This is scary. Our Constitution provides for the protection of private property, but as we know, there are entities out there which do not respect our Constitution, nor do they want us to have our own private property. This is something every land owner in California should be aware of and knowledgeable on.
Basically, what this so called program is, is a contract DFG presents to land owners where they pay you (with tax money printed by the Federal Reserve) where they ask for and you give them an easement to your property. In turn, they give you a check, and you give them control over your property in the name of “conservation”. The easement can change over time, meaning it can get bigger per their discretion and could even overtake a dwelling………such as your house. We here at AMRA will be attending these meetings and will be asking some very difficult questions for these people. The agenda needs to be exposed.
We want to thank Kirk McKenzie from Defend Rural America for providing this eye opening information. His website is here: http://www.defendruralamerica.com/DRA/Home.html
Conservation Easements
Easements are restrictions on the use of private property. Most homes, for example, have utility easements to guarantee utilities have access to the property.
The Federal Government and private groups are using “conservation easements” to control the uses of farmlands, ranches, forests, mines, water sources, and more. These easements restrict land uses. Typically, the lands being sought are strategic (the gems amongst the gravel), and the easements are perpetual. Once signed, these easements purportedly given government control of lands in perpetuity.
Property owners are encouraged to accept these easements. The carrots include up-front monetary payouts, as well as the (mistaken) belief acceptance will protect existing uses against future government actions. The sticks include unending harassment, intimidation, outright threats, and government actions that reduce property values.
Property owners don’t understand the consequences of accepting a conservation easement.
For one, these easements require compliance with certain regulations. But these regulations are not static; they get worse over time. A set aside along a creek that starts with a 50-feet regulation can grow to a 300-foot set aside, for example, and even engulf the land the home sits on ― without any further input or approval of the owner. For another, easements reduce property values, oftentimes dramatically, as property owners discover when they try to sell. These properties are, in many cases, snapped up by conservancy groups for pennies on the dollar, then sold at jacked-up prices to the federal government at a handsome profit. The result: What started out as an easement grows into the permanent and perpetual abolition of private property.
Here is the upcoming schedule of public hearings on this unbelievable attempt to circumvent the Constitution:
WE URGE EVERYONE TO ATTEND ONE OF THE MEETINGS.
California Foothills Legacy Area
In an effort to conserve working rangelands and the wildlife they support, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposes to launch a new conservation easement program called the California Foothills Legacy Area (CFLA). This easement program would provide a new tool to help ranching families stay on their land while permanently protecting a portion of this important resource for wildlife. The easements would encourage continued ranching operations because of the wildlife benefits they provide, while limiting the type and amount of development that may take place on a property in the future. The proposed program would be completely voluntary. No new regulatory requirements would be placed on lands within or outside the program area. Ranches within three foothill areas bordering the San Joaquin Valley could be eligible for the program, depending on which alternative is selected. Planning Update #3 (below) provides a concise summary of the alternatives evaluated in the draft EA.
Current Status:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is pleased to announce the availability of the Draft Environmental Assessment (EA) on the proposed CFLA easement program. We invite you to attend one of seven public open houses during early August. Fish and Wildlife Service staff will be available at several stations located in the meeting rooms to answer questions and gather your comments on the Draft EA.
| Date/Time | Public Open House Locations |
| Thursday, August 1, at 5-8 p.m | Porterville – Holiday Inn Express Hotel & Suites, 840 S. Jaye St. |
| Friday, August 2, at 5-8 p.m. | Bakersfield – East Bakersfield Veterans Building, Rooms 1&2, 2101 Ridge Road |
| Monday, August 5, at 5-8 p.m. | Modesto – Modesto Centre Plaza, Pistash Room, 1000 L Street |
| Tuesday, August 6, at 5-8 p.m. | Merced – Merced County Farm Bureau, 646 South Highway 59 |
| Wednesday, August 7, at 5-8 p.m. | Mariposa– Board of Supervisors Hearing Room, 5100 Bullion St. |
| Thursday, August 8, at 5-8 p.m. | Los Banos – San Luis NWR Complex Visitor Center, 7376 S. Wolfsen Road |
| Friday, August 9, at 5-8 p.m. | Hollister – Hollister Community Center, 300 West St. |
Submitting Comments:
Comments may be submitted at the open houses, or through the following:
Email: FW8plancomments@fws.gov Fax: 916/414-6497 Mail: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region, Refuge Planning, 2800 Cottage Way, W-1832, Sacramento, CA 95825
Deadline for Comments: Comments must be received by September 15, 2013, to be considered for development of the final proposal.
Here is the actual draft of the contract they plan on using for this program.
http://www.defendruralamerica.com/files/ConEase-CFLATemplate.pdf
This looks to me like a way for Government to lead Rural America down the same path it led Urban America. The hook is Government Handouts. The results are taking away peoples rights and motivation to be productive citizen’s. America will look like Detroit if we accept the Government Handouts in Rural America. We need less Government Programs and less Government regulation to have any chance of turning this trend around. People need to understand that we have a hidden tax that will end up being larger than all of the other taxes that we know about. It is caused by the Federal Government’s massive money printing that trickles down to feed all of this massive Government Regulation. If we keep letting the Government add these programs and regulations and continue printing mone your money will become more and more worthless. It won’t matter if it is the money you made from working, or if it the money that is given away by the government….it will all become worthless. Wake up America!!!