Take Back Pennsylvania (TBPA) is a relatively new group modeled on Take Back Kentucky. TBKY has been very successful in rolling back a variety of state government excesses and protecting the individual rights (including property rights) of their citizens. TBPA is focusing on property rights and taxes right now, with 2nd amendment rights in mind also.
http://www.takebackpennsylvania.com/ and
http://www.takebackkentucky.com/ will give you an idea what they are about. It is hoped that as time goes by, enough of these state oriented groups (which are coalition groups themselves) form and join forces to be able to impact issues at the national level.
As far as our efforts in our own community, part of our county has had a regional coalition of governments for about 30 years. While that has helped to maintain adequate policing and such, it's also been a hotbed of activist planning. Among the many projects over the last few years was the Greenways Plan. This was actually funded at the county level with about $250,000 of state and federal grant money (your tax dollars at work). They paid a consultant to form a Greenways Committee to develop a Greenways Plan (PA is requiring all counties to have one). Unfortunately for them, they put a public trail on their map through my mountain land, right where I plan to build my house. That was a bad thing to do!
While we had always been moderately active in going to public meetings and speaking out against the more controlling things, this got us in high gear. We went to the greenway committee meetings and asked when they planned to inform the property owners of the planned public trails on their land (we stumbled across the map on public access tv); we read the written plan and voiced our objections to the language. They said they had a committee of stakeholders, but none were property owners in areas where the planned greenways were. Many were already associated with local government; others represented local environmental and recreational groups (the kayakers were very interested in getting public access to all the creek banks)and many more were with the consultants. Out of the 40-50 people who attended these meetings over time, only 5-10 were not in one of the above mentioned groups - mostly they were real property owners who would be impacted.
We were told repeatedly not to be concerned, as it was just a plan. Yet, in the written details, the consultants had included use of eminent domain in the end to connect the pieces of the greenways together. We took action by posting information on our local website, on public bulletin boards, contacting other mountaintop property owners who would be effected, calling local radio shows, calling and writing the County Commissioners. We also helped other people write letters to the county - many people are willing to send letters, but are not confident in their letter writing skills ;-)
The result of our efforts were that while a greenways plan was accepted by the county government, the teeth were out of it. The trail on the mountaintop (which was 100% across private property, even the the mountaintops on the other side of the valley were already public and had no trail on them) was removed, the most offensive language was taken out of the plan, and a section was added stating that eminent domain would never be used to implement it.
Because of the way PA structures government at the local level, the county would approve the plan and guide the municipalities but the municipalities would have to actually implement it. Even with the few people we had involved in actively opposing it, the calls, letters and hubbub apparently put the fear of god in the elected officials. The municipalities not only haven't acted on the greenways plan, when the eco-activists suggest that something be implemented, the local officials say they don't even want to talk about greenways - they don't want to get that hornets nest stirred up again.
What we found is that local government is so accustomed to doing what they want with little input from average citizens, that it only takes a few citizens being outspoken and adamant to scare them off. We were polite, but insisted that private property should not be taken, or even planned, to be used for public use (or environmental use, as some of the greenways were for environmental corridors) without the consent of the property owners, and that the property owners should be notified of the planning process! They really didn't want people to know till it was all said and done, but we took care of that ;-) Another important thing to be aware of is what some of these things really are. "Visioning" projects are about taking the ideas of the small number of people (usually activists) and making them into 5, 10 and 20 year plans. Wasn't that the Soviet way? Committees making long term plans for everyone? Also, watershed planning is specifically intended to transcend the bounds of local government using something most people care about (clean safe water) to set up a group that has higher authority than the uncooperative local governments to plan our communities so the water is protected. Insidious, eh?
Outstanding work and report, Kay. Thank you for both.
I don't know where your mountain is located, but for an internet radio show that deals with property right a whole bunch of the time, please check out Derry Brownfield weekdays, 10 - 11am, cdt; he's a Missouri rancher, turned activist, by all the scams, grabs, and goofy regulations that unelected cretins are trying to impose upon us.
Good morning, everyone.