It’s Always Been About Land: And The Feds Own WAY Too Much Of It
Land has always been a precious commodity. The new settlers to America could NEVER have owned property in Europe due to their paucity. Our Founders knew that, and took the powers of the Magna Carta (the foundation of British liberties) all the way to the liberties we now enjoy.
But there have been, and always will be, those who seek to take those liberties away…
The Bundy Ranch incident brought attention to a critical issue: How much land does the Federal government own?
The answer: WAY too much!
According to the U.S. General Services Administration, the Federal government has direct ownership of almost 30% of all US land. More precisely, 650 million acres of land. It’s managed by varied agencies, such as: the Bureau of Land Management, the US Forest Service, the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the National Park Service, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the US Department of Defense, the US Army Corps of Engineers, the US Bureau of Reclamation or the Tennessee Valley Authority.
The majority of Federal land is in the Midwest/West, and the States where 40% and above are now federally owned, are:
Nevada 84.5%
Alaska 69.1%
Utah 57.4%
Oregon 53.1%
Idaho 50.2%
Arizona 48.1%
California 45.3%
Wyoming 42.3%
New Mexico 41.8%
Colorado 36.6%
Granted, there are legitimate Federal Lands, such as Military bases…but, one must ask Americans of those States (listed): Did they know that the Feds owned so much land? When and how did they acquire it? Were the citizens, of those States, asked to vote on a referendum to give those lands to the Feds? And if not, WHY not?
We have seen, in recent years, an aggressive abuse of Eminent Domain, which departed from the Fifth Amendment (taking of property must be for public use and just compensation must be paid)…of which the common understanding was that private land would be taken for the use of public utilities, highways, schools and railroads. With more and more progressives (on both sides of the aisle) moving back to the days of fiefdoms and Feudalism…and thanks to an out-of-control Supreme Court, expanding the definition of Eminent Domain BACK to that tyrannical time: ‘”We the people” need to wake up before we are trampled by those not merely wearing Red Coats…but by those who are RED to the core!
We need to ask ourselves: Does the property, we have arduously labored to own and pass on to our posterity, matter to us? Should we have a say in what happens to the land in our State? If you can answer YES…then it’s time to get answers from your representatives, locally and nationally. (Remember: They work for YOU.)
From its inception, our great nation has stood for liberty for “we the people”. And from its inception, our enemies…within and without…have desired to take that liberty away.
I want to keep mine…how about you?
Image: Courtesy of: http://viewpointsofasagittarian.com/breaking-bundy-ranch-blm-ceases-operations/
