March 31st, 2008
Cushman: Congress Pursuing Huge Land Grabs
From Chuck Cushman:
Senate Vote Eminent After April 1st on Rim of Valley, Omnibus Parks.
Democrat Controlled Congress Pushing Huge Land Grabs on $10 Billion Omnibus Parks Bill now includes Rim of the Valley.
Urgent Action Required on S 2739.
Vote could come as early at Tuesday, April 1st. But it could be delayed for several
days.
Your calls will make a terrific difference.
You must call both your Senators every day from March 31st through April 4th. Any
Senator may be called at (202) 224-3121. Tell them to vote no on S 2739. Tell them
to remove Rim of the Valley.
It’s time for the Grassroots To Rise Up.
You must call, call and call again. Send faxes and e-mails.
Alert - Alert——- ALRA will send you a list showing you how your Senators voted on
S 2739 as well as how all the other Senators voted. You want to make sure you let
your Senator know in advance that you hold him or her accountable for their vote on
S 2739, The Omnibus Parks bill and Rim of the Valley.
Action Items:
Tell your Senator he or she needs to oppose S2739 for several reasons:
——-1. Omnibus Parks Bills are really just a way for Congress to pass dozens of
bills that could not pass on their own. They stick the American public with
$billion of dollars in pork projects and earmarks.
——-2. Congress has added the giant Rim of the Valley Study Bill. That will
eventually cost over $2 billion by itself.
It will put 169,000 landowners in Los Angeles and Ventura Counties inside park
boundaries subject to land acquisition. Most of the landowners have no idea what
is coming at them.
——-3. The Senate Committee approved Rim of the Valley without ever seeing a map.
American Land Rights has special high quality maps made up and delivered to the
Parks Committee in the Senate. Committee Staff failed to give them to the Senators
or their staff. Almost no Senators have seen a map. You can tell them they can see
a quality Rim of the Valley Map by going to www.landrights.org
The Senate is voting on $billions of dollars of your money without ever looking at
what they are spending the money on. They have not even looked at a map.
——-4. The total cost of S2739 could be as high as $10 billion and perhaps much
more.
——-5. Ask your Senator’s staff how he or she could vote for a huge land grab like
Rim of the Valley without ever seeing a map.
——-6. Ask your Senator’s staff how they could lock up hundreds of $billions of
dollars in strategic minerals without a hearing to hear from experts and the threat
to the country.
You will receive another e-mail tomorrow with the details on the minerals locked
up in the Parks Omnibus Parks bill.
——-7. Below is listed the entire Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee
including their fax and e-mail addresses.
- -
Here is the background of S 2639 from Parks and Recreation Newsletter by James
Coffin: Federal Parks & Rec [mailto:james@federalparksandrec.com]
Senate Omnibus Bill Said Near; Rim Of The Valley Added:
A far-reaching bill (S 2739) that includes dozens of park and recreation measures
approved by both the House and the Senate Energy Committee is inches away from the
Senate floor.
The measure, at least the fourth such omnibus bill the committee has prepared,
includes more than 60 individual bills the House has approved and the Senate
committee has approved. Thus, if the Senate signs off on S 2739, the measure is
virtually assured of final passage, subject to some last-second tinkering.
Private property rights advocates who have the ear of powerful western senators are
up in arms. They are particularly annoyed that committee leaders this month added
to S 2739 a bill they despise that was not in previous omnibus measures -
legislation to authorize a Rim of the Valley study in California. Although the
committee has not approved the Rim of the Valley bill (S 1053) this year, it has
approved the measure the last three years.
The Rim of the Valley bill would authorize a study of the possible addition of
500,000 acres to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area (SMMNRA.)
Critics such as the American Land Rights Association (ALRA) contend that the launch
of a study almost guarantees a positive recommendation for additions by the Park
Service followed by Congressional approval of an SMMNRA expansion. And that could
cost billions of dollars, the critics maintain.
"I really hate these omnibus bills," said Chuck Cushman, president of ALRA and
long-term critic of Congressional spending on SMMNRA. “There are many desirable
provisions in the omnibus bill but there are a lot of undesirable ones too.
Congress ends up spending money that should be used for operation and maintenance
of existing parks.”
Almost all committee legislation has been held up for most of a year by "holds"
placed by Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) He reportedly objects to any legislation that
would come with a price tag and require additional spending.
But Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Democratic leaders have
apparently decided to proceed with S 2739 and attempt to break Coburn’s holds by
summoning the needed 60 votes for cloture. “The plan as I understand it is for
Sen. Reid to call the bill up for a cloture vote to defeat the hold,” said a
committee staff member. That could happen as early as next week.
Committee Republicans support the omnibus bill but are trying to stay out of the
crossfire between Reid and Coburn. “We’re trying to avoid the spray since a
Republican senator is responsible for the delay,” said a Republican committee staff
member. “But we would like to see the package move.”
After the Senate acts on S 2739, it may take up a second package of
committee-passed measures that the House has NOT acted on. “We’re only doing
House-passed bills right now,” said the majority staff member. “The next package
behind it contains things that we have done but the House has not.” No timetable
has been set for the second bill but it could come up in the next month.
That could open the way for Senate consideration in the second package of a major
bill (S 1139) to certify the 26 million-acre National Landscape Conservation System
(NLCS) managed by the Bureau of Land Management. The committee approved S 1139 May
23, 2007, but the bill has not moved since. The House Natural Resources Committee
approved a counterpart bill (HR 2016) March 12. Because the full House hasn’t
approved the NLCS bill, it may be a candidate for the next package. However, it
does carry some baggage.
The Bush administration generally supports the Rim of the Valley legislation. And
Democrats in the California Congressional delegation, led by Sen. Dianne Feinstein
and Rep. Adam Schiff, solidly back it. The House approved Schiff’s bill Dec. 4,
2007, as part of an omnibus House bill, HR 3998. The Senate Energy Committee has
scheduled a hearing for April 9 on the House-passed bill.
SMMNRA is the largest urban park in the National Park System with 153,750 acres
within its boundaries. NPS says the area provides recreational opportunities for
approximately 530,000 visitors annually. The study area extends over 491,518 acres
and includes considerable private property.
Here are some other bills included in the Senate omnibus measure:
HERITAGE AREAS: The new omnibus bill includes measures dealing with a number of
national heritage areas (NHAs.) S 2739 would designate a Journey Through Hallowed
Ground NHA in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia and Virginia; an Abraham Lincoln
NHA in Illinois; and a Niagara Falls NHA in New York.
The House approved a multi-faceted national heritage areas bill (HR 1483) Oct. 25,
2007, that would designate six new NHAs including Journey Through Hallowed Ground,
Abraham Lincoln and Niagara Falls.
Like the House, S 2739 would increase a spending ceiling on these nine NHAs from $10
million to $15 million: National Coal Heritage Area in West Virginia, the Tennessee
Civil War Heritage Area, the Augusta Canal NHA in Georgia, the Steel Industry
American Heritage Area in Pennsylvania, the Essex NHA in Massachusetts, the South
Carolina National Heritage Corridor, America’s Agricultural Heritage Partnership in
Iowa, the Ohio & Erie Canal National Heritage Corridor in Ohio, and the Hudson River
Valley NHA in New York.
Not included in S 2739 are at least four NHAs that the Senate committee has
approved but the House has not acted on. They are candidates for the next
committee package. They are a Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National
Heritage Corridor in Massachusetts and Connecticut; Sangre de Cristo NHA in
Colorado; South Park NHA in Colorado; and Chattahoochee Trace National Heritage
Corridor in Georgia and Alabama.
Also not included in S 2739 are at least three NHA bills approved by the House that
would designate a Muscle Shoals NHA in Alabama; a Freedom’s Way NHA in
Massachusetts and New Hampshire; and a Santa Cruz Valley NHA in Arizona.
-
TRAILS: S 2739 would designate a Star Spangled Banner National Historic Trail in
Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia. The House approved its bill (HR
1388) July 23, 2007. -
RIVERS: S 2739 would designate the Eightmile River in Connecticut as a wild and
scenic river. The House approved its bill (HR 986) July 31, 2007. -
MISCELLANEOUS: S 2739 includes 21 other bills dealing with the Park Service,
including boundary adjustments, studies, designation of commissions, and land
conveyances. In addition the bill includes a Wild Sky wilderness bill for national
forests in Washington, two land bills for the Bureau of Land Management, 14 water
resources bills, two Department of Energy bills and two territories bills.
Voting In The Dark On Rim Of The Valley National Land Grab.
Rim of the Valley is now part of huge Omnibus Parks Bill (S2739) to be voted on
right after April 1st.
It’s technical title is —Consolidated Natural Resources Act of 2008)—
S2739 includes the infamous Rim of the Valley National Park. S2739 is part of a
huge Omnibus Parks Bill that includes many new parks, heritage areas, Wild and
Scenic Rivers and much more.
They put these bills into packages to make them very difficult to fight. Because so
many Members of the Senate have a little or big bill in the overall S2739 package,
they don’t take the time to look at the other bills. The result is a lot of bad
bills get slipped by.
All the bills in S2739 have already passed the House.
So it is do or die to stop S2739 now.
S2739 Threatens Landowners Nationwide
Senate Energy Committee Bypasses Rim of the Valley Hearing. They held a hearing
several years ago before people began to wake up about what Rim of the Valley really
meant.
Committee has failed to even look at a map of Rim of the Valley. So they will be
voting completely in the Dark when they come back from Easter Vacation.
No one in the Senate has seen a map of the Rim of the Valley. Parks Committee staff
was given enough maps for all the members of the Energy and Natural Resources
Committee but they were never handed out.
Look below to see if your Senator is on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
You can reach any Senator at (202) 224-3121. Ask his staff to get a copy of the Rim
of the Valley Map. They can get it by calling Tom Lillie at the Parks Subcommittee
at (202) 224-4971. There are only enough maps for the Energy and Natural Resources
Committee Members.
You can see a quality map by going to www.landrights.org
The New Rim Of The Valley Park Study Bill is Being Rushed Through Congress - Would
Convert LA area National Forests Into National Parks
Urgent Action Required
The Massive Rim Of The Valley Fire Hazard Moving In The Senate
It is called Rim Of The Valley National Park (S 2739).
Rim of the Valley will place a Park Service noose around the necks of 169,000
threatened landowners. 158,000 in LA County and 11,000 in Ventura County.
The regulatory cost is staggering. Landowners have no idea what is coming at them.
$2 Billion is our projected land acquisition cost but it could easily cost much
more. That will make it the most expensive national park in history. It will
jeopardize funding for other parks nationwide needing money for maintenance for
years to come.
The Park Service is approximately $10 billion behind in basic health and
safety-deferred maintenance. At some point we need to take care of what we’ve got
rather than keep adding and adding.
It is amazing that the Energy and Natural Resources Committee is doing so little
research when over $2 billion plus of your money is at stake.
The Park Service is a bad neighbor when it comes to fire. They will not allow you
to clean your land of fire hazard brush and will not clean their own ground. Giving
the Park Service control imposes a huge fire hazard on any landowners near the Rim
of the Valley.
Rim of the Valley is adjacent to and attached to the Santa Monica Mountains National
Recreation Area. That area’s real claim to fame is that it burns every five years.
——-Call Now. Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee is at this time not
going to hold a hearing on the Rim Of The Valley Land Grab.
The Energy and Natural Resources Committee is bypassing a hearing because the
Committee has passed Rim of the Valley before. You need to request a new hearing.
They did not even have maps before. ALRA has now has made large color maps
available.
It is urgent that you call both your Senators plus the Members of the Senate Energy
and Natural Resources Committee listed below. Send them e-mail or fax also.
It is critical that you call both your Senators today to oppose S 2739. Any
Senator may be called at (202) 224-3121. Ask that they request the Energy and
Natural Resources Committee to hold a new hearing on S 2739, the Rim of the Valley
bill.
——-The only way for local groups to fight local issues when threatened by Federal
national proposals is to band together nationwide and support each other.
You, by calling, e-mailing or faxing today, will save people who will then be there
tomorrow to help you when you are personally threatened if you are not now.
Rim of the Valley is a giant new National Park being slipped by Congress as a
supposed addition to the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
——-It will include and threaten 158,000 private parcels in Los Angeles County and
11,000 in Ventura County. These are in addition to those landowners trapped in the
existing Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
There are many National Forest Cabin Permittees in the proposed area. Large
portions of the Angeles National Forest will be converted into National Park. The
San Bernardino and Las Padres National Forests are also threatened with at least
partial national park status. Call any cabinowners you know to urge that they
oppose S 2739. The Park Service does not allow permit cabins.
(Energy and Natural Resources Fax and e-mail addresses listed below). It is
especially important to call or write if your Senator is on the list. A fax is the
best way to send your letter.
Background on Rim of the Valley:
S 2739 (Rim of the Valley) would surround the:
parts of the Santa Monica Mountains;
the Santa Susanna Mountains;
the San Gabriel Mountains;
the Verdugo Mountains;
the San Rafael Hills;
and adjacent connector areas to the Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests.
In California with a huge New National Park area.
S 2739 and the Rim of the Valley will cost over $2 billion making it the most
expensive park in American history. That is the way Santa Monica Mountains NRA
started out. It was only supposed to cost $155 million in 1978. Today it is over
$1 billion and continuing skyward.
S 2739 is called the Rim of the Valley Corridor Study Act and would study expanding
the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area by adding a corridor of all the
mountains surrounding the San Fernando Valley, La Crescenta Valley, Santa Clarita
Valley, Simi Valley and Conejo Valley.
Don’t be confused when they call it a study. If this bill passes, Congress will ask
the giant Park Service bureaucracy if they want more land, more money, more power
and more people. What do you think any self-respecting bureaucracy is going to say?
Of course they want it. They always want more.
The Rim of the Valley consists of parts of the Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa
Susanna Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains, the Verdugo Mountains, the San Rafael
Hills, and adjacent connector areas to the Los Padres and San Bernardino National
Forests according to Congressmen Adam Schiff.
The study area will encompass 491,518 acres. That is nearly three and a half times
the size of the existing Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area that is
153,750 acres and over two thirds the size of Yosemite. All that in an urban area.
You can see a map by going to www.landrights.org Just click on the link on the
website homepage.
This map was originally produced by the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy. They
have deliberately tried to hide the full impact of S 2739 by how they have shaded
the areas in the map. They call it a corridor but it actually surrounds and
includes huge areas of land. The Park Service does not like private land within
their boundaries. They will try to buy it all over time.
**Be sure to call your local newspapers to get them to print a map of the giant new
Rim of the Valley National Park Service area.
This is part of the giant plan promoted by the Park Service, the Nature Conservancy
and the Wildlands Project for a nationwide series of corridors linking all the parks
and forests in the United States. This has the potential for a massive takeover of
National Forest and other Federal lands by the Park Service.
Don’t dismiss this because it is in California. If they pass this proposal, some
Members of Congress will be emboldened to add new and expanded areas where you live.
S 2739 will put a circle of Park Service control around tens of thousands of
landowners. Anyone familiar with how the Park Service works knows that is the
beginning of ratcheting down the regulatory controls and land
acquisition. They want it all eventually. This writer was told by the Assistant
Secretary of Interior for Fish, Wildlife and Parks in the Carter Administration in
1978: “If Congress puts a circle around it, we’re going to own it all.”
The Rim of the Valley will become a huge fire hazard. The Park Service will prevent
landowners from removing vegetation and brush for fire protection and will not clean
their land. The result will be fires even more massive than you are suffering now.
This is not speculation. This is how the Park Service presently manages the Santa
Monica Mountains National Recreation Area.
More Action Items:
——-A. You need to call, fax and e-mail both your Senators in opposition to S 2739
immediately. Every Senator can be reached at (202) 224-3121. Ask for the fax and
e-mail of the staff person who handles park issues when you call. Send them a
one-page message stating your opposition to S2739. This is critical.
——-B. Ask both your Senators to hold a new hearing on S 2739 where they actually
examine the map of the proposed area and get a cost analysis.
——-C. Be sure to go to www.landrights.org for a copy of the map of the Rim of
the Valley. You can enlarge it to make it more readable. Make sure you ask your
local newspapers to print a map of the proposed Rim of the Valley National Park
Service area. People have no idea what is coming at them. If you don’t have the
equipment to enlarge it, take a disk with the file off the web to Kinkos and they
can do it.
Call any Senator at (202) 224-3121.
Here is the full Energy and Natural Resources Committee. Write them asking them why
the never looked at the map of Rim of the Valley. Ask them to remove Rim of the
Valley from the Omnibus Parks Bill (S2739).
(Note: when you see a space in the e-mail, it is an underscore.)
Republicans: (Minority)
Pete Domenici (R-NM) - Fax: (202) 228-3261 - E-mail: edwardhild@domenici.senate.gov
Larry Craig (R-ID) - Fax: (202) 228-1067 - E-mail: darrenparker@craig.senate.gov
Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) - Fax: (202) 224-5301 - E-mail:
isaacedwards@murkowski.senate.gov
Richard Burr (R-NC) (Ranking Minority Member) - Fax: (202) 228-2981 - E-mail:
natashahickman@burr.senate.gov
Jim DeMint (R-SC) - Fax: (202) 228-5143 - E-mail: matthoskins@demint.senate.gov
Bob Corker (R¬TN) - Fax: (202) 228-0566 - E-mail: toddwomack@corker.senate.gov
Jeff Sessions (R-AL) - Fax: (202) 224-3149 - E-mail: alanhanson@sessions.senate.gov
Jim Bunning (R-KY) - Fax: (202) 228-1373 - E-mail: kimdean@bunning.senate.gov;
lessealy@barasso.senate.gov
Gordon Smith (R-OR) - Fax: (202) 228-3997 - E-mail: robepplin@gsmith.senate.gov
Mel Martinez (R-FL) - Fax: (202) 228-5172 - E-mail: michaelzehr@martinez.senate.gov
John Barrasso (R-WY) - Fax: (202) 224-1724 - E-mail:
brynstewart@barrasso.senate.gov; shawn_Whitman@barrasso.senate.gov
Democrats: (Majority)
Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) (Chairman) - Fax: 202) 224-2852 - E-mail:
trudyvincent@bingaman.senate.gov
Daniel Akaka (D-HI) - Fax: (202) 224-2126 - E-mail: bonniberge@akaka.senate.gov
Byron Dorgan (D-ND) - Fax: (202) 224-1193 - E-mail: geoffplague@dorgan.senate.gov
Ron Wyden (D-OR) Chairman - Fax: (202) 228-2717 - E-mail:
Joshuasheinkman@wyden.senate.gov
Tim Johnson (D-SD) - Fax: (202) 228-5765 - E-mail:
toddstubbendieck@johnson.senate.gov
Mary Landrieu (D-LA) - Fax: (202) 224-9735 - E-mail:
janetwoodka@landrieu.senate.gov
Maria Cantwell (D-WA) - Fax: (202) 228-0514 - E-mail:
michaeldaum@cantwell.senate.gov
Ken Salazar (D-CO) - Fax: (202) 228-5036 - E-mail: grantleslie@salazar.senate.gov
Robert Menendez (D-NJ) - Fax: (202) 228-2197 - E-mail:
karissawillhite@menendez.senate.gov
Blanche Lincoln (D-AR) - Fax: (202) 228-1371 - E-mail: jimstowers@lincoln.senate.gov
Bernard Sanders (I-VT) - Fax: (202) 228-0776 - E-mail: petertyler@sanders.senate.gov
Jon Tester (D-MT) - Fax: (202) 224-8593 - E-mail: bridgetwalsh@tester.senate.gov
If S 2739 passes and the huge expansion eventually passes Congress it will:
——-1. Will threatened thousands of landowners and recreation users.
——-2. Create a huge fire hazard. The Park Service will not allow you to clear
your brush and they will not clear theirs. The result could be a disaster.
——-3. By our estimate, it will cost over $2 billion dollars and perhaps a great
deal more to carry out their grandiose land acquisition and regulatory scheme. It
will become a never-ending money pit with Congress having to keep up with public
expectations.
——-4. Would study expanding the Santa Monica Mountains National Recreation Area
by adding a corridor encircling large portions of all the mountains surrounding the
San Fernando Valley, La Crescenta Valley, Santa Clarita Valley, Simi Valley and
Conejo Valley in California on the North side of Los Angeles.
——-5. S 2739 includes part of the Santa Monica Mountains, the Santa Susanna
Mountains, the San Gabriel Mountains, the Verdugo Mountains, the San Rafael Hills,
and adjacent connector areas to the Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests.
——-6. The study area will encompass 491,518 acres, that’s two-thirds the size of
Yosemite. It’s nearly three and a half times the size of the existing Santa Monica
Mountains National Recreation Area which is 153,750 acres. It will run
approximately 300 miles giving it a huge scope.
——-7. Will control land use within and adjacent corridors by threatening eminent
domain (condemnation) of the land. That is how they prevent
building and lots of other uses. ALRA saved a ski area in Maine recently that had
been continually threatened with condemnation.
——-8. S 2739 will ultimately dilute the Park Service budget meaning less care for
other parks.
——-9. The combined length of these corridors is likely to run as much as 300
miles long. The Santa Monica Mountains Corridor NRA is only about 40 miles long and
is already costing over one billion dollars.
——-10. The corridors will be like a series of giant nooses put around the necks
of the many communities in the encircled areas. Economic and social activities will
be greatly inhibited. Access people now take for granted will be lost forever.
Frankly, the Park Service has a record of being a very bad neighbor. Go to
www.landrights.org for several socio-cultural assessments and histories of Park
Service abuses.
——-11. There will be a massive increase in regulations controlling private and
community activities with the encircled areas. S 2739 will interdict transportation
corridors, which will mean new bridges and passageways for wildlife corridors
throughout the region.
——12. They’ll use the wildlife as an excuse for substantial new regulatory
controls. They’ll build bridges for the wildlife over the freeways but you’ll be
locked out. For example over 90% of Yosemite is now closed off to most of the
public. They are closing campgrounds and parking lots and soon you will have to
take a bus just to get into the park.
——13. Force the closure of hundreds of miles of exiting roadways substantially
reducing motorized recreation.
——14. It will be hard or impossible to get communication towers and other
utilities installed in these corridors.
——15. They say they will put in hiking trails, but the area is so hot in the
summer that very little hiking takes place. There is virtually no water. In the
winter, it becomes floods and mud. At the existing Santa Monica Mountains NRA they
have to actually bus people out of the center of the City of Los Angeles in order to
increase visitorship. People who have a choice don’t spend much time there.
——16. Movie and TV companies who use these areas for films will be prevented from
doing their normal work. The Park Service likes naturalness. They don’t really
like people. They just want enough to justify their budget.
——17. Creation of the Rim of the Valley Corridor could require tougher Class I
air standards that would have a negative impact on private industry throughout the
San Fernando Valley and the other areas. If you like the notion of viewsheds and
soundsheds, you love the Rim of the Valley Corridor bill.
——18. The House has not held a hearing on S 2739. They did hold a hearing on
another very different bill a year ago. The Senate held a hearing but had no one
testify against the bill. That’s fairness for you. You would think they would want
to hear from both sides. So Congress is really operating in the dark.
——19. Even though there is very little water, what exists is valuable. S 347
will give the National Park Service a large measure of control over all the high
ground around these valleys. Historically that means the agency uses that power to
interdict the goals of local communities and business.
——20. The Park Service also seeks to keep communities from allowing landowners to
use their land by threatening the cities and towns with the loss of Federal funds of
all kinds.
Why is the Rim of the Valley Corridor bill (S 2739) so important?
It will threaten thousands of landowners and permittees in the mountains around Los
Angeles. It will threaten private owners in the Angeles National Forest and may
threaten owners in the Los Padres and San Bernardino National Forests as well.
When the Park Service takes over a Forest Service area, landowners and recreation
users lose. The Park Service does not like private uses and has almost no permit
system.
S 2739 will set a standard nationwide for corridor and greenway bills involving many
urban and rural communities. It will likely lead to other corridor measures in
other National Forests. If you like the notion of viewsheds and soundsheds, you
love the Rim of the Valley Corridor bill. If they pass it in California, it will
be hard to stop in other areas.
S 2739 is a “study” bill. But it is much cheaper and easier to stop the study bill
than to stop the authorizing bill that will most certainly come later. They are
using S 2739 because that is the Senate version of the bill introduced and passed
through the Senate by Diane Feinstein (D-CA).
If you don’t live anywhere near Los Angeles, why should you care? Because these
studies are the first step toward a Federal land grab in your area. They are the
camels nose under the tent.
Even if you live in Arizona, Washington, Idaho or Colorado, a few calls to your
Senator can make a huge difference. As few as ten letters in a Congressional
district will get that Senator thinking about why he should vote for this bill.
Usually he will get very few calls in support from greens in your state. So a few
calls like yours really count.
Any Senator can all be reached at the same number by calling the Capital Switchboard
at (202) 225-3121. Ask for the Senator you are calling when the switchboard
operator answers. When their staff answers the phone, ask for the person who handles
National Parks or Resources Committee matters or S 2739.
S 2739 is really creating a monster new national park. The size is huge and the
cost will be even larger. The size could be a series of corridors with a total
length as long as 300 miles and costing you, the taxpayer over $2 billion dollars.
Ultimately what the Park Service will want is a giant network of corridors, some
very wide, covering all the mountains around the North West part of Los Angeles and
part of Ventura Counties. Some of these corridors will likely mean the conversion
of multiple-use land managed by the US Forest Service to the National Park Service.
The Park Service is famous for its land grabbing and regulatory technique. One
example is that Santa Monica Mountains NRA is well known for being a park where the
Park Service was sued and ultimately had to pay large damages for initiating a raid
against an innocent rancher, Donald Scott, who was killed in the raid. All because
the Park Service wanted his land.
The Park Service has been a nightmare for landowners in Santa Monica Mountains.
Relations with landowners and others who traditionally used the area have always
been bad and continue that way.
It was supposed to be a “string of pearls” with most land left in private hands.
But that concept largely went away as the Santa Monica Mountains NRA gradually grew
and more landowners were wiped out.
The National Park Service promised they would protect private property owners and
that most private land would not be purchased. However, they continually expand
their appetite so the scope and cost of the NRA just keeps increasing.
The Santa Monica Mountains NRA surrounded thousands of landowners preventing them
from getting access. Then they bought out the major landowners and just left the
small landowners to twist in the wind. Numerous complaints have been filed about
the Park Service creating hardships and doing nothing about it.
That is what will happen in the Rim of the Valley Corridor. It will start with a
small scope and gradually increase over time until the Federal Government and the
National Park Service take over huge portions of the mountains around Los Angeles.
The proposed new Park Service area is likely to cost over $2 billion in additional
dollars. That could be grossly understated. The funding required would detract
from existing National Parks that are already strapped for funds for basic health,
safety and visitor services.
If you live in California, call at least three friends to ask them to call, fax and
e-mail. Call as many as you can.
If you live in another state, you should still call your friends and allies and get
them to call their Senators and send e-mails and faxes opposing this giant and very
expensive land grab - S 2739. Refer to it as the Rim of The Valley and the Parks
Omnibus Bill.
Chuck Cushman
American Land Rights Association
PO Box 400
Battle Ground, WA 98604
(360) 687-3087
ccushman@landrights.org
