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“State Senator John Bonacic Proposes Upper Delaware Greenway” - PRFA, Summer 2004
Sen. John J. Bonacic (Rep., New Paltz) is proposing an Upper Delaware Greenway modeled after the State’s Hudson River Greenway. The Independent Landowners Association, Long Eddy, whose president is Noel van Swol, is opposing the carrot-and-stick regional land use control scheme.

In-Depth Information

“New York Property Rights Directions”-Speech by Carol W. LaGrasse, Cato Institute Conference-“Property Rights on the March: Where from Here,” December 1, 2006, Washington, D. C.
An overview of where property rights stand in New York, what the directions are, and where the work for our cause has been effective: focusing on the battle to keep land in private hands, holding off extreme land-use regulation, the issue of conservation easements, regional preservationist land-use battles, ubiquitous zoning conflicts; and eminent domain.

“Drop the Idea, Senator Bonacic” - OpEd by Noel van Swol, Long Eddy, N.Y. (originally published in the Sullivan County Democrat, July 30, 2004, used by permission of Noel van Swol)
The proposed Upper Delaware Greenway “is a Trojan horse designed to go along with the Upper Delaware Scenic River and Route 97 Scenic Byway and impose more restrictions and ultimately regional zoning on us.”

Independent Landowners Association letter opposing greenway for Upper Delaware River Valley - Noel van Swol, April 16, 2004
The people have not forgotten the 25-year battle to prevent the National Park Service from condemning the entire Upper Delaware Valley, including all its villages and towns. This letter to N.Y. State Senator John Bonacic warns that an Upper Delaware greenway would be a back-door to extend National Park Service control over private property.

“National Heritage Areas - Testimony by Carol W. LaGrasse Before the U. S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, March 30, 2004”
The National Heritage Area program is intended to give the National Park Service national land use control. “Partnerships” with local government and non-profits, and associated trails, are the key. (This is the testimony version presented orally. Notes contain further details.)

“Brief Comments on Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor (Abbreviated Transcript)” - By Peter J. LaGrasse, Chairman, Stony Creek Board of Assessors (PRFA, December 9, 2003)
Corridor proponents are concealing the extreme limitation in the protection from liability for owners where trails are located. The Heritage Corridor is a plan for a total change in cultural orientation. Local people will not be able to afford the taxes. If this scheme succeeds, there indigenous population will not be able to continue to live in the area.

“Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area on Hold” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, March 23, 2004)
A dangerous bill to impose federal regional land use control in 14 counties in New Jersey, possibly expanding into New York and Pennsylvania, has National Park Service impetus but is lurking for over 1-1/2 years in Committee.

“Could It Be That the Hudson Valley Heritage Plan is Actually Anti-Heritage?” - By Nate Dickinson (PRFA, March 2, 2004)
A review of the “Hudson River Valley National Heritage Area Management Plan.” The National Park Service and its cadre of allied agencies and not-profit organizations lay the groundworks for a four million acre kingdom of eleven counties in the Hudson Valley, where resource protection and land management policies are to be coordinated in a viable regional plan.

“The Erie Canalway National Heritage Corridor - Worth Commenting” - By Carol W. LaGrasse (Reprinted from the New York Property Rights Clearinghouse, Winter 2004)
The 524-mile long National Park Service Corridor is designed to displace the current culture and population. It extends from Buffalo to Albany, then to Lake Champlain, and includes the Cayuga-Seneca and Oswego Canal regions, totaling 1,834 sq. mi. Eminent domain is being used to acquire the Erie Canalway Trail. Development rights for the entire canal were sold to one investor for only $30,000. The Park Service does expensive public relations but is short on real information.

“Saratoga County Canalway Trail Shrouded in Secrecy—Trail Planned along Champlain Canal Route through Saratoga and Washington Counties” By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, October 22, 2002)
The New York State Canal Corporation, National Park Service, and the New York Parks and Conservation are very quietly garnering support for an elaborately planned proposal with federal funding to build an uninterrupted 26-mile trail along the active and abandoned Champlain Canal route from Waterford through Saratoga County, to be followed by another 22 miles through Washington County to Whitehall. The abandoned and active sections of the canal pass through or adjacent to private houses and backyards, businesses, farms, and other private property, but the property owners are not being given information.

“Another Camel’s Nose Under the Tent—The Hudson Valley Heritage Area” - Carol W. LaGrasse, President, Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc., Speech 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

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