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Posted on 10/02/2003 9:35:05 PM PDT by Theodore R.
Free State group: 'No to Wyo.'
By Allison Fashek rep8@wyomingnews.com Published in the Wyoming Tribune-Eagle
CHEYENNE - The Free State Project, a group of liberty-minded individuals, announced Wednesday that they have chosen New Hampshire over Wyoming as their future home.
The group, which already has about 4,500 members, aims to recruit 20,000 people to move to the state in the next couple of years and reinforce its "sphere of individual liberty."
Wyoming finished second out of 10 states that were candidates for the planned migration. The state fell to New Hampshire by a voting margin of 10 percent but finished ahead of Montana, Idaho, Alaska, Maine, Vermont, Delaware, South Dakota and North Dakota.
The Cowboy State was initially deemed a prime choice for the Free State Project because of its low population and reputation for independent thinking.
Elizabeth McKinstry, vice president of the Free State Project, said Wyoming was a popular choice for a lot of members but, in the end, too many people were concerned about the state's economy.
"They were concerned that there wasn't the infrastructure for jobs for that many people," she said. "New Hampshire is close to the Boston metro area, and there's more of a high-tech economy. New Hampshire offered more in terms of what we're trying to do politically and allowing people to have a life and a job and housing."
Gov. Dave Freudenthal did not appear too upset about the group's decision at a news conference Wednesday afternoon.
"They're free to go anywhere they want," he said. "I feel the same way about their decision not to come as I did about their decision to look. If they want to come here, they're welcome. If they don't want to come here, they're not obligated to be here. I never did quite understand what all the furor was about."
While the Free State Project will officially only choose one state, McKinstry added that she wouldn't be surprised if some people considered starting their own movement in the West.
"So much research has been done, and so many people found it attractive," she said. "Wyoming will certainly see an influx of people, whether it's under the Free State or not."
Dave Dawson, the chairman of the Wyoming Libertarian Party, agrees and has extended the invitation to members of the Free State Project who don't want to move to the East Coast. Some are already calling it the Western Free State Project, Dawson said.
"I just want to say, consider Wyoming," he said. "This would be a great choice."
Dawson also said he thought the Free State Project's goal of recruiting 20,000 people to move to New Hampshire was probably a fantasy.
But, he said, he doesn't think that many people would be necessary to make a difference.
"If we had say 1,000 Libertarians with that level of commitment, I think we could change the political landscape of Wyoming," he said.
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The group, which already has about 4,500 members, aims to recruit 20,000 people to move to the state in the next couple of years and reinforce its "sphere of individual liberty."
Good luck. we send that many Massachusetts liberals north every year.
-archy-/-
There are houses in Weston County WY with doors on the second story as a means of dealing with wintertime snowdrifts. I can see where that sort of conditions aren't for everyone.
But there's already a parallel *FSP West* project taking root and growing, and efforts in both WY and MT are envisioned in the short term. There's plenty of work and plenty of opportunity for porcupines in both locales.
-archy-/-
Maybe if you'd hang a few, they'd quit comin' around and pestering y'all.
-archy-/-
Spoken like a true socialist worm. People are as good as the money they can contribute to the collective.
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