Fwd: "Property Rights Laws Considered"
.c The Associated Press
By CURT ANDERSON
WASHINGTON (AP) - Among the hottest farm issues of the past few years has been
the impact of government regulations on private property. A new study
indicates the often heated rhetoric may not reflect most landowners' views.
The American Farmland Trust, a nonprofit land conservation advocacy group,
found in the recent broad-based survey of farmers, ranchers and landowners
that 71 percent reported no loss of value traced to government regulations
such as zoning, erosion control or wetlands protection.
In addition, two-thirds said they are willing to shoulder some costs of
environmental protection as long as they are shared with the general public.
The survey comes as Congress considers nine bills, most introduced by
Republicans, that are intended to require government compensation if
regulations result in a "taking'' that reduces value or restricts value of
private property. Twenty-four state legislatures have recently passed similar
private property rights laws.
Trust President Ralph Grossi, whose family runs a cattle ranch near San
Francisco, said the poll shows most landowners favor commonsense approaches to
protecting the environment and don't want government to be forced to choose
between regulation and paying landowners.
"A combination of reasonable regulation and compensatory financial incentives
to landowners is the best way to save farmland and encourage good
environmental stewardship,'' Grossi said. "Often, this debate seems ill-
informed.''
The telephone survey of 1,729 farmers, ranchers and others owning at least
five acres in 42 states was conducted in June-November 1997 by J. Dixon
Esseks, professor of public administration at Northern Illinois University. It
has a margin of error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.
Most of those surveyed own more than 25 acres, and three-quarters raise crops.
Eighty percent of respondents live on the farm, and a third earn more than
$50,000 in annual gross farm income.
``It is clear that agricultural landowners do not fit the stereotypes ascribed
to them,'' American Farmland Trust vice president Edward Thompson said in the
report. ``Most are neither poor, unfortunate victims of environmental
regulation run amok, nor are they greedy libertarians who don't care if they
plunder the planet.''
Some of the survey's major findings:
More than two-thirds say they suffered no loss of property value from
government regulations. Only 8.3 percent reported a large loss. On a regional
basis, westerners were more than twice as likely to report large losses.
Fifty-eight percent said they favored mandatory regulations rather than
voluntary incentives to protect farms from residential development. The rest
either had no opinion, favored incentives or wanted no policy at all.
Landowners were split between regulations to protect wetlands, with 45 percent
favoring voluntary incentives and almost 40 percent supporting regulations.
But to protect endangered species, four times as many landowners favored
public or private incentives as supported regulations.
Between 70 percent and 95 percent, depending on the issue, favor some
government role in conservation of natural resources instead of leaving it to
the free market.
Sixty percent said the public and private landowners should share the costs of
regulation, and a third favored public compensation entirely. Yet only 3
percent said private landowners should bear the burden alone.
The trust's report recommends that Congress and state lawmakers work toward
policies that share responsibility for protecting the environment and slowing
urban sprawl. In addition, more money should be made available for incentive
programs that encourage landowners to take conservation steps on their own.
AP-NY-06-20-98 1100EDT
Copyright 1998 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.
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