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The presentation of the awards to national leaders and grassroots activists from across the country helped make the luncheon of the Eleventh Annual National Conference on Private Property Rights an especially festive occasion. The PRFA awards, which are engraved plaques, were given just before the keynote address.
Roger Pilon Presented with the “Eleventh Annual Property
Rights Advocate Award”
“I’d just like to thank Roger Pilon for all the ways
that he has extended his magnanimous spirit to the Property Rights
Foundation since 1995, when he delivered the splendid keynote
address on the question of whether private property rights were
opposed to environmental protection at our first annual conference,”
said Carol LaGrasse, upon presenting PRFA’s “Eleventh
Annual Private Property Rights Advocate Award” to Roger Pilon,
J.D., Ph.D., Vice President for Legal Studies and Director of
the Center for Constitutional Studies of the Cato Institute. “Probably
nothing I could say would be relevant to Roger Pilon’s national
and international credence as a scholar of constitutional law.
But I would like to express my appreciation for the degree that
his scholarship has brought the meaning of the constitution to
us.” The award is engraved with the words “In Recognition
of His Dedication to the Preservation of Human Rights Guaranteed
in the United States Constitution.”
William Perry Pendley Receives PRFA’s First “Hero
of Private Property Rights” Award
William Perry Pendley, the President and Chief Legal Officer of
the Mountain States Legal Foundation, is appreciated by many,
many people for the incalculable difference that he has made to
the property rights and wise use movements in the United States,
said Carol LaGrasse. In addition to his years of annual sojourns
to Washington, D.C., to update the land rights leaders about current
litigation, he wrote a book It Takes a Hero, about those
who bravely fought in the land rights fronts against environmental
radicalism. His new book, Warriors for the West, describes
Mountain States Legal Foundation’s battles in the courts
for the constitutional rights of private property owners and other
American citizens. In an area of intense interest to PRFA, he
litigated on behalf of the late Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth
to try to stop the American Heritage Rivers program. The First
Annual Hero of Private Property Rights Award presented to William
Perry Pendley is engraved “In recognition of His Dedication
to the American Tradition of Land Rights & Private Property
Rights As guaranteed in the United States Constitution.”
Property Rights Defender Award Presented to Pamela O’Dell
Pamela O’Dell was recognized with PRFA’s “Tenth
Annual New York State Private Property Rights Defender Award”
for her untiring work to resist the assault on private property
ownership by land preservationists in the region of Gardiner in
the Shawangunk Ridge region of the Catskill Mountains in Ulster
County. Bill and Marion Kells of Wallkill, who have devoted decades
of work for private property rights in that region, joined Pamela
O’Dell on the platform for the presentation. After co-founding
Gardiner Residents for Individual Property Rights (GRIP), Pamela
O’Dell and Marion Kells exposed the costs to the taxpayer
of Gardiner’s $1.5 million open space bond issue. John A.
Bradley of the Awosting Reserve, a noted conservationist, joined
in with the presentation of the award to Ms. O’Dell, which
is engraved “In Recognition of Her Defense of Constitutionally
Guaranteed Private Property Rights in The State of New York.”
Marshall Sayegh Recognized
PRFA’s “Sixth Annual Grassroots Leadership Award –
The West” was presented to Marshall Sayegh, a California
businessman, “In Recognition of His Dedication to Defending
Private Property Rights & Constitutional Representative Government.
The award recognizes his boundless enthusiasm, coupled with devotion
to his community, which have combined to enable him to solve problems
and benefit his hometown of Gualala, California. Mr. Sayegh co-founded
the Gualala Commercial Property Owners Association and took the
lead to stop the assault of irrational environmental regulations
on his community. Understanding the genesis of federal regulation,
he expanded his trip to the PRFA conference in New York to make
a circle to Washington, D.C., to meet with his U.S. Senator and
Member of Congress.
Devlen Mackey, New Jersey Farmer, Honored
Devlen Mackey has been instrumental in organizing farmers in northern
New Jersey to resist on an emergency basis the preservationist
regional zoning imposed under the New Jersey Highlands Water Protection
and Planning Act passed by the legislature four years ago. Susan
Buck, one of the many local leaders and activists involved in
the Highlands issue, joined him on the platform. By presenting
Devlen Mackey with the “Sixth Annual Grassroots Leadership
Award—Northeast” PRFA honored him for his leadership
in bringing together many farmers who are working in the Highlands
Conservation Association and wished them success in their challenging
legal work and wider efforts to reach out with the truth about
the New Jersey Highlands.
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