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HIGHLIGHTS FROM OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK
A SOCIO-CULTURAL
ASSESSMENT OF INHOLDERS
IN THE OLYMPIC NATIONAL PARK - LAKE CRESCENT AND ELWHA VALLEY
AREA
by Kent Anderson
[1981?]
for the Institute for Human Rights Research, San Antonio, Texas
- Promises made "Private land inside park no different than outside...Owner may farm it cut timber...do what he likes, Interior Secretary Ickes" [p4]. And others [Chapter 2]
- Big changes affecting inholder - Park Service relations started with the flood of money provided to the Park Service by the LWCF in 1965. Previous good relations turned disastrous. [p5]. More false promises. Very important to document these false promises as they are the first things received by unaware targeted landowners that loll them into a false sense of security and inaction with the result that critical legal deadlines to protect their rights may be missed. [Chapter 2]
- Friends of Lake Crescent a model for effective landowner action and organization. It was one of the first inholder groups in the US and at one time had virtually 100% landowner participation. [p6-7] [Chapter 2]
- NPS holds blitz "take em by surprise" field hearing, gives only 8 days notice. Friends of Lake Crescent able to assemble 100 to testify. Important lesson that landowners MUST organize ahead of immediate threat to be ready to respond to surprise tactics used by the NPS. [p9] [Chapter 2]
- NPS tries to restrict who can buy your property. NPS superintendent says "You can pass your property to your family but if we catch you trying to sell it to someone else we'll condemn it." [p9] [Chapter 2]
- NPS declares that multiple lot ownership is one tract to them (even if taxed and legally subdivided as multiple lots). This means that parents not allowed to give adjacent lots to children for extra cabin construction. [p11, Chapter 2], [p22 Chapter 3, Fred & Helen Radke]
- Son of near legendary first Olympic National Forest Ranger John Morgenroth remarks on NPS destruction of visitor facilities [p14] [Chapter 3, John & Mary Morgenroth]
- Benefits to park resources and security of having inholders resident in the park. [p15]
- Federal government employee Don Jones contrasts NPS ways of dealing with people with that of his agency, the Coast and Geodetic Survey. "Taxpayer comes first" but not with the NPS. Also, even as a non-land owner, he served well as the first chairman of Friends of Lake Crescent. [p15] Don & Francis Jones
- NPS "appraisal shopping" [p19] and low balling practices [p21, 22] Anthony Hoars, Barb Bothen, John & Betty Halberg.
- Elected official chooses words carefully, "lying, harassment, dishonesty" applied to NPS management practices. [p22] Fred & Helen Radke.
- Disastrous results in jury trials setting values after NPS Declarations of Taking. [p23, 24] Terry (Severs) Norberg.
- Petition with 1,755 signatures against wilderness proposal logged in by NPS as "one entry" while at the same time NPS recruits hundreds of high school students and boy scouts to come and testify in favor of the wilderness proposal. [p25] Dr. Don Bettger.
- NPS ranger retires early. Says, when he began with the agency, "people meant something". "I couldn't stand it any longer." [p29] Jack Nattinger.
PLEASE READ ON FOR THE COMPLETE REPORT!
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