Government Snatches Up Private Property For Public Management

Private property owners in central North Dakota now have the federal government to thank for losing exclusive management rights to their property. The Democratic Congress passed, and Obama signed, a piece of legislation declaring that half a million acres surrounding the Missouri River be designated as the Northern Plains National Heritage Area. Sounds simple enough, until you learn that the legislation hands the land over to a public foundation (the Northern Plains Heritage Foundation), and gives them the right to write a management plan for private property. On top of that, it seems all this was done without the approval, or even the knowledge, of the private property owners.