Alabama farmers were dirt poor in the late 1920?s, but my Grandpa, Wad Walley, had a few acres of rich bottomland and scrub mountainside alongside the mighty Tennessee River. With a couple of old mules and a brood of hardworking sons he managed to scratch out a fair living by raising corn, sugar cane and shipping a few cows up the river to auction at Chattanooga, Tennessee by stern-wheeler riverboat. Nothing fancy, just enough to keep the family fed and buy everyone a set of clothes and a pair of brogan shoes each year.

They were getting by, that is, until agents from the federal Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA), knocked on the door and told him that his land had been condemned because of the new lake they were building. The TVA agents promised Wad an equal amount of land in trade, and they did give him land; eroded, ruined, rocky, wore-out, with no house, pens, or barns. Grandpa, my father, and uncles had to take jobs in a distant town to rebuild the farm and just survive.

The lake came up after the dam was completed, right up to the edge of the land that had belonged to my family. TVA had plans for our old homestead. Yes Sir they did! Auctioned it off as river front lots; but of course Wad couldn?t afford to bid against the real estate folks and TVA carpetbaggers. That old farmer never forgot, and he never forgave the TVA for stealing his land and selling it at a profit and he never trusted the government again.

Federal tactics don?t seem to have changed much from those days when federal agencies would bully a poor uneducated farmer and his family from their land and livelihood. If anything be true, there is a glut of organizations attempting and succeeding in forcing people from their property. The National Fish and Wildlife Service, The Corps of Engineers and U.S. Forest Service along with countless regional, state, county and city agencies seize, attempt, or threaten to seize incalculable amounts of private property each year.

Sixty years later, Texas Rancher Margaret Rogers was in the same predicament as Grandpa Wad when the Feds threatened her. She remembers "When I got this letter from the Department of the Interior, Fish and Wildlife Service, they came on me without any warning at all. They said that I could have a stay in jail and a $25,000 to $50,000 fine. I thought it was unreal that the government can come in when we were the property owners and owned this property. I just wondered, what else can the government do to private property, to private property owners?" In Margaret?s case, the government ordered her not to build a fence on her property. Federal agents told her the fence might destroy the habitat of the golden-cheeked warbler, a bird protected by the Endangered Species Act.

The golden-cheeked warbler was used again as a "silver bullet" in Texas. The September 1997 issue of the Readers Digest contains an article entitled "This Land Was Your Land". The article was about the destruction to people who own land in the preserves for The Balcones Canyonlands Conservation Plan. Secretary of the Interior Bruce Babbitt commented on this program "We are beginning a brand-new chapter of American Conservation History". Babbitt touted this program to protect land for the golden-cheeked warbler (and plunder thousands of acres from citizens) as a "role model for the country".

Fish and Wildlife Service exhibited callous disregard for the citizens during their attempts to implement the Balcones program. During a public meeting, a middle-aged woman stood up and shouted, "Don't you people consider the impact of your decisions on our lives, human lives?" "No, ma'am", a biologist from the Fish and Wildlife Service replied. "That is not part of my biological assessment."

If an endangered species wanders on your property it can confiscate your whole package of property rights. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has full power under The Government's Power of Condemnation to take private property. Condemnation is the fundamental power of the Government to take private property for a public purpose without the owner's consent. The Government's power of condemnation is also known as the power of "eminent domain". The power of eminent domain is one of the harshest proceedings known to law.

In a RANGE interview of two FWS officials for this article, Ms. Fowler-Propst of New Mexico and Ron Fowler of the Division of Realty, Washington D.C. were queried about hostile taking of land by FWS. Both promptly denied that FWS had ever seized land under eminent domain. Fowler wrote, "There is a common misconception about the Fish and Wildlife Service's condemnation policy and history". It is Inexplicable they should deny that fact, when in truth their own public records show 15,058 acres grabbed under condemnation proceedings. Even more alarming, The Division of Realty files are militaristically classified as "Containing Sensitive Information" suggesting that citizens will never have access to the full truth.

Disputing the "No condemnation" statements by Fowler and Propst, are public announcements by FWS that they might use the power of eminent domain to acquire lands for the Nebraska Niobrara National Scenic River, the acquisition of Bair Island in San Mateo County, California, and for restoration activities in the Everglades ecosystem. Recently, unwilling sellers in Poway, California have lost land to hostile eminent domain proceedings for the San Dieguito River Park.

The F&WLS claims it likes to work with "willing sellers" and pay "fair market" value for private properties. Problem is that commonly, their fair market value is established after an endangered species has been listed on the properties for which they are negotiating, and the value has nose-dived.

Mr. Brandt Child learned about this tactic the expensive way. He planned to build a campground and golf course on land he owns outside Moab, Utah. However, after he started construction, the Fish and Wildlife Service claimed that the natural springs on Child's land provide habitat for the endangered Kanab Ambersnail. The government halted construction and forced Child to fence off the property, rendering it worthless. FWS seized his land by denying him the use of its resources. Child believes that the effective condemnation of his land has cost him $2.5 million.

Use restrictions, have become the flash point in the property rights controversy. Properties seized under hostile eminent domain are compensable under constitutional takings law. By contrast, for a use restriction to provide compensation, the decrease in land value must be proven severe. Few landowners could meet the constitutional threshold for reparations if they could afford to fight it. Federal court is expensive, so the powerful disincentive to litigation is cost. This is especially true in the "takings" arena where it is hard to win on the merits. Summed up, if an endangered animal or plant is found on your property, the value falls through the floor. That gives the FWS, or one of their constituents like the Nature Conservancy, an opportunity to purchase it at bargain basement prices.

Federal Agencies all have mission statements. The one proudly ballyhooed by The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is "The principal agency through which the federal government carries out its responsibilities to conserve, protect, and enhance the nation's fish and wildlife and their habitats for the continuing benefit of people".

Seems the know-it all, inside-the-beltway federal environmentalists have forgotten "the continuing benefit of people" portion of the mission statement. The conclusive line is that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is working to take control of thousands of acres of privately held lands. The Federal Endangered Species Act is being used as a tool to destroy the Constitution and Bill of Rights. This well intended act has evolved into a weapon to regulate, intimidate, harass, and punish landowners for having so called endangered species on their land by "taking" private property for wildlife habitat. While "just compensation" has been touted, the best (read cheapest) way to control lands is to stop all economic uses through abusive governmental regulations and impermissibly violating property rights protected by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments.

Norman Podhoretz, the editor of "Commentary" magazine, wrote some years ago that "Environmentalism is the American socialism." I Reckon old Grandpa Wad Walley could relate to that statement. If he could speak from the grave he would probably protest, "Hell, it ain?t nothing new; they?re still stealing our land!"

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This article funded by a grant From The Paragon Foundation, 1200 N. White Sands Blvd, Suite 115, Alamogordo, NM 88310- For More information visit the Paragon Foundation Website http://www.paragonpowerhouse.org.