Land Rights Network
American Land Rights Association
PO Box 400 - Battle Ground, WA 98604
Phone: 360-687-3087 - Fax: 360-687-2973
E-mail: alra@pacifier.com
Web Address: http://www.landrights.org
Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE - Washington, DC 20003

Nationwide Rahall (D-WV) West Virginia Boycott. Call Now.

This may be the most important e-mail we have ever sent. Please read down to the Action Items and make your calls, send your faxes and e-mails.

Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) is the Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee.

You'll see from the Wall Street Journal article below that Chairman Rahall and the Democrats on the Natural Resources Committee have declared war on rural America and the West.

They have hired advocates from the Wilderness Society and other giant green fundraising groups to help pass land grab legislation like the National Landscape Conservation System (HR 2016), (HR 986 - Eminent Domain), (Rim of the Valley, Mississippi River (HR 3998) and other bills similar to them. This seems to be a clear case of conflict of interest.

Especially notable are the very close links between Mr. Rahall and the Defenders of Wildlife, a green fundraising group that rode point in the national Big Green effort last year to defeat Chairman Richard Pombo.

Through their closely-linked "Defenders of Wildlife Action Fund," they funded and operated a full-time office devoted to throwing mud at one of Rural America's greatest champions, Richard Pombo.

Fueled by PAC contributions from urban elites, and working with other left wing groups and their media toadies, they created a new model that others are now seeking to emulate in the War on the West.... and on Rural America, generally.

The message: If you stand up for the people and the way of life that built America, we will attack you until you lose, and we will employ every dirty trick in the book. This is meant to intimidate Congress and it is working.

It is therefore no mistake that the relationship between the man who now has the Chairmanship of the Natural Resources Committee and former Chairman Richard Pombo, who tried to work closely with Rahall to reform the Endangered Species Act and other issues, brought down the wrath of the greens.

The apparently close working relationship worried the Defenders of Wildlife and other green groups as Pombo, tried to work with Rahall to bring sanity to our land use laws, stop our forests from burning uncontrollably and create economic opportunity for our rural communities and residents.

The greens sought to break this effort by destroying Pombo. In the process they became very close and supportive of Rahall. When a crime boss buys the election of a Big City Mayor, the Mayor usually pays back the debt. Rural Americans are now paying the debt. Rahall is now supporting the greens in their effort toward carrying out a cultural genocide in rural America and the West.

The greens want to buy you out, drive you out, and regulate you out of rural America and the West.

Here are just a few examples about the Natural Resources Committee and how Chairman Rahall and his staff are treating other Members of the Committee and other Members of Congress as well as Chairman Rahall's own constituents in West Virginia.

-----1. The Committee with Rahall as Chairman is deliberately giving very late notice about hearings so that potential witnesses who live a long way away must pay last minute high airfare if they can get a ticket at all. This prevents many good witnesses from testifying and deprives Congress of information needed to make informed decisions.

-----2. The Rahall led Natural Resources Committee kicked several Democrat Members of Congress off the Committee who appeared to care about rural America and the West. They want to win the votes they need to wipe out families and communities who depend on grazing, mining, forestry, recreation and other industries. They want to eliminate as many votes for Private Property Rights as possible. Read the Wall Street Journal article reprinted below.

-----3. You may be surprised that Rahall is supporting legislation that actually hurts many people in his district and the economy of West Virginia.

Worst of all, Nick Rahall seems to have lost sight of his rural roots in the Big City lights of Washington and the salons of Georgetown. That's not uncommon in Washington, but the degree to which he has done so is stunning.

In order to "make our nation more energy independent," he sponsored a bill this year whose only support came from National Green Fundraising groups, whose only position has been that if it has to be mined or drilled or piped in the US, it is bad.

In fact, they see affordable energy as a bad thing in general, and seem to only support forms of energy that cost more than any other kind of energy. This is from a man who represents constituents who like to drive trucks to or for their work. Representing coal miners while taking positions that will just lead to more foreign oil imports doesn't make sense.

And as for mining, Nick Rahall is enemy number 1 of mining in the US. No one in Congress has done more to stop our domestic mining industry from competing with foreign sources for the minerals that have made our nation great.

If you've bought any copper pipe lately, or have heard about someone whose air conditioner or plumbing was stolen out of their home for copper scrap, you'll understand how the demand from China and India is driving prices of minerals through the roof, offering new opportunities for good jobs in rural America.

The only thing standing between affordable supplies of American-made minerals is Nick Rahall's "Mining Reform Bill (HR 2262) that has now passed the House." Experts who have reviewed the bill say it would have a breathtakingly negative impact on the US mining industry, and lead to economic genocide through many western communities where mining is a proud part of the heritage and culture and where mining jobs are the best paying jobs with the best benefits in a county. Here, too, the National Green Fundraising Groups are leading the way, praising him for his work while all other voices are silent.

The truth is, Nick Rahall seems to forget that people have to work for a living before they can get to the weekend. He appears to think that the 1/3 of the US that is owned by the government ought to be reserved for only those uses approved by urban green environmental elite.

The only way to fight back is to make Mr. Rahall and his running buddies hurt at home. We all need to examine every product we buy to make sure it does not come from West Virginia.

As the Rahall West Virginia Boycott goes on, we'll be sending out lists of companies, economic development districts and more. And don't think this boycott will be over quickly. All of us must work as a team and recognize that this boycott could take several years.

As the Rahall West Virginia boycott continues, we'll send copies of this e-mail and others to every Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development District in West Virginia and to hundreds of thousands across the nation. Boycotts tend to start slowly and build steam. We've run or participated in a number of successful boycotts over the years so this is not a new concept. This boycott gives you a chance to make a difference and make the Resources Committee fairer.

-----You may remember ALRA is leading the boycott against the Minneapolis St Paul Airport to help Senator Larry Craig (R-ID) which still continues and will continue into the future. Senator Craig remains in the Senate. From our perspective that is a sure sign of success.

Just type Minneapolis St Paul Airport Boycott into Google for more information about the success of that boycott. Travel agents and others keep telling us that people are steering away from the Minneapolis St Paul Airport.

American Land Rights has over 600,000 e-mails, 900,000 fax numbers and over 2,000,000 names and addresses. Fortunately, many people forward our messages to their list so our e-mails have a significant reach. Well in the millions. We will continue to keep you up to date on the Rahall West Virginia Boycott.

Other groups need to get behind this effort and contact your members and everyone you know in West Virginia. Pass the word to others outside West Virginia not to buy West Virginia products or do business with West Virginia Companies until Chairman Rahall starts treating Rural America and the West in a fair manner. At the very least, he needs to treat the Natural Resources Committee fairly.

Urge companies planning on meetings or development in West Virginia to cancel those plans. We may have to include a few companies specifically in the boycott to make sure they understand the urgency of a fair Congressional process.

Chairman Rahall and his friends have basically sold out to the Wilderness Society, Sierra Club, Natural Resources Defense Council and a host of other giant green fundraising groups.

They don't care about rural America or the West.

- - - - - - - - - - -
Here are the names of some of Chairman Nick Rahall's Staff after he took over as Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Look at their former employers. All these were available on Google.

Lisa James .Defenders of Wildlife

Laurel Angell..Defenders of Wildlife

Leslie Duncan.reporter with Green Sheets

Amelia Jenkins.Forest Service Employees for Environmental Ethics, the Wild Utah Forest Campaign, Western Ancient Forest Campaign,

Wendy Van Asselt.Wilderness Society

Meghan Conklin, Greenpeace and Ozone Action

The question each reader must ask is "can I get fair and balanced help from these former environmental group employees?"

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
This is an urgent call to action. In later e-mails we will send a list of Chambers of Commerce in West Virginia and other helpful information.

Any suggestions you have for making this boycott more successful will be welcome.

If you are as outraged as we are about what Rep. Nick Rahall and his allies have done to the Natural Resources Committee, join with other groups who are participating in the Rahall West Virginia Boycott.