Who
We Are
This
site contains a repository of articles on The
Nature Conservancy.
We have included every article we’ve read
over the last several years.
These articles included the good, the bad,
and the ugly.
As such, we believe they present a balanced
view of the organization.
By keeping them in a central location, we
hope those doing research on the Conservancy will
find it easy to access the materials they need.
Everyone
acknowledges that the Conservancy is one of the
richest, most powerful non-profit organizations in
the
United
States
.
They claim to be an “organization that
preserves plants, animals and natural communities
representing the diversity of life on Earth by
protecting the lands and waters they need to
survive”.
Quite an altruistic and noble goal, but is
there more that lies beneath the surface?
We think there is.
In
their own words, they “are building an ark, just
like Noah’s
Ark
,
not one ark” but thousands of arks all over the
world, where plants and animals will be protected
into perpetuity.
Like
many of their radical environmental counterparts,
they accuse mankind of causing what some perceive
to be the 6th great extinction of
plants and animals on the Earth.
Although the Conservancy does include a
human component in their agenda, they are quick to
award those who support their agenda and condemn
those who do not.
With
strong ties to the United Nations, it appears the
Conservancy does have an agenda. As
co-funders of conservation biology, the
“science” underpinning the Wildlands Project -
a part of the United Nation’s Agenda 21, the
Conservancy is active in all 50 states
implementing plans that include reserves and
corridors that must be set-aside to preserve
biodiversity, endangered species and their
habitat. According
to the Wildlands Project, these reserves must also
be set aside from all human activity.
Around the reserves and corridors will be
buffer zones where limited human activity will be
allowed, if
these activities are compatible with the reserves.
It
has been widely publicized that the Conservancy,
in the scheme of buying up private land and
selling it to the government, became an “arm of
the federal government”.
Strategic planning during the 90s
positioned the Conservancy in a new and even more
powerful role.
No longer content buying up and selling
land, the Conservancy began to use its
“scientific expertise” in ecosystem, fire,
watershed, endangered species and habitat
management to convince elected officials and
agencies they should sign Memorandums of
Understanding (MOUs) with their organization.
They soon became “consultants” to the
wildlife and land management agencies.
Today,
we see the Conservancy acting in an advisory
capacity to federal, state, local agencies and
private industry as they move into “managing”,
not only public lands but private lands, for
ecosystems, biodiversity, watersheds, fire and
endangered species habitat.
In essence they have moved beyond just
being an arm of the federal government to that of becoming
a federal agency.
Jay
Lehr, PHD, in an article entitled “How to Fix
the Endangered Species Act”, states, “Who
among us does not love warm fuzzy mammals?
Some of us even like slimy reptiles and
insects, and we all love critters who take to the
air or swim in the sea.
On average, humans are natural-born
animal-lovers, and we quite naturally want to do
what we can to protect them and their habitat.”
Armed
with a plethora of social scientists, as well as
wildlife biologists, the knowledge that people
have a God-given desire to care for plants and
animals did not escape the Conservancy.
In fact, they capitalize on it in their
solicitations and publications by including photos
of wildlife, flowers and vistas that tug at our
hearts. Their
call to “protect” these wonders appeal to our
deepest desires. They have been very instrumental
in elevating the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to
it current popularity.
Dr.
Lehr goes on to say our federal government tries
to protect these species and scenic views in its
usual “command and control” manner, punishing
people who discover their land contains a rare or
vulnerable animal by placing restrictions on how
the land can be used.
Experts
on endangered species and by using the Heritage
Data Base to determine where these species have
their habitat, the Conservancy has become very
instrumental in “advising” our federal and
state wildlife agencies.
Once a species has been listed and critical
habitat is to be designated, the Conservancy steps
in wearing their white hats.
Convincing the landowners and agencies they
have come to save the day, they become mediators
to broker a deal between the two.
Claiming
to be able to fix the harms associated with the
ESA, and an ability to make everyone whole in the
process, they push for a “win/win” situation.
They have become experts mitigating the ESA
for mega-corporations.
It goes unnoticed, however, that this same
organization was instrumental, using its Heritage
Base information, in assisting the federal
agencies to place the restrictions that are now
adversely impacting the corporations, people and
communities.
As
a result, their “mediation” has served to stop
development, violate private property rights,
obstruct worthwhile projects, eliminate the use of
valuable resources, create economic hardships and
move everyone towards more federal ownership and
control of our land and its resources.
In our opinion, the Conservancy is a part
of the problem, not the solution.
Endowed
by a federal largess of grants, foundational
funding, mitigation fees and powerful political
affiliations, the Conservancy does an excellent
job of leading our agencies and elected officials
into a new world order.
A new society that has no place for any
individual rights, much less private property
rights.
There
is only a slight difference between communism and
socialism when it comes to the ownership of land
and the use of its resources.
In a communistic society the central
government owns all the land and resources.
In a socialistic society, the land is only
“managed” by the central government.
In both societies the people are allowed to
use the land and its resources, based on the whims
of the central government and the government’s
ability to capitalize on the end product.
Only those they consider to be “good
managers”, however, can make use of the land.
Both communism and socialism are based on
flawed thinking that has proven to be a dismal
failure historically.
With the assistance of the Conservancy, in
which direction is the
United
States
headed?
While
teaching a class on ecology, Dr. Jack Stauder,
professor of social/anthropology at the
University
of
Massachusetts
–
Dartmouth
,
wrestled with his class presentation, as developed
by using the published works of Paul Ehrlich and
Lester Brown - Worldwatch Institute.
Challenged to explore the other side, he
began reading the works of Ron Bailey, Dixie Lee
Ray and others.
As a result, his environmental course now
presents both views.
It has become the student’s
responsibility to make up his own mind.
As a result of this change, the students
are developing an open mind about environmental
issues. In
presenting both sides of the issue, they are no
longer easily led by environmental propaganda.
Having
said all this, we are taking the advice Dr.
Stauder offers in his excellent article entitled,
“Changing Course: Teaching Both Sides of
Environmental Issues”, and are attempting to
present both sides on this website.
It
is our intent that this site will be an
educational experience for the viewer.
Although we’ve taken the liberty to try
and persuade our readers, by reading the articles
we hope you will be able to draw your own
conclusions.
Vaya con Dios!
References
Lehr,
Jay; How to Fix the Endangered Species Act;
Heartland Institute; April 2005
Stauder,
Jack; Changing Course:Teaching Both Sides of
Environmental Issues; Liberal Education;
Summer 1995.
Famous
quotes:
It
is impossible for a man to learn what he thinks he
already knows - Epictetus
"The
trouble with our liberal friends is not that
they're ignorant: It's just that they know so much
that isn't so." - Ronald Reagan
"If
you are not a liberal in your youth, you have no
heart. If you remain a liberal as you grow
older, you have no brains." Sir Winston
Churchill
Education
makes a people easy to lead but difficult to
drive, easy to govern, but impossible to enslave -
Lord Brougham
“What
is common to many is taken least care of, for all
men have greater regard for what is their own than
for what they possess in common with others.”
– Aristotle
“Give
a man the secure possession of bleak rock, and he
will turn it into a garden; give him a nine years
lease of a garden, and he will convert it to a
desert….The magic of property turns sand into
gold.” – Arthur Young; Travels; 1787
“The
earth shows up those of value and those who are
good for nothing.” – Jean Pierre Vernant
“Property
is more than the thing which a person owns.
It is elementary that it includes the right
to acquire, use, and dispose of it.
The Constitution protects these essential
attributes of property… There can not be
conception of property aside from its control and
use, and upon its use depends its value.” –
Buchanan V. Warley (Supreme Court decision, 1917)
“Wisdom
is the principal thing: Therefore get wisdom.
And in all your getting, get
Understanding.” Proverbs 4:7
