Reason for recall not resolved until people get property rights

Spectrum, by John Vinduska

I have mixed emotions as I write this letter. My friend and neighbor, Scott Ogan, resigned his Senate job yesterday and I participated in [the effort to recall him].

I'm happy I live in a country where an average citizen can try to make positive changes in our government. At the same time I feel sad for Scott and his family because I know that this recall effort has been hard on them.

What is particularly sad and frustrating is that this whole miserable battle was so unnecessary. I'm still baffled as to why Scott would abandon his normally conservative values, defy his constituents and risk so much.

The problem originated from Alaska law that gives dominance to the subsurface lessee. This is an obsolete law that is exactly the opposite of the way it should be in today's Alaska. In 1958, at statehood, no one could have envisioned the small portion of Alaska that is private property being worth billions of dollars and populated by thousands of people.

The law was never changed, however, because up until now there was no apparent threat that would motivate anyone to make the needed changes. Then along came CBM and Evergreen Resources.

They were accustomed to having many landowners under control in Colorado and it appears that they wanted to be assured that it would be business as usual in Alaska. They rented office space next door to DEC. They made friends with people in high places, like Randy Ruedrich. They hired Sen. Scott Ogan and convinced Rep. Vic Kohring to sponsor HB69. Other lawmakers admitted that they got on board because of partisan politics and the fact that they had taken an oath to support the party.

They should have taken an oath to support us! It was a big mistake to trample on our property rights, because Alaskans are very independent and we love our freedom.

Most of us are not against development, but we want to dictate if and how our private property will be used. We are totally justified to expect that right. Scott Ogan failed to recognize this.

I hope voters remember that there are other lawmakers who are indebted to special interests and feel we have no right to control our property. In fact, some are already talking about making the recall process harder to accomplish than it already is. They are arrogantly holding on to the belief that they have the right to subvert the will of the people.

The state and the CBM industry don't need to have control of our private property. State and local governments mainly need to be concerned that CBM devilment is done in a socially and environmentally responsible manner.

Terms of a surface-use agreement are best left to an individual landowner.

In a free enterprise system, there would always be plenty of landowners who would lease land for CBM or any other mineral development if it's profitable for them to do so. The industry would easily get access to the gas. The state would still get its royalties. Landowners would get paid for the use of their land and have income to offset our high property taxes. What more could you ask for?

I would like to personally thank the more than 4,300 people who helped in the recall effort. It was truly a monumental task. We must remember, however, that the job is not done until we get property rights. Please check your legislator's voting record to see if they voted for or against your property rights, and vote accordingly at the polls in November.

John Vinduska is a Lazy Mountain resident.