Rancher Fined for Fixing What the Government Broke

CNSNews.com ^ | June 23, 2003 | National Center for Public Policy Research

[microgood]

(Editor's Note: The following is the 75th of 100 stories regarding government regulation from the book Shattered Dreams, written by the National Center for Public Policy Research. CNSNews.com will publish an additional story each day.)

In 1994 and 1995, state and federal agencies - including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife - put $3.2 million worth of logs in a cree upstream from Leonard Zylstra's ranch near Medford, Ore., for the purpose of enhancing fish habitat.

Waters in the creek reached a 20-year high point in 1997. This tore the logs loose, causing them to gush downstream with debris, overflowing the creek and washing away bridges and two homes. The overflow went into Zylstra's pasture, destroying 29 acres of hay and removing topsoil to a depth of five feet.

After the water subsided, Zylstra got a permit from the Oregon Department of State Lands to re-sculpt his land, re-build levees, lower the creek bed to its original depth and use that dirt to replace the soil he lost. He did not get a permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers because Oregon state law does not require agriculture activities to get a "fill and remove" permit.

However, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) claimed Zylstra violated the Clean Water Act and threatened him with fines up to $43,500 per day followed by property forfeiture unless he returned his property to a "native and natural state."

Under the EPA-approved mitigation plan, Zylstra would be required to plant specific flora, fence off the creek from his cows and lower the levees that have existed for 100 years. Because he cannot afford to challenge the EPA in court, Zylstra has put his ranch up for sale and plans to move to Florida. He is refusing to cooperate with what he calls "bureau rats," especially after the EPA attorney demanded the past four years of his tax returns during the course of the EPA investigation.

Source: Leonard Zylstra

Copyright 2003, National Center for Public Policy Research

[joesnuffy]

In 1994 and 1995, state and federal agencies - including the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife - put $3.2 million worth of logs in a cree upstream from Leonard Zylstra's ranch near Medford, Ore., for the purpose of enhancing fish habitat.

Waters in the creek reached a 20-year high point in 1997. This tore the logs loose, causing them to gush downstream with debris, overflowing the creek and washing away bridges and two homes. The overflow went into Zylstra's pasture, destroying 29 acres of hay and removing topsoil to a depth of five feet.

Shhhh Non-accountable Genius' at work......playing with your money

[Arkie2]

EPA thugs at it again. Any sign ATF or FBI in the area?

[Blue Collar Christian]

The green wienies must be roasted, or at least rendered incapable of reproduction.

In California, it seems green legislation and other actions are aimed at eliminating all forms of human life and activity except for driving pitons into El Capitan.

[coloradan]

especially after the EPA attorney demanded the past four years of his tax returns during the course of the EPA investigation.

What possible use could the EPA have for this man's tax returns. Yet another case to make for a flat tax or NRST - please, remove this tool of oppression from the government agent's arsenal.

[marsh2]

We had a poor rancher down in the Mt. Shasta area try and fix a drainage ditch that led to a pond. Over the years and with surrounding development, the ditch had broken down and water was spreading. He got all necessary permits (he thought) to reform the ditch.

He neglected to consult with the Army Corps.

By the time his neighbor filed a complaint, threatened Western Pond turtles had made a home in the recreated ditch. Yet the Army Corps demanded that he undo all the work he had done. He was in a catch 22 situation. After tens of thousands of dollars of mitigation, consultants and lawyers, he finaly sold the property to pay the bills and left the state.

[freekitty]

Does the government ever look at both sides and come to a common sense solution?

Obviously not.

[Libertarianize the GOP]

ping

[farmfriend]

Rights, farms, environment ping.

Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from this list.

[Ernest_at_the_Beach]

Sick, another department that Bush needs to deClintonize!!!!

[E.G.C.]

BTTT!!!!!!!

[cake_crumb]

The bureaucratic red-tape wars again.

He needs to sue the EPA, and supoena the U.S. Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management and Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife. This is ridiculous....but he MAY be in a position to make a huge difference for both property rights and states' rights.

[microgood]

Does the government ever look at both sides and come to a common sense solution?

The government is always right. So their original solution which caused the problem was the right thing to do because the government did it. They never back down no matter how stupid they look.

[microgood]

The green wienies must be roasted, or at least rendered incapable of reproduction.

Watermellons do not reproduce at a sustainable level. That's why they need universities to brainwash other people's children.

[george wythe]

After tens of thousands of dollars of mitigation, consultants and lawyers, he finaly sold the property to pay the bills and left the state.

Disgusting.

He probably had to sell at a loss.

[BlackbirdSST]

Sick, another department that Bush needs to deClintonize!!!!You can fire or outright shoot and kill everyone the clintoons ever met, and it wouldn't change the outcome of this one IOTA! This isn't a clintoon problem, as much as you like that scapegoat, RINO's are in charge! Blackbird.

[Jeff Head]

FYI, more travesty.

This will only end when enough people stand up to it (like we did at Klamath) and force the career politicians to do what is right and abolish so much of this green/UN/Agenda 21 legislation.

[nwconservative]

It is more than colleges and universities; indoctrination is now full blown in our public schools. Below is one of my letters to the editor.

Public Schools - Indoctrination or Education?

Children today are in great danger; not from terrorists or from guns in school but from the education system itself. Don't blame our teachers or the local school boards, the blame lies with national education policy and the bureaucratic teachers union.

The computer is a great tool for research and as a teaching aid but the computer must never become the teacher, which is just what is happening! We hear cries from industry and society in general that; young people cannot think or reason independently. Our educational system has responded by making ”critical thinking" a graduation requirement. "Critical thinking" and "systems thinking" in most cases are synonymous. Systems thinking has been employed successfully in industry and in the military where the desired outcome has already been determined.

"Systems thinking" is the new rage in education. What is "systems thinking"? According to the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development:
"Systems thinking is a way of looking at occurrences as a whole; of looking at problems in their complete environment. Rather than isolating one part of a problem, trying to solve it, and put it back into the system, the systems-thinking approach attempts to take in a larger scope, studying the interactions between different parts of a system. Related to this is System Dynamics--the study of structures and typical behaviors underlying system actions."

This is computer modeling, where the model determines the outcome. Students enter different data and the computer shows how their choices effect the outcome. Similar programs are used to forecast global warming and to demonstrate the need for world population control.

The computer becomes the teacher demoting the human teacher to a facilitator. The people who write the program determine the outcome. Our children do not learn to think independently, they leaning what the program engineers desire. This is the most powerful social engineering tool to ever be used in the history of the world and most parents and school boards have not a clue.

[EBUCK]

That is just what I was thinking. The EPA has no authority here.

[editor-surveyor]

And I was in a good mood today until you pinged me to this depressing rubbish!