public to pay those higher energy prices for desalinization and high prices for dense urban housing, forcing people into mass transit, etc. Regardless of whether such means of acquiring water are more responsible, using government to force that change in such a manner as to profit a key group of investors is clearly corrupt.
Key among those groups is the NRDC, which, as you know, is closely tied to our "Republican" governor, and hence a possible source of conflict. It could be Arnold's party affiliation is a potential reason ff couldn't get any traction with the AM to get the visibility to develop an activist effort to kill the Conservancy.
In my opinion, the response to this issue from FR has reflected the general ignorance of and disinterest in environmental issues, simply because a) most urban voters don't think it affects them, b) they like to think that they are getting the use of other people's land and resources for entertainment purposes (even if it isn't true), and c) most people think that government environmental controls are a necessary evil, and d) many conservatives on FR roll their eyes at complex environmental issues thinking (in some cases rightly) that it's all hooey.
Anyway, from what I can tell, those are ff's reasons, the rest is simple frustration at the slow attrition being forced upon the State's landowners, most of whom are conservatives, while so many urban conservatives or think that there are more imortant issues at stake (which there may well be in the short run, in the longer term environmental regulation may play a key role in this nation's ability to sustain a global war). I see that lack of interest in property rights on the part of the Republican Party as very shortsighted.
Thanks for an excellent explanation.
Sounds like a good idea!
In fact, you don't even have to go all the way up here, just go to visit local property owners in the Santa Monica mountain range and try to find some of the "willing sellers" that used to "own" some property that the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy coveted, until they found a way to COMPEL these former owners to become "willing Sellers!"
Then stop off at the Ventura County Assessor's office and ask him about how much property used to be on the tax rolls until that Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy got into the act. Then go across the hall to the County Tax collector and check into the lost revenue brought on by this.
Then just drive around and drop into some local coffee shops and ask some more questions and see if some of the old-timers don't have some really strange tales to tell that will make you wonder if your in the old Soviet Union, or in America.
So when the "list" is over with, do you want all power and property in this state controlled by the blue counties through Sacramento with both water and revenues dried up through the creepy militant efforts of activists, enthusiasts and leftists that wouldn't let people live free on their property anymore?
Do you want all employment in the mountains and coastal areas to be government operations with only Eco-Tourism "businesses" allowed to exist in these vast regions that produce nothing more than "Theme Parks?" While you and most everyone else is being distracted with "more interesting things" in long lists, this is what is transpiring right under your collective noses!!!
Finally, let me ask you which situation can FReepers personally do more about. The long list of bigtime national and international distractions, or stuff like this going on right in your own back yard (so to speak)? I guess nobody gave a... hoot (that's it) when Barbara Strisand got behind the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy, so why should anyone get upset when Arnold Schwarzenegger gets behing the whole Sierra-Nevada Conservancy, right?
Yeah, I've argued such a decision before, but I've never put one back up. It would seem pretty fruitless.
Jim, You mean threads like this vanity that was posted the same day as mine and is still on the activism side board? It has less activism than my thread. It has no lead organization or contact informaion at all. The two requirements that the lead moderator claim caused mine to be pulled from the side board.
I could go on but I know how you hate it when I beat a dead horse.
Whatever. Flog me till I die.
It doesn't happen that often Jim, and seldom with regard to a bill operating on such a scale. Heck, this Conservancy is bigger than a half dozen States put together! It effects on acreage and populations outside the Conservancy are far bigger than that. Further, there aren't so many FReeps or activism threads that such a post would displace much of anything, at least I don't see them that often. It certainly isn't like the regular "Freep the Creep" events when Clinton was in office. If we were so lucky as to have it be a problem, I'm sure you creative programmers will figure out something.
As to the property rights chapter idea, when it comes to activism of that nature it usually involves making a long trip to an often remote location. Such things end up being regional by default with Jarbridge and Klamath being rare exceptions. I would think it a better use of resources to put more focus into the Sacramento chapter, simply because it's in the State capitol where the influence and visibility might do the most good. That would mean giving issues that could lead to activities in that city more visibility? Besides, maybe it's time to give Arnold a little nudge once in a while. He might even think it amusing.
I give up.
I'm not trying to argue with you Jim. I just thought I could offer some observations and suggestions to defuse the situation. If you don't want that, no problem.
"Breaking news is usually reserved for BREAKING NEWS items."
How about breaking wind?
erm, never mind.
Allow a cross post in Breaking News and Legislation Alert for a 24 or 48 hour period and then pull it from Breaking News. That should get the topic in front of a large cross-section of posters in a short amount of time and then it could remain in the Legislative Alert section for searching and discussion purposes...
Just a suggestion.
In both those instances, a local opposition group formed and people from outside the area came to support them. Klamath Falls had a crisis website. The Bucket Brigade was organized by people from the area etc. As far as the Conservancy, I haven't seen any local opposition Waspman...am I missing something?
One of the best leaders of it just got elected to the Plumas County Board of Supervisors, which by the way, was first to vote against this monstrosity. I'm having to think about work today and her name won't come to mind. Carry_Okie knows who I'm talking about.
That would be Rose Comstock Corriera, president of Alliance for America. She took over 60% of the vote and won't face a runoff.
Well, they haven't used FR very well. Somebody ought to tell them.
Walt, if you'll provide a few contacts, I could pen together a pitch for them to give this issue more statewide appeal.
We're it guys!
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