Posted on 12/17/2004 11:32:18 AM PST by Red Badger
The owner of a vast tract of virgin forest land in north-central Norway is in big trouble after chopping down trees on his own property. Newspaper Aftenposten reported Tuesday that the 54-year-old forest owner has been sentenced to six months in jail for chopping down the trees on his land in Flatanger, Nord-Trøndelag. The trees he chopped were in an area that was part of an officially designated nature preserve. An appeals court in Nord-Trøndelag ruled that the forest owner intentionally launched the logging operation, in the hopes that the area would thus lose its nature preserve status. Illegal logging He'd first been charged by Norway's white-collar crime unit (Økokrim) for logging in two areas of the nature preserve in 2001. He also chopped down trees in the area in 1995, when government officials already were discussing whether to regulate the area as a nature preserve. Prosecutors argued that the forest owner violated environmental restrictions aimed at protecting valuable virgin forests. 'Vandalism' The court agreed, claiming that the fallen trees were located in the nature preserve's most valuable area. They claimed the owner's logging operation was akin to vandalism. The forest owner defended his logging operation, saying county officials had led him to believe that the areas where he cut trees were exempt from the nature preserve regulations.
Norway = Zimbabway
There's the wrong way, the right way, and then there's the Norway......
Should be written as, "HUUUUUUUGE tracts of land"
Be prepared! When you use that line, the first reaction will be a "deer in the headlights" stare with an open mouth breather jaw.......Try not to laugh too much.....
I bet he's now pining for the fjords.
Anyway, wi not trei a holiday in Norway this yer?
See the loveli lakes
The wonderful telephone system
And mani interesting furry animals
Including the majestik moose
A moose once bit my sister
No realli! She was karving her initials on the moose
with the sharpened end of an interspace toothbrush
given her by Svenge - her brother-in-law - an oslo dentist
and star of many Norwegian movies: "The Hot Hands of an Oslo Dentist",
"Fillings of Passion", "The Huge Molars of Horst Nordfink"...
Is the Quisling government back in power?
Is the Quisling government back in power?
I didn't know they ever LEFT!......
BTTT!!!!!!!
Note the phrase "after chopping down trees on his own property." Obviously he does not "own" the property if he does not have exclusive control over its use, enjoyment and disposal. That exclusive relationship to the land is what constitues ownership. In this case, it appears that for all intents and purposes, the public or community owns the land for use as a nature preserve. This over-riding community interest appears to be common in socialistic countries.
In the USA, regulation is only supposed to prevent substantial injury to public health and safety from an individual's use of his own property. If it ends up creating a state of public ownership, that would be a 5th Amendment takings in the USA, justifying a claim for just compensation.
The way environmental regulation in the USA is going, it will not be long until we are on par with the Norweigan view of ownership, if we are not there already.
I don't care if this guy is now a convict. Any 54 year old who can still swing an ax with authority has certainly earned my respect.
Not just your eyes!
Ah, Norge: average IQ 81, and falling.
irrelevant eurononsense alert.
I believe the Endangered Species Act has, in effect, taken away control from quite a few property owners.
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