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Crony capitalism is a term describing an economy in
which success in business depends on close relationships between business
people and government officials. It may be exhibited by favoritism in the
distribution of legal permits, government grants, special tax breaks, or other forms of state
interventionism.[1][2] Crony capitalism is believed to arise
when business cronyism and related self-serving behavior by businesses or
business people spills over into politics and government,[3] or when self-serving friendships and family ties between
businessmen and the government influence the economy and society to the extent
that it corrupts public-serving economic
and political ideals.
It is also used to describe governmental decisions
favoring "cronies" of governmental officials. In this context, the
term is often used interchangeably with corporate welfare; to the extent that there is
a difference, it may be the extent to which a government action can be said to
benefit individuals rather than entire industries. credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crony_capitalism
In the United States,
a conservation easement (also called conservation
covenant, conservation restriction or conservation
servitude) is a power invested in a qualified private land conservation
organization (often called a "land trust") or
government (municipal, county, state or federal) to constrain, as to a
specified land area, the exercise of rights otherwise held by a landowner so as to
achieve certain conservation purposes. It is an interest in real property
established by agreement between a landowner and land trust or unit of
government. The conservation easement "runs with the land," meaning
it is applicable to both present and future owners of the land. As with other
real property interests, the grant of conservation easement is recorded in the
local land records; the grant becomes a part of the chain of title for
the property.
The conservation easement's purposes will vary depending on the
character of the particular property, the goals of the land trust or government
unit, and the needs of the landowners. For example, an easement’s purposes
(often called "conservation objectives") might include any one or
more of the following:
· Maintain and
improve water quality;
· Perpetuate and
foster the growth of healthy forest;
· Maintain and
improve wildlife habitat and
migration corridors;
· Protect scenic
vistas visible from roads and other public areas; or
· Ensure that
lands are managed so that they are always available for sustainable
agriculture and forestry. credit: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conservation_easement
I would like
to discuss a single line item that showed up on a state appropriation bill just
last week on the House Reading Calendar.
The Forest Legacy Project (Clagstone Conservation Easement-line item #19
of House bill 599) would have appropriated $5 million dollars in public funds to a single private
company through the Idaho Department of Land's 2016 Budget.
A related appropriation bill for Idaho Department of Fish and Game was set to appropriate another $2
million from taxes to that same business.
The State would be appropriating the money to
this single private corporation to obtain a conservation easement for the purposes of limited public
access and to preserve the so called "uniqueness" of this property. The corporation will maintain ownership and control of the property,
continue to harvest timber, and restrict public access on certain areas of the
property, and may sell the property at any time in the future.
As most of you know I fully support the timber industry and private property rights. What I do not support is using public dollars to reward a corporation for something they could do for free (set up a conservation easement on their own, allow public access and harvest timber).
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Bonner County Commissioners were
unaware of the easement project. The Commissioners were initially denied a copy of the “confidential”
draft easement. After submitting a formal public records request, the county was able to obtain a few of the documents concerning the project through the Idaho Department of Lands. In Section 1 of the easement document it clearly states that the easement was supposed to be done in “cooperation with
local governments”. Idaho Department of Lands and the private corporation apologized to the commissioners for this "oversight". Federal and State bureaucratic agencies and agenda driven environmentalists (https://y2y.net/work/how-protect-connect-inspire/private-lands) have approved this project, but Bonner County Commissioners have not.
Concerns of
the Commissioners range from lack of coordination and input into the
easement or public access management plan, no time to have their resource committee review the drafts, the loss
of potential property taxes and county services, and the fact that there is little time to address
this project's impacts on taxes, neighbors, the disabled, buffer zones, roads, or the county natural resource plan.
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