With an Ebola crisis looming, American boots just above the ground over the foreign policy failure we used to call Iraq, and a major election just weeks away, I thought I would write about the new National Forest Service (NFS) regulations – on picture taking.
Surprised? Trust me; I’ll tie it all together.
Recently, the National Forest Service (NFS) proposed new rules related to taking pictures within the national forest. What they didn’t expect was the backlash they got from outdoor enthusiasts and photographers who, for the first time, were made aware of this outlandish rule and how the NFS planned to make it even more onerous.
According to the new rule, a permit to take pictures in a designated wilderness area must have “a primary objective of disseminating information about the use and enjoyment of wilderness or its ecological, geological, or other features of scientific, educational, scenic, or historical value.”
Here are the problems:
First, while the NFS says that the regulations only apply to commercial photography, that is only true if the photography is in a designated wilderness area, the general regulation applies to everyone in any area of the National Forest. Besides (and this has already happened), what if, while hiking in the James River Face Wilderness, you happen to get a great picture of a bear. If you try to sell that picture later, you could be fined over a thousand dollars.
Second, since when does the Federal Government get to tell journalists (or anyone else) whether their photography meets NFS purpose requirements? By focusing on photography, and trying to control the message, the NFS reveals that their real goal is more about protecting the NFS from bad publicity than it is about protecting the forest.
Third, it took me almost an hour of research to find where these rules were listed in official government documents. How many regular citizens, who happen to want to take picture in a designated wilderness area have the time or desire to do this.
Which leads back to one central question, what does it take before Americans start noticing the government chains around their ankles?
When did Congress cede its authority, clearly stated in the Constitution, Article 1, Section 1, that ALL legislative powers are vested in the Congress? The word “all” was not chosen by accident. The founders knew what happened when power became concentrated in a King.The erosion of Constitutional government, especially under the Obama administration with its executive orders, administrative law gone wild and a Justice Department more interested in the liberal agenda than the law, should have every American trembling in their boots over the future of our free society
When will Americans finally get fed up with administrative law that hides burdensome government intrusions within thousands of pages of text no normal citizen can interpret – that even Congress doesn’t bother to read?
Philip Hamburger, of the Columbia School of Law calls administrative law the re-birth of the prerogative power of kings, where Kings (Obama and the executive branch) are the primary source for laws. They not only make most of the rules, but then even replace the prerogative of the judicial branch with administrative courts and fines that most citizens cannot afford to fight in a real court.
Simply put, it is a perversion of the Constitution, anticipated by the founders, and compensated for by separation of powers which the Congress constantly gives away.
When do we tire of politicians who place their political careers, and golf games, above the good of the people? How can we trust the NFS to do the right thing when we have been lied to, time and again, from every level of government?
The commander-in-chief is a prime example. He proves daily that his first priority is not the good of America, but instead his political legacy and the careers of the politicians in his party.
It’s time for term limits in Congress. It’s time to elect a Congress that will take back their Constitutional responsibilities, reduce administrative regulations, and do what is best for the people – with the first consideration always being the Constitution and the priority of liberty.
And, as Thomas Sowell wrote in his column last week,
It may be time to consider reorganizing the institutions of government, so that high officials who try to reassure the public about medical crises are not officials who serve “at the pleasure of the president.” Nor should the Attorney General, whose duty is to enforce the laws, be part of an administration whose law-breakers the Justice Department can protect from prosecution.
We are less than a month away from an election that could make a difference. While the politicians scramble to insulate themselves from the President and the do-nothing Congress, the people need to scramble to find candidates that will drain the swamp of federal bureaucracy – candidates that will challenge the extra-legal, absolute power assumed by the administration and bring back the rule of Constitutional law.
If we don’t do it now, plan on asking the government’s permission next time you want to take pictures of a squirrel.
The Founders Tavern 