More on Taxing Easement Owners
by Jim Beers
QUESTION: I saw the following article-apparently written by you on the internet. Can I hear an explanation-however long or short as you desire-as to how you came to this opinion? Thanks...
ANSWER: Sorry about the delay in responding. I have really been busy lately.
40 years ago I started working for the US Fish & Wildlife Service in the Wetlands Program (taking easements and purchasing wetlands and uplands and "approving" USDA drainage applications) as a wetlands biologist in Devils Lake, ND. I learned a lot about easements and since (as Operations Chief of the Refuge System and 20+ years in Washington in various FWS capacities and then as a writer and speaker since retirement) learned much more.
The lack of any summary of ALL the land eased (by location, acreage, restrictions, etc.) by state, Federal, and subsidized NGO entities should be a red flag to anyone with even a rudimentary familiarity about the magnitude of such activities in recent years. Like government land purchase, taking easements is never placed in the context of what already is in place and how this is accumulating, and what the future implications of all this land ownership and control by government and NGO's means to future generations. The way taxpayers subsidize NGO's that buy easements and how they (NGO's) buy and later resell land to agencies at a hefty markup are two more reasons to be concerned. How the NGOs' finances and the easements they take are obfuscated to the general public: how Federal and state agencies work silently with the NGO's on Federal goals and radical (HSUS, SIERRA, WILDERNESS, PETA, NRDC, etc,) agendas by purchasing easements that restrict rural communities in anticipation of purchase programs and public land closures and public land management and use are reasons for more concern. The lobbying money and support to key politicians by these easement holders would be eye-popping if it could be exposed. Then there is the way easements constrict rural economies (logging, grazing, farming, roads, hunting, fishing, etc.) PRIOR to government (or rich folks) purchase of the land or the closure of nearby public lands to use or management. The current and future implications of all this are ENORMOUS. I could go on here but my time is limited.
When they purchase these easements they suddenly become big-time players in the future of the land, the future of communities, the future of Counties, the future of states, and even the future of this nation. Without paying any taxes they tell the rural communities and the state and local governments what they CANNOT DO and therefore what the future of rural America and all those who live there will be.
So, if they hold something (the Easement) of VALUE (purchase price?, buyback offer from landholder?, price of corn or wheat foregone?, arbitrary acreage evaluation?. etc., etc.) that is of legitimate concern to the (Town, County, State) why shouldn't it be taxed? If some state can tax my gun collection or my house value or my home furnishings or my equipment or etc.: why can't or shouldn't they tax easement holders (not the landowner but the EASEMENT HOLDER or EASEMENT OWNER who thereby controls the landowner too)?
If the easement holders want to play in the field of Town, County, State political decisions and development and community life then I say they should pay taxes just like you and I. I thought the play on words in my title, "No Representation Without Taxation" summed that up rather well.
I hope this makes sense. I am really busy but I thank you for asking for this clarification. I like the answer so much I think I will share this with others.
Jim
Jim Beers
27 Sep 2007
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http://jimbeers.blogster.com (Jim Beers Common Sense)
- Jim Beers is available for consulting or to speak. Contact: jimbeers7@verizon.net
- Jim Beers is a retired US Fish & Wildlife Service Wildlife Biologist, Special Agent, Refuge Manager, Wetlands Biologist, and Congressional Fellow. He was stationed in North Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska, New York City, and Washington DC. He also served as a US Navy Line Officer in the western Pacific and on Adak, Alaska in the Aleutian Islands. He has worked for the Utah Fish & Game, Minneapolis Police Department, and as a Security Supervisor in Washington, DC. He testified three times before Congress; twice regarding the theft by the US Fish & Wildlife Service of $45 to 60 Million from State fish and wildlife funds and once in opposition to expanding Federal Invasive Species authority. He resides in Centreville, Virginia with his wife of many decades.
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