Farm freedom heroine
Martha Boneta dreamed of having a farm in Virginia’s lush countryside. Green busybodies turned her dream into a nightmare. She fought back and won. WATCH NOW
Martha Boneta dreamed of having a farm in Virginia’s lush countryside. Green busybodies turned her dream into a nightmare. She fought back and won. WATCH NOW
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.
"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.
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.