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From the December 2003 issue of Resource Roundup…
NPS Closes Family’s Only Access Road
Pacific Legal Foundation has taken on the legal problems of the Pilgrims,
a family of 17 people who bought land in rural Alaska in 2002. The only access
to the Pilgrim property passes through National Park Service (NPS) land, and in
April, 2003, a few days after their home burned, the NPS closed the road. The
family then had to bring in supplies by horseback, which were supplemented with
air drops from supporters. However, they have been unable to bring in the heavy
materials needed to rebuild their home and are currently living in an
uninsulated mine building.
The story is long and convoluted, with NPS accusing the Pilgrims of using
a bulldozer to improve parts of the 15-mile road without a permit, and the
Pilgrims denying that they damaged any Park Service lands. NPS claims ownership
of the entrance to a mine evidently owned by the Pilgrims, and NPS has charged
the family with trespassing for entering the mine. However, the suit seems to
hinge on ANILCA, a law that guarantees Alaska’s citizens access to their
property through federal lands when needed, as well as the Mining Act of 1866,
Section 2477 of the Revised Statute, which states that “The right-of-way for
the construction of highways over public lands, not for public uses, is hereby
granted.”
The U.S. District Court of Alaska refused to issue a temporary injunction
to keep the NPS from blocking the Pilgrim’s only access road. In addition, the
court ruled that it lacked jurisdiction over the case until the NPS had
processed the Pilgrims’ pending permit for use of the roadway. The inability
to bring in supplies in adequate quantities is, of course, putting the Pilgrims
into an emergency situation.
This is not an unusual occurrence. Across the country, for decades, the
NPS has been accused of doing everything possible to deny access and acquire
inholdings ‘by hook or crook.’ For the complete story, and for more
information about this and other violations of property rights and public
access, visit www.pacificlegal.org or www.alra.org.
“The establishment of an American Soviet government will involve
the confiscation of large landed estates in town and country, and also, the
whole body of forests, mineral deposits, lakes, rivers and so on.”
William
Z. Foster, National Chairman of the Communist Party USA, 1932
Takings
Cost Taxpayers over $1 Billion
In October, Roger Marzulla, General Counsel for
Defenders of Property Rights, testified before Members of the U.S. House
Subcommittee on the Constitution, telling them that over $1 billion worth of
private property takings by the federal government has occurred over the last
ten years. “Federal agencies are simply not complying with their obligations
under the Takings Executive Order, which is designed to protect individual
constitutional liberties in property while protecting the public fiscally,”
said Marzulla.
Marzulla served as an attorney in the U.S. Department
of Justice under former Attorney General Edwin Meese III.
In 1988, he spearheaded the Reagan administration’s initiative that
resulted in Executive Order 12,630. The Executive Order was designed to avoid
where possible the destruction of constitutionally-protected property rights by
federal agencies by requiring that a takings impact assessment (TIA) be
performed prior to any federal action that implicated private property rights.
“We urge Congress to required federal agencies to
comply with the Takings Executive Order, and to undertake a good faith effort to
protect the property rights of the citizens as the Constitution requires,”
stated Marzulla.
Defenders of Property Rights is a national public interest legal
foundation dedicated exclusively to the protection of property rights. For more
information about the foundation, visit www.yourpropertyrights.org
or call 202-822-6770.
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