“ There is a bumper sticker that is very popular now in my district. It says if you think coal is ugly, wait until you see poverty. There are some who believe--and I think that there are some in Washington who think--that southwest Virginia and other parts of Appalachia should just be a giant park for rich folks to visit, and that those of us who live there, the folks in Washington think, ought to be happy to have the jobs changing the sheets for the rich folks." 

Morgan Griffith, 9th District Virginia. 

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/F?r112:1:./temp/~r112bPNRwp:e45227:

Is it fair for me to think that you have joined the ranks of “some in Washington”  who now believe “southwest Virginia and other parts of Appalachia should just be a giant park for rich folks to visit, and that those of us who live there, the folks in Washington think, ought to be happy to have the jobs changing the sheets for the rich folks”?

We urge you to withdraw support of The Crooked Road’s ill conceived plan to make 19 counties (with associated towns) and four cities a “National Heritage Area” which will, in fact, invite the National Park Service to have jurisdiction over those affected areas.  Make no mistake in the National Park Service’s primer for application there is plain language about the  contractual agreement.* 

The Crooked Road, under the guise of “tourism” and the Mayor of Marion, Virginia, who believes that “industry is not coming back” may very well be buying stock in sheets for those of us in southwestern Virginia to change.

We would encourage you to honor your pledge to support the Constitution, defund these grants that bloat the federal budget, confiscate tax dollars illegally and subject the citizens to the tyranny of unelected officials and compromise the basic right of property, a fundamental foundation of our liberty.  

We thought you were different, please confirm that you are willing to stand with the citizens who want southwest Virginia to go back to work in industry, and have some other location changing the sheets under the tyranny of remote “mandates” and “regulation” and all the chains that come with federal intervention.  Proof below of guaranteed federal intervention:

*” A cooperative agreement is different from a grant, because unlike a grant it requires substantial involvement on the part of the government in the cooperator’s work.  Because the NPS is entering into a substantive relationship with the Heritage Area by signing the

agreement, the document must describe how the relationship furthers the mission of the NPS, and ensures that substantial involvement of both parties in each others’ missions is necessary to carry out their respective mandates.

A cooperative agreement is co-developed by the NHA management entity and NPS staff. Both parties should understand and agree to all of the terms of the agreement. If you disagree with or do not understand any of the terms, you should work with the other party to resolve your questions and concerns.”

http://www.nps.gov/heritageareas/NER/NHAAgreementsPrimer.pdf

If you want to join or form an Ordinary Citizens (the most under represented group in the USA) Chapter to fight back -- just drop an email to [email protected]