Posted on 09/21/2002 12:19:58 PM PDT by farmfriend
Grange A Major Player In The Sawgrass Rebellion
The California State Grange is positioning itself as a major participant in the Property Rights war between preservationists and conservationists. State President Leo Bergeron has stated that the Grange must be true to its roots, and to do that, it must once again be ready to fight the forces that would curtail the rights of the individual to own and to utilize their property as guaranteed by the U. S. Constitution.
"The Grange was formed 135 years ago to preserve agriculture in this country," he said.. "Today, the Grange is taking steps to preserve those guarantees we fought so hard for. In essence, we are fighting to preserve a lifestyle in this country, a lifestyle exemplified by Rural America." He is putting action behind those words.
Homestead, Florida is roughly 3300 miles as the crow flies from the Klamath Basin. But the cavalry "charging" to defend beleaguered property owners at the tip of Florida will travel many more miles than that. The "Bucket Brigade" from the Klammath Basin will meet up with the "Shovel Brigade" from Nevada and "The Stewards of the Darby" from Ohio and together with representatives of nearly 700 other groups, will march into Homestead to protest the flooding of farms, homes and cities by our government.
In California, rallies are planned in Tracy and in Sacramento. On September 29th, a rally will be held in Tracy. The rally will gather at the Park and Ride adjacent to the West Valley Mall and Interstate Highway 205. The rally will start at roughly 2 p.m., when the convoy is scheduled to arrive from the Klammath Basin in Oregon, Congressman Richard Pombo is scheduled to address the rally at 3 p.m. Other speakers include Leo Bergeron, CEO of the California State Grange, Michael Shaw of Freedom 21, a representative of the Mountain Coalition, and others The event is being sponsored by the Homestead Land and Water Alliance of Tracy.
An auction of donated goods will be held with the proceeds donated to the Sawgrass Rebellion, the umbrella organization founded in South Florida to protect citizens property rights through legislation, litigation and public education. The local FFA chapter has been invited to provide food as a fundraiser for their Chapter.
The following day, September 30, the California State Grange has obtained a permit to hold a rally on the steps of the Capitol Building. Assemblyman Mike Briggs (Dist. 29) and Senator Thomas "Rico" Oller (Dist. 1) have facilitated in setting up the rally. Speakers include Legislators, and representatives from the California State Grange, Pacific Legal Foundation, California Farm Bureau, and People for the U.S.A. Also scheduled is Holly Swanson, the author of "Set Up and Sold Out!" We have asked that Governor Davis (or a representative from his office) be on hand to accept a symbolic bucket and shovel.
Activities are scheduled to begin on the South Steps of the Capitol building at 11:30am, and conclude about 3:00pm. Again, there will be an auction held as a fundraiser for the Sawgrass Rebellion Organization.
Why a march on Florida? To remind our Government that the Constitution of the United States should not be abrogated by regulatory fiat from bureaucrats.
Ill-conceived land use policy is again wreaking havoc in the lives of American citizens; this time in Southern Florida. In order to "restore the Everglades", the Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Park Service have flooded tens of thousands of acres of prime farmland and residential neighborhoods. The community, which government agencies call the "8.5 Square Mile Area," is made up of small, family-owned farms and ranches. Most farms are five to ten acres in size. Over half the land is used for some form of commercial agricultural production.
Devastating floods in the early 20th century resulted in a massive federal program that constructed 1,700 miles of canals and levees to control the floods and supply water to more than a half-million acres of newly-created agricultural land. Now, six million residents, and nearly 40 million tourists (the city of Miami is affected by this system), rely on the flood control system created by the government. No restoration plan can be devised that will not adversely affect these people.
In 1989, Congress passed the Everglades National Park Protection and Expansion Act. This Act told the Park Service it could buy up all the vacant land in the Northeast Shark River Slough. It also told the Corps to do two things: provide the park with a more natural hydrologic regime, and protect the communities that would be impacted by this. The Corps developed the Modified Water Delivery Project, and the C-111Canal, to do just that. The projects were Congressionally approved and fully federally funded in 1992. The plan had the approval of agriculture, industrial users, public consumption (the city of Miami) and the government.
But neither project has been constructed. Rather than protect the private land owners, the Corps of Engineers now wants to flood two-thirds of the area. Why? Supposedly to protect the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow's environment. Like the fish in the Klamath Basin, imminently qualified scientists have disputed the validity of the action, and like Klamath, the science used to determine the listing has never been peer-reviewed.
The value of the land has plummeted. The few owners who want to sell, cannot sell at a price that will cover their mortgage. Most of the owners don't want to sell. They want the Corps to do what Congress instructed them to do in 1989.
Among the organizations that are promoting the restoration project are: The Nature Conservancy, which received more than $136 million in federal grants between 1997 and 2001; The Audubon Society, recipients of $10 million in federal grants during the same period, and the World Wildlife Fund, which has received more than $70 million in federal grants. The Nature Conservancy and the Audubon Society funded the writing of The Wildlands Project, according to its author, Reed Noss.
Yet many argue this "restoration" project has already imperiled viability of species such as the Everglades Tree Snail, and the Cape Sable Seaside Sparrow, which it purports to protect.
Jan Michael Jacobson is the Director of the Everglades Institute. For the last 30 years, Jacobson has lived deep in Florida's Everglades. He is a former board member of the Florida Sierra Club. An unabashed environmentalist and scientist, Mr. Jacobson has joined the growing coalition of residents, farmers and recreational groups in South Florida who are fighting back. Indeed, Jacobson has produced scientific evidence that federal agencies are destroying the Everglades with their unnatural flooding. And his land is among that which is totally swamped, with no dry land.
According to an extensive report in the Washington Post, Stuart J. Appelbaum, the Army Corps of Engineers man in charge, says "We have no idea if this will work." The EPA's South Florida Director says of the project, "It's falling apart before my eyes." And Fish and Wildlife Service biologist, Bob Gasaway, says "I don't see a shred of evidence that all this money will help the environment."
So far, there has been at least $1 billion in flood-related losses and 14 flood-related deaths. Fifty-year old avocado and mango groves are dead. Government stockpiled water raises the groundwater throughout the county. During heavy rainstorms, the entire County floods. Over half the tree islands in the glades are dead, and endangered species are being impacted. Over half the 55 miles of unpaved roads in the community are no longer passable to regular vehicles.
Yet, the government continues flooding, to convert these American farmers and ranchers to "willing sellers", who then must leave their land, dreams, and children's future behind. Many farms and ranches have already been bulldozed to the bare ground!
It has been reported that the goal of the so-called "environmental movement" is to convert 90% of the state of Florida to federal land, providing habitat for any species except human. Déjà vu! Only this time it's not the Russians who want to bury us, it's some of our own citizens.
We too are being forced out of business here by poor government decisions--our tomato crop has been killed by cheaper paste from off shore (NAFTA)--result=our Heinz production plant is closing for good. NO MORE TOMATOES!
Several of our dairies are now out of business--cheaper milk from South America.
This makes us ripe for the willing seller role because the government is "protecting our resources and our farmers" while they cripple our ability to make a living farming. Now they can get our land cheap as we go broke, and then they can return it to the swampland it originally was. Sound like Florida to you?
Saturday, September 28, 2002
8:00 am Stage at Fern Valley Corners in Idyllwild near the offices of the Center for Biological Diversity.
9:00 am Depart Idyllwild, traveling north on Hwy 243 to Banning, then west on I-10 to west on I-210 to west on Hwy 134 to north on US-101. The exit will be approximately 12 miles north of Santa Barbara for the rally site at Dos Pueblos Ranch.
2:00 pm Rally at Dos Pueblos Ranch, includes live music, BBQ, speakers and auction of shovels and buckets. Rally will focus on Sawgrass issues and the proposed national park along the Gaviota Coast that would threaten homes, ranchers, farmers, and national defense since it would include Vandenberg Air Force Base. Post Rally Drive north on US-101 to spend the night in San Luis Obispo.
Sunday, September 29, 2002,
7:00 am Depart San Luis Obispo north on US-101 to west on Hwy 156 then north on CA-1 to Santa Cruz.
10:00 am Rally at Liberty Garden to advocate private property rights and the Constitution of the United States. Bring-your-own picnic. Rally is invitation only. To request an invitation log onto web site at www.freedom21santacruz.net.
12 noon Depart Santa Cruz north on CA-17/I-880 to north on I-680 to east on I-580 to east on I-205b to outskirts of Tracy.
2:00 pm Several convoys branches from California will be staged on the outskirts of Tracy so all can converge on the rally site at Park and Ride adjacent to West Valley Mall and I-205 at the same time.
3:00 pm Rally starts with lead-off featured speaker Congressman Richard W. Pombo. The rally will feature great food and entertainment and several speakers on property rights and farm issues faced in the Sacramento River area.
Monday, September 30, 2002
11:30 am Activities are scheduled to begin on the South Steps of the Capitol building.
For the remainder of the convoy route and other rally stops please view the web site at http://www.sawgrassrebellion.org/
The Convoy will end in Florida with a two-day rally near Naples on October 17 and 18, with a grand finale rally scheduled for Homestead on October 19.
Where are all the Texas Freepers that need to be setting up something for Amarillo, Dallas, Austin and Houston.
Could someone please get me a link to that information?
This applies to any freeper who is DIRECTLY involved in CONVOY activities.
Just click here and include the basic info below in your email.
U.S. Freepers take note - we may have won the war for our independence
But the Brits show the world how to protest!
UK march for Farmers, Hunters and Recreationists
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/2274129.stm
Huge turnout for countryside march
Protesters with banners filled the central London streets
Around 400,000 people from across the country have marched through central London to highlight the needs of rural communities.
Crowds were so big it took people queuing at the start of the official route more than six hours to filter through, according to police.
This is a march for the people and by the people and not simply rural people
Countryside Alliance
Organisers say the demonstration, officially called the march for Liberty and Livelihood, is the biggest in recent times.
Following months of organisation the Countryside Alliance hailed the march as a huge success and it called on the government to make a "considered response".
The main focus of the protest is opposition to a ban on hunting with dogs in England and Wales, but a wide range of other grievances from rural communities are also being linked with the demonstration.
Hunting horns blared, whistles shrieked and bagpipes wailed as the march snaked its way past Downing Street.
And while many protesters carried banners proclaiming: "Buy British food", "Save our farms" or "Town and country not town over country", these were far out-numbered by pro-hunt slogans.
"Blair, ban hunting and we will boot you out", read placards held aloft by demonstrators as they marched 20 abreast through the streets and brought much of the city to a standstill.
Rural concerns
Protesters, some young enough to be carried on shoulders, others old enough to need wheelchairs, carried signs reading: "I love my country, I fear my government", and waved cardboard cut-outs of foxes.
Not everyone obeyed the request to leave animals at home
A second march embarking from Blackfriars Bridge was quieter, with farming issues the main concern of many taking part, according to some participants.
Both marches converged on the heart of government at Whitehall, where about 150 anti-hunt supporters were also staging a peaceful protest in a cordoned-off area of Parliament Square.
The Countryside Alliance, formed originally to oppose a ban on fox hunting and other forms of hunting with dogs, says it represents all rural people who feel their way of life is under threat.
Chief executive Richard Burge said he was overwhelmed by the huge turnout, and was proud to see history being made.
"This is a march for the people and by the people and not simply rural people.
"The strength of support, not just from the countryside, but from towns and cities across the UK makes us feel both humble and proud."
International support
Tory party leader Iain Duncan Smith was marching, as were actors Vinnie Jones and Edward Fox, TV presenters Melvyn Bragg and Anne Robinson, comic Jim Davidson, Sir Ranulph Fiennes and Earl Spencer.
March supporters flew in from New Zealand, Australia, Canada, the US and across Europe.
More than 2,500 coaches and 31 specially chartered trains carried protesters to London.
And police drafted in 1,600 extra officers.
The event had been planned for last year, but was postponed by the foot-and-mouth outbreak.
But animal welfare campaigners said the large turn-out did not necessarily show public support for hunting, and they disputed the 400,000 plus tally on participants.
Protesters were heading for Parliament Square
Douglas Batchelor of the League Against Cruel Sports said: "This march has been promoted as many things - as a march for Post Offices and affordable housing, as an anti-government march, as well as about hunting with dogs.
"There will be many people on the march who do not support hunting."
Among these was protester Paul McNally, 40, of Westminster, who said he was disgusted by the march.
"Some of the rural issues we agree with but we are against hunting, this is a political movement, these people are not poor farm labourers they are wealthy people who want to protect a cruel sport," he said.
Earlier on Sunday, rural affairs minister Alun Michael said the government would be bringing forward proposals on hunting "within weeks".
The Alliance will also be delivering a 10-point open letter to the prime minister at the end of the march.
Website: http://www.countryside-alliance.org/
Thanks for the info, PARKFAN.
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