No property rights under Futurewise

I was touched by the phony “heartrending” plea to save farmland in Snohomish County by Kristin Kelly and Marilyn Hoggarth in Sunday’s Herald. (Guest commentary, “County should be fighting, not enabling, rural land rush.”)

While this latest public relations ploy from the radical Futurewise may sound good, their actions tell an entirely different story. Rather than supporting farming in Western Washington, the old “Thousand Friends of Washington” spent millions, financed by Seattle left-wing extremist Paul Brainerd, on campaign contributions, public relations efforts and outright lies during the Initiative 933 debate in an attempt to end all farming in Western Washington.

Kelly has supported some of the most egregious land-use policies with an eye toward the goal of not just ending all development in Snohomish County, but the destruction of all property rights as well. Even more interesting is the political alliance between Futurewise and what Western Washington farmers and ranchers refer to as the “vulture twins” – the Nature Conservancy and the American Farmland Trust. These two organizations help Futurwise do everything possible to drive farmers/ranchers off the land with absurd set asides and other land-use restrictions in the hope that they can buy up the land at “rock bottom” prices.

Kristin Kelly’s green anarchist goal of driving the common man off the land is faced with one primary obstacle: private property rights. Futurewise down in Oregon is still called “Thousand Friends of Oregon” and is largely responsible for the backlash that resulted in Proposition 37. If they keep it up here in Washington, expect another I-933 in three or four years and this time it just might pass! Maybe the property owners of Western Washington haven’t had their “ox gored enough”! Apparently Kelly still has her work cut out for her.

Bob Clark

Monroe