A New Line of Defense for Landowners - American Land Foundation Develops Legal Plan to Assist Landowners
Thanks to the American Land Foundation (ALF), property owners have a new line of defense in the never ending battle to protect their property from state and federal regulation. ALF’s most inventive program, LandGuard, is doing the unthinkable; creating a link between the nation’s top property rights attorneys and America’s landowners to provide expert protection and advice.
(PRWEB) April 13, 2005 -- Thanks to the American Land Foundation (ALF),
property owners have a new line of defense in the never ending battle to protect
their property from state and federal regulation. ALF’s latest program,
LandGuard creates a link between the nation’s top property rights attorneys and
America’s landowners to provide expert protection and advice.
ALF, a
non-profit organization, was founded over a decade ago with a goal to educate
and help landowners fight government regulation of private property. Over the
last decade, ALF president, Dan Byfield, has spent countless hours counseling
landowners who found themselves facing threats from government agencies or
individual groups intent on taking or controlling their private property.
With each phone call, Byfield realized landowners were losing their
battles because they waited too long to act or they didn’t have adequate legal
counsel. He knew there had to be a better way.
Byfield determined that what landowners needed most was access to
immediate advice from qualified property rights lawyers, preferably in the
landowner’s geographical area and at a price that wouldn’t break the
bank.
In 1999, after meeting with a group of landowners, Byfield went to
his board of directors with the idea of creating a network of property rights
attorneys from across the country who would be available to advise landowners
about threatening property rights issues. After almost two years, all the
hurdles for licensing and underwriting were cleared and LandGuard was born. For
the first time, landowners had access to a low cost legal plan that linked them
to the nation’s best property rights attorneys.
LandGuard is backed by
the AON Corporation, a Fortune 500 company, Specialty Insurance Company, the
plan underwriter and LegalAccess, the plan administrator. With an impressive
collection of the nation’s top property rights lawyers already on board,
LandGuard members from across the country have used their services to protect
their property rights.
A Texas farmer who was told he no longer qualified
for agriculture tax exemption consistently met with resistance when he tried to
straighten out the issue himself. His LandGuard attorney stepped in and the
problem was resolved within an hour. A Montana ranching family would have put
their place up for sale if LandGuard hadn’t helped them during a battle with the
BLM over land and water rights. A couple in Arizona who are embroiled in a
battle with the U.S. Forest Service have this to say about their LandGuard
attorney: “He has a relaxed, likable style but stays focused on the critical
issues; and, as he likes to phrase it, applies gentle persuasion
relentlessly.”
Most landowners never dream they could someday find
themselves having to defend the right to use their land. In fact, most people
consider these rights a constitutional given. However, the courts, including the
Supreme Court, are filled with property rights cases dealing with constitutional
challenges of environmental laws like the Endangered Species Act, eminent
domain, takings cases and over-regulating by environmental agencies.
When Fred Purcell bought investment property just east of Austin, Texas,
he was well aware of the standard zoning ordinances, utility easements and other
fairly normal hoops a landowner must jump through before building or otherwise
developing the land. Such procedures are a minor annoyance, at best, but rarely
are they totally insurmountable.
But thanks to a trespasser, who was a
member of EarthFirst!, Purcell has spent the last eighteen years fighting for
the right to use his land. What eventually rendered Purcell’s property useless,
in the truest sense of the word, was something he could have never imagined . .
. five cave bugs so tiny, it takes a microscope to see them
The group
EarthFirst! petitioned U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the cave bugs
along with several other species of spiders, scorpions and beetles that,
according to them, only live on the over two hundred acre property owned by
Purcell. Purcell proved these bugs lived in caves on other property, but that
fact didn’t seem to matter and the government listed them anyway.
Fred
Purcell is just one of thousands of Americans who, every year, find themselves
fighting for the right to actually use the land they own and pay taxes on.
Purcell’s story seems extreme but it’s actually closer to the norm.
For
some landowners, the loss is much greater. Nevada rancher, Wayne Hage, lost his
entire business when government agencies decided to cut his grazing rights and
restrict him from using his water. After enduring over a decade of harassment
from government agencies, in September 1991, he filed a takings case against the
United States. Fourteen years later, the case finally had its day in court and
both sides now wait for the final decision.
Each
of these landowners had one clearly defining moment. That moment when they
realized they needed expert help. The opposing sides were well funded and armed
with an arsenal of skilled legal professionals. If the landowners were to have a
breath of a chance, they would need equally skilled, expert counsel who knew the
laws affecting property rights, inside and out.
Few can afford such a
defense. Allan Parker, Professor of Law and President of the Texas Justice
Foundation said: “To take an average case to litigation to protect your property
rights might take between $100,000 and $300,000 . . . because the litigation is
so expensive, the government can pick you off one by one by one.”
Wayne
Hage was able to continue his fight thanks to financial support from Stewards of
the Range, another grassroots non-profit organization dedicated to defending and
protecting landowners. Tim Lowry, a Stewards’ member whose family has been
embroiled in a legal battle similar to Hage’s, says, “Without the San Francisco
law firm, we’d be sunk. We were at that point where our case was just about lost
when they stepped in. You have to have competent lawyers helping you or you
don’t stand a chance, no matter how noble your attempts are.”
Fred
Purcell found help through the American Land Foundation, and because of their
help, his case is now pending at the U.S. Supreme Court. His attorneys, Austin’s
Hazen and Terrill, are considered among the best in their field.
The
creation of LandGuard signals a new era in the property rights movement, one
that is sophisticated, gaining ground, and bolstered by the best lawyers in the
country. It is an era where landowners are fighting back and winning.
For
more information on LandGuard, visit www.landguard.org.
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Source : http://www.prweb.com/releases/2005/4/prweb227979.htm