10/30/08 Private or public

Will we always have the right to call our ranches private? I'm Jeff Keane; I'll be back in one minute with some private thoughts that I'll make public. Private property rights are one of landowner's most cherished treasures. But will we always have those rights? Yesterday, I told you about Montanan, John Goggin's editorial voicing his concerns that there is a trend in our nation to allow public access to all private lands. Personally, I can think of very few things more un-American. I can't believe there are very many landowners who have forfeited so much to have property just to let the pubic use it. Also, how many ancestors made sacrifice after sacrifice to hold land and pass it on to family. These people who I know did not and do not work hard to own land to have others reap all the enjoyment that land offers. Don't get me wrong, it's not that most landowners don't like to share the pleasures their places give, but don't try to mandate that anyone and everyone should be allowed to roam their property. Dad was going to shut our ranch completely to public access when hunters started showing a total disrespect for our land. Thankfully, old hunting friends persuaded Dad to form a hunting club. Between the club and our family the deer and bird population can now be managed and enhanced. The best reward is that we can share with people who truly respect our property. If the unthinkable should ever come to pass, I guess the bright side would be we could pick any backyard we wanted to have a dandy picnic. It would only be fair. I'm Jeff Keane.