Norton Abandons Bush Country

ARCHIVED 2002–2016: Originally distributed via the eWire press wire service. Preserved as historical record.

SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE |

Conservation & Wildlife

Corporate Responsibility

Science & Technology

Syndication Partners

**************************************************************************

E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE E-WIRE PRESS RELEASE

**************************************************************************

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Norton Abandons Bush Country

DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, WASHINGTON, Mar. 14 -/E-Wire/-- Below is a Letter to the Editor published in the Washington Times on March 9, 2002:

Interior Secretary Gale Norton's op-ed "Era of Citizen Conservationists" (Tues. March 5, page A 17) glosses over the Department's assault on private property rights and rural communities included in it's current budget proposals.

Norton proposes to cut nearly $50 million from the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT) program, which will severely damage local government budgets in many rural areas.

When the federal government gobbles up land, that property is taken off the property tax rolls - the feds do not pay property taxes to counties or cities. In many areas of the country, especially out west, the federal government is the dominant property owner, owning over three-quarters of the land in many counties. PILT replaces a part of the tax revenue lost due to federal land grabs, and is an important part of many county budgets.

That $50 million will instead go to federal agencies for "partnership-based land enhancement." This is a euphemism for the power-hungry Interior Department mafia to make "an offer they can't refuse" to landowners. It goes like this: the feds work in collusion with enviros to discover - or plant - endangered species on someone's land. Then they threaten to shut down all use of the property - unless the landowner "voluntarily" agrees to join in a "partnership" with the feds, including severe limitations on land use.

The brainchild of this program is Mr. Karl Hess, an extreme preservationist who led the attack against the GOP Contract With America when Republicans took control of Congress in 1995. Incredibly, Hess is now on the Interior Department's payroll as a top aide to Norton!

Secretary Norton is certainly seeking to, as she states, "put cooperation ahead of conflict." Unfortunately, Norton is doing it by pushing aside the small towns and rural communities that voted for George Bush, and capitulating to the environmental movement's insatiable demand for taxpayer funds. Selling out your core constituency and financing your enemies is not a good formula for success.

Chuck Cushman, Executive Director, American Land Rights Association Battle Ground, Washington

American Land Rights Association

Michael Hardiman, Lobbyist,

American Land Rights Association, [REDACTED-PHONE],

http://www.landrights.org

**************************************************************************

To Transmit Your News Over E-Wire, visit http://www.ewire.com or

call 1-[REDACTED-PHONE]. E-Wire Is Broadcast To Millions Of Readers Worldwide

**************************************************************************