Thank God for state intervention protecting and regulating our land

[zasterguava]

...Or more precisely the limited democratic framework of Britain and the USA to allow for public struggle and protest to force the state to
- protect public land
- limit the destruction of land for private interest
- subsequently protecting the enviroment
- subsequently securing our fundamental rights as citizens to have access to the most treasured of lands and not to be in the hands of a select few.

Shame on those who wish to strip us of our rights and hand over our freedoms to the unobligated clutching hands of private power and fat-cats!

Anarchism would surely secure the equality and liberty of citizens to roam and explore ones country ("the land is indispensable to our existence, -- consequently a common thing, consequently insusceptible of appropriation; but land is much scarcer than the other elements, therefore its use must be regulated, not for the profit of a few, but in the interest and for the security of all. In a word, equality of rights is proved by equality of needs."-Proudhon); but within our realistic reach there's still a lot we can do within the system to protect our land. Here are some examples of victories of public struggle and the subsequent actions of the state concerning land ownership and its implications:


[ QUOTE ]

-pre- 2007 50% of the entire British coastline was closed to public access until.... 'Right to roam' England's beaches
-Allemansrätt (Legal Right of Access to Private Land in Sweden)
-Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000
- In USA:
-Judge Halts Oil and Gas Development in Proposed Colorado Wilderness
Ruling protects wilderness qualities and rare plants from harmful drilling

-Whipsnake Retains Critical Habitat, For Now
Courts rule in favor of preserving, for now, more than 400,000 acres of San Francisco East Bay grasslands

-Shell-Shocked in the Arctic
An appeals court rules that Shell Offshore, Inc., must stay away from the Beaufort Sea at least through the winter of '07/08.

-Utah Counties Can't Run Over National Parks
You don't own parts of our national parks just because you say so.

-Relief for Lake Okeechobee Is on the Way
A federal judge rules that using Lake O as a polluted water reservoir is illegal without a federal permit.

-Ghost Fleet Will Stay Put
A plan to export obsolete military ships to England for scrapping is stopped.

-Florida Coal Plan Is Nixed
The Florida Public Service Commission refuses to approve a permit for a huge new coal-fired power plant near the Everglades.

-Smog Slapdown Turndown Is Upheld
An industry attempt to overturn tough ozone regulations is rejected by the DC Court of Appeals.

-Supreme Court Rules Against Administration in Warming Case
The high court says that carbon dioxide is a pollutant and that EPA has authority to regulate tailpipe emissions.

-Judge Suspends Five Mine Permits
A federal judge in West Virginia has ruled that the practice of dumping the rubble into streams from blown up mountaintops violates the Clean Water Act.

-Court Rebukes Administration for Misrepresenting Scientists
To justify an increase in logging on steep slopes in the Northwest, the Forest Service ignored advice from leading scientists including some from the Fish and Wildlife Service.

-Unanimous Ruling Goes Against Duke Power
Supreme Court rules that power plant expansion requires upgraded pollution controls.

-A Win for Forest Wildlife and the Public
An attempt by the Bush administration to remove wildlife protection and exclude the public from forest-management decisions is rejected.

-Klamath Salmon to Get Vital Water
An attempt by irrigators to overturn minimum flows for salmon is rejected.

-Protecting the "Heart of California" from Urban Development
The primary zone of the California Delta is truly the heart of the state. This western watershed for the Sierra Nevada mountains is home to a multitude of wildlife and family farms, it also provides drinking water to millions of Californians. A recent proposal to allow 162 units of housing within this zone at Clarksburg was successfully challenged by Earthjustice and a coalition of local residents.

-Lake Won't Be Obliterated by Waste
Pristine Alaskan lake won't be used to dump toxic mining waste.

-Protecting People from Brick Kiln Emissions
Brick and clay manufacturers produce some of the worst air pollution in our nation. Now the EPA must follow the law and make this industry clean up its act.

Proposed Wilderness Area to Regain Peace and Quiet
Palisades Wilderness Study Area protected from ten-fold increase in recreational helicopter skiing


-Polluting Lake Okeechobee Declared Illegal
Water district must comply with the Clean Water Act before dumping into this drinking water source.

- more here

[/ QUOTE ]

Dare I end this with the appropriate words of the great Woody Guthrie? You bet!:

This land is your land, this land is my land
From California, to the New York Island
From the redwood forest, to the gulf stream waters
This land was made for you and me

As I was walking a ribbon of highway
I saw above me an endless skyway
I saw below me a golden valley
This land was made for you and me

I've roamed and rambled and I've followed my footsteps
To the sparkling sands of her diamond deserts
And all around me a voice was sounding
This land was made for you and me

The sun comes shining as I was strolling
The wheat fields waving and the dust clouds rolling
The fog was lifting a voice come chanting
This land was made for you and me

As I was walkin' - I saw a sign there
And that sign said - no tress passin'
But on the other side .... it didn't say nothin!
Now that side was made for you and me!

In the squares of the city - In the shadow of the steeple
Near the relief office - I see my people
And some are grumblin' and some are wonderin'
If this land's still made for you and me.