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May/June 2007 Next Stop – Nebraska by Margaret Byfield The second regional training session for 2007 will take place in Valentine, Nebraska, June 26-27. The featured strategy will be using Comprehensive Development Plans or General Plans as the vehicle to implement coordination plans and protect private property in private land dominated areas. Landowners all across the nation are looking for ways they can regain control over the land use decisions made in their area, instead of accepting the often anti-private property nature of federal, state, and local government regulations. The regional training sessions sponsored by Stewards of the Range, American Land Foundation and Liberty Matters, are designed to teach landowners how to utilize the vehicles they have at the local level, to ensure the policy established is favorable to protecting their economies and way of life. The Valentine, Nebraska, seminar teaches another way this can be done, through the Comprehensive Development Plan or General Planning vehicles. Tanya Storer and Sherry Vinton, both of whom help run their respective family ranches in the Sandhills of Nebraska, are two of the local hosts for the event. They were featured speakers at the annual conference held in Salt Lake City, Utah, last year where they introduced the audience to the various issues their region is facing. “The Sandhills are a primary target of international environmental organizations, and they have quietly been using local groups to implement their agenda,” noted Vinton. “We know it is critical that we educate the landowners and elected officials in our area now, while we still have an opportunity to guide good policy.” “Coordination Plans” can also be used in private land dominated states, and in the case where an umbrella planning structure is in place they can be added to the general plan. By bringing all the factors of “coordination” which force the federal agencies to the table, together with all factors of a “General Plan” (in some states called a Land Use Plan) adopted pursuant to state statute, the County (or other local unit of government allowed by state law to enter into general planning) can also bring state agencies to the table. Also, with the same effort, the county can bring into the “coordination” protection all government districts such as school districts, irrigation districts, water districts, road districts, watershed councils and other resource oriented districts and agencies in the county. When this is done, it forces the federal agencies to coordinate with every element of the entire plan, and not just specific issues. It gives the local citizens powerful input into the future of their areas. The Nebraska training session will focus on teaching people how to use this structure to add the coordination element, and how to handle many of the other issues that affect private property. Nebraska is the perfect setting for the training of this strategy, as they have comprehensive land use plans in place already and are facing many critical issues, such as the increased use of conservation easements, scenic byways, the CARA state action plan: Nebraska Natural Legacy Project, and many other pressing issues. “Many of the environmental programs being pushed will systematically place sever restrictions on landowners, and will impact our ranching operation directly,” noted Storer. “I believe in the system of government set up by our forefathers, one of the people by the people. It is therefore imperative that we are not only educated on the issues, but also engaged in the process. Freedom is only free if you fight for it, and on the issues of our natural resources, there is a war brewing for control. People need to decide if they want to preserve the powers given to them by the constitution, or let them be eroded.” The South Dakota Stock Growers Association is also helping to sponsor the seminar. Several years ago, past president of Stewards, Frank Duran, who ranched in South Dakota and was a director of the Stock Growers Association, helped organize one of the first seminars Stewards conducted teaching local strategies, which was held in Pierre, South Dakota. One of the results was thwarting the listing of the prairie dog in South Dakota as endangered specie. The Nebraska session that will take place this June is designed to help landowners in the Northern Plains region of the nation implement and expand strategies that will help fight the current issues threatening the use of their land. When the process is put in place, the creation of a conservation easement is subject to a public hearing, where the neighbors can testify as to the harm, if any, which would occur to their property if the easement were accepted. The county officials can take a look at the tax base impact, which will result from the conservation easement. So, the private landowner is not deprived of his right to sell such easement, but the county, the landowners and citizens surrounding the easement site have the opportunity to point out the specific damage that can be done. The emerging concept of using existing General Plans or Comprehensive Plans as the seat of coordination requirements, or joining together under one umbrella all coordination plans as well as land development plans, serves rural counties well, and accomplishes bringing together various agencies working under diverse plans into one unified and very effective, planning and coordinating arm of the county. This concept is not exclusive to private land states. Many federal land dominated states have state statutes that authorize the use of a general plan, and these areas too can consider using this mechanism as another approach to protecting private property. But most importantly, this strategy teaches local citizens how to use a meaningful, lawful and powerful tool already in existence in order to direct how federal, state and local units of government will regulate their area. It gives “we the people” an opportunity to regain control of what happens in our back yard. Anyone living in a private land dominated state who is interested in learning how to use coordination plans and general plans, or who wants to learn more about enforcing coordination plans, or how to use a comprehensive plan to protect the natural resource uses of their area, should attend this seminar. The seminar will begin at 9:00 a.m. Tuesday, June 26, and end Wednesday, June 27, at 5:00 p.m. The first day, Grant will explain how to make a general plan and then make all of the essential elements work together. Day two, he will focus on specific language you can include in general plans and help members of the audience prepare the documents they need for the specific problems they are facing. The registration fee is $75, and includes lunch both days along with a seminar workbook. You can register through our website, www.stewards.us or by calling 1-800-700-5922 to reserve your seat. Standing Ground is published by: Stewards of the
Range, American Land Foundation & Liberty Matters |
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