Property Rights Foundation of America®

New information added on April 3, 2014

Email Us "Hinton, West Virginia: Same Old Government Land Grab" - By Tom DeWeese, American Policy Center, April 30, 2002 (Link to article on APC web site) After they build their new home in the New River Gorge, Ann and Bruce Roach discovered that the National Park Service had secret plans to eliminate all the homes to build a parkway and preserve the viewshed. E-mail: Ann Roach, Sisters of the River, Hinton, West Virginia annroach@roadrunner.com "Empire State Greenway Rejected by Essex County" - PRFA News Brief, February 2006 Suspicious of more State-imposed land-use controls, the Essex County Board of Supervisors decided against participating in the vast Empire State Greenway stretching from the Niagara River to Lake Champlain, which Essex County borders.  "Rural Utahns for Local Solutions: New Developments - Heritage Areas" - By Brad Van Dyke, Rural Utahns Media Release, June 22, 2004 The Heritage Alliance worked out a deal with County Commissioners who wanted changes in the Mormon Pioneer National Heritage Area legislation to include resource-based industry instead of solely crafters, artisans, and tourism. The Commissioners instead were given a place on the Alliance board of directors. "Testimony of Bonner R. Cohen, Ph.D. before the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee Subcommittee on Public Lands and Forests, The Highlands Conservation Act, 366 Senate Dirksen Office Building, March 24, 2004" If the Highlands Conservation Act (H.R. 1964) is enacted, it will be harmful for the people in the highlands and their environment. Carol LaGrasse to Testify on National Heritage Areas Before U.S. Senate Committee on March 30, 2004 The Senate Energy and Resources Committee has invited Carol W. LaGrasse to testify at their Oversight Hearing on National Heritage Areas on Tuesday, March 30. The Hearing will be held at 2:30 p.m. in the main Energy and Resources Committee Hearing Room, Dirksen 366. The Subcommittee on Forests and Public Lands is the sponsor of the hearing. "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. The National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area Latest: Letter to Sen. Robert F. Bennett in opposition to the National Mormon Pioneer Heritage Area Act - by J. Boyd Mickel, a Spring City Council Member. (September 4, 2003) Click Here for additional articles and information. "National Park Service, Sen. Jeffords Push International Champlain Heritage Corridor" (PRFA, November 2001) Action Alert - June 2001- American Heritage Rivers - Urge President Bush to Cancel the Program Sample Letter - American Heritage Rivers - July 2001 February 2001: "Corps of Engineers is Abandoning and Breaching Missouri River Dikes"   See Also Additional Helpful Organizations Free Congress Foundation Free Congress Foundation is politically conservative, but also culturally conservative. Their main focus is on the Culture War. They highlight Judeo-Christian, Western culture as opposed to the cultural and moral decay of political correctness. James S. Gilmore, President address and website Essential Books & Publications "Heritage Rivers—Elites Only," Positions on Property, Vol. 4, No. 1 (PRFA 1998). Publication Order Form Additional Resources "Another Federal Assault on Property Rights: The Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area Act" - Ronald D. Utt, Ph.D., Backgrounder Published by The Heritage Foundation, April 18, 2007, http://www.heritage.org/Research/ SmartGrowth/bg2025.cfm If enacted, according to Dr. Utt, the Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area Act (H.R. 319 and S. 289) would threaten the rights of property owners in a corridor encompassing four states. The valuable paper has much important analysis and shares the viewpoint disseminated by me for fifteen years that Heritage Areas promote preservation to serve the interests of the elite while squeezing out the ordinary local people. Dr. Utt refers to this effect as adding "coercive efforts to upgrade a region's demographic profile." However, his advocacy of an alternative approach of pursuing non-federal, interstate compacts involving a restricted management entity to preserve heritage while itself prohibited from placing limits on the use of private property would not overcome the fundamental problems associated with National Heritage Areas. In New York, for instance, the performance of the state greenway compact for the Hudson River is an example where a groundbreaking non-federal compact indeed is having this negative effect that I predicted on private property rights and private property ownership, through not only its own powers, but through myriad influences and interrelationships, including, later, superimposed federal heritage areas.. - Carol W. LaGrasse Websites  U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) The US EPA is had the official web site about the American Heritage Rivers Initiative. Among the useful information is a list of contacts for each of the original fourteen rivers. http://www.epa.gov/rivers "Freedom's Fraud" Stop the Freedom's Frontier National Heritage Area in Missouri For Freedom and Missouri, Clint E.Lacy

In-Depth Information "Testimony by Carol W. LaGrasse before the Committee on National Resources, U. S. House of Representatives, In Opposition to H.R. 4003, Hudson River Valley Special Study Act," January 21, 2010 This vaguely worded bill proposed by Rep. Maurice Hinchey appears to propose a study of all of twelve counties abutting the Hudson River (with their population exceeding three million) from Saratoga and Washington Counties to the northern boundaries of New York City and New Jersey for inclusion as a new unit of the National Park Service. The bill is dangerous to private property rights. Park Service eminent domain excesses include Cuyahoga National Recreation Area, Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore, and others. Tax impact, access interference, and other important potential negative impacts are discussed. "Rep. Maurice Hinchey Proposes Hudson Valley National Park Study" By Carol W. LaGrasse, Property Rights Foundation of America, January 2010 The significance of the mighty Hudson River as the nation's first superhighway after the completion of the Erie Canal that enabled goods to be transported from the Midwest and down the Hudson to the port of New York o cause New York City to become the nation's richest city is entirely missed in Hinchey's vague study proposal, which portrays the important facets of the Hudson to the nation as its Native American heritage, the site of Revolutionary War events, the inspiration for the Hudson River school of landscape painting, and the like. "Property Rights Update from Washington, D.C." - By Jason Knox, Esq., Legislative Staffer, Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.; Twelfth Annual National Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA, Albany, N.Y., October 18, 2008) The environmentalists are using legislation against energy transmission corridors. They're promoting Heritage Areas and wilderness designations as "economic redevelopment" while eliminating good-paying jobs. The urban Taunton Wild and Scenic River is meant to stop a gas pipeline. The 1,082-page resources omnibus bill would tie up 2 million acres as wilderness, including 1.2 million acres in Wyoming to stop use of gas and oil resources. The National Land Conservation System would codify Clinton/Gore National Monument designations. Right now, focus on energy. Make your voice heard on land use issues, project by project. Freedom of Information requests are a powerful tool. "HCF stands against land pressures" - Opinion by Carol W. LaGrasse (Reprinted from Register-Star, Hudson, N.Y., March 18, 2008) The Hudson River Valley is the object of a number of state and national Heritage Area preservation efforts that would limit the economic future of this historic commercial corridor of New York State. In the fact of the threat to close the Hudson Correctional Facility for budgetary purposes, it is important to realize that the important prison on the riverbank stands as a bulwark against the preservationist pressures which the local communities increasingly face. "National & International Land Use Planning" - Peyton Knight, Director of Environmental & Regulatory Affairs, The National Center for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C., Eleventh Annual National Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA, Albany, N.Y., October 13, 2007) A National Heritage Area facilitates national land use planning as a preservation-driven congressional pork-barrel designation created in conjunction with the National Park Service and private interest groups to influence decisions over local land use to preserve natural, historical, cultural, educational, scenic, and recreational resources. UNESCO World Heritage Site designations are an international tool to push land use restrictions on the sites and land surrounding them. "Update from Congress" - By Jason Knox, Esq., Member of Legislative Staff, Natural Resources Committee, Subcommittee on Forests and Public Lands, U.S. House of Representatives, Washington, D.C.; Eleventh Annual National Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA, Albany, N.Y., October 13, 2007) Part of the legislation that Nancy Pelosi would like to ram through Congress is H.R. 6 to take, Chavez-like, the contracts of oil companies awarded to drill on the outer continental shelf during the Clinton Administration. A National Heritage Area omnibus bill (H.R. 1483) would accomplish the Journey through Hallowed Ground and Niagara Falls National Heritage Areas, among others. The Niagara Falls area would involve the National Park Service in casinos. H.R. 2016 would do away with multiple use in BLM lands, making billions of acres into defacto wilderness. "Our Stolen Legacy: The Betrayal of the Declaration of Independence for the Cause of Landscape Preservation" - By Carol W. LaGrasse, President, PRFA, July 5, 2007 Government from distant places, fatiguing the people into compliance; a multitude of new offices and swarms of officers to harass the people…A government far from the vision of justice based on all men being created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable rights, including life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Landscape preservation from the regional, state, federal and international level takes precedence, eradicating freedom. Letter to Friends of PRFA -"The Mississippi River Corridor is Back" -From Carol W. LaGrasse, June 1, 2006 The Mississippi River Corridor is back - incarnated as the Mississippi River Trail plan- a 2,500-mile threat to private property rights from Minnesota and Wisconsin on the Canadian border to Mississippi and Louisiana on the Gulf Coast. "National Heritage Areas—An Appearance of Innocence" - By Peyton Knight, The National Center for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C., Speech at Tenth Annual Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA, Albany, N.Y., October 14, 2006) National Heritage Areas are pork barrel earmarks that harm property rights and local governance. Heritage Areas have definite boundaries and are subject to a management entity composed of Green groups and the National Park Service to pressure local government to enact land-use restrictions. The Park Service surveys property within the Heritage Area for suitable land for National Park status. "Entering the Lake Champlain Watershed" - By Susan Allen (PRFA, May 2005) During late spring 2004, large highway signs suddenly appeared that declared, "Entering Lake Champlain Watershed" and "Entering Hudson River Watershed." The federally and state funded Lake Champlain Basin Program, which already has precipitated the regulatory scenic byway and many other programs, had spawned the Champlain Watershed Improvement Coalition of New York, which had the DOT place the signs. All of the signs disappeared late in the summer! "Grants Have Agendas" - By Carol W. LaGrasse, PRFA November 15, 2004 Government grants put never-ending streams of money toward preservationist objectives that diminish private property rights. Prime examples are National Heritage Areas, regional planning, trails, and government land acquisition. "The Tourism Trap" - By Carol W. LaGrasse, reprinted from the New York Property Rights Clearinghouse, Vol. 8, No. 3 (Summer 2004) Tourism is touted as the economic drive for rural areas such as the North Country, but it has compelling disadvantages for a sustained future. "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 follow-up letter from Sen. Craig Thomas, April 5, 2004, requesting responses to four questions about property rights issues related to National Heritage Areas. "Kanab Panel Spurs Discussion of national Heritage Area Proposal: Called 'First Night of Public Process'" - News Release, Rural Utahns for Local Solutions, April 19, 2004 Kane County Commissioner Mark Habbeshaw said, "This is the first night of the public process we've been involved with" on the proposed National Mormon Pioneer Trail Heritage Area. His statement counters claims by proponents that the "heritage area" has broad public backing. "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.) "LaGrasse Testifies Before U.S. Senate Against National Heritage Areas" - Reprinted from the New York Property Rights Clearinghouse, Vol. 8, No. 2 (Spring 2004) At the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee oversight hearing chaired by Sen. Craig Thomas on March 30, 2004, Carol W. LaGrasse pointed out how this greenway program threatens private property rights, after the General Accounting Office issued its report, and the National Park Service and various Heritage Area officials and experts testified in favor of the program. "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. Maps of Existing and Proposed Federal Areas and Trails in New Jersey (February 2004) "National Wildlife Refuge Draft Bill Threatens Trenton, NJ, Area" - By Carol W. LaGrasse (PRFA, February 2, 2004) Rep. Christopher H. Smith has a draft bill to create a National Wildlife Refuge for the Hamilton-Trenton Marsh and Crosswicks Creek. Sportsmen, boaters, and property owners are angry, because a lock-out except for biologists, birders, canoers, and hikers would displace the established uses of the area. "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. "Our Inalienable Heritage" - By Carol W. LaGrasse, Welcome Address, Seventh Annual N.Y. Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA, Oct. 18, 2003) Taking a look at the ways our rights are being eroded and setting history back on a path toward justice. Countervailing the soft-sell, long-term approach of moneyed interests - conservation easements, scenic byways, heritage areas, trails - the high-sounding tools of landscape preservation. "Summary of Heritage Bills Introduced 2003 — 108th Congress" - National Park Service, National Heritage Areas Program Official NPS list of National Heritage study bills and designation bills introduced in the 108th Congress. "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. "Heritage Rivers-Elites Only" - Carol W. LaGrasse, Digest of complete article from Positions on Property, Vol. 4, No. 1, Nov. 1998 "AHRI Directory-American Heritage Rivers: Official Federal and Local Contacts Revealed. Guardians of Property Rights Needed," PRFA 1998. (Representative Helen Chenoweth officially placed this directory in the Congressional Record on December 19, 1998) "Tourism Not Welcome-Case Study: Hanalei American Heritage River, Hawaii" - Carol W. LaGrasse, Positions on Property, Vol. 4, No. 1, Nov. 1998. "The American Heritage Rivers Program - A Threat to Private Property Rights" - Carol W. LaGrasse, Speech, Eagle Forum National Conference, Sept. 12, 1998, Arlington, Va. (Rep. Helen Chenoweth officially placed this speech in the Congressional Record on Oct. 9, 1998.) "A Brief Introduction - American Heritage Rivers: A Saccharine Incarnation of the National Heritage Area Program" - Carol W. LaGrasse, June 18, 1997 "Existing National Heritage Areas and Areas Under Federal Study" Complete List - June 1997 (PRFA, June 1997) "Dangers of Designations—Regional, Federal, State and International Land-Use Intrusions—National/American Heritage Areas, UN Biosphere Reserves and UN World Heritage Sites" - Property Rights Foundation Background Brief, April 1997 "American Heritage Rivers Program" - Written Testimony of Carol W. LaGrasse, President, Property Rights Foundation of America, Inc., Submitted to the Committee on Resources, United States House of Representatives, September 24, 1997. Testimony from oral transcript. "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 "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. "Amendments Considered for Protection of Home Rule, National Sovereignty and Property Rights-Heritage Areas" - from Positions on Property, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan.-April 1996 "Government Feeding Itself: Heritage Area Players-Major Federal Agencies Involved" - from Positions on Property, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan.-April 1996 "The Juggernaut of Private Not-for-Profit Interest Groups" - from Positions on Property, Vol. 3, No. 1, Jan.-April 1996 "Proposed National Heritage Areas — 104th Congress — 1996" - Reprinted from "American Heritage Areas," Positions on Property, (PRFA Jan.-Apr. 1996) The American Heritage Areas, The National Park Service National Heritage Corridor Scheme for Federal Control of Zoning (PRFA, July 1995) "Oppose Another Federal Land Grab —Vote 'No' On the American Heritage Areas Partnership Program" - By Gerald B. Solomon, Member of Congress (September 19, 1994) The successful "Dear Colleague" letter from Jerry Solomon urging Members of the House of Representatives to vote against the American Heritage Area generic program. "Secretary Babbitt has made it clear that funding for the heritage areas will be conditioned on adoption of land use regulations acceptable to the federal government." "Statement of Denis P. Galvin, ... National Park Service, Department of the Interior, Before the Subcommittee on National Parks,Forests, and Public Lands, House Committee on Natural Resources, Concerning H.R. 2949, A Bill to Establish the Augusta Canal National Heritage Corridor..." - June 28, 1994 Official National Park Service statement in support of the bill, with recommendation that "designation shall not take effect until the Secretary of Interior approves the partnership compact for the heritage corridor." Asked that the bill be amended to require, among other features, "evidence of commitment to modify zoning regulations." Land Grab U.S.A. - by Carol W. LaGrasse, from Positions on Property, Vol. 1, No. 2, Supplement (PRFA, May 1994) A Brutal Model Program for the Heritage Corridors - A Few Notes on the Columbia River Gorge Commission - by Carol W. LaGrasse, from Positions on Property, Vol. 1, No. 2, Supplement (PRFA, May 1994)

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