This
is the only source for this. If anyone can confirm or deny this it
would be great.
Oregon
criminalizes permaculture; claims state ownership over all rainwater
- ponds and swales restricted - jail time for violators
29
July, 2012
There's
nothing more refreshing than standing in a cool, summertime rain
shower. Or bathing in the warm sunlight on a crisp spring day. Or
inhaling the cool autumn air, fresh with the scent of turning leaves
and pine needles. These things -- rainwater, sunlight, air -- have
long been assumed to be not only free, but un-claimable. You can't
claim to own the sunlight that falls on my front yard, for example. A
corporation can't claim intellectual property ownership over the air
that you breathe and demand you pay a royalty for inhaling.
But
today, Jackson County, Oregon says it owns YOUR rainwater, and the
county has sentenced a man to 30 days in jail and fined him over
$1500, for the supposed "crime" of collecting rainwater
on his
own property.
The
man's name is Gary Harrington, and he owns over 170 acres of land in
Jackson County. On that land, he has three ponds, and those ponds
collect rainwater that falls on his land. Common sense would say Gary
has every right to have ponds with water on his 170 acres of land,
but common sense has been all but abandoned in the state of
Oregon.
Much
like California, Oregon is increasingly becoming a collectivist
state. You didn't build that! The government built that! You don't
own that! The government owns that! That rainwater that just fell on
your land? That's the government's rainwater, and you're going to
jail if you try to steal from the government!
That's
the explanation from Jackson County officials, who initially granted
Harrington "permits" to build ponds back in 2003. Yes, in
Oregon you actually need to beg for permission from the government
just to have a pond on your own land. But the state of Oregon revoked
his permits a few years later, after he had already created the
ponds, thus putting Harrington in the position of being a "water
criminal" who was "stealing" rainwater from the
state.
Tom
Paul, administrator of the Oregon Water Resources Department, is an
obedient water Nazi. He insists, "Oregon law that says all of
the water in the state of Oregon is public water and if you want to
use that water, either to divert it or to store it, you have to
acquire a water right from the state of Oregon before doing that
activity."
What
he means, of course, is not that the water is "public"
water, but that it's government water.
The government owns it, and if you "steal" from the
government by, for example, collecting rainwater off your own roof,
you will go to jail.
Thus,
even when rainwater falls on your own property, you don't own it! The
government owns it. You didn't build that! The government built that.
That's not YOUR land, you only lease it from the King, and by the
way, your property tax is due again...
Paul
continues, "If you build a dam, an earthen dam, and interrupt
the flow of water off of [YOUR OWN] property, and store that water
that is an activity that would require a water right permit from us."
(http://www.nwpr.org/post/southern-oregon-man-sentenced-jail-time-ille...)
You
don't own the rain that falls on your own yard, Oregon insists
The
state of Oregon openly admits, on its website, that you
don't own the rain water that falls on your land! As
stated on Oregon.gov:
Under
Oregon law, all water is publicly owned. With some exceptions,
cities, farmers, factory owners, and other water users must obtain a
permit or water right from the Water Resources Department to use
water from ANY
source... (http://cms.oregon.gov/owrd/pages/pubs/aquabook_laws.aspx)
That
page describes an exception to
allow rainwater collection from rooftops, but not from a yard or
natural landscape: "Exempt uses of surface water include
...collection and use of rainwater from an artificial impervious
surface (like a parking lot or a building's roof)..."
So,
in other words, if Harrington had paved
his fields with
asphalt, then collecting the rainwater would have been legal in
Oregon! But because his fields were natural grasses, shrubs and
trees, the rainwater collection was deemed illegal.
Harrington
said that he will never stop fighting the government on this issue.
As reported in CNS News: "When something is wrong, you just, as
an American citizen, you have to put your foot down and say, This is
wrong; you just can't take away anymore of my rights and from here on
in, I'm going to fight it."
(http://cnsnews.com/news/article/oregon-man-sentenced-30-days-jail-col...)
If
states claim they own the rain, they may soon claim to own the
sunlight, too
Rainwater,
it turns out, isn't the only thing that falls on your land. Sunlight
also falls on your land. Air resides above it, and minerals below
it.
If
the state of Oregon already claims to own all the water that falls on
your land, what's to stop them from claiming ownership over all the
sunlight, too? Imagine a day when the
state erects solar panels on your land,
but the electricity isn't yours to keep. You still have to pay for
it, because the sunlight belongs to the state, get it?
If
you erect your own solar panels on your own land, the state could
then arrest you and charge you with "stealing" state
property. All those photons, you see, belong to the state. Once the
state declares sunlight to be "community property," you
instantly become a criminal for having solar panels on your house.
State
of Oregon declares war on permaculture and sustainable living
Collecting
rainwater -- and sunlight -- are practices taught in sustainable
living, permaculture and throughout the green movement. Rainwater
capture using ponds and swales is one of the most important
strategies for restoring a local landscape. See a good video overview
of this here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keXhHMmA2Xk
These
rainwater capture practices help trees grow more quickly and
accelerate the return of animal life to any region. They can even be
used to restore
a desert to a lush, food-producing forest.
Watch these remarkable videos with Geoff
Lawton:
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=C8103CF932330F50C3517F90AD81CBAB
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=566CDDCCEAB4F13F84BD671136D07F10
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=9F5EE67E76B9EEF613327E144B1B9973
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=E6AA432FA7063A24C998BC96C1363A72
See
more permaculture
videos on
the permaculture channel at
TV.naturalnews.com:
http://tv.naturalnews.com/Browse.asp?memberid=18014
Capturing
rainwater also reduces the burden on groundwater supplies and
municipal water systems. Capturing rainwater actually protect
aquifers and raises the value of land, which results in higher
property tax revenues for the county.
That
Jackson County officials actually criminalize
permaculture practices is
abhorrent to not only the green movement on the left, but also the
Libertarians and Constitutionalists on the right. Much like in
California, Oregon County officials are lying,
power-hungry tyrants who
falsely accuse Harrington of "diverting" stream water when,
in reality, he was only capturing water that normally flows off his
own property and later joins the stream.
"Water
law is water law, whether you agree with it or not," said
Jackson County Water Master Larry Menteer.
(http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/16/man-disputes-oregon-convictions-...)
In
other words, the power of the state is absolute, even if the state
departs from the realm of sanity. Importantly, if the state of Oregon
can claim ownership over rainwater, what's to stop the state from
claiming ownership over the AIR, too?
To
clarify: Oregon state bureaucrats are claiming they
own the RUNOFF water from rainwater that falls on your own land! Some
of the communist-minded critics who are defending state officials in
this case are lying and trying to claim this man "dammed a
stream," implying it was a stream that ran through his property.
That's a lie. All this man did was dam up his
own runoffwhich
later dumps into a stream. Thus, he only captures his own rainwater.
He takes no water from anywhere else. And when his own ponds are
filled, that rainwater overflows directly into the stream where it
used to flow before he built his dams.
This
practice of capturing rainwater has been used throughout the history
of civilization to restore landscapes, preserve soils, grow food and
live more sustainably. Do not fall for the disinformation
campaigns being
waged on this issue by the Oregon communists and socialists who
believe no individual has any right to anything.
What
if Oregon claims ownership over the air you breathe?
If
the state of Oregon can claim it owns the water that falls on your
land, then it can also just as easily claim ownership over
the sunlight that
falls on your land. But it doesn't stop there: What about the air you
breathe?
There
is absolutely nothing stopping Oregon -- or any other state -- from
proclaiming air is "state property." If you breathe it, you
owe the state money.
The
fees will be small at first -- perhaps $10 / month -- but over time
they will be raised to exorbitant levels. It's a state-run shakedown,
after all, and once the People become apathetic enough to allow the
state to expand its power beyond all reason, there
is no limit to the state's desire for total control over everything
under the sun... even including the sun and the air!
This
is not a difficult matter for the state to achieve. Oregon could
simply pass a new law declaring all air that exists within state
boundaries to be state property. Those who "divert" air by
engaging in activities such as inflating balloons or compressing air
and storing it in air tanks would be given stiff jail
sentences.
Think
this couldn't happen? Think it's too stupid? It's no more stupid than
what has already happened -- the criminalization of capturing
rainwater, a common permaculture practice for sustainable living.
California
criminalizes fresh milk; Michigan criminalizes small local ranching;
Oregon criminalizes permaculture
Do
you see a pattern in all this? As NaturalNews has reported in just
the last 18 months:
•
California
has declared war on small, local fresh milk farmers and distributors
(http://www.naturalnews.com/036614_James_Stewart_Ventura_county_raw_mi...).
•
Michigan
has criminalized small, local ranchers and animal operations
(http://www.naturalnews.com/035585_Michigan_farms_raids.html).
•
A
city in Michigan has also tried to criminalize home
gardens (http://www.naturalnews.com/032960_Julie_Bass_home_gardening.html).
•
The
city of Tulsa, Oklahoma sent out a "destruction crew" to
chop down a woman's edible landscaping garden of over 100 varieties
of foods and medicinal herbs
(http://www.naturalnews.com/036234_edible_landscaping_medicinal_plants...).
•
Oregon
has criminalized one of the most important practices of permaculture,
capturing rainwater to restore life to a local landscape.
What's
the pattern here? Total
state domination over
all resources -- land, water, food, medicine and more. This is part
of the ongoing effort to crush
self reliance in
America and turn everybody into a mindless, hopeless slave of the
state, living on USDA food stamps and eating corporate-engineered
GMO.
Freedom
means being able to speak your mind, capture your rainwater, bask in
the sun, grow trees, raise backyard
chickens,
home school your children, say NO to vaccines, defend your life and
property against looters and violent crime. Freedom is what once made
America great, and it is the crushing of freedom which is now
destroying America.
Collectivism
is the enemy of freedom
In
Oregon, California, Michigan, Washington D.C. and everywhere around
the world where evil bureaucrats seek total power over all of
humanity, our natural, divine rights are being viciously stripped
away. Our money supply is being eroded at an accelerating rate. Our
right to due process has been nullified by our own President
(http://www.naturalnews.com/034537_NDAA_Bill_of_Rights_Obama.html).
Our right to free speech is being increasingly censored and stifled.
Our right to grow our own home gardens is under constant assault.
(http://www.naturalnews.com/036234_edible_landscaping_medicinal_plants...)
The
common cause behind all these attacks on freedom is "collectivism"
-- the idea that individuals have no value and that only the state
can provide life, food and an economy. This is accomplished
through endless
permit requirements that
now make running something like an organic farm a paperwork
nightmare. It is encapsulated in the recently-publicized idea that
"You didn't build that! The government built that!" which
ridiculously imagines that only government creates prosperity, not
individual innovators and people who believe in hard
work.
Similarly,
the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act late last year
(http://www.naturalnews.com/030986_food_safety_farmers.html)
will absolutely devastate small, local farms once it fully kicks in
(see video below).
We
are all becoming indentured servants
With
every new regulation, inspection, permit and government burden placed
upon farms and land owners, we are increasingly destroying our own
futures by placing more power in the hands of tyrannical government.
We are all becoming indentured
servants to the
state. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant)
Think
you OWN your land? Try not paying property tax for a year. You'll
find out very quickly that you don't own anything. The state owns it.
You are just paying rent.
Watch
this video interview with Farmer
Brad from
central Texas, who talks about the devastating impact of the Food
Safety Modernization Act:
There's
nothing more refreshing than standing in a cool, summertime rain
shower. Or bathing in the warm sunlight on a crisp spring day. Or
inhaling the cool autumn air, fresh with the scent of turning leaves
and pine needles. These things -- rainwater, sunlight, air -- have
long been assumed to be not only free, but un-claimable. You can't
claim to own the sunlight that falls on my front yard, for example. A
corporation can't claim intellectual property ownership over the air
that you breathe and demand you pay a royalty for inhaling.
But
today, Jackson County, Oregon says it owns YOUR rainwater, and the
county has sentenced a man to 30 days in jail and fined him over
$1500, for the supposed "crime" of collecting rainwater
on his
own property.
The
man's name is Gary Harrington, and he owns over 170 acres of land in
Jackson County. On that land, he has three ponds, and those ponds
collect rainwater that falls on his land. Common sense would say Gary
has every right to have ponds with water on his 170 acres of land,
but common sense has been all but abandoned in the state of
Oregon.
Much
like California, Oregon is increasingly becoming a collectivist
state. You didn't build that! The government built that! You don't
own that! The government owns that! That rainwater that just fell on
your land? That's the government's rainwater, and you're going to
jail if you try to steal from the government!
That's
the explanation from Jackson County officials, who initially granted
Harrington "permits" to build ponds back in 2003. Yes, in
Oregon you actually need to beg for permission from the government
just to have a pond on your own land. But the state of Oregon revoked
his permits a few years later, after he had already created the
ponds, thus putting Harrington in the position of being a "water
criminal" who was "stealing" rainwater from the
state.
Tom
Paul, administrator of the Oregon Water Resources Department, is an
obedient water Nazi. He insists, "Oregon law that says all of
the water in the state of Oregon is public water and if you want to
use that water, either to divert it or to store it, you have to
acquire a water right from the state of Oregon before doing that
activity."
What
he means, of course, is not that the water is "public"
water, but that it's government water.
The government owns it, and if you "steal" from the
government by, for example, collecting rainwater off your own roof,
you will go to jail.
Thus,
even when rainwater falls on your own property, you don't own it! The
government owns it. You didn't build that! The government built that.
That's not YOUR land, you only lease it from the King, and by the
way, your property tax is due again...
Paul
continues, "If you build a dam, an earthen dam, and interrupt
the flow of water off of [YOUR OWN] property, and store that water
that is an activity that would require a water right permit from us."
(http://www.nwpr.org/post/southern-oregon-man-sentenced-jail-time-ille...)
You
don't own the rain that falls on your own yard, Oregon insists
The
state of Oregon openly admits, on its website, that you
don't own the rain water that falls on your land! As
stated on Oregon.gov:
Under
Oregon law, all water is publicly owned. With some exceptions,
cities, farmers, factory owners, and other water users must obtain a
permit or water right from the Water Resources Department to use
water from ANY
source... (http://cms.oregon.gov/owrd/pages/pubs/aquabook_laws.aspx)
That
page describes an exception to
allow rainwater collection from rooftops, but not from a yard or
natural landscape: "Exempt uses of surface water include
...collection and use of rainwater from an artificial impervious
surface (like a parking lot or a building's roof)..."
So,
in other words, if Harrington had paved
his fields with
asphalt, then collecting the rainwater would have been legal in
Oregon! But because his fields were natural grasses, shrubs and
trees, the rainwater collection was deemed illegal.
Harrington
said that he will never stop fighting the government on this issue.
As reported in CNS News: "When something is wrong, you just, as
an American citizen, you have to put your foot down and say, This is
wrong; you just can't take away anymore of my rights and from here on
in, I'm going to fight it."
(http://cnsnews.com/news/article/oregon-man-sentenced-30-days-jail-col...)
If
states claim they own the rain, they may soon claim to own the
sunlight, too
Rainwater,
it turns out, isn't the only thing that falls on your land. Sunlight
also falls on your land. Air resides above it, and minerals below
it.
If
the state of Oregon already claims to own all the water that falls on
your land, what's to stop them from claiming ownership over all the
sunlight, too? Imagine a day when the
state erects solar panels on your land,
but the electricity isn't yours to keep. You still have to pay for
it, because the sunlight belongs to the state, get it?
If
you erect your own solar panels on your own land, the state could
then arrest you and charge you with "stealing" state
property. All those photons, you see, belong to the state. Once the
state declares sunlight to be "community property," you
instantly become a criminal for having solar panels on your house.
State
of Oregon declares war on permaculture and sustainable living
Collecting
rainwater -- and sunlight -- are practices taught in sustainable
living, permaculture and throughout the green movement. Rainwater
capture using ponds and swales is one of the most important
strategies for restoring a local landscape. See a good video overview
of this here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=keXhHMmA2Xk
These
rainwater capture practices help trees grow more quickly and
accelerate the return of animal life to any region. They can even be
used to restore
a desert to a lush, food-producing forest.
Watch these remarkable videos with Geoff
Lawton:
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=C8103CF932330F50C3517F90AD81CBAB
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=566CDDCCEAB4F13F84BD671136D07F10
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=9F5EE67E76B9EEF613327E144B1B9973
http://tv.naturalnews.com/v.asp?v=E6AA432FA7063A24C998BC96C1363A72
See
more permaculture
videos on
the permaculture channel at
TV.naturalnews.com:
http://tv.naturalnews.com/Browse.asp?memberid=18014
Capturing
rainwater also reduces the burden on groundwater supplies and
municipal water systems. Capturing rainwater actually protect
aquifers and raises the value of land, which results in higher
property tax revenues for the county.
That
Jackson County officials actually criminalize
permaculture practices is
abhorrent to not only the green movement on the left, but also the
Libertarians and Constitutionalists on the right. Much like in
California, Oregon County officials are lying,
power-hungry tyrants who
falsely accuse Harrington of "diverting" stream water when,
in reality, he was only capturing water that normally flows off his
own property and later joins the stream.
"Water
law is water law, whether you agree with it or not," said
Jackson County Water Master Larry Menteer.
(http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/16/man-disputes-oregon-convictions-...)
In
other words, the power of the state is absolute, even if the state
departs from the realm of sanity. Importantly, if the state of Oregon
can claim ownership over rainwater, what's to stop the state from
claiming ownership over the AIR, too?
To
clarify: Oregon state bureaucrats are claiming they
own the RUNOFF water from rainwater that falls on your own land! Some
of the communist-minded critics who are defending state officials in
this case are lying and trying to claim this man "dammed a
stream," implying it was a stream that ran through his property.
That's a lie. All this man did was dam up his
own runoffwhich
later dumps into a stream. Thus, he only captures his own rainwater.
He takes no water from anywhere else. And when his own ponds are
filled, that rainwater overflows directly into the stream where it
used to flow before he built his dams.
This
practice of capturing rainwater has been used throughout the history
of civilization to restore landscapes, preserve soils, grow food and
live more sustainably. Do not fall for the disinformation
campaigns being
waged on this issue by the Oregon communists and socialists who
believe no individual has any right to anything.
What
if Oregon claims ownership over the air you breathe?
If
the state of Oregon can claim it owns the water that falls on your
land, then it can also just as easily claim ownership over
the sunlight that
falls on your land. But it doesn't stop there: What about the air you
breathe?
There
is absolutely nothing stopping Oregon -- or any other state -- from
proclaiming air is "state property." If you breathe it, you
owe the state money.
The
fees will be small at first -- perhaps $10 / month -- but over time
they will be raised to exorbitant levels. It's a state-run shakedown,
after all, and once the People become apathetic enough to allow the
state to expand its power beyond all reason, there
is no limit to the state's desire for total control over everything
under the sun... even including the sun and the air!
This
is not a difficult matter for the state to achieve. Oregon could
simply pass a new law declaring all air that exists within state
boundaries to be state property. Those who "divert" air by
engaging in activities such as inflating balloons or compressing air
and storing it in air tanks would be given stiff jail
sentences.
Think
this couldn't happen? Think it's too stupid? It's no more stupid than
what has already happened -- the criminalization of capturing
rainwater, a common permaculture practice for sustainable living.
California
criminalizes fresh milk; Michigan criminalizes small local ranching;
Oregon criminalizes permaculture
Do
you see a pattern in all this? As NaturalNews has reported in just
the last 18 months:
•
California
has declared war on small, local fresh milk farmers and distributors
(http://www.naturalnews.com/036614_James_Stewart_Ventura_county_raw_mi...).
•
Michigan
has criminalized small, local ranchers and animal operations
(http://www.naturalnews.com/035585_Michigan_farms_raids.html).
•
A
city in Michigan has also tried to criminalize home
gardens (http://www.naturalnews.com/032960_Julie_Bass_home_gardening.html).
•
The
city of Tulsa, Oklahoma sent out a "destruction crew" to
chop down a woman's edible landscaping garden of over 100 varieties
of foods and medicinal herbs
(http://www.naturalnews.com/036234_edible_landscaping_medicinal_plants...).
•
Oregon
has criminalized one of the most important practices of permaculture,
capturing rainwater to restore life to a local landscape.
What's
the pattern here? Total
state domination over
all resources -- land, water, food, medicine and more. This is part
of the ongoing effort to crush
self reliance in
America and turn everybody into a mindless, hopeless slave of the
state, living on USDA food stamps and eating corporate-engineered
GMO.
Freedom
means being able to speak your mind, capture your rainwater, bask in
the sun, grow trees, raise backyard
chickens,
home school your children, say NO to vaccines, defend your life and
property against looters and violent crime. Freedom is what once made
America great, and it is the crushing of freedom which is now
destroying America.
Collectivism
is the enemy of freedom
In
Oregon, California, Michigan, Washington D.C. and everywhere around
the world where evil bureaucrats seek total power over all of
humanity, our natural, divine rights are being viciously stripped
away. Our money supply is being eroded at an accelerating rate. Our
right to due process has been nullified by our own President
(http://www.naturalnews.com/034537_NDAA_Bill_of_Rights_Obama.html).
Our right to free speech is being increasingly censored and stifled.
Our right to grow our own home gardens is under constant assault.
(http://www.naturalnews.com/036234_edible_landscaping_medicinal_plants...)
The
common cause behind all these attacks on freedom is "collectivism"
-- the idea that individuals have no value and that only the state
can provide life, food and an economy. This is accomplished
through endless
permit requirements that
now make running something like an organic farm a paperwork
nightmare. It is encapsulated in the recently-publicized idea that
"You didn't build that! The government built that!" which
ridiculously imagines that only government creates prosperity, not
individual innovators and people who believe in hard
work.
Similarly,
the passage of the Food Safety Modernization Act late last year
(http://www.naturalnews.com/030986_food_safety_farmers.html)
will absolutely devastate small, local farms once it fully kicks in
(see video below).
We
are all becoming indentured servants
With
every new regulation, inspection, permit and government burden placed
upon farms and land owners, we are increasingly destroying our own
futures by placing more power in the hands of tyrannical government.
We are all becoming indentured
servants to the
state. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indentured_servant)
Think
you OWN your land? Try not paying property tax for a year. You'll
find out very quickly that you don't own anything. The state owns it.
You are just paying rent.
Watch
this video interview with Farmer
Brad from
central Texas, who talks about the devastating impact of the Food
Safety Modernization Act:
See also: http://rt.com/usa/news/rain-water-harrington-oregon-439/
And from the local newspaper
Rainwater
collection case leads to jail sentence, fine
By
Mark Freeman
26
April, 2012
A
rural Eagle Point man was sentenced to 30 days in jail Wednesday for
filling what state water managers have called three illegal
reservoirs on his property.
Gary
Harrington was also fined more than $1,500 for nine misdemeanor
convictions for filling his reservoirs with rain and snow runoff that
the state says is owned by the Medford Water Commission. He was given
two weeks to report to the Jackson County Jail to begin serving his
sentence.
Harrington
said he stores the water mainly for fire protection and has pledged
to appeal his convictions.
"Thirty
days in jail for catching rainwater?" Harrington said Wednesday
to the Mail Tribune.
"We
live in an extreme wildfire area and here the government is going to
open the valves and really waste all the water right now, at the
start of peak fire season," Harrington said.
At
the center of the case was a 1925 state law giving the water
commission exclusive rights to all the water in Big Butte Creek, its
tributaries and Big Butte Springs — the core of the city's
municipal water supply.
In
court filings Harrington had argued that he's not diverting water
from the creek system, merely capturing rainwater and snowmelt from
his 172 acres along Crowfoot Road.
Harrington
has maintained that this runoff, called "diffused water,"
does not fall under the state water-resources jurisdiction and does
not violate the 1925 act.
In
the past, water managers have concluded that the runoff is a
tributary of nearby Crowfoot Creek and thus subject to the law.
A
six-person jury earlier this month sided with the state on nine
misdemeanor charges. They were three counts each on charges of
illegal use of water denied by a watermaster, unauthorized use of
water and interfering with a lawfully established head gate or water
box.
The
charges are all misdemeanors. Harrington pleaded guilty to similar
charges in 2002 and applied for permits for his reservoirs, but they
were denied.
At
the request of the Jackson County District Attorney's Office,
Harrington's case was prosecuted by the state Department of Justice.
DOJ prosecutor Patrick Flanagan handled the case, and he could not be
reached Wednesday for comment.
Posts
