I see this is as a problem with wealth inequality and not land per say. A wealth gap leads to exaggerated levels of... you get the idea.
Who gets to own the West?
11–20 of 71 posts
Re: Who gets to own the West?
#12While it isn't the most pressing issue in the article, a quote that jumped out at me is: "For years, he assumed the road was public..." Public land in the West isn't well-marked, and the difference in usage rights between private, state, and federals lands is not well understood by the general public, and sometimes not possible to know without recent data from the managing organizations regarding current permits and…
That guy was using the road for access to public land. It doesn't necessarily matter who owns the land under a road because the use of the road is supposed to offer access rights. The problem is the guy doesn't have enough money to take on billionaires to assert his access rights.
Re: Who gets to own the West?
#13What's not to love in the return of feudalism?
Re: Who gets to own the West?
#14I see this is as a problem with wealth inequality and not land per say. A wealth gap leads to exaggerated levels of... you get the idea.
Of all the ways that wealth can be redistributed, land reform is arguably one of the most socially disruptive. I hope we don't get to this point.
Re: Who gets to own the West?
#15Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is the problem. Land owners don't pay property tax on land that they have placed a conservation easement on. https://www.landtrustalliance.org/topics/taxes/income-tax-in...
I'm OK with this - I would rather financially incentivize them to conserve their lands, instead of making them feel they need to monetize it to cover a tax bill.
I'd like it better if they were required to allow public access. The public is paying for this land in lost taxes, we should be able to use it.
Re: Who gets to own the West?
#16I see this is as a problem with wealth inequality and not land per say. A wealth gap leads to exaggerated levels of... you get the idea.
At least we should have a law that people can pass through that land like they have in Scotland.
Re: Who gets to own the West?
#17Earlier quoted context omitted.
That is the problem. Land owners don't pay property tax on land that they have placed a conservation easement on. https://www.landtrustalliance.org/topics/taxes/income-tax-in...
I'm OK with this - I would rather financially incentivize them to conserve their lands, instead of making them feel they need to monetize it to cover a tax bill.
So you end up with most of the land being a private park for the rich inaccessible for the rest.
Re: Who gets to own the West?
#18While it isn't the most pressing issue in the article, a quote that jumped out at me is: "For years, he assumed the road was public..." Public land in the West isn't well-marked, and the difference in usage rights between private, state, and federals lands is not well understood by the general public, and sometimes not possible to know without recent data from the managing organizations regarding current permits and…
The hard part is getting the data together cheaply enough that you can sell it to consumers.