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----- Original Message -----
From: Coop
Sent: Saturday, July 13, 2002 6:39 AM
Subject: [Landuse] Delmarva "Wildlands" Corridors


> Delmarva "Wildlands" Corridors
>
> (With a Little Help from The Nature Conservancy)
>
> --by L. M. Schwartz, Chairman, The Virginia Land Rights
> Coalition, June, 2002
>
> __________________________________________________ _________
>
> Buried in an astounding amount of unconstitutional pork within the new
> Farm Bill
> (signed by President Bush May 13, 2002) is a key provision, the
> brainchild of
> Congressman Wayne T. Gilchrest, a Republican from Maryland's 1st
> District. In
> the works for over two years, Gilchrest's "project" would create the
> Delmarva
> (Delaware-Maryland-Virginia) Conservation Corridor(s).
>
> Ostensibly designed to "find a way to help sustain agriculture.and help
> guarantee the environmental integrity of the Delmarva Peninsula for
> generations
> to come", according to Gilchrest, ".the Secretary of Agriculture will be
> able to
> direct conservation funding on a priority basis to the most economically
> and
> ecologically valuable land on Delmarva." A "framework" will be set up
> giving the
> three states and the USDA the "flexibility" to carve out a "network of
> land"
> where "states and local governments, farmers, wildlife enthusiasts,
> sportsmen,
> planning and zoning commissions, and land trusts (will) carry out this
> vision."
> Gilchrest stated it was important conservation corridors be established
> which
> would be vital to the health of the Chesapeake Bay and to "reunite
> fragmented habitats" on the Eastern shore. "Many of these people have
> been
> working toward this goal for years, but there's been no coordinated
> effort to link
> all of these efforts together in one coherent plan. Now they'll be able
> to work
> together more effectively," he said, referring to government agencies
> and
> environmental groups.
>
> The controversial Chesapeake Bay Program is being used by the EPA and
> other federal, state and county agencies, as well as environmental
> groups and
> taxpayer funded land trusts, as a means of controlling land use
> throughout the
> Bay Watershed. The Bay Program has negatively impacted all taxpayers,
> and
> burdened agriculture, timbering and business with regulatory costs. It
> has
> contributed to the demise of agriculture throughout Delmarva, all in the
> name of
> improving water quality and the environment.
>
> Gilchrest claims farmers are "under constant development pressure, and
> the
> economics of farming have been working against them.We are not only
> losing
> farmland, we're losing our culture, our heritage, and our history",
> while
> hypocritically supporting the very legislative measures which drive
> families off
> the land and increase pressure for subdivision and development. Problem,
>
> reaction, solution-- it's the old totalitarian Hegelian Dialectic at
> work, and the
> Gilchrests of Congress, who have created the problem, want us to know
> they
> just happen to have the convenient solution: a government Farm (control)
> Bill.
>
> Details of the program and exact boundaries of the
>
> corridor(s) remain undefined at this time, perhaps purposely so. But the
> plan
> may create two huge "conservation corridors", swaths of land where,
> according
> to Gannett reporter, Carl Weiser, "landowners wouldn't be subjected to
> any
> more regulation [?!].The designation could also reduce red tape in
> applying
> for federal money. When government agencies look for land to protect, by
>
> buying it or its development rights, supporters hope land in the
> corridors
> would be first in line." (emphasis added)
>
> No land in Virginia is currently part of the proposed corridors, but
> Gilchrest said
> he hoped to some day create a "conservation corridor from Virginia to
> Pennsylvania for wildlife." The Sierra Club's Mike D'Amico and other
> environmentalists see the corridors as an opportunity to "re-wild"
> sections of
> the Delmarva Peninsula. D'Amico is director of the Sierra Club's Wild
> Atlantic
> Project.
>
> American Farmland Trust's Mid-Atlantic director, Mary Heinricht, said
> "farmers
> would be more likely to stay in business if they could get more
> conservation money from Washington or Annapolis or Dover." Sally
> McGee, a Gilchrest aide working on the project, said, "The goal is to
> make it
> easier for landowners to enroll in the different programs that USDA
> currently
> offers. It's all entirely voluntary, just as all ag conservation
> programs
> are." Do Delmarva farmers believe such nonsensical statements?
>
> Gilchrest also indicated the Maryland Department of Agriculture and
> Natural
> Resources would coordinate with the EPA, USDA and the land-grabbers at
> Interior. The Corridors "would be like the veins and arteries of the
> peninsula," he
> said. "Some large tracts of land have already been protected. The state
> of
> Maryland purchased 58,000 acres of forested land near the Nanticoke
> River in
> 1999. In Queen Anne's County, there's Chino Farms, a 5,700 acre farm
> that will
> forever be preserved as agriculture land. And the Nature Conservancy
> just
> announced purchase of 3,500 acres in Worcester and Wicomico counties on
> the Lower Shore. Similar projects are under way in Delaware and
> Virginia."
>
> One can imagine leeches lining up to spend the 80% increase in
> "conservation
> funding" under the Farm Bill, bleeding the "veins and arteries" of more
> Delmarva property owners. Chesapeake Bay Commission and regional ag
> officials are already licking their chops. Funding for the Environmental
> Quality
> Enhancement Program, providing cost-share support to farmers, could grow
>
> from $6 million to $24 million per year for the Bay states alone, and
> money for
> purchase of conservation easements may grow from $2 million to $30+
> million
> per year!
>
> It is no accident The Nature Conservancy has recently launched its $67
> million
> "Campaign for Conservation: Largest in Chesapeake Bay History". TNC's
> Maryland and Virginia Chapters are collaborating in a three-year
> campaign,
> with $34 million already committed to the effort, to take "dramatic
> steps" within
> the Bay Watershed. Nat Williams, Director of the Maryland/D.C. Chapter,
> notes
> 94% of Maryland and over half of Virginia lies within the Bay Watershed.
> "(W)e
> are working to ensure that this region remains a place where our
> children, and
> our children's children, will have the opportunity to appreciate
> nature." The $67
> million Campaign is designed to contribute to the Chesapeake Bay 2000
> Compact, signed by officials of Maryland, Virginia, Pennsylvania and The
>
> District of Columbia. The goal of the Compact is to have 20% of the
> total Bay
> Watershed under preservation by 2010.
>
> In Virginia, The Nature Conservancy recently purchased the 9,000 acre
> Warm
> Springs Mountain tract in Bath County, adjacent to The Homestead, a
> historic
> resort for the wealthy and elite. This is TNC's largest single
> acquisition ever in
> Virginia. TNC worked hand in glove with Celebration Associates, a real
> estate
> development company with ties to Disney and the development of the
> Disney
> "company" town of Celebration near Orlando Florida. (Disney has been
> involved in several land "preservation" deals with TNC: i.e., the Walker
> Ranch
> when developing Disney World.)
>
> In a $22.2 million deal, Celebration Associates purchased 12,300 acres
> in
> Warm Springs from Virginia Hot Springs Co., the former owner of The
> Homestead, and simultaneously sold 9,000 acres to TNC for $6.3 million,
> retaining the 3,000+ acres for an "upscale" housing development in the
> rural,
> Allegheny Mountain county which is 52% National Forest.
>
> It is interesting to note Celebration Associates was hired by the Close
> family of
> Ft. Mills, South Carolina, heirs of Spring Industries Textile Mills, to
> build the
> Clear Springs-Village of Baxter twenty-year "smart-growth" development
> project
> (which received the Sierra Club's "thumbs-up"). 2,300 acres of a 6,200
> acre
> tract was "set aside to be preserved and protected in perpetuity" as a
> "greenway" by the Close family. The Close family's head, Anne Springs
> Close,
> is a Trustee of The Wilderness Society, a Director of the American
> Farmland
> Trust, and has been very active in support of environmentalist causes.
>
> The Celebration development "model" appears to be a classic example of
> the
> 'incestuous' relationship between wealth, elitism and the
> environmentalists.
> Also apparent is the symbiotic relationship between wealthy land trusts,
> such as
> TNC, and real estate developments designed for those who are willing and
> able
> to pay for exclusive "nature preserves" as part of the protective
> ambience
> surrounding their pristine country estates and retirement villas. These
> exclusive
> communities are, in truth, subsidized by the taxpayer: requiring
> increased
> county services from a decreased real property tax-base due to property
> or
> conservation easements held by a land trust, and at the state and
> federal levels
> due to the special tax status afforded the land trusts.
>
> Buyers of exclusive developed properties in rural America, in mainly
> agriculturally based communities, are generally "outsiders" who have
> little
> understanding of or appreciation for rural values. The influx of
> substantial
> numbers of residents and voters from urban and suburban backgrounds
> results
> in social, political and cultural upheaval and conflict. With views and
> goals often
> diametrically opposed to the culture of generations of families who have
> made
> rural areas so appealing, the well-connected and wealthy have the time
> and
> political savvy to influence, if not control local decisions. They
> become active in
> local historical societies, arts councils, the chamber of commerce and
> civic
> clubs; are appointed to planning and zoning commissions, form
> special-interest
> groups, and run for county offices. The result-- increased local
> taxation,
> restrictions on use of private property, implementation of anti-job,
> anti-growth,
> anti-industry, anti-agriculture agenda, and displacement of traditional
> means of
> earning a living-- can be seen in hundreds of rural communities
> throughout
> America.
>
> The 9,000 acre tract now owned by TNC is "one of the most significant
> forested
> properties in the region" connecting undeveloped public lands with
> 170,000
> acres of the George Washington National Forest and clearly meshes with
> the
> proposed Southern Appalachian Forest Coalition's Central Appalachian
> Wildlands Project as shown on the map above. TNC's new direction in land
>
> preservation is based on targeting specific properties, many of which
> fit into the
> Wildlands scheme. Having established a huge base of operations in Warm
> Springs, and with plans to open an office, the mountainous region of
> western
> Virginia can expect additional land acquisitions.
>
> The Nature Conservancy is also a partner with the State of Maryland, the
>
> Conservation Fund and the Town of Vienna in Maryland's Rural Legacy
> Program. A $750,000 state grant was awarded for the Nanticoke River
> Project, to be augmented by other private and government sources, for
> the
> "protection" of a "remarkable community of productive farms and working
> forests," according to Elizabeth Zucker, director of TNC's Nanticoke
> Project
> office. Most of the grant funds will be used for conservation easements
> and
> outright purchases of land along the "continuous 45-mile river
> corridor." The
> Conservation Fund's Tim Connelly believes the project will someday be
> considered a "conservation model on the national level." The Rural
> Legacy
> Program is part of the state's "Smart Growth" initiative and is funded
> from
> general obligation bands, taxes on real property transfers, and from
> Maryland's
> Open Space program.
>
> Maryland's DNR GreenPrint Program, "a bold new direction in land
> conservation" is designed to "build upon existing conservation programs"
>
> mentioned above. Using computer mapping, the program links "important
> unprotected natural lands.through a system of corridors or connectors
> (and saves) those lands through targeted acquisitions and easements."
> "Green
> Hubs" are identified and connected with "Green Links" which serve as
> "Habitat Highways." Existing programs were apparently not effective, as
> only
> 26% of "the identified green infrastructure is already protected." The
> new
> program is designed so that "Private land trusts will have another tool
> at their
> disposal."
>
> Maryland's DNR, Delaware's DNREC and both states' Departments of
> Agriculture have been working to identify Delmarva Conservation
> Corridors.
> Initially the focus seems to be on the Nanticoke Broadkill and Marshy
> Hope
> corridors, according to Delaware's Biodiversity Steering Committee.
>
> There is no doubt Delmarva farmland and timberland, river corridors,
> wetlands
> and large natural areas within the Bay Watershed are specifically
> targeted for
> acquisition and control by government agencies, environmental groups,
> historic
> preservationists and land trusts. The new Farm Bill provides a
> tremendous
> increase in funding. American Farmland Trust's lobbyist, Ross Sargent,
> stated,
> "It's a quantum leap in terms of money the federal government has
> dedicated to
> farmland protection." In Delaware, the state expects to "protect 30,000
> more
> acres with just the federal money." "Matching" funds could double the
> acreage.
> The federal government provides up to half the funding for "local
> non-profits or
> governments to buy conservation easements." Unless private property
> owners
> are educated about the true nature of the huge land-grabs now being
> planned
> under the Farm Bill, the next several years bode ill for private
> property rights in
> every section of the country.
>
> There is also little doubt all these new initiatives to control private
> property are
> linked to and modeled upon The Wildlands Project. The vast majority of
> Americans, especially those living in Delmarva, have never heard of this
>
> Project, nor do they realize the objective is to convert half of the
> land area of
> America into "core wilderness areas", under government management and
> off
> limits to man. The remaining lands are to be managed by government "for
> conservation objectives" as "buffer zones", "zones of cooperation" and
> as
> "sustainable communities." In other words, through the use of "smart
> growth"
> programs, "sustainable agriculture" and a myriad of other programs such
> as
> Maryland's GreenPrint, people will be gradually forced into "islands of
> human
> habitat surrounded by wilderness," according to Science Magazine.
>
> Control of land use, control of individual mobility, control of the
> environment,
> population control, pollution control, gun control and all the other
> "controls" being
> imposed by the federal government are part of the sovietization of
> America
> being implemented under plans published and coordinated by the United
> Nations. The U.N. now manages and controls over 400 U.N. Biosphere
> Reserves worldwide, 47 of which are located in America covering over 73
> million acres-- a larger area than Kentucky and Tennessee together. The
> Reserves are managed by 34 foreigners, unknown and unaccountable to
> federal, state or local legislative bodies, and are chosen by the United
> Nations
> Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). The managers
> follow rules set out by the Man and the Biosphere International
> Coordinating
> Council. The Wildlands Project plan is laid out in the 1,100 page U.N.
> Global
> Biodiversity Assessment, and is being carried out in conformity with the
> U.N.
> Convention on Biological Diversity even though Congress has never
> ratified this
> treaty.
>
> The Wildlands Project was originally conceived by Reed Noss and Michael
> Soule of the Society of Conservation Biology, sponsored through the
> U.N.'s
> International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), and Dave Foreman,
>
> co-founder of Earth First! It was Foreman who summarized the concept:
> "It is
> not enough to preserve the roadless, undeveloped country remaining.
> We must re-create wilderness in large regions: move out the cars and
> civilized people, dismantle the roads and dams, reclaim the plowed land
> and clearcuts, reintroduce extirpated species." Funding for conceptual
> development of The Wildlands Project was provided under contract with
> the
> Audubon Society and The Nature Conservancy.
>
> The Wildlands Project is dismissed by mental midgets, fools and ignorant
>
> people as "conspiracy theory" or the "ranting of the lunatic fringe."
> Whether
> motivated by stupidity, ego, selfishness or altruistic idealism, there
> are people
> in the media, academia, the environmentalist movement and in government
> who
> promote the goals of The Wildlands Project. Lenin called them "useful
> idiots."
> But the wealthy and elite, in positions of influence and control, are
> not motivated
> by altruism. Multi-billion dollar power brokers such as the Rockefeller
> Brothers
> Fund, Turner Foundation, W. Alton Jones Foundation and Pew Charitable
> Trusts have provided funding grants for the Project. Because of the
> funds
> available from these and other tax-exempt, taxpayer-supported
> "non-profits",
> there are more than 35 "collaborators" working to implement the Project,
>
> including The Sierra Club and The Nature Conservancy.
>
> Those who "sign the checks" believe in a "new" form of feudalism where,
> according to the U.N., "Land, because of its unique nature.cannot be
> treated as an ordinary asset, controlled by individuals and subject to
> the
> pressures and inefficiencies of the market.Public control of land use is
>
> therefore indispensable." Marx expressed the identical idea in the
> Communist Manifesto. The idea is to transform the productive capacity of
> the
> natural resource base, and wealth based in individual private property
> rights,
> into a system controlled by government for the benefit of a wealthy
> elitist class.
>
> Former Congresswoman Helen Chenoweth-Hage calls it "green
> fascism.which relies on taxation and regulation, rather than outright
> expropriation, to destroy property rights.If a property becomes so
> heavily
> taxed and regulated that the burdens of ownership outweigh the benefits,
> then
> the owner 'voluntarily' abandons it, or becomes a 'willing
> seller'--usually selling
> to the government, of course, or to one of its eco-pirate collaborator
> groups."
>
> Americans must reaffirm the basic premise of our Constitutional
> Republic: that
> government is instituted for the sole purpose of protecting "Life,
> Liberty and
> Property", and we must hold all elected officials accountable when they
> deviate
> from that premise. Our Liberty, and the Liberty of our children rests on
> the
> sanctity of those three God-given rights which Supreme Court Justice
> George
> Sutherland stated "are so bound together as to be essentially one
> right."

>
> A society that does not recognize that each individual has values of his
> own which he is entitled to follow can have no respect for the dignity
> of the individual and cannot really know freedom.
>
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