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The Government Wants Your Land
Are You Going to Give It To Them?
Katie Davis is a 16-year old, 11th grade student. This essay was an English class assignment. Katie and her family will lose their home under the Parkway plan.
In Hinton, West Virginia, the government is going to build a road called the New River Scenic Parkway. This new road is an excuse made by the government and other agencies to take the homes and businesses of land owners to create a better view for tourists. This can't happen in America! This is a violation of rights that
are clearly stated in the constitution.
Bart Dye, a private property owner, is being forced from his home simply because he refused to give the government easement rights on his land (Arnold 1). Most of us would agree that we love the environment and all the plants and animals in it. Most would also agree that animals can be cute, cuddly, and mystifying all at the same time, but who is more important to you? Is it you and the other billion people in America, or is it that spotted owl that decided your attic looked like a nice place to live? Well, environmentalists and some government agencies seem to think that you and that other billion people are unimportant compared to the spotted owl living upstairs. That owl could cost you, your children, and your grandchildren's children their homes and heritages.
Getting back to the New River Scenic Parkway, the government is trying to take the homes of land owners there for its "scenic" value. Cindy Mullens, a land owner in the Hinton area whose home is affected, holds a very high value to her property. She says, " My land is my life! This is my family's home. This is the place we want to be, and the place we want our family to be for generations to come. The government won't care for this land the same way I do. If the government has control of this land, they will let it grow up and look awful" ( Mullens Q:5).
The government first told Mrs. Mullens and other land owners in the area that the New River Parkway would just be a wider road. They were told that the land would be shared by the land owners and tourists (Mullens Q:2 ). Land owners were, at first, happy with the thought of an upgraded road. Now many share the same opinion as Mrs. Mullens. "They have no right to take away my land. I bought it and I pay for it. The government has no right to take away the land of these property owners" ( Mullens Q:1 ).
The New River Scenic Parkway is not the first case in which the government took land for its own use. In September of this year, at a meeting that was held in London, Ohio concerning a proposed Wild Life Refuge, encompasing over 5000 acres and the homes of 500 families was discussed. These properties would fall under the federal Endangered Species Act, and would be acquired by the government. Thus another 5000 acres and all of these families will be uprooted, their life-styles and heritages lost forever. (Private Property 1).
The federal government already owns too much land. The government owns so much property that officials can't even account for everything the government owns. According to Ron Arnold's research, the government owns 632,700,000 acres of all the land in America. The government only accounts for 407,988,700 acres of that land. What do you suppose happened to the other 224,711,300 acres of land the government can't find? 632,700,000 acres of land may not sound like a lot, but it really is. In Nevada alone, the government owns 82 percent of all the land in that state. The least amount of land in a state the government owns in the western part of our country is 26.8 percent in Washington State and 16.7 percent in Hawaii (Arnold 20-21 ).
1997 tax records show that 1.6 billion dollars and another 784.5 million dollars, a grand total of 2,384,500,000 dollars, were invested in nature reserves and conservation easements.
Why doesn't the public see this land grab taking place everyday? "It's invisible," explains Ron Arnold in his book, Undue Influence. Mr.. Arnold uses the analogy that it is only one small locust in someone else's field for now. Until you are experiencing the problem in your own "yard," you won't concern yourself with it (Arnold 3 ).
One tactic that the government uses to acquire land is a conservation easement. When asked what his opinion of a conservation easement is, Mr. Jay Zane Walley replied, "Although conservation easements are touted as a way to preserve land, they are used as a way for the government and non-governmental organizations, such as the Nature Conservancy, to control and regulate private lands without paying fair market value" (Walley interview ).
People like Ken and Pat Snyder have fallen into the conservation easement trap. The Snyders have had an easement on their land for some time. They say they hate it. According to Mr. Snyder, the land can't be sold because no one wants to buy land with an easement on it. Also, the public thinks that because there is an easement on the property, they have rights to the land. People have called to complain about a pond that dries up during the summer on the property. Mr. Snyder's neighbors have even put up six different gates connecting their land to his. Yet another problem for Snyder is that he has lost some rights to his land. An Agency sent him a letter in 1982 stating that he wasn't taking care of his property to their standards because the equipment he used to bale hay wasn't good enough (Walley 6 ). Mr. Walley says that Public rights is a common misconception across the nation. In California there is even a movement " to make all lands encumbered with conservation easements available to the public" (Walley interview Q:2).
Another thing that environmentalists are doing to America is that they are trying to eliminate jobs by eliminating timbering and mining industries.
In one way or another, almost everyone has used wood for something. Maybe it was used for heat or light or maybe as paper to write on. Can you imagine what would happen if you couldn't use paper products of any kind? What about the antique oak rocker that your grandmother used to knit in? What if you couldn't use wood at all? Well, if environmentalists get their way, that could happen.
Some of us do worry about using too many trees. Well, everytime a tree is cut down, more are planted in its place. This process is known as "sustained yield." It's just the same as when you plant a garden. You grow your corn and tomatoes, and then harvest them when they are ripe. The next year you plant more, and do the same thing. Environmentalists see these "sustained yields" as just tree farms. They want more than just that; they want whole forests. This must be the reason that environmentalists are destroying jobs across the nation. In Oregon alone 187 saw mills were shut down by environmentalists because of a spotted owl. In Arizona, many saw mills were shut down for the same reason. There were only a few small companies left. That's not enough to supply the country's needs ( Arnold 10-17 ).
Now that you know what the government is trying to do to people all over America, are you going to let them do it to you? I, for one, am appalled by the government's actions. Not only are they taking away land from these people, but also their children and grandchildren. This can't happen in America! It's a violation of rights that are clearly stated in the Constitution.
