Carol W. LaGrasse, P.E., President, Property Rights Foundation of America,
leads a session

Held this year at Lake George, New York - at the height of fall color - the Fourteenth Annual National Conference on Private Property Rights took on "Removal and Resistance: How Rural & Urban People Are Fighting Enviro-preservationists & Big Government to Keep Their Homes, Businesses, Communities & Rights to the Land."

The attendees were treated to some of the greatest leaders of the property rights movement: Dr. Roger Pilon, Ph.D, J.D., Vice President for Legal Studies, B. Kenneth Simon Chair in Constitutional Studies & Director of the Center for Constitutional Studies at Cato Institute in Washington, D.C., presented a profound and inspiring exploration of  "Eminent Domain Principles & Property Rights," casting new light on the realities of the problem and the possibility of winning.

Bonner Cohen, Ph.D., Fellow, National Center for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C., explained "The Unified Meaning of Wildlands and Federal River Corridors," warning of the steady erosion of property rights in the face of ever-expanding environmental agendas from dozens of wealthy, well-funded groups, each focusing on different aspects of land use.


 William Perry Prendley, Esq., President and Chief Operating Officer, Mountain States Legal Foundation based in Lakewood, Colorado, gave the keynote address, "A National Pattern: Historic Oil & Gas Producers in Allegany National Forest Head Off Environmental Litigators." In his usual blend of the scholarly and the humorous, Pendley gave a heartening account of beating land-grabbers at their own game.

 President Carol LaGrasse points up the photo display brought by members of Willets Point United, from Queens County, New York, showing how small businesses are fighting urban warfare with New York City's corrupt government that is using eminent domain to destroy a historic business neighborhood in order to gentrify the area with high-dollar condominiums and upscale boutiques.

Veteran defenders of property rights, former congressional staffer Kurt Christensen (left), Dr. Bonner Cohen (center) and David Ridenour (right), Vice President of the National Center for Public Policy Research, study the presentation of Peter J. LaGrasse, Chairman, Board of Assessors of Stony Creek, N.Y., as he draws parallels between impacts of regulation on the Cuyahoga Valley National Recreation Area in Ohio and New York State's Forest Preserve.

Ted Galusha of Adirondackers for Access, Warrensburg, N.Y., gave an update on the bureaucracy's disregard of court-ordered access policy.

It was an object-lesson in never trusting an empire-building agency or agency official - they do what they want regardless of the law or the courts or the Constitution.

Only a vigilant and mobilized citizenery can keep rogue agencies under civilian control.




Ron Arnold, Executive Vice President of the Center for the Defense of Free Enterprise, delivered the closing address, "Seeing through the Hype," emphasizing "never believe anything an environmentalist says or promises," and showing how to expose the secret inner workings of their groups to embarrass them into some semblance of honesty. Arnold showed how the excellent web database Muckety can tell the public a great deal about who's taking money and property from whom in its interactive diagrams, such as this one on the Adirondack Council: (Note - click on the small X box to expand - you'll be surprised at the huge number of relationships crammed into this simple-looking diagram.)

Thanks to the people of Lake George Holiday Inn Resort
for making the Conference a success

 

Ron is available to speak at your next convention or seminar.  Call 425-455-5038

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