Why would St. Joe, the largest developer and landowner in the Florida Panhandle, team up with local environmentalist fanatics to push Crayfish regulations on the rest of us? It's a case of the Baptists teaming up with the Bootletters, as explained in the link below, from an article that explains "rent-seeking". Wikipedia definition: "rent seeking occurs when an individual, organization, or firm seeks to make money by manipulating the economic environment rather than by making a profit through trade and production of wealth." The article explains:
"Rent seeking occurs, in part, because firms can receive concentrated benefits through government action while the costs are dispersed throughout the whole of society."
An excerpt:
Rent seeking in the name of environmental policy is prevalent, in part, because green policies shield otherwise ill-fated policies—paint a proposal green, and it will receive less scrutiny than it would otherwise. Moreover, the ability of economic interest groups to supplement their lobbying efforts with "public interest" allies from the environmentalist community greatly enhances their political clout. Clemson University Professor and former-Federal Trade Commission official Bruce Yandle called such efforts "Bootlegger and Baptist" coalitions. "Both bootleggers and Baptists favor statutes that shut down liquor stores on Sunday," Yandle explains. "The Baptists because of their religious preferences. The bootleggers because it expands their market."
Read the entire article here:
http://www.cato.org/pubs/regulation/reg19n4b.html
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Letter to Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission
The following letter was sent to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission this week, with copies to Governor Crist and the State Legislators who represent the Florida Panhandle. Thank goodness this local citizen is trying to help the others affected. Since only a tiny fraction of the thousands of 'listed species' have ever been delisted since the passing of the Endangered Species Act over 30 years ago, it's imperative that the people who own these 38,000 parcels of property understand just exactly what they will be burdened with, probably for the rest of their lives:
March 2, 2007
Mr. Ken Haddad
Executive Director
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 S. Meridian Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
RE: Panama City Crayfish
Dear Mr. Haddad:
Your agency has prepared a Draft Management Plan for a proposed listing of the Panama City Crayfish as a threatened species. The deadline for filing comments is April 5, 2007.
Since the Draft Management Plan was made available for review last Friday, February 23, 2007, we have been attempting to obtain the GIS data used for the delineation of the range of the Panama City Crayfish to be used as the designated habitat. It is estimated that over 38,000 parcels stand to be affected by this designation. With more than one third of the parcels of all of Bay County containing soils that may be conducive to this species, it is essential that all of the property owners within the affected range be properly notified and allowed an opportunity to comment on the designation. To that end, I intend to send individual letters to each property owner within the habitat area, providing Owners with information they may need to properly assess the impact this designation may have on their property. I do not want to unnecessarily alarm property owners who may not be affected. Consequently it is essential that I have the accurate GIS data that was used for delineation purposes.
I contacted your agency for the information and was directed to the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Attached you will find a copy of the response from this agency. Since it is likely that the information I seek may not be available until after March 9th, I do not believe there will be sufficient time within which to notify all of the affected property owners before the deadline you have set for comments on the Plan.
By notifying all of the property owners within the area of your proposal, I hope to generate sufficient response so that your agency can more accurately assess the social and economic consequences of this designation as required by Florida Statutes. To that end, I would also request that your agency hold a public hearing in Panama City before voting to provide this extraordinary protection to the Panama City Crayfish. It would be an additional burden and
imposition on us to arrange transportation for hundreds of property owners that may wish to personally address the Commission.
I, therefore, respectfully request that you extend the deadline for comments until after a duly noticed public hearing to be held here in Bay County.
Sincerely,
Mary K. Sittman
cc: FWC Commissioners
Senator Don Gaetz
Representative Jimmy Patronis
Representative Marti Coley
Earl Durden
L. Charles Hilton, Esq.
Jack Williams, Esq.
Mayors and Commissioners of Panama City, Lynn Haven, Cedar Grove,
Callaway, Springfield, Parker
Board of County Commissioners, Bay County
March 2, 2007
Mr. Ken Haddad
Executive Director
Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission
620 S. Meridian Street
Tallahassee, FL 32399
RE: Panama City Crayfish
Dear Mr. Haddad:
Your agency has prepared a Draft Management Plan for a proposed listing of the Panama City Crayfish as a threatened species. The deadline for filing comments is April 5, 2007.
Since the Draft Management Plan was made available for review last Friday, February 23, 2007, we have been attempting to obtain the GIS data used for the delineation of the range of the Panama City Crayfish to be used as the designated habitat. It is estimated that over 38,000 parcels stand to be affected by this designation. With more than one third of the parcels of all of Bay County containing soils that may be conducive to this species, it is essential that all of the property owners within the affected range be properly notified and allowed an opportunity to comment on the designation. To that end, I intend to send individual letters to each property owner within the habitat area, providing Owners with information they may need to properly assess the impact this designation may have on their property. I do not want to unnecessarily alarm property owners who may not be affected. Consequently it is essential that I have the accurate GIS data that was used for delineation purposes.
I contacted your agency for the information and was directed to the U. S. Fish & Wildlife Service. Attached you will find a copy of the response from this agency. Since it is likely that the information I seek may not be available until after March 9th, I do not believe there will be sufficient time within which to notify all of the affected property owners before the deadline you have set for comments on the Plan.
By notifying all of the property owners within the area of your proposal, I hope to generate sufficient response so that your agency can more accurately assess the social and economic consequences of this designation as required by Florida Statutes. To that end, I would also request that your agency hold a public hearing in Panama City before voting to provide this extraordinary protection to the Panama City Crayfish. It would be an additional burden and
imposition on us to arrange transportation for hundreds of property owners that may wish to personally address the Commission.
I, therefore, respectfully request that you extend the deadline for comments until after a duly noticed public hearing to be held here in Bay County.
Sincerely,
Mary K. Sittman
cc: FWC Commissioners
Senator Don Gaetz
Representative Jimmy Patronis
Representative Marti Coley
Earl Durden
L. Charles Hilton, Esq.
Jack Williams, Esq.
Mayors and Commissioners of Panama City, Lynn Haven, Cedar Grove,
Callaway, Springfield, Parker
Board of County Commissioners, Bay County
Thursday, March 1, 2007
New Crayfish "Plan" Published - Property Rights Skewered
The new Panama City Crayfish Draft Management Plan has been published here by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Here are some of the ways in which this monstrosity skewers your property rights and makes a mockery of Panama City, Florida:
- They decided that certain soil types 'might' be favorable for this crayfish. 70% of the land in the greater Panama City area has this soil.
- If you have the soil on your property, to build or add anything, you may be required to allow government biologists to come on your property and look for the crayfish. Their protocol requires them to make a least 3 visits to search for the creature, and each visit should be timed based on the weather conditions before and during the search.
- A "take permit" could be required. The State has the unmitigated gall to call this permit 'free'. What they neglect to tell you is that the City of Panama City had to pay an environmental consultant over $8,000 to get one of these permits for a project they did.
- You may be offered "mitigation", which is basically a payoff demand that will allow you to use your land the way you want to. The 2 for 1 mitigation plan means you'd be asked to buy 2 acres of property elsewhere for every one acre of your own property you want to use.
- Through the mitigation plan you may be transferring your money to St. Joe Company, the richest landholder and developer in the Florida panhandle, to buy their 'crayfish land' from them. You won't be able to use it for yourself. Government workers and their environmentalist leeches will use it, at taxpayer expense, to further study the crayfish and publish pointless studies about it.
- If the crayfish is found on your property, they plan to keep coming back around looking for it. If some day they can't find it any more, they can throw the book at you. Criminal charges could include heavy fines or even jail time.
- You can't tell if you have the crayfish or not! Because there is only one man in the State of Florida who is 'qualified' to identify it. He'll get the lucrative government contracts to find the thing on your property, and you have to sit back and take whatever he tells you. Is it any shock that he's also the person who petitioned the State to upgrade the endangered status of the crayfish? This whole plan should be invalidated just based on the incredible conflict of interest inherent in it.
- The plan recommends that your tax dollars get diverted to public schools in Florida to indoctrinate children. So one night you'll be sitting at your dinner table and receive a lecture from your daughter about why you need to give up your property rights for the common good of the ecosystem.
-The plan calls for 'influencing and motivating' operators of off-road vehicles to stay off this land. Assuming that means public or private land, envision a wildlife officer stopping hunters wherever they travel and telling them to get off the land. Whether they own it or not.
Again, remember, the crayfish LOVES PEOPLE. It has only been found in man-made ditches and swales between man-made tree farm rows. So it's ridiculous to have a plan to make humans grow more of them. In fact, this may be the first time the Endangered Species Act has been used to have our government introduce a species into a developed metropolitan area.
You can still do something to prevent the travesty that will befall Bay County if this law hits the books. Earlier in this blog we posted the contact information for the seven commissioners who will vote this summer to enact the law. You may want to go straight to the Governor. This will become law unless citizens stand up against it. Governor Charlie Crist can be reached at charlie.crist@myflorida.com.
Here are some of the ways in which this monstrosity skewers your property rights and makes a mockery of Panama City, Florida:
- They decided that certain soil types 'might' be favorable for this crayfish. 70% of the land in the greater Panama City area has this soil.
- If you have the soil on your property, to build or add anything, you may be required to allow government biologists to come on your property and look for the crayfish. Their protocol requires them to make a least 3 visits to search for the creature, and each visit should be timed based on the weather conditions before and during the search.
- A "take permit" could be required. The State has the unmitigated gall to call this permit 'free'. What they neglect to tell you is that the City of Panama City had to pay an environmental consultant over $8,000 to get one of these permits for a project they did.
- You may be offered "mitigation", which is basically a payoff demand that will allow you to use your land the way you want to. The 2 for 1 mitigation plan means you'd be asked to buy 2 acres of property elsewhere for every one acre of your own property you want to use.
- Through the mitigation plan you may be transferring your money to St. Joe Company, the richest landholder and developer in the Florida panhandle, to buy their 'crayfish land' from them. You won't be able to use it for yourself. Government workers and their environmentalist leeches will use it, at taxpayer expense, to further study the crayfish and publish pointless studies about it.
- If the crayfish is found on your property, they plan to keep coming back around looking for it. If some day they can't find it any more, they can throw the book at you. Criminal charges could include heavy fines or even jail time.
- You can't tell if you have the crayfish or not! Because there is only one man in the State of Florida who is 'qualified' to identify it. He'll get the lucrative government contracts to find the thing on your property, and you have to sit back and take whatever he tells you. Is it any shock that he's also the person who petitioned the State to upgrade the endangered status of the crayfish? This whole plan should be invalidated just based on the incredible conflict of interest inherent in it.
- The plan recommends that your tax dollars get diverted to public schools in Florida to indoctrinate children. So one night you'll be sitting at your dinner table and receive a lecture from your daughter about why you need to give up your property rights for the common good of the ecosystem.
-The plan calls for 'influencing and motivating' operators of off-road vehicles to stay off this land. Assuming that means public or private land, envision a wildlife officer stopping hunters wherever they travel and telling them to get off the land. Whether they own it or not.
Again, remember, the crayfish LOVES PEOPLE. It has only been found in man-made ditches and swales between man-made tree farm rows. So it's ridiculous to have a plan to make humans grow more of them. In fact, this may be the first time the Endangered Species Act has been used to have our government introduce a species into a developed metropolitan area.
You can still do something to prevent the travesty that will befall Bay County if this law hits the books. Earlier in this blog we posted the contact information for the seven commissioners who will vote this summer to enact the law. You may want to go straight to the Governor. This will become law unless citizens stand up against it. Governor Charlie Crist can be reached at charlie.crist@myflorida.com.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)