Free Republic

Sunnyvale, Calif. (AP) -- In an environmental dispute seemingly scripted for eco-friendly California, a man asked prosecutors to file charges against his neighbors because their towering redwoods blocked sunlight to his backyard solar panels. But the couple next door insisted they should not have to chop down the trees to accommodate Mark Vargas' energy demands because they planted the redwoods before he installed the solar panels in 2001. Experts say such clashes could become more common as California promotes renewable energy and solar systems become more popular. "Five or ten years ago, you wouldn't have seen this case because there...

A helicopter carried Gov. Jeb Bush into the heart of the western Everglades on Thursday to officially break ground on the first project in the $8 billion Everglades restoration plan about seven years ahead of schedule. “This is going to be an incredible project,” Bush said of the Southern Golden Gate Estates Hydrologic Restoration as some 250 people gathered. Thursday’s groundbreaking sets in motion Phase I of the project, which fills miles of canals, tears out roads and eradicates exotic plant species to reverse decades of drainage and return the land to the Everglades. While many projects benefiting the Everglades...

The Herbert Hoover Dike, which is holding back high water in Lake Okeechobee, sprung a leak. This wasn’t the gusher type that normally comes to mind, but rather more seepage than normal, says the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Last week’s seepage and one in June were considered minor and have been fixed. But with a tropical storm brewing in the Gulf of Mexico and already heavy inflow to the lake, Okeechobee’s water will keep rising — increasing the chances of more leaks, damage to the lake’s health and greater releases of water to the Caloosahatchee River and St. Lucie...

WASHINGTON — Land rights advocates (search) are scratching their heads as to why the White House has asked the Supreme Court not to hear two cases challenging seven controversial national monuments named by President Clinton in the waning days of his administration. During his race for president in 2000, then-Gov. George W. Bush campaigned against the monuments, giving hope to many western landowners who found their private property subject to strict federal protections. Three years later, the monuments remain, encompassing millions of acres of land in places like Montana, Oregon, Nevada and Idaho, where the government already owns huge chunks...

This is a true fairytale.Once Upon a Time.... in an area in the Grand Americas known as "The Great Northern Growlands" lived the Earth Keepers.The Earth Keepers were a very peaceful people who worked hard and were good stewards of the land that God had given them. Although the work was hard, there was much love, joy and prosperity in The Growlands. The children played and the yearly harvests were abundant. The Earth Keepers’ farmers grew food to feed their people and the Earth Keepers’ lumberjacks chopped wood to make toys for their children and houses for their families.Not only...

Some letters came with pictures, a photograph of a Florida waterway or a child's drawing of an endangered manatee. Some were form letters. Some were hand-written. Some used scientific evidence. Some detailed personal experiences. And to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, they all must read like a blur. The federal agency received nearly 5,700 public comments from almost every state in the union and other countries to help it decide how to protect the manatee along Florida's shores. As part of a settlement with a consortium of environmental groups, Fish and Wildlife is considering creating three protection zones, areas...

RALEIGH, N.C. — An evangelical group hopes to turn the car-buying decision into a question of conscience with a campaign that asks: What would Jesus drive? The Wynnewood, Pa.- based Evangelical Environmental Network will begin running television ads this month in North Carolina, Iowa, Indiana and Missouri to urge consumers to park their sport-utility vehicles and buy fuel-efficient cars because Jesus wants the Earth's natural systems preserved. The Rev. Jim Ball, executive director of the Evangelical Environmental Network, sits in the Riverside Baptist Church in Washington, D.C., last week. The network, based in Wynnewood, Pa., will being running television ads...

Gov. Jeb Bush continued asking for specific ideas from Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill McBride on Sunday, especially regarding McBride's newly released plan for Florida's environmental future. Bush, appearing before supporters in Fort Lauderdale, attacked his challenger for refusing to talk about certain tenets of the plan, including its cost. FORT LAUDERDALE — Gov. Jeb Bush continued asking for specific ideas from Democratic gubernatorial nominee Bill McBride on Sunday, especially regarding McBride's newly released plan for Florida's environmental future. Bush, appearing before supporters in Fort Lauderdale, attacked his challenger for refusing to talk about certain tenets of the plan, including its...

Date: Friday, October 18th (Homestead on the 19th)Time: 10:00 a.m. - 10:00 p.m. Place: 18th Ave SE, Naples Florida (map)Program: Live music, food, speakers, auctions, yard sale. Larry Pratt, President of Gun Owners of America, and J.J. Johnson C.E.O. and Editor in Chief of The Sierra Times  are the latest additions to our lineup of those who will be speaking at the event. Our local radio station will be broadcasting from the premises and there will be a strong media presence including television, print and broadcast.  The Jarbridge Shovel Brigade and the Klamath Bucket Brigade will be there in force,...

ALBUQUERQUE, New Mexico - When the folks on the Klamath Relief Fund's convoy to Florida arrived here, they heard a story much like their own. On Sept. 18 Federal Judge James Parker ruled that the city, owner and operator of the Heron Reservoir, was required to send 40,000 acre/feet of water down the Pecos River to the Rio Grande to protect a small fish called the silvery minnow. The minnow was listed as endangered in 1994, nearly 30 years after the city built the reservoir. In response to Parker's ruling, the city filed an amicus brief, asking the court...

Never give in, never give in, never, never, never, never-in nothing, great or small, large or petty - never give in except to convictions of honor and good sense. Never yield to force; never yield to the apparently overwhelming might of the enemy. - Winston Churchill, October 29, 1941Yes folks, to the bitter disappointment of our detractors, the Sawgrass Rebellion is moving forward at Godspeed. We told you from the beginning we would not back down, and we meant it.On October 18th, 2002 the Property Rights Action Committee will be hosting a National Block Party/Yard Sale, and everyone in the...

Editor's note: The following is CSE member Madeleine Fortin's own story about how the federal government is confiscating her and her neighbors' property. CSE members from around the country and especially from Florida can support Madeleine Fortin and other Florida property owners by attending the Sawgrass Rebellion rallies in Naples and Homestead on October 17, 18, and 19. We will be sharing more information about these rallies in future CSE newsletters, as well as information about rallies across the country as convoys from Klamath Falls, OR, and London, OH travel to South Florida. My name is Madeleine Fortin. I am...

A CSE core principle: "Environmental laws must respect the rights of property owners." For years, this principle has been violated by radical environmental groups. The Sierra Club, the Wilderness Society, the Nature Conservancy and others have relentlessly filed lawsuits, misusing the Endangered Species Act to restrict property use and confiscate private property without compensation.. Such groups, following an insatiable desire to acquire more lands for non-human use, are attempting to drive rural Americans off their land and into cities as part of "Wildlands Project" and "Sustainable Development" agendas. Logging in the West has essentially been shut down, making us dependent...