2007 was a good year for property owners working with the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legal Foundation. Three separate cases highlighted the foundation’s ability to protect private property rights.
The City of Durant was forced by Farm Bureau to reverse annexation of land that isolated property owners without providing services. Durant “strip annexed” which meant they annexed narrow strips 20 feet wide and several miles long, creating a boundary and preventing a nearby town from expanding toward Durant.
The foundation brought to light the impact a proposed landfill in Kay County would have on property owners. Landowners working with the Kay County Farm Bureau, asked the foundation to represent them after learning the landfill could contaminate water supplies in the area. They were also concerned about safety due to increased truck traffic hauling trash to the landfill, an increase in loose trash cluttering roadsides, an overall decrease in property values and a reduction in quality of life.
The American Farm Bureau, with an assist from the Oklahoma Farm Bureau Legal Foundation, forced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) to reconsider whether to list the Black-tailed Prairie Dog under the Endangered Species Act. Farm Bureau’s efforts focused on the legal issue of whether the USFWS must consider the health of a species in its current range, or whether it must examine the broader historical range. The prairie dog is traditionally found in pasture land throughout the High Plains. Ranchers and other landowners believe the prairie dog destroys grasslands.
“These cases demonstrate our desire to protect the rights of landowners,” said Mike Spradling, Oklahoma Farm Bureau president. “We’ve had a good year as evidenced by the strong support and involvement by our members and the general public.”
The foundation was established in 2001 with the explicit goal of protecting private property rights. The foundation primarily serves farmers and ranchers by engaging in public interest litigation and researching legal issues affecting family farmers and rural Oklahomans.
“We will step in and protect property rights whenever necessary,” Spradling said.
