Property rights are intertwined with all other human rights. From works of art to loaves of bread, people produce the things because they are able to own and use resources.
Government exists to protect rights, including the rights to own and use property. Yet power corrupts, and government grasps for more and more control. One of the most powerful ways to increase that control is to extend it to the land we live on.
The Freedom Foundation stands up for property rights and property owners in Washington State. Most powerfully, we empower property owners themselves to build coalitions, confront local governments, and--often--win.
One example of this was an attempt to restrict waterfowl hunting across a broad swath of Thurston County. We helped the Washington State Waterfowler Association, together with other hunters and local land owners, to stand up to the County. Ultimately, officials backed down in the face of massive public outcry. Watch the video to find out more.
In April 2012, Thurston County Commissioners threatened imposing unnecessary restrictions on thousands of hunters in Washington State. Faced with no resolution, the Washington Waterfowl Association (a state conservation and duck hunting group) turned to the Freedom Foundation for help.
Thurston County's desire to protect prairie habitat to protect the Mazama Pocket Gopher has caused real life-changing harm to people like Donna Baker. Here is a preview of her story.
In this week's episode we talk about personal property rights and how the government is siding with a pocket gopher rather than the citizens who elected them.
Allthough EDWARD L. GLAESER and JOSEPH GYOURKO wrote this article in 2008, the concepts are still valid today -- and they give an economist's insight to NIMBY regulations and carbon emissions.
Thurston county officials have decided to subject the public to security screening before entering ... wait for it ... the planning commission meetings. Yeah, no kidding, the PLANNING COMMISSION.
It Came From the Interwebs - A highlight of the best free market videos around the web. This week we cover Idea Channel's "Unstoppable Solar Cycles: The Real Story of Greenland" which explores the science that may just be kept out of public view, so that a political agenda can be pushed forward.
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