THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume VI, Issue # 139, June 28, 2004
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
THE ENVIRONMENTALISTS' ASSAULT ON PROPERTY RIGHTS:
WELCOME TO THE PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF NEW JERSEY
By Alan Caruba
FULL STORY:
As regards politicians, whether in the U.S. Congress or in America's state governments, there is at least one thing they love to do these
days, and that is to “conserve” land. "Land conservation" is a mere subterfuge for getting control over vast areas of land in the name
of protecting the environment, when, in fact, the real purpose is to foreclose on any development or use of that land.
No building homes or apartments, no new corporate headquarters, no timber harvesting, no natural resources extraction, no camping, no
hiking, no fishing, no hunting, no off-road vehicles, no nothing!
The Founding Fathers thought private ownership of land was so important they included protection of this fundamental right and
necessary element of a capitalist economy in the United States Constitution. Environmentalists, who are essentially Marxists, want the
government to own all the land.
In New Jersey, just such a land grab is in the making in the form of legislation to “protect” the Highlands, an area of some 800,000 acres
that runs in a swath through the northern portion of the state. The reasons given for this are to control “urban sprawl” and to protect the
area of mostly forests and farmland as a watershed. Never mind that existing laws have long protected the area as a watershed.
Some 145,000 acres of the Highlands will no longer be developed. The Governor, an ardent environmentalist, cannot wait to sign the
legislation into law.
The support of developers was bought off with legislation that would institute fast track processing of environmental permits, but only
in areas approved by the State of New Jersey for development. The Environmental Protection Agency in the U.S. federal government
may not permit this, but, if it does, the result will be a state government with an excuse to get even bigger by employing still more state
bureaucrats to process the permits. Moreover, the state government will gain still more control where it allows housing and other
development to occur, exercising a decision-making prerogative that used to belong to city and town zoning commissions.
Making it a bit easier for developers to develop brought out a howl of protest from the Greens. “This is one of the most dangerous bills,
because no one understands the level and depth of its impact,” said Jeff Tittel of the New Jersey State Sierra Club chapter. Indeed, the
Sierra Club announced it was preparing to sue to stop the bill’s implementation. Some environmentalists were cited as saying they
regretted the passage of the Highlands bill, if it meant making it easier for developers to build anything, even in those areas the State
says it’s okay.
The environmentists are worrying and protesting needlessly. Their radical, anti-property rights political agenda will not be
compromised.
Anyone who owns land in the designated “protected”, i.e., “controlled”, area will see it rendered essentially worthless. This doesn’t
mean they won’t have to pay property taxes on it. They will, but they will also be unable to sell it for anything near its original value,
nor will they be free to do anything to enhance their property’s value.
A case in point is Ken Bigalow. His story was reported by Paul Mulshine, a columnist for the Star-Ledger, on June 10, 2004.
Bigalow, a grandfather to 21 grandchildren, built a playground structure some years ago, a large wooden locomotive about four feett
high, complete with a couple of cars and a caboose. On October 10, 2003, he received a letter from the State of New Jersey telling him
that the little park he’d built in his backyard was a violation of the State Freshwater Wetlands Act and could subject him to a fine of
$10,000 a day.
According to an interpretation of some arcane provision of the Freshwater Wetlands Act, Bigalow’s backyard is a wetland. In time, a
bureaucrat showed up to tell him that the locomotive, the plastic heron, the concrete elf, and the tree fort he’d built had to be removed.
“It’s like living under Communism,” said Bigalow. He’s right.
Like the Highlands Act, the Wetlands Act is one of those environmental laws passed to keep developers from building homes and
apartment complexes where the growing population of New Jersey can live. The net effect of both laws is to put pressure on areas
outside the Highlands to allow the building of more structures; pressure that is often in the form of builder’s lawsuits. Moreover,
enforcement of the two laws drives up housing prices and property taxes in long established towns where no further housing growth
is possible.
This is the ultimate definition of “sustainable development,” the lodestone of the nationwide environmental movement to restrict the
use of both wildlands and privately held property of any description.
Many environmental organizations exist solely to force landowners to “voluntarily” sell their property, after applying the various
laws available to the emvironmentalists to render the properties of the landowners worthless. They then often sell the property to
the state or federal government at a whopping profit.
Some 70,000 homeowners and landowners in the Highlands area are about to discover they no longer have any say in whether they
can put in a new driveway, add a patio, or do much of anything with their property without first getting permission from the State.
That permission will not be forthcoming.
This sort of thing is taking place everywhere throughout the nation.
Under Communism, the State owns all property. Welcome to the Peoples Republic of New Jersey!
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
Civil Liberties -- Private Property Rights
Alan Caruba is a veteran business and science writer, a Public Relations Counselor, Communications Director of the American Policy Center,
and Founder of the National Anxiety Center, a clearinghouse for information about media-driven scare campaigns. Caruba writes a weekly
column, "Warning Signs," posted on the Internet website of the National Anxiety Center
(www.anxietycenter.com). A compilation of his past columns, entitled Warning Signs, is published by Merril Press. In addition
to Warning Signs, Caruba is the author of A Pocket Guide to Militant Islam and The United Nations vs. the United States,
both of which are available from the National Anxiety Center, 9 Brookside Road, Maplewood, New Jersey, 07040.
Copyright 2004 Alan Caruba
Published with Permission of Alan Caruba
ACaruba@AOL.Com
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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