Guest Column
Montana Property Rights, Traditions Need Protection
An assault on private property rights by the government and special interest groups is hurting Montanans -- and trampling on tradition.By Chuck Denowh, Guest Writer, Guest Writer, 5-21-09
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| East Missoula hills/Photo by Seamus Murray | |
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Montana has long had some admirable traditions concerning property rights. Most of us grew up asking before we went hunting or fishing, and most property owners were eager to allow their neighbors recreational access. We got along pretty well with each other based on the principle of what’s mine is mine, and what’s yours is yours.
That principle seems to be fading. Some segments of state and local government, and myriad private special interest groups, are pushing agendas that are having a very negative impact on how we can use our property. And the impacts just aren’t on big farmers and ranchers—homeowners are finding themselves under attack as well.
I belong to an organization called United Property Owners of Montana (UPOM). We were formed last year in response to the troubling trend we see in rural Montana where it’s becoming harder and harder to make a living off the land. That trend is a direct result of the multi-fronted assault on private property rights.
The impact is we’re in jeopardy of losing the unique culture and heritage that makes Montana such a great place to live, work, and recreate. It all goes back to those traditions based on respect that we all grew up with—the traditions that are now disappearing.
That’s why all property owners need to band together to preserve our Montana traditions. It doesn’t matter if you’re a homeowner or a big rancher—the erosion of one person’s rights affect us all by making it that much easier the next time a new rule, regulation, or lawsuit is proposed to diminish the next person’s rights. At the legislature, every lawmaker says they’re for property rights. But a look at the votes shows there’s a real difference in thinking about how much control government should have over how we use our property.
UPOM lobbied at the legislature in favor of dozens of bills that would reinforce the rights we all enjoy as Montanans. But it seems like we spent just as much time fending off assaults from various state agencies and wealthy special interest groups who want more control over what you can do with your property.
We’ve compiled what UPOM did during the legislature in a report, including individual scores for legislators based on committee and floor votes. The report is easy to find on our website.
Though these bills usually don’t get the big headlines, many of them were some of the most contentious of the session. We’d encourage all Montanans to take a look at how their individual legislators really voted on property rights and compare it with how they say they vote on property rights. Oftentimes there’s a big difference.
It doesn’t matter if it’s a bill on water rights or the state fish and game, all property rights issues affect all property owners in Montana. If we sit by and allow someone else’s rights to be diminished, we just make it that much easier for our rights to be impinged down the road.
Chuck Denowh is the policy director for the United Property Owners of Montana.
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Comments
All political power is vested in and derived from the people. All government of right originates with the people, is founded upon their will only, and is instituted solely for the good of the whole.
Anyone know where I got this? Maybe the author should do some further reading... there is a lot of other neat stuff in there too.
Tim, if you have questions about any of the statements made in the article, please specify. It's not very fair to cast aspersions on the factuality without pointing to specific things you don't think are right.
We don't oppose public access to public land either, and frankly I don't know where you got that notion. In fact, we've been working against the road closures on public land that have done so much to limit hunting access for Montanans, which puts more pressure on private landowners.
It's pretty obvious you'd rather ignore the facts and spread hate.
-Some segments of state and local government, and myriad private special interest groups, are pushing agendas that are having a very negative impact on how we can use our property.
What are the agendas, and what are the negative impacts on how we can use our property, and for that matter, when has government ever been free of special interests? Last time I checked, Farm and Ranch interests wield significant political power and are well represented on all levels of Montana government.
-We were formed last year in response to the troubling trend we see in rural Montana where it’s becoming harder and harder to make a living off the land. That trend is a direct result of the multi-fronted assault on private property rights.
My father is a rural Montana beet\bean farmer or as he prefers ‘a small business owner’. You’re right that it’s getting a lot harder to live off the land. I‘ve never heard that lost property rights are the cause of the problem. I hear a lot about high taxes, high energy prices, high cost of health care, bad weather, bad equipment, problems with bugs, varmints and weeds, competition with corporate sugar farms, but never about property rights. Care to first, define the assault on property rights and second, explain how that’s making it harder for Dad to make a living?
-The impact is we’re in jeopardy of losing the unique culture and heritage that makes Montana such a great place to live, work, and recreate. It all goes back to those traditions based on respect that we all grew up with—the traditions that are now disappearing.
Maybe you could explain this heritage and culture that we are losing. Maybe the tradition of ‘what mine is mine and what’s yours is yours’? That’s not the Montana I grew up in. It’s not the Montana my father still farms, and I don’t believe it’s the Montana our forefathers envisioned when they wrote the Constitution of the State of Montana, which is where that quote came from.