Rob Bishop: “in my short time as the ranking member on the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, I have already…”

“in my short time as the ranking member on the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and Public Lands, I have already heard a number of stories from property owners who have been threatened or bullied with the hammer of eminent domain. Thousands of acres each year are taken from private citizens and against their will in order to expand our national parks and our national forests. This is done in spite of the fact that the Federal Government has so much land it cannot possibly manage what it already has. Landowners, when faced with the possibility of a long, protracted war against bureaucrats, land managers and legions of Federal lawyers, often choose simply to walk away. What is most outrageous then is the fact that these people are then labeled by us as willing sellers. This has happened to landowners across our Nation. We've had examples from people living near the Everglades in Florida, to the Cape Cod National Seashore in Massachusetts, to Voyageurs National Park in Minnesota, just a few places where there has been, in my estimation, egregious abuse by the Federal Government. I have letters from a family in Maine who endured 20 years in a battle with the Federal Government.”