The lure of Columbia Land Trust

Beautiful rivers, tranquil scenery, babbling brooks, fish in abundance, and abounding wild life sounds wonderful thoughts of keeping the land in pristine condition away from development, smoke stacks, and pollution giving your property as a gift or just a conservation easement that will reap tax benefits and beauty forever more.

Dream time over WAKE UP!!!

A private land trust like Columbia Land Trust owning specific scenic or wildlife areas sounds appealing on the surface, but almost all land trusts today are highly political organizations run by ideological, anti-development environmentalist activists seeking to impose social controls in order to undermine the private economy and the civil rights of property owners. Columbia Land Trust has shown many property owners just how they are by their actions of “Do as they will and Harm all those who appose them”. If a private property owner refuse to sell Columbia Land Trust just floods and erodes private property year after year until the owner gives up and gives their dream away to Columbia Land Trust.

The land trusts are financially backed by a subclass of wealthy owners pursuing preservation in order to keep other people out of their sight. Wealthy people who want to hide money, get tax breaks, and abuse the system. Trusts use their politically privileged tax–exempt status and government subsidies to promote and lobby for government ownership and control of vast areas of land, and collaborate with government agencies behind the backs of property owners targeted for acquisition and land use prohibitions. The trusts act as real estate purchasing agents for government agencies, exploiting the mechanisms of the private free–market by buying up land and eventualy flipping it into government ownership.

When direct political and government action becomes too controversial the trusts use their vast wealth to gradually eliminate private property owners from a targeted area over time in a strategy of attrition, while land use controls over private property are relentlessly increased to drive out the remaining owners. Exempt from property taxes themselves, the trusts manipulate the tax code for their own political ends by inducing tax-strapped property owners to sell or donate land in exchange for discriminatory tax breaks available only to those giving up land rights to the ‘non–profit’ trusts. ‘Conservation easements’ ostensively intended to hold development rights typically also grants the trusts enormous privileges to interfere in the private management of the land.

The Lower Columbia River has been targeted by many of the wealthiest and most politically powerful land trusts in the Northwest, they fund and direct several satellite trusts claiming to represent local people such as the “Grays’ River Work Group. The agencies involved are Lower Columbia Fish recovery board, Lower Columbia Fish Enhancement Group. Columbia Land Trust, CREST, Fish and Wildlife, NOAA, funded by you and your tax dollars they boast of a war chest of $90 million to buy up land their backers do not want other people to use, and maintain close connections with government agencies where it influences government land acquisition priorities and regulatory controls. Columbia Land Trust, in collaboration with The Nature Conservancy, and Lower Columbia Fish Recovery Board are carnivorous monsters devouring private property, destroying the very foundation in which this Country was founded on. The new land use planning of projects on the river targets 65 private properties just in the Grays’ River Watershed. This strategic plan promises to take over most of the private property in West Wahkiakum County, which will result in mass condemnations to remove the people, it will provide millions of grant dollars for these agencies. At the same time, they have been collaborating with the Wahkiakum Community Foundation – Karen Bertroch to alert them to any properties such as territorial farm where an elderly widow or widower may reside to use their techniques to “persuade” the owners to donate the property. To solicit the County Assessor to designate, conservation lands behind the backs of the property owners. This area is the gate way to the Pacific Ocean miles of river coast runs through making it a sportsmans paradise, seen as a area rich in estuaries it is “nationally significant”, and being used as an excuse to seize control of people's private property.

We as a community have a voice we spoke loud and clear on Tuesday night making our position clear this is our land, it is not for the taking, and we will not tolerate injustice, lies, or propaganda. We care about our neighbors, our heritage, and our community. We as a community want clean rivers, fish abundance, and to keep our property rights.

Grays’ River Habitat Enhancement District works with landowners to help them protect their property rights. It is a group of community minded people dedicated to preserving the Grays’ River – Rosburg way of life. The commissioners are not paid and do NOT receive financial incentives or gains. There is no hidden agenda. This is the community’s place to bring concerns, suggestions, information and work as a community united to stop the take over of our waterways, private properties and homes there is power in numbers together we can take our property and homes back.

GRHED meets 2nd Wednesday of every month at 6pm at the Grays’ River Grange. Bring thoughts, questions, and concerns. If you need assistance in regards to river issues, private property take over, or just have questions - call GRHED - Delvin Fredrickson 360-465-2960