Site Guide

“A Word about UNESCO”	“A Word about UNESCO” - By Ellen McClay, Author, Arizona; Eleventh Annual National Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA, Albany, N.Y., October 13, 2007) Tracing her involvement back to the fifties, author Ellen McClay refers to individuals, including Alger Hiss and Secretary of State Dean Achenson, who were involved with UNESCO’s role in changing textbooks in the United States to derogate Washington and the founding fathers, as well as private property rights, while substituting Marxist values.
About Us	- An explanation of what the Property Rights Foundation of America stands for and how we operate.
“Abundance Ecology—The Liberty Garden”	- By Michael Shaw, Freedom 21 Radio Talk Show host, Proprietor of Liberty Garden Aptos, California; Speech to the Eighth Annual Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA, Albany, N.Y. October 23, 2004) By using intensive management, native plants whose seed bank was long dormant returned in great variety to Liberty Garden in Santa Cruz County on coastal California. Abundance ecology, based on private property rights, is the opposite of shortage ecology, based on the Endangered Species Act.
	- Index page of information about public access to government owned lands on the national scene.
	- Index page of information about public access to government owned lands in New York.
Access to Natural Minerals—A Hard-Won Success Story	- Speech by Geraldine N. Tortorella from Proceedings of the Fourth Annual New York Conference on Private Property Rights (1999).
Action Alert	- The story of the John Pozsgai family proves the need for wetlands reform.
Action Alert - June 2001	- American Heritage Rivers - Urge President Bush to Cancel the Program
Action Alert: Reps. Young and Tauzin may push CARA to an early vote	- Letters, Telephone Calls and Faxes to Congress Urgently Needed
“Additional Comments on National Heritage Areas”	- Letter from Carol W. LaGrasse to Sen. Craig Thomas, U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, April 16, 2004 Reply to followup letter from Sen. Craig Thomas, April 5, 2004, requesting responses to four questions about property rights issues related to National Heritage Areas.
“Adirondack Park Agency Proposes Dangerous Bill”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, March 9, 2005) The APA is quietly promoting its program bill, with stringent new restrictions that would be unconstitutional Fifth Amendment “takings” of the property rights of shorefront owners. The bill would have a negative impact on the ability of local people to afford homes and hurt the local tax base and economy.
“Adirondack Agency Puts Final Stranglehold on 18,896 Acres”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, January 2005) The Adirondack Park Agency’s September 2004 permit for a final division of the Long Pond property in St. Lawrence County, N.Y., tightened the noose on the already desiccated future of a tract that was once the site, in 1972, of the “Horizon” development proposal, which environmentalists had then exploited to rush the APA act into law.
Adirondack Blowdown— A Word of Caution	- What’s Needed: A constitutional, traditional, ecological approach, by Carol W. LaGrasse.
Adirondack Blowdown Policy—Background Information	- Prepared by Carol W. LaGrasse.
Adirondack Blowdown Poses 1996 Fire Threat	- Environmentalists cannot afford to give one inch, DEC’s recommendations inconsistent, by Carol W. LaGrasse, from New York Property Rights Clearinghouse, Vol 2, No. 3 (PRFA 1995).
Adirondack Open Space Protection Plan Map	- Map.
Adirondack Organizations	- A listing of information about organizations and agencies active in New York’s Adirondack Mountains.
Adirondack Park Agency Officials Used State Computers for Porn	- By Carol W. LaGrasse, (PRFA, August 6, 2005) APA Executive Director Daniel Fitts was indefinitely suspended without pay after the Office of the State Inspector General examined seized computers and discovered that he and four other officials at the agency were using the state computers to share obscene photos of nude and partially nude women.
Adirondack Park Agency Stops Elderly Man From Building Carport	- Splitting Hairs to Deny a Potentially Life-saving Home Improvement - An “Extension” to the House would be Legal, but an Attached Carport is Denied - By Carol W. LaGrasse
The Adirondack Park in the Northeast	- A map showing the boundaries of the Adirondack Park.
Adirondack Park Land Use and Development Plan Map and State Land Map	- Map.
“Adirondack Stretch of North Country National Scenic Trail Planned”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse, PRFA, January 2008 Property Rights concerns for the 140 mile stretch of the Adirondack segment of the 4,600-mile North Country National Scenic Trail include acquisition techniques, exact location, liability, ultimate ownership, and impacts on hunting and trapping. The plan for the trail has been moved out of the High Peaks region to a less scenic area to the south after over two decades of opposition by the Adirondack Mountain Club.
	- Index page of information about Adverse Possession.
	- Index page of information about Adverse Possession in New York.
“Adverse Possession and Open Range”	- by Jack Herzberg (PRFA, September 2004) James and Carla Davis intend to use their range land in Pinal County, Arizona, to enjoy their retirement and develop an old west town. Instead, they find themselves in court defending against the claim of Joe and Carmen Auza, who assert adverse possession in the spurious basis that they’ve been grazing animals on the Davis’s property.
“Adverse Possession Heats Up In Legislature After Court Ruling”	- by Carol W. LaGrasse, Reprinted from New York Property Rights Clearinghouse, Vol. 11, No. 3 (PRFA Summer 2007) Although a survey existed in the case of Walling v. Przybylo, both sides were mistaken about the boundary between their properties until the Przybylos had a survey done many years after they owned their property. After the 2006 ruling adhering to the traditional law of adverse possession in favor of the Wallings by the New York State Court of Appeals, the Legislature reacted in sympathy to the Przybylos, who lost a strip of surveyed property, by passing a bill in 2007 that would create a hole in the law of adverse possession by stopping the claimant’s right if he can be deemed to have knowledge of the formally surveyed boundary. However, the traditional law of adverse possession serves the important purpose of establishing a statute of limitations and allowing the claimant to quiet title, and should not be muddied.
“Aggressive Non-Profits - Recently Revealed Land Trust Obstruction of Private Property Owners”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA Background Brief, July 1998) Scenic Hudson’s tactics in the Fishkill Ridge have obstructed Montfort aggregate mine application for 8 years, costing the small firm $2 million so far. Mohonk Preserve, Friends of the Shawangunks and Open Space Institute team up against young couple. ABC story exposing The Nature Conservancy tactics in Florida Keys is spiked.
“Akaka Bill Proposes ‘Native Hawaiian’ Tribe to Split Up Hawaii”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, January 18, 2006) The Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act (S. 147, H.R. 309) proposed by Senator Daniel K. Akaka would create race-based discord, dividing Hawaii into a multitude of intermingled jurisdictions, with some people living under tribal law and others under the laws of the State of Hawaii. Those choosing to be certified as Native Hawaiians would be eligible to vote on tribal matters and become eligible for benefits. In addition, large tracts of land would come under tribal jurisdiction, and it is feared that casino gambling could be also introduced.
“The Alaskan Betrayal - How the National Park Service Broke the Promises that were made to sell the Alaskan National Park System to Congress”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse, reprinted from Positions on Property, Vol. 1, No. 3 (PRFA, Oct. 1994) The National Park Service systematically negated the compromises under ANILCA, the broad-reaching Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, that allowed the 6-1/2 million acre Denali National Park and Reserve. The Park Service destroyed mining businesses in Denali National Park and the other new national parks in Alaska, yet delayed compensation or simply never compensated the businesses.
	- A page full of information about property rights issues in Alaska.
Algonquin to Adirondack Vision is Blurred	- by Nate Dickinson.
A Little-Known NPS Program	- Biosphere Reserves - The International Vanguard of Rural Depopulation, by Carol W. LaGrasse, from Positions on Property Vol. 2, No. 1 (Jan. 1995).
“Allodial Title—An E-mail Exchange”	- by Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, November 18 2003) A straightforward response to an urgent inquiry from a web site visitor imagining that he can protect his property by filing an allodial deed. People are told that they can avoid building restrictions and real estate taxes.
Amendments Considered for Protection of Home Rule, National Sovereignty and Property Rights	- by Carol W. LaGrasse, from Positions on Property, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan. 1996.
The American Heritage Areas	- The National Park Service National Heritage Corridor Scheme for Federal Control of Zoning.
“The American Heritage Areas - A Back Door to Federal Zoning”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse (Reprinted from Positions on Property, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan.-April 1996) Natural riparian corridors are a key to national wildlands preservation effort.
American Heritage Rivers Directory	- A directory of the American Heritage Rivers and the Interagency Committee that oversees them.
American Heritage Rivers— A Saccharine Incarnation of the National Heritage Area Program	- A Brief Introduction by Carol W. LaGrasse.
American Heritage Rivers - A Threat to Private Property Rights	- Speech by Carol W. LaGrasse to the Eagle Forum National Conference, September 12, 1998, Arlington, Virginia.

American Heritage Rivers - Sample Letter	- A sample letter in urging President Bush to cancel the American Heritage Rivers program.
American Land Sovereignty Protection Act reintroduced	- H.R. 883 would protect private property rights and national sovereignty from UN designation of Biosphere Reserves and World Heritage Sites, by Carol W. LaGrasse.
“Amicus Curiae Memorandum of the New York State Propane Gas Association in Support of Motion for Leave to Appeal”	- Bath Petroleum Storage, Inc., et al., v. New York State DEC, et al., New York State Court of Appeals (Civil Appeal No. 01—02144, Nov. 2002) Highlights of this brief are the succinct summary of the case, a discussion of the decline of propane storage capacity and the existence of only one propane pipeline in New York State, the effect on meeting consumer demands, a succinct discussion of the limitation of judicial deference to administrative agency determination (court precedent has not extended judicial deference to unlawful actions of administrative agencies), the need to overturn the appellate division’s ruling because it would allow the agency to simply stonewall an applicant for a renewal permit with overly burdensome and irrelevant informational requests during the application process, and the point that DEC seeks to impose regulations that were proposed but not enacted.
An Open Invitation to Determine How the Attorney General Represents as a Citizen/Taxpayer/Resident of the State of New York	- See Your Tax Dollar at Work. Attend Federal District Court for the Eastern District of New York. (re. Long Island Pine Barrens)
Another Camel’s Nose Under the Tent—The Hudson Valley Heritage Area	- Speech by Carol W. LaGrasse at the Public Forum Sponsored by the Columbia County Board of Supervisors Planning Committee and Congressman Gerald B. Solomon at Columbia County Community College March 24, 1997.
“Another Intrusive Tool for the APA”	- By Nate Dickinson (PRFA, October 17, 2003) In addition to legislation in the U.S. Senate, recent years have brought bureaucratic involvement with invasive species by the Adirondack Park Agency, which has begun implementing the non-regulatory “Adirondack Park Roadside Invasives Control Initiative.”
“Another Snitch System Institutionalized”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA January 23, 2005) With the successful settlement of a lawsuit by an environmental group, the Residents Committee to Protect the Adirondacks, citizen informants can not efficiently report violations on the six-million acre Adirondack Forest Preserve. New York State’s trend toward environmental snitch systems is raising hackles here and there.
	- Index page of information about the Adirondack Park Agency.
“APA Announces GIS-Based Enforcement”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse, PRFA, February 2, 2008 It is over thirteen years since PRFA published its “APA Shell Game” revealing that the APA was developing an unsurpassed GIS capacity to enforce its environmental zoning regulations. This January the APA announced that it was going to tap into a statewide real estate database, coupled with GIS, to find old violations of the APA law. The State Legislature should pass a statute of limitations on violations of the APA Act.
The APA Shell Game—How New York’s Adirondack Park Agency is Becoming the World’s Foremost Environmental Snoop	- An Analysis of Confidential APA Documents that Reveal the Adirondack Park Agency’s Duplicity, by Carol W. LaGrasse.
“APA violation sparks debate”	- By John Gereau, Adirondack Journal, March 22, 2003 (reprinted by permission of the Adirondack Journal) Ed and Mary Lou Monda bought their home in 1998 without knowing that its 30-year-old deck overlooking Lake George did not conform to APA regulations. They now face enforcement requirements because, unlike laws related to rape, robbery and arson, there is no statute of limitation for violations of the APA Act.
Appeal by PRFA Lawsuit Group Heard at Appellate Division	- Challenge to New York State acquisition of Champion International lands, Update - March 2, 2001.
Appeal of lawsuit challenging State acquisition of Champion International lands	- Update December 2, 2000.
“Are Forests Still Green After the Leaves Fall?”	- By Nate Dickinson (PRFA, September 29, 2003) The new so-called “experts” in forestry are the radical environmentalists, under the rubric of “sustainable forestry.”
“Are People Still Contributing to The Nature Conservancy?”	- By Nate Dickinson (PRFA, February 25, 2004) After reports in the Washington Post about The Nature Conservancy’s questionable financial practices, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee headed by Sen. Charles Grassley recently investigated widespread accounting problems, violations of the Internal Revenue Service regulations, and conflicts of interest including selling scenic properties to trustees who reaped large tax breaks.
Are property Rights Opposed to Environmental Protection?	- Speech by Roger Pilon, Ph.D., J.D. from Proceedings of the First Annual N. Y. Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA, 1995).
“The Arizona Property Rights Referendum”	- Presented by Tom Rawles, Chairman, Maricopa County Board of Supervisors, Phoenix, Arizona, Reprinted from Proceedings of the First Annual New York Conference on Private Property Rights (Property Rights Foundation of America, 1995) “Takings” implications of proposed governmental actions shall be assessed by the office of the Attorney General and permit requirements shall minimize restrictions on private property.
	- A page full of information about property rights issues in Arizona.
	- A page full of information about property rights issues in Arkansas.
“Assemblyman Richard L. Brodsky Introduces Eminent Domain Bill”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse (Reprinted from NY Property Rights Clearinghouse, Summer 2005) Responding to the groundswell of outrage at the U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo v. New London decision, NY State Assemblyman Brodsky has proposed the “2005 Eminent Domain Reform Act” to build on his earlier eminent domain reforms. Local government will have to jump through more hoops, property owners will get more time to appeal, homeowners’ compensation will be improved, tenants will be compensated, and a commission will explore further protections.
“The Eminent Domain Ombudsman Act is Reintroduced in the Assembly”	- News Brief, PRFA, January 2007
Assemblyman Robert G. Prentiss Introduces Wetlands Homeowner’s Relief Act	- Legislative Update, March 21, 2001.
Assemblyman Robert G. Prentiss Press Conference	- Pictures of press conference.
“Assemblyman Prentiss Introduces Bill to Protect Property Owners from Stealth Rules”	- PRFA, Summer 2004 A bill called “The Homeowner’s Detrimental Reliance Act” (A. 10445) introduced into the New York State Legislature would protect building permit applicants from being hit with citations from state and federal agencies that they never heard about after they complied with a local building permit.
	- Index page of information about assessment privacy in New York State.
	- Index page of information about asset forfeiture in New York State.
At Hearings on DEC Open Space Conservation Plan, Environmentalists Upset about State’s Tightfistedness	- By Carol W. LaGrasse, reprinted from the New York Property Rights Clearinghouse, Vol. 5 No. 2 (Fall 2001)
“An Attempted Perspective - Good Faith Fails to Bridge the Adirondack Gap”	- By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, Dec. 3, 2003) A review of the issues, accuracy and fairness in Barbara McMartin’s new book, Perspectives on the Adirondacks - A Thirty-year Struggle by People Protecting Their Treasure (Syracuse University Press, 2002). In her book packed with information of varying accuracy about the opposing sides in the Adirondack struggle, McMartin sympathetically seeks harmony through utopian planning while increasing the protection of nature. But she fails to understand the human needs for private property rights and equal protection under the law.
Azure Mountain Club	- Photos of the Azure Mountain Hunting Club slated for demolition by New York State.

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