More than 100 organizations from across America sent delegates toWashington last week to prepare a message for politicians: thegovernment owns too much land. By most counts, the federal governmentowns about 33 percent of the land area of America. Add the land owned bystate and local governments, and the total rises to approximately 40percent of the total land area.
Three bills have been introduced in Congress to authorize what thePresident calls his "Lands Legacy Initiative" to preserve irreplaceableplaces. The legislation would create a perpetual fund, beyond the reachof Congress, to spend up to $2.3 billion per year to expand the federalland domain. The idea sounds reasonable enough, even desirable, untilconsideration is given to the inevitable consequences of such a plan.
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The land contains or grows the raw material for every product we use.The more land owned or controlled by government, the less raw materialis available for use in a free market. To put it bluntly, when thegovernment owns or controls the source of production, the market is nolonger free. Capitalism and socialism are mutually exclusive; socialism,by definition, is government ownership of the sources of production. Nomatter what high-sounding name may be applied to the White House"initiative-of-the-week," the inevitable consequence of the Lands LegacyInitiative is the eventual transfer of the sources of production togovernment.
The group assembled in Washington last week, formally created theProperty Rights Congress to be the vehicle through which individuals andgrass-roots organizations across the land can amplify their voices toshout a loud, unmistakable message to the president and to the U.S.Congress: NO NET LOSS OF PRIVATE PROPERTY.
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The Property Rights Congress is currently drafting legislation toprohibit a perpetual land acquisition fund, and further, to require thefederal government to dispose of land of equal acreage and value, forany new land it may acquire. Moreover, the proposed legislation wouldrequire the federal government to secure approval of the statelegislature for any land it may wish to purchase in any state.
The concept of no net loss of private property is endorsed by nearly400 individuals and organizations that have "signed-on" to a resolutionposted on the PRC web site. Theresolution is the basis for the proposed legislation which is supportedby a wide variety of interest groups, both rural and urban.
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How much is enough? The Constitution is quite clear; whatever isneeded for buildings, military training facilities, and other legitimateneeds. All development in America, both government and private, existson approximately 5 percent of the land area. Every square inch of landtaken out of private ownership, not only increases taxes for the rest ofthe property owners, but takes the nation a step closer to the thresholdof government ownership of the source of production.
Henry Lamb is the executive vice president of the EnvironmentalConservation Organization (ECO) and chairman of SovereigntyInternational.
