To:   Jefferson County Commissioners, the News Media and
others

From: Ron
Ewart, President, National Association of Rural Landowners (NARLO)

FOR THE RECORD

It is said that all politics are
local and certainly what is playing out in Jefferson County over their attempts
to draft a Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO) will have an affect on Jefferson County property owners, but may also
have wider implications as well.  We represent thousands of rural
landowners in Washington State, as well as landowners from out of
state.  The reason we formed NARLO was due to the vicious attack that is
being perpetrated on rural landowners all across America, in the name of
environmental protection, by government and environmental lobbyists who
threaten to sue government if it doesn't behave in a certain way, their
way.   Because these groups are wealthy beyond anyone's wildest dreams,
sue they do.   It is
excruciatingly evident that the environmentalists and the government want rural
landowners to bear the entire burden of environmental protection, without
regard to the "due process" and "compensation" requirements
of the U. S. and state Constitutions.
Anyone with the remotest understanding of what is in play here, can see that such actions by
government violate the equal protection clause of the U. S.
Constitution.

Because of our interests in rural
landowner issues, we receive regular updates from players in the Jefferson
County CAO/land use saga.  As a result, we became privy to the
response by George B. Yount to the CAO situation, that he asked to be placed into the record.
Mr. Yount's environmental and political biases
were clearly evident in his letter.  There is not time for me to address
every single point that Mr. Yount raised, so I will
take on just a few.

The first is his assertion that just
because a majority of Jefferson County voters "appear" to want
aggressive environmental legislation, that it should be that way.  But he
forgets one simple, but very important fact.  America is a
Constitutional Republic, not a Democracy.  The Constitution was
written to clearly define limits ON government, not limits on the people.   It provides
protections for the minority from a not-so-wise, or
abusive majority.  For the last 70 years, government has far exceeded
those limits, aided and abetted by higher and lower courts.  However, many
rural landowners, as I have just mentioned, feel that their constitutionally
protected property rights have been thrown aside in the name of anything that
smells of the environment.  i.e.
wetland and wetland buffers, clean air, clean water, housing densities,
in-stream flow rules, water rights, zoning, fish protection and
now Governor Gregoire's Puget Sound
Partnership that will require even more draconian restrictions on private
land.   The next shoe to drop
will be the regulations to protect us from the boogieman of global
warming.  All this regulation has obliterated property rights, the very
core and foundation of our freedoms.  And Mr. Yount,
in his arrogance, laments those same rural citizens wanting to be involved
in the process?

Mr. Younts
goes on to say that the Commissioners and the planning commission should uphold
the "Second Settlement Agreement" that was entered into by the
Commissioners with an environmental group under threat of a lawsuit, which is
the tactic many environmental groups employ to get their way.  Skagit
County was sued 162 times over their land use policies by the state and
environmental groups.  162 times!!!  This is legal blackmail.
We strongly disagree with Mr. Yount.  The
Second Settlement Agreement was entered into under duress.  Any agreement
entered into under duress is void, as the Second Settlement Agreement should
be.

Obviously, being a devout
Democrat, Mr. Yount alleges yet another
right wing conspiracy.  Strange how the so-called right wing comes down on
the side of the constitution and the left-wing comes down on the side of abject
socialism and radical environmentalism.

What is taking place right now, that
seems to disturb Mr. Yount, is that true
American citizens are finally becoming aware of just how out of control
government has become in land use issues, while the people were
sleeping.  Those same people are now getting involved and
participating in the process and that is a good thing.   To label
that "getting
involved in the process" as
a right-wing conspiracy, by the very people that will be affected by the
regulations that are being promulgated by the likes of Mr. Yount,
is way over the top.  In fact, this ploy by
the "left" is really getting old.

You should applaud that affected
citizens are now taking part in law making that directly affects them.  We
believe that Jefferson County landowners are behaving admirably under
the circumstances.  However late they are, had they been doing so for
the last 50 years, none of this radical environmental protection racket
and legal blackmail would have taken place.

Mr. Yount's
whining about the CAO process is obviously being done to influence public
policy his way.  He has every right to do so.  However, we hope that
the people in Jefferson County with a more common-sense, reasoned and
constitutionally defended approach to the issues, will
be given sway.

In the final analysis, the
much larger question still remains, is the Growth Management Act
(GMA) and the CAO's mandated thereby, constitutional?  Mr. Yount cries out for the will of the majority, but if you
will remember your history, the majority soundly defeated (over 70%) Initiative 587 that would have passed a law very closely parallel
to the GMA.  Nevertheless, in spite of that majority voting against
it, we still got the GMA, brought to us by the very same people that are
aligned with Mr. Yount.

Let me close by saying that
government relies on the people to follow the law.  But what happens when
laws go too far, or there are too many laws?  If you can't see that chaos
and lawlessness are the result, you are truly blind.  Because of the
voluminous amount of laws now on the books, with more to come, the people have
already engaged in lawlessness for many years.  People are cutting
trees down, clearing land, building buildings, digging ditches and doing all kinds
of things on THEIR land, without permit.  Lawmakers created this condition
that could easily spiral out of control.

If your hand represents the
government and in your hand is a tomato that represents the people, what
happens if you squeeze your hand too tight?  The result is graphically
obvious.  It begs the question, when do
government actions finally result in an outright revolt by the
people?

Ron
Ewart, President

NATIONAL
ASSOCIATION OF RURAL LANDOWNERS

P. O. Box 1031, Issaquah, WA
98027

425
222-4742 or 1 800 682-7848

(Fax No. 425 222-4743)

Website: www.narlo.org