Local
Libertarian Party Fears Government
Encroachment on Individual Liberties
Property
Rights Advocates Critical of Long-Range Forest Planning
By Sammie Snoop, Staff Reporter
Silver County, CO
-- A pickup truck driving along Highway 6 last week adorned with
numerous American flags and a National Rifle Association decal,
proudly sported a bumper sticker declaring: "I love my country,
it's the government I'm afraid of."
This sentiment is popular among many residents of the Silver County
region who adhere to the national property rights, or Libertarian,
movement.
"The best government is the least government," says
World War II veteran Jack Dover and long-time Silver County resident.
Many of his neighbors, “are in complete agreement with
me,” Dover states.
So when the Silver
County Forest Planning Team announced last Friday that they will
begin long-range planning for the Forest region, Dover and his cohorts
cringed. They fear
that the Forest will start telling people where they can and can’t
build, where they can fish and where they can hunt -- prospects
that property rights advocates argue amounts to illegal government
seizure of public lands.
Silver County Forest
lies on federal land that is managed by the United States Forest
Service. Limiting
uses of public land, Libertarians declare, should be thought of
as government confiscation of land without compensation, which
is forbidden under the U.S. Constitution.
Dick Taylor, a Silver County real estate developer
and a member of the local Libertarian movement, feels that any
restrictions whatsoever placed on public lands is an infringement
on individual liberties.
“Public land is owned by the American citizens, not the
government. If the
government takes away my right to use or develop my land, I am
the one that bears the burden.
It is plain and simple – if my rights are taken away I
should be compensated for my loss.”
In its upcoming planning process, Silver County
Forest plans to address issues regarding fire management, the
declining population of the yellow-breasted toad, pollution in
the Wamasana River, and proposed housing and interstate developments
on and around Forest land.
Any limitations or restrictions on use of the forestland,
“will be made to benefit the greatest number of current Silver
County residents as well as residents of the future,” states Mike
Mills, Forest Ranger. While
he wishes to minimize restrictions on Forest use, he states that,
“public limitations on land use are sometimes the only way to
preserve the environment.”
Public
hearings in which individuals can voice concerns regarding Silver
County Forest planning will be held in the upcoming months.
The Libertarian party plans to be a loud and raucous voice
in these forthcoming planning decisions.
