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Did ‘Stonewall’ Jackson sleep here? Farmer sues over claim

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|2016-06-22T08:39:28-04:00June 20th, 2016|

Martha Boneta’s lawsuit against the Piedmont Environmental Council, filed in May, argues that the organization’s linking of Jackson to her property was not just a mistake but a deliberate act of fraud.

Virginia Supreme Court upholds property rights, deals severe blow to land trusts

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|2016-02-17T11:08:59-05:00February 16th, 2016|

In a landmark decision that is as uplifting for property rights advocates as it is devastating for land trusts throughout the United States, the Virginia Supreme Court on February 12 overwhelmingly ruled in favor of a small Loudoun County winery in its multi-year battle with one of the nation’s most powerful environmental groups. By a 5-2 margin, the Virginia Supremes upheld a lower court decision that Chrysalis Vineyards’ plans to upgrade its facilities did not violate the terms of a conservation easement on the property held by Wetlands America Trust (WAT), on behalf of Ducks Unlimited (DU).  The case, Wetlands America [...]

Virginia land barons terrorize local farmer

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|2016-01-11T17:53:02-05:00January 8th, 2016|

Saying their multi-year, well-documented harassment of a local farmer does not mean they “should have to be dragged through protracted, expensive litigation to battle a neighbor,” a powerful Virginia husband-and-wife real estate team has put forward a novel argument in their defense: We should not be held liable for the pain and financial loss we inflicted on our neighbor; she should suck it up because our acts were a mere “irritation and distraction.”

“Farming in Fear” Watch the trailer

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|2015-07-15T11:08:58-04:00July 15th, 2015|

"Farming in Fear" pieces together Martha's story from interviews and documentation, tracking the nearly 10-year ordeal she's gone through just to earn a living in spite of corrupt local ordinances, abusive management of her conservation easement, and personal attacks through the introduction of an amendment to Virginia's Right to Farm Act called the 'Boneta Bill', designed to protect small farmers so that what happened to Martha never happens again.

Virginia Farmer’s property rights victory wins documentary awards

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|2015-07-13T15:25:19-04:00July 13th, 2015|

Press release: Two awards for documentary on Martha Boneta's property rights victory in Virginia.

Ducks Unlimited, Virginia winery face off in court over land-use restrictions

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|2015-06-26T16:11:47-04:00June 26th, 2015|

Cronyism once again rears its ugly head, as Big Conservation seeks to infringe upon the rights of American property owners to use their land lawfully for profit and for the benefit of customers who make their businesses grow. This time. it is a small Virginia winery, but next time it may be you wanting to add a barbecue pit or even a hot tub. Hopefully, the courts will side with the property owners this time -- but we must be eternally vigilant against these interlopers who seek godlike status in our society.

Greens, Feds team up to link land-use restrictions to climate change

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|2015-06-23T12:01:08-04:00June 23rd, 2015|

The behemoth that is the federal bureaucracy is wholly unaccountable to the people whom they are now pushing around via massive new regulations -- Obama style -- that take away private property rights without due process or even a hearing. Washington is out of control and must be reined in,

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Prospectors, North Carolina land trust face off over access to gold

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|2015-05-08T15:09:58-04:00May 8th, 2015|

While the Land Trust of Central North Carolina did purchase some property along the Uwharrie River, their attempts to stifle suction dredging by local prospectors looking for gold may have run afoul of North Carolina law -- the prospectors surely think that the state, not the Land Trust, owns the riverbed and thus the Land Trust has no right to impede the dredging.

Shakeup at Virginia land trust makes waves

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|2015-04-10T11:11:56-04:00April 10th, 2015|

Heather Richards may have resigned from her job with the Piedmont Environmental Council, but she is in a position of even greater authority now as chair of the Land Trust Accredication Commission -- and one wonders whether other land trusts are also abusing power as the PEC clearly did. As for Richards, she cannot even seem to tell the truth about her upbringing.

House bill would give land trusts power over private forestlands

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|2015-03-30T11:23:03-04:00March 30th, 2015|

The proposed "Forest Legacy Management Flexibility Act” would, according to its supporters, promote conservation of private forestlands by reducing administrative burdens for states. Conservation easements under the federal Forest Legacy Program could be held by accredited land trusts rather than state agencies. CFACT advisor Bonner Cohen says the cost to the public of this bill would be incalculable. Far better than the landowners ignore these land trusts and manage their own property and pass it along to their heirs.

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