Yesterday was a bad day for private property rights, for taxpayers and
for the cause of government accountability.
The U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources approved 10
National Heritage Area bills yesterday: five establishing new National
Heritage Areas; two providing additional funding for such
designations; two requiring feasibility studies for the creation of
two more such areas; and one establishing a national program for
National Heritage Areas that would link them all together.
National Heritage Areas are the big government advocate=92s dream: They
give Washington the means of controlling local land-use decisions
while creating the means by which politicians can funnel millions of
dollars home to their districts.
Thirty-seven National Heritage Areas have already been established -
ten last year alone. And yet, most Americans - Members of Congress included - simply aren't aware of the problem.
A significant educational effort is needed and that is why I'm writing
to your today. I'd be very grateful if you would consider signing the
attached coalition letter on National Heritage Areas. We only need
your name and your title and organizational affiliation (if any).
If you need additional information on this issue, we have two of the
nation's pre-eminent experts on the topic here at The National Center,
Peyton Knight, who directs our Center for Environmental and Regulatory
Affairs, and R.J. Smith, Senior Fellow. They've both written
extensively on National Heritage Areas and have been called as an
expert witnesses on Capitol Hill. You can read Peyton's testimony on
the proposed Journey Through Hallowed Ground Heritage Area before the
House Resources Committee's Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation
and Public Lands on September 28, 2006 at
=
0000,0000,FFFDhttp://www.nationalcenter.o=
rg/2006/09/journey-through-hallowed-ground.html.
You can read R.J. Smith's testimony on National Heritage Partnership
Act (similar to the bill just approved that would establish a National
Heritage Area program) before the Senate Committee on Energy and
Natural Resources' Subcommittee on Parks in 2004 at
=
0000,0000,FFFDhttp://energy.senate.gov/pu=
blic/index.cfm?FuseAction=3DHearings.Testimony&Hearing_ID=3D1243&Witness_I=
D=3D3629.
I'd be very grateful if you'd let me know if you can sign the letter
by email at your earliest convenience.
Thank you for your kind consideration.
Sincerely,
David A. Ridenour
Vice President
The National Center for Public Policy Research
501 Capitol Court, NE #200
Washington, DC 20002
Tel. (202)543-4110
*****National Heritage Area Coalition Letter******
Dear XXXXX:
The U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v. City of New
London ignited a national outcry against government abuse of
property rights. The "bridge to nowhere" and other wasteful =
programs
triggered angry protests against the practice of earmarking.
National Heritage Areas are the Kelo decision and earmarks rolled into
one.
National Heritage Areas are preservation zones where land use and
property rights can be restricted.=A0 They give the National Park
Service and preservation interest groups (many with histories of
hostility toward property rights) substantial influence by giving them
the authority to create land use "management plans" and then the
authority to disburse federal money to local governments to promote
their plans.
As a March 2004 General Accountability Office report on National
Heritage Areas states: "[National Heritage Areas] encourage local
governments to implement land use policies that are consistent with
the heritage areas' plans, which may allow the heritage areas to
indirectly influence zoning and land use planning in ways that could
restrict owners' use of their property."
The proposed "Journey Through Hallowed Ground National Heritage Area
Act" provides a good case study on how such designations can be
self-perpetuating federal pork and influence projects.
The chief lobbying organization for this National Heritage Area, the
Journey Through Hallowed Ground Partnership, received a $1 million
dollar earmark in the 2005 federal transportation bill at the behest
of Members of Congress sponsoring legislation to establish this
heritage area -- an earmark that was granted before the organization
was even incorporated. A million-dollar earmark thus was issued to
help create a steady stream of future pork, at the expense of the
rights of local landowners.
We believe zoning and land use policies are best left to local
officials, who are directly accountable to the citizens they
represent. National Heritage Areas corrupt the principle of
representative government and this inherently local function by giving
unelected, unaccountable special interests the authority to develop
land management plans and federal money with which to finance their
efforts.
Once established, National Heritage Areas become permanent units =
of
the National Park Service, and as such, permanent drains on an agency
that currently suffers a multibillion-dollar maintenance crisis.
According to the GAO, "sunset provisions have not been effective in
limiting federal funding [for National Heritage Areas]: since 1984,
five areas that reached their sunset dates received funding
reauthorization from the Congress."
Supporters of new National Heritage Areas have the public will
precisely backward: Americans want stronger property rights
protections and less pork-barrel spending - not more earmarks to
programs that harm property rights.
For most members: [Please do not support the creation of
additional national heritage areas or federal funding for heritage
area management entities, support groups, or groups that lobby for or
advocate the creation of new heritage areas.]
For Representative Bartlett: [Thank you for your leadership on
this important issue and for not backing down from your commitment to
protecting private property rights.]
Sincerely,