On October 17, 18 and 19, 2002, South Florida residents will get their turn to speak out against extremist environmentalism and runaway bureaucracy. The Sawgrass Rebellion, Florida’s version of the successful "Sagebrush Rebellion" phenomenon, is coming. Two multi-state convoys, one starting in Oregon, and the other in Ohio, will travel through 21 states on their way to Florida and the biggest pro-Fifth Amendment rallies ever held.

Convoys and rallies held in the Western and Midwestern states have proven the old saying: "The world is run by those who show up." The We The People Congress fully supports this effort and hopes it serves as an omen for those in DC that will witness the arrival of Freedom Drive 2002 on November 14th. We The People have had enough.

In 1999, federal Forest Service bureaucrats in Nevada working the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest prohibited reconstruction of two miles of dirt road in the bottom of the remote Jarbidge River canyon in far northern Nevada.

In 2000, farmers along the Big and Little Darby Creeks in Ohio were told that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) coveted 50,000 acres of their community for a National Wildlife Refuge.

Last year’s "Bucket Brigade" protest in Klamath Falls, Oregon was sparked by a total irrigation water shutdown by federal authorities in the Klamath Basin. Environmentalists had sued over a sucker fish, and when they won, the water was turned off by armed federal authorities and Basin area farmers lost a year’s crop worth over $100,000,000.

Right now, on both coasts of South Florida, Americans are having their Constitutionally protected property rights trampled in the name of "the environment," specifically, "Everglades restoration."

In Dade County, residents of the 8.5 Square Mile Area (SMA) have found themselves under the gun, and under water. In 1989, Congress authorized flood protection for the 8.5 SMA, a project that was supposed to be completed by 1997. But, as usual, environmental politics brought work to a standstill, leaving residents to be flooded again and again (along with Dade County farms).

Now, backroom deals in Congress are being made over a political "compromise" that is, hydrologically speaking, the same plan as before. The difference is the needless condemnation of hundreds of private homes and millions in additional costs to the taxpayers.

The residents of the 8.5 SMA are of limited means and can’t afford legions of lawyers to fight back. You may think this can’t happen in America, but it is, right now.

In Collier County on Florida’s southwest coast, 87% of the county has already been set aside for conservation purposes of various types. Yet more has been proposed to be locked up in so-called Natural Resource Protection Areas (NRPAs).

To "encourage" construction in less-environmentally-sensitive "receiving areas," and to avoid directly paying for these public land takings, the county wants to assign "Transferable Development Rights" (TDRs) to its victims in the "sending areas", i.e., the private property owners.  The only folks who can purchase these TDR’s are those who want to build on designated lands in so-called "receiving areas."

No TDR, no building permit.

In short, TDR’s appear to be the implementation of an unconstitutional scheme in which privately owned lands are being "taken" by the government without direct, just compensation as required by the Constitution.

In this imaginative scheme, the cost burden of these takings is directly shifted to, and born by, developers that wish to build in the designated "receiving" areas. They end up paying not only the nominal market price for the property in the receiving area, but would need to purchase the TDR rights from owners of the previously condemned properties.

As with many things government attempts to manage and orchestrate, protecting Florida’s natural environment is a noble purpose. But those charged with this important task must remember:

First and foremost, in a free society, no endeavor, no matter how noble or popular, can ever justify sacrificing fundamental freedoms. In America, freedom is not negotiable. The fundamental rights to life, liberty and property must be recognized or our Constitution is meaningless.

We The People Congress formally endorses the Sawgrass Rebellion and encourages those that can participate to go witness how just a few Americans can make a very large difference.

The Sawgrass Rebellion is just an example of will be seen with the broad-based nationwide Freedom Drive.

As has been repeatedly stated by the WTP organization: "Enough is Enough. This nation has written Constitution. It will NOT be ignored any longer."

America is the greatest nation on earth because, when asked, its citizens have selflessly stood up for the rights and freedoms of all, no matter where they are.

So join the Sawgrass Rebellion to Florida. Take the Freedom Drive to DC. Show America "How To Do It."

Those wishing to participate in the convoys are encouraged to call convoy master Grant Gerber at              775-738-2009.

By becoming a Sawgrass Rebel you will stand and help your fellow Americans in South Florida protect their land, their homes, their communities, their rights and their freedom.

By taking the Freedom Drive to DC, you will stand and reclaim the rights and freedoms that have been taken from Americans everywhere as the federal bureaucracy continues to "protect" us from terrorists, prepares to go to war without a vote, and continues to actually terrorize us with an unconstitutional system of taxation.

These opportunities for peaceful, mass protest must be exercised -- because next time – it will be YOUR backyard, YOUR money, YOUR sons, or YOUR freedom "they" want. Who will stand with you then?

For Information on the SawGrass Rebellion

For Information on Freedom Drive 2002.

Join the WTP Congress

  See the Freedom Drive Road Route & Schedule