LETTERS: PROPERTY RIGHTS AT STAKE

To the editor:

Property rights are integrally linked with all of the other personal freedoms that Americans enjoy. Freedom of speech, freedom of religion, the right to associate, the right to own and use property -- all of these ideals were fundamental issues held dear by the framers of our Constitution. A threat to any one of these rights threatens us all.

Soon the U.S. Senate will vote on a bill that will have significant impact on property owners in Southeast Missouri and across the country. Senate Bill 605, the Omnibus Property Rights Act of 1995, will protect the rights of private property owners as provided under the Fifth Amendment to our Constitution. Despite the Constitution's assurance that private property cannot be taken without compensation, in recent years environmental legislation and regulation have succeeded in depriving landowners of much of the economic use of their land.

Property-rights legislation is needed to define the limits of government takings and to help balance individual rights with legitimate public goals. This means that we should be able to apply modern management principles to our land. And, as long as we don't interfere with our neighbor's use and enjoyment of his land, the government should not intrude on our use of our own land. But if the government insists on interfering in the management of our land to the benefit of the public at large, and if that results in a loss of value, the government should compensate us for that loss. There really is no difference between the government's taking land to build a highway, for which it would compensate the owner, and taking land for some other public use. In either case, property owners should be compensated.

That's what Senate Bill 605 is all about. It resets the balance between property owners and government agencies by returning property rights to what the framers of the Constitution intended.

NATALIE PETZOLDT-NAEGER

East Perry Lumber Co.

Frohna