[at-l] Trail History Clarification Requested

[jplynch at crosslink.net (Jim Lynch)]

> Well ten minutes on the web found lots of evidence that plenty of land has
> been seized by eminent domain and/or condemnation. 

Of the examples you cited below, which were the ones that the federal 
government *used* eminent domain to buy land for the AT?

Just a few examples:
> 
> Greymoor Friars:
> 
> In 1923, the Franciscan Friars of the Atonement near Garrison, New York
> agreed to
> allow the federal government to run the Maine-to-Georgia Appalachian Trail
> through a
> portion of their Greymoor Monastery. But, given an inch, the government then
> wanted
> to take a mile, and the friars may have regretted their generosity.
> In 1984, the National Park Service (NPS) purchased a 58-acre easement around
> the
> trail that prevents development along the monastery's segment. The NPS
> demanded an
> additional 18 acres of the monastery's land in 2000, with the threat that
> the land could be
> condemned and taken under the government's power of eminent domain if
> necessary.
> 
> http://www.nationalcenter.org/ShatteredDreams.pdf
> warning big file above
> 
> 
> Saddleback and general chest beating about the AT:
> 
> When a trail is created, often condemnation is not part of it. Then, a few
> years later, condemnation is quietly added with little fanfare to alert the
> landowners. A few years later the Park Service or other agency is
> threatening landowners right and left. No conversation with Federal land
> agents does not include the treat of condemnation if the landowner does not
> come to a "willing seller" "agreement".
> 
> You must help stop CARA, the Conservation and Reinvestment Act (S.25 and
> HR.701) because this bill will give hundreds of millions of dollars every
> year to the Park Service, Forest Service, BLM and Fish and Wildlife Service
> to expand their threats and intimidate landowners.
> 
> http://www.landrights.org/OCS/graymoor.friars.ALRA.htm
> 
> more Saddleback: http://www.aldha.org/saddlbk2.htm
> 
> Ashville NC:
> 
> Now, some property owners along the North Carolina-Tennessee line say the
> Forest Service has gone too far in trying to obtain the last few crucial
> parcels of land needed to complete a project that has been decades in the
> making.
> 
> "It's nothing but stealing," says Buster McLean of Banner Elk. McLean owns a
> farm just across the state line in Tennessee. He says the Forest Service has
> been after him for years to sell. But McLean doesn't like the price they've
> offered and now, he says, officials have begun the process of condemning a
> portion of his land.
> 
> http://www.propertyrightsresearch.org/battles_brewing_over_appalachian.htm
> 
> Maryland:
> 
> Two years later, Clara Brown of Frederick, Maryland, received alarming news.
> Her neighbors along the Appalachian Trail were informed by registered letter
> that their property was targeted for public takeover. It became apparent
> that the government, whose function is to protect the property rights of
> landowners, was instead intruding on those rights, forcing residents to
> assume the burden of protecting their property.
> 
> http://www.libertyhaven.com/personalfreedomissues/freespeechorcivilliberties
> /redlight.html
> 
> Kent, Connecticut
> 
> In recent years, the Tribe has been caught up in litigation connected to the
> United States' efforts to acquire additional land for the Appalachian Trail
> right of way. The Tribe's ability to defend itself from that land
> condemnation depends upon its federal tribal status. Administrative
> resolution of tribal status is charged to a bureau within the Department of
> Interior, the same agency that is seeking to acquire the Tribe's land, and
> the same one that has been inviting the hiking public to use the Tribe's
> land without permission for more than 60 years.
> 
> http://www.schaghticoke.com/summary.htm
> 
> Right from NPS:
> 
> If state or local governments fail to take action to acquire the necessary
> interests to protect the
> Appalachian Trail, the Secretary of the Interior is authorized to enter into
> agreements or acquire
> lands or interests therein to protect the trail. The Secretary is authorized
> to utilize condemnation
> proceedings to acquire lands or interests therein only in cases where, in
> his judgment, all
> reasonable efforts to acquire the necessary interests through negotiation
> have failed. (sections
> 7e and 7g)
> 
> http://www.nps.gov/appa/chapter1.pdf
> 
> Congressman John Olver sez:
> 
> The Appalachian Trail is the only trail for which the National Park Service
> used eminent domain to complete.  This was a very unusual circumstance where
> land takings were used to complete a continuous trail over 2,000 miles long.
> 
> http://www.ctvalleysummit.org/whatsnew/OLVER806.HTM
> 
> and the list goes on and on and on.....
> 
> Bryan
> 
> 
> "Si vis pacem para bellum"
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> at-l mailing list
> at-l@mailman.backcountry.net
> http://mailman.hack.net/mailman/listinfo/at-l
> 
> 


-- 
Note that 'reply to' email address is incorrect to
deter spam.  Please change it to the correct
address below.  Thanks, and sorry for inconvenience.
James P. ('Jim') Lynch
jplynch@crosslink.net