By Michael Howell
About a year ago the Ravalli County Commissioners decided that the county should join the American Stewards of Liberty (ASL), a Taylor, Texas based organization spearheading what is called the “coordination” movement, a nationwide effort aimed at empowering local governments in fending off federal government regulations and mandates. The county paid $1,500 for a one-year membership in the organization. The commissioners are currently implementing a version of “coordination” locally, most notably in their efforts at creating a Wolf Policy, which has recently broadened to become a Predator Control Policy, as part of an even broader goal of controlling large ungulate populations.
The county commissioners recently received a letter that begins, “Dear member,” from the American Stewards of Liberty, dated January 26, but stamped received by the commissioners on February 2, thanking them for their financial support.
According to the letter, the membership dollars helped ASL to travel to over 17 locations in eight states to train over 1,000 local elected officials, private citizens and landowners on how to implement coordination.
“Through those training sessions, we brought in hundreds of new members who now have a working knowledge of how our coordination strategy can help their communities and their own personal lives,” states the letter from CEO Dan Byfield and Executive Director Margaret Byfield.
The letter touts some specific “successes” of the organization over the last year.
One is being asked by some Kings County, Californians and their neighbors from the Central Valley, “who heard about our victory over the Trans-Texas Corridor,” for help in battling the construction of a high speed rail that will “scream through their community at 220 mph.”
The letter also touts the group’s success in being called to help some “oil and gas producers in West Texas” to defeat the federal government’s listing of the Dunes Sagebrush lizard, “a six-inch reptile that will shut down nearly 20 per cent of our nation’s oil and gas production if listed as endangered.”
“To date, we’ve been able to stall both these efforts,” the letter states. “In the meantime we’ve gained ground in dozens of local communities that have implemented our strategy and used our staff to fend off government regulations and mandates.”
The letter states that, with their members’ help, ASL is protecting thousands of acres of private property, their landowners, and the local communities in which they all reside.
“We’re proud of what we’ve accomplished and you should be too,” wrote the Byfields on behalf of ASL, “because without your support, we could not have done any of it. Thank you for believing in us and contributing to one of the most important causes in our nation – the protection and defense of private property rights and individual freedom. God bless you and God bless America!”