So I have to ask myself what is being taken from someones property that would cause a no vote from these republicans? Do you guys have any ideas? I mean think critically and see what the concerns are over, come up with solutions, and everyone would vote for it.
Nothing is being taken from someone's property. They would now be required to allow the public to access the public property that the private landowner has enjoyed the benefit of for years.
I have thought about it critically. For years. I can see nothing that is being taken from a landowner that was his. He does not own the public lands, but has had dominion and control over those lands, even though they were not his.
I have asked many landowners why it is legally a problem. None ever have a good answer. It is usually some long tangled explanation that ends with something like "It's just not a good idea." For who?
If there was a good legal property right answer, I would like to hear it. I always defend property rights. Seems some fail to realize that where recognize where one right starts and another right ends, even if it is a public property right.
This is not a "takings," but a change. Sometimes change is hard to accept. I would not overthink it. It is natural for people to resist change, especially when change might impact the way they have viewed the public property they have had control over for decades.
Legislators do have a track record of creating property rights where none exist. Usually at the expense of public rights. This is not a case of legislators creating property rights where none exist, rather refusing to allow the public to enjoy/access a public property right where a public property right exists.
Would some one's land value be lessened from this bill?
Some will make that claim, as their exclusive use of public lands might be impacted. That is not a right or asset attributed to their deeded lands, rather a value attributable to the public land they current have control over.
The technical answer is "No." Some will say it impacts their cash flow. The courts would hold, and argue, that their past cash flow history was increased by their past ability to keep the public from enjoying their property rights. Since the change in cash flow is attributable to the public property right, not the private property right, it is not a takings.
Any legislator who claims this is a takings does not know what a takings is, and needs to go read the case law related to the 5th Amendment.
Imagine this. I have been using my neighbors land for years. Finally, he says he wants to hay the pasture, not me. He has the legal right to do so. Can I sue my neighbor for a takings, when the property/right he "took" was his to begin with? Hardly. That is the same logic that applies when a landowner makes a takings claim for the public wanting to use public land that the public has always owned, even if the landowner enjoyed use of it in the past.
Would someones private land be stepped on (like a stupid square foot)? Seem silly to get bent out of shape on...
No private land should be stepped on, if people did it properly. The way the law is drafted, it is not to grant people the right to step on someone's private land, but to clarify that if someone steps from corner to corner and stays on public land, such activity will not be trespassing.
Would a private land owner not be allowed to put up a fence on a corner of this checkerboard or his or her fence damaged?
He can put up a fence, so long as he did not violate the Unlawful Enclosures Act, a Federal law that prevents fencing off certain Federal property, or access to Federal property in a certain manner.
I suspect there are many who have grown accustom to enjoying the benefit of having public lands as their own, without having to pay taxes on those lands. It is only natural that if you enjoyed the benefit of those public assets, possibly built cash flow streams around such, that you would not want to see things change, even if the change was constitutional. And, you would lobby your legislator to protect that right, regardless of the constitutionality and the hypocrisy it represents in the context of property rights.
None of the resistance from landowners is unreasonable or unexpected. What is unreasonable is when legislators only listen to the landowner concerns, a minority in most legislative districts, and when they refuse to listen to the concerns of the public. In the process, the legislators end up looking like fools and hypocrites on the topic of property rights.