We’ve identified five key provisions Congress can advance through budget reconciliation that will roll back 30×30 and the natural asset scam.
Download these five property rights provisions here.
Readers may remember last year when we released 16 key policies that must be advanced by Congress and the Trump administration to restore the property rights eroded by the Biden regime and decades of environmental policies. Five of these passed the test that would allow them to be part of the budget reconciliation process.
Budget reconciliation only requires a majority vote in the Senate, not the normal two-thirds required for most legislation. However, the provisions must meet the Senate test known as the “Byrd Rule.” This rule is designed to make sure the provisions are true budgetary items, not policy changes.
The five property rights provisions that meet this test are:
- REDUCE CONSERVATION PROGRAM FUNDING
What: For conservation programs funded through the Farm Bill and the Inflation Reduction Act: (1) rescind Inflation Reduction Act funds not expended, (2) limit the acreage enrolled in a conservation program to not exceed 10 percent in a county, and (3) limit participants to only one conservation program at a time.
Why: Conservation programs artificially increase the purchase and lease prices of land while taking land out of production, making it harder for landowners to produce America’s food and goods without federal subsidies.
Communities also suffer. As production is reduced, so go the good-paying jobs found at equipment sellers, parts stores, restaurants, and other vital businesses. Just like areas with many government-owned lands, those areas with large amounts of conservation land find they must rely on more federal grants to pay for schools, hospitals, and roads, increasing the federal deficit.
Additionally, if conservation acres are limited, the federal government cannot directly compete with and outprice the productive landowner. Ag markets can once again become competitive, and landowners will see more direct profits and stability.
Finally, private lands with federal conservation programs are vulnerable to outsiders and to the government claiming they own the “environmental services” on their lands. This path was created by the “Sustains Act,” passed by Congress at the end of 2022.
Side note: We would also like to see a policy advanced that would exclude landowners from environmental regulations if they are not participating in the federal conservation programs, along the lines of President Trump’s proposal that anyone who invests a billion dollars in America would be exempt from the environmental noose. But that would need to be advanced through a different legislative vehicle.
- SUNSET AND PHASE OUT CONSERVATION EASEMENTS
What: Amend the IRS Code to (1) sunset new conservation easements, and (2) develop a phase-out program for existing federally held and funded easements. Landowners can renegotiate subsequent easements after they expire.
Why: Conservation easements are a tax credit in that they reduce the taxable value of the land. They are a deceptive tool environmentalists use to acquire control of private land, forever, at tremendous costs to the government (and its citizens).
Also, land in a conservation easement is no longer functionally private property, as the primary control over the land is now held by a land trust or the government. If you don’t control the property, you don’t truly own the land. Our website breaks down the dangers of conservation easements here.
- END FUNDING FOR NEW FEDERAL LAND ACQUISITIONS
What: Prohibit funds for programs that have been permanently funded, such as the Land and Water Conservation Fund, which are used to purchase private property, and do not require a land swap creating a no net gain of federal lands.
Why: These funds increase federal ownership of land and reduce private land ownership in America, taking more land off the tax rolls and out of production. The federal government has a maintenance backlog in the billions of dollars for the lands they already own. They do not need to add more inventory so that more of our land can be destroyed through bad management, such as the massive wildfires that have plagued the West.
- REDUCE FEDERAL LAND INVENTORY
What: Direct the sale of specific parcels of federal lands that would be better purposed if returned to the private sector, excluding those protected by Congress, such as our national parks and wildlife refuges, using the process authorized at 43 U.S.C.A. §1713 Subsections a-g.
Why: To help local economies expand, increase proper management of the land through private stewardship, and reduce the federal budget.
Every good business regularly assesses whether its property holdings make sense and unloads those that no longer meet the business purpose. The federal government should do the same. There are booming communities landlocked by federal lands that need to expand to accommodate homes, restaurants, and hotels for recreationists and other expanding industries.
The federal government holds land that prevents beneficial use of the resources, draining local economies and the American taxpayer. These should be identified and sold to citizens as Congress has already authorized, in small parcel sizes to small landowners, and in such a way as to prevent monopolies. In other words, back to the model established by our Founding Fathers, where every citizen could own enough land to support a family.
- REQUIRE ALL FEDERAL AGENCIES TO COORDINATE WITH STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS
What: Authorize funds for all federal land management agencies to coordinate federal resource
plans and policies with states and local governments as prescribed in the Federal Land Policy and Management Act at section 202 (43 U.S.C. § 1712(c)(9)), in addition to the cooperating agency process.
Why: To ensure federal plans and policies do not harm the local economy and the health, safety, and welfare of the people, and that the required coordination occurs in compliance with state open meeting laws.
Remember when the federal government respected local control? It’s been a long time since then, but Congress directed the federal land management agencies to do just that back in the 1980s. The problem is that no administration since has implemented this requirement, and the administrative state has resisted implementing the law when pressed by the Counties.
They have attempted to replace actual coordination, which requires the agencies to work to achieve consistency with the local plans, with a “cooperative agency” process in which they can ignore the local priorities.
Actual coordination prevents federal agencies from destroying local economies. Instead, they have to harmonize federal plans with local policies. Congress recognized that federal land management agencies only manage the land. It is the local governments that protect the health, safety, and welfare of the people, which must be prioritized in the federal planning process. You can learn more about this process on our website.
Take Action:
Members of Congress are advancing their priorities for budget reconciliation now. Download these five property rights provisions here and ask your Representative and Senators to include them in the budget reconciliation bill.
Look up your U.S. Representative and Senators here.
Now is the time to make sure protecting property rights is a top priority in Congress.