I supported PLF for years. Then I experienced injustice firsthand.
I'm a farmer in California. As you may have read on PLF's blog, I recently fought an overzealous state agency and won after it tried to invoke California's anti-SLAPP statute. The victory was a win for the First Amendment and all future plaintiffs who might have lawsuits against the government. I wanted to write to you from a different perspecti ...
Governing : States Can Impose More Environmental Regulations. That Doesn’t Mean They Should.
In the 2023 case Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a number of sweeping federal regulatory burdens, particularly relating to environmental issues. Some states are now deciding whether to bring them back. Before they do, lawmakers should ask whether those burdens will actually produce, for example, cleaner ...
The Washington Post : My family farm has prairie potholes. In swooped the feds.
Cody Peterson is a farmer and property owner in North Dakota. My family has been farming in North Dakota for generations. Like most farmers, we have lived and worked through droughts, floods and price swings that would make a Wall Street trader's head spin. Now the government is adding an obstacle that threatens my ability to work my land. In ...
Washington Examiner : The government owns 28% of America — and has no clue what’s underneath it
Last week, President Donald Trump ordered the Pentagon to reduce America's dependence on foreign mineral suppliers. The military must now map vulnerable supply chains and shift them toward domestic and allied sources. The next day, the Interior Department acknowledged a critical problem jeopardizing that strategy: Much of the country still lacks ...
Agri-Pulse : How one state’s poultry lawsuit became a warrant-free search of another state’s farms
What is a state to do when it cannot regulate farmers outside its borders? The answer, apparently, is to sue someone else for 20 years, then force an unconstitutional settlement that binds farmers unrelated to the lawsuit. In 2005, Oklahoma did exactly that. It sued six large poultry companies for alleged pollution in the Illinois River Watershe ...
The Hill : When farming requires federal permission
Imagine the federal government threatening you with a $62 million fine for making routine improvements to your own land. It sounds like something out of an Orwell novel, but that was the reality facing Wyoming landowner David Hamilton. After purchasing a neglected farm near Worland, Hamilton set about restoring an irrigation ditch that had been ...
Proposed bill restores protections for farmers and ranchers
Wyoming Senator Cynthia Lummis recently introduced legislation to protect farmers, ranchers, foresters, and other property owners from overly broad interpretations of the Clean Water Act (CWA). Shortly after CWA was passed in 1972, Congress carved out an exemption to protect routine land management practices like plowing fields, maintaining drai ...
Ahead of Independence Day, homeowners are warned against flying American flags
On July 4, 1776, a group of patriots mutually pledged their lives, fortunes, and sacred honor when they signed the Declaration of Independence. The document signaled the official severing of ties with Britain and the establishment of a new nation, where individuals were free to enjoy their rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. F ...
Free to Flourish : Celebrating America’s 250th Birthday
Free to Flourish is PLF's Environment and Natural Resources quarterly newsletter. If you agree that a better world is possible through liberty—that a thriving environment and free individuals are not in conflict—subscribe below to follow along. Welcome to another edition of Free to Flourish. As millions of Americans prepare ...