TN Action Alert - Protect Private Property Rights, Hearing 4/10

Tell Committee Members to Vote NO on SB 2099 & SB 2069

Protect Private Property Rights in Tennessee, Hearing April 10th

We need your help pushing back against legislation that threatens property rights; the Senate Energy, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee (which had previously closed) is being reopened to hear these bills this week. The committee will be meeting at 1:00 p.m. Central on Wednesday the 10^th to hear Senate Bill 2099 (SB 2099) and Senate Bill 2069 (SB 2069). See “Action to Take” below on each hearing to contact respective committee members asking them to vote NO on these bills. We’ve teamed up with the incredible folks at American Stewards for Liberty, Margaret & Dan Byfield, on what exactly these bills do.

ABOUT SB 2099

The bill, without specifically defining “conservation easements”, is in fact, creating the Farmland Preservation Fund to allow the TN Commissioner of Agriculture to acquire “agricultural easements” that “imposes limitations or affirmative obligations on the owner or the owner’s heirs of the servient estate, and assigns with respect to the use and management of the servient land, structures or features thereon…” The key word in this definition is “servient.” That is precisely the definition of a conservation easement (or in this bill “agricultural easement”) – the landowner becomes the servient (lesser) estate to the holder of the easement who becomes the “dominant” estate holder. Environmentalists years ago realized that what they were creating were actually “conservation servitudes”, but they knew landowners would not take kindly to that nomenclature and they intentionally called them “conservation easements” because all landowners know and deal with “easements” on a daily basis. A hearing on SB2099 will be held in the Senate Energy, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee on Wednesday at 1pm. See “Action to Take” below.

ABOUT SB 2069

This bill creates the Tennessee State Forest Fund to, in our estimation, be able to accept federal matching funds from programs such as the Forest Legacy Program (https://www.fs.usda.gov/managing-land/private-land/forest-legacy). This money earmarked for the federal Forest Legacy Program is specifically for conservation easements and land purchases. This program may have dedicated funds that Congress has already allocated, but if the funds from the federal program are coming from the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 legislation, it will have potentially devastating consequences for the state.

This bill would facilitate the Biden administration’s 30×30 agenda where they want to lock up 30% of our lands and waters by 2030. The Department of Interior claims only 12% of our nation are “permanently protected”. Included in that 12% are national parks, wilderness areas, state parks, national wildlife refuges, national monuments, and private lands with permanent conservation easements.

The Tennessee State Forest Fund, intended or not, will be used by environmental NGOs and the state to purchase conservation easements that will fulfill the Biden administration’s agenda to reach their 30% goal. There are multiple federal funds created by Congress and one of those is the Land and Water Conservation Fund. On the USDA website, you’ll find the proposed forest projects listed for their 2024 National Forest System Land Acquisition Program and at the very bottom you’ll see Tennessee is one of the states where they have targeted – called the “Treasures of the Central Appalachians.” They have allocated $11,649,000 for those forest lands.

To view the list, go to

https://www.fs.usda.gov/land/staff/LWCF/Documents/FY24%20NFS%20Land%20Acquisition%20Program.pdf

An additional concern is how this bill creates civil penalties for anyone who intentionally removes or destroys a threatened or endangered species. This is something that comes from the federal Endangered Species Act and is one of the most egregious provisions. Someone charged with this violation will be put in the position of defending themselves against the agency’s claims, which may or may not be valid. It can easily be weaponized against the people.

More concerning is the provision to enlist assistance to enforce the bill from “law enforcement authorities.” Will these be local (sheriff’s department), state, or federal? This should be specified. The county sheriff is the highest law enforcement authority in the county in most states. This provision, if not clarified, could diminish the local sheriff’s authority and the equal protection it provides to the people. The state should not be liberally allowing state agencies to pick and choose which law enforcement authority it wants to carry out these provisions. The hearing for SB 2069, will be 1:00p.m. Wednesday (April 10th) in the Senate Energy, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee.

ACTION TO TAKE

Call and/or email members of the Senate Energy, Agriculture & Natural Resources Committee and ask them to vote NO on SB 2099 and SB 2069. The hearings on these bills will be at 1:00 p.m. on Wednesday the 10^th. Calls are the most effective way to get your message across. It’s especially important to do so if you are a constituent of a member of the committee. The committee members are listed with their phone numbers for your convenience along with a block of email addresses you can copy/paste for each. Further down are “Talking Points” you may incorporate into your message.

To find your legislator, enter your address at

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/Apps/fml2022/search.aspx

You may copy/paste the entire block to email the Committee:

sen.steve.southerland@capitol.tn.gov; sen.shane.reeves@capitol.tn.gov; sen.adam.lowe@capitol.tn.gov; sen.janice.bowling@capitol.tn.gov; sen.heidi.campbell@capitol.tn.gov; sen.charlene.oliver@capitol.tn.gov; sen.paul.rose@capitol.tn.gov; sen.page.walley@capitol.tn.gov

Please call if your senator is listed below for the Senate Committee.

Chairman Steve Southerland (615) 741-3851

Sen Shane Reeves (615) 741-1066

Sen Adam Lowe (615) 741-1946

Sen Janice Bowling (615) 741-6694

Sen Frank Niceley (615) 741-2061

Sen Page Walley (615) 741-2368

Sen Paul Rose (615) 741-1967

Sen Charlene Oliver (615) 741-2453

Sen Heidi Campbell (615) 741-6679

TALKING POINTS: SB 2099

1. The agricultural easements will hurt the farmers’ ability to productively use their land, making it difficult to manage their land in a way that supports optimal crop production, animal husbandry, and sound management techniques. The establishment of the Farmland Preservation Fund enables the state to receive federal money issued under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA). The IRA funding goals aim at “mitigating climate change, limiting livestock emissions, and controlling agricultural production.”

2. The agricultural easements will decrease tax revenues through their limitation on the farmers subject to the easements, lowering tax revenues and state and local services.

TALKING POINTS: SB 2069

1. The matching federal funds for the state could put productive land permanently out of commission through conservation easements and land purchases by going towards locking up 30% of the country’s land under the Biden administration’s 30×30 agenda.

2. The bill contains draconian penalty provisions for destroying or removing endangered species that could be weaponized against the people.

3. The bill empowers the agriculture commissioner to enlist assistance from “law enforcement authorities”; will these be local (county sheriff), state, or federal? The sheriff is usually the highest law-enforcement official in the county, and the law enforcement official most directly responsible to the people; the bill could diminish the sheriff’s authority.

WAPF will send out further alerts as events warrant.

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LINKS

SB 2069

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB2069&GA=113

SB 2099

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/BillInfo/Default.aspx?BillNumber=SB2099&GA=113

Find My Legislator

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/Apps/fml2022/search.aspx

Senate Ag Committee

https://wapp.capitol.tn.gov/apps/CommitteeInfo/SenateComm.aspx?ga=113&committeeKey=640000

Forest Legacy Program