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Martha wins! In a stinging repudiation of the conduct of a Virginia environmental group once viewed as politically invincible, Gov. Terry McAuliffe (D) March 10 signed into law bipartisan legislation that -- for the first time -- provides rural landowners the means with which to defend themselves against bullying by land trusts.
Did the PEC fabricate claims that Stonewall Jackson slept in an oak grove on Liberty Farm?
The once-respected Piedmont Environmental Council has been shamed by the Virginia Outdoors Foundation and Virginia Assistant Attorney General Richard Mahevich for misdeeds surrounding its sale of Liberty Farm to organic farmer Martha Boneta. The PEC had inserted language into an easement agreement with Ms. Boneta and the VOF that benefitted PEC member Phil Thomas, who then took various actions against Ms. Boneta in a blatant attempt to force her to abandon the property she had turned from a dump into a profitable operation. Now the Virginia legislature is considering legislation to curb the power of land trusts.
Sign the petition. Stand up for property rights for Virginians and everyone!
Thursday was a good day for Liberty in Richmond -- both the farm and the ideal.
Thursday, November 6, 2014 -- 9:00 AM Bell tower rally -- 9:30 AM Legislative hearing
Thanks to a grassroots outcry against injustice, Virginia lawmakers passed a new law, signed by Gov. Terry McAuliffe, that protects family farmers from encroachment by local governments. Martha Boneta had been barred by her county government from selling produce, fined for hosting a birthday party, and threatened with the loss of her entire farm. Environmental groups and county governments provided the major opposition to the bill.
The Piedmont Environmental Council sees itself as the guardians -- and also the lords -- of Virginia's rural landscape. Their thirst for power has been whetted by a proposal by a Donald Trump enterprise to expand a nine-hole golf course to 18 holes, hardly an environmentally devastating development. PEC built its reputation by stopping a Disney theme park, so this attempt to "trump" this development is no surprise.