Claiming to be a 5th generation landowner, Philip Thompson said, “I will do whatever it takes to help preserve the countryside we call home”.  The countryside he calls home is in Fauquier County, Virginia about an hour outside Washington DC.  He inherited much of the land in the countryside he called home,  then proceeded to place a large tract into a conservation easement managed by the Piedmont Environmental Council, (PEC). Much like the Declarations in residential associations, the easements restrict the use of the property. Much like a residential association, power is given to the administrator.  And we all know that “power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely”(Lord Acton) regardless of who has it.

Dr. Bonner Cohen joins us On The Commons.  Dr. Cohen is a senior fellow with the National Center for Public Policy Research.  He also serves as senior policy analyst with the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow.  He is an author, has spoken at conferences, and appears on TV and radio.  Dr. Cohen, a friend of Martha Boneta, has been following the horrors and abuses taking place in Liberty Farms.  He wrote an article  about the latest round of lawsuits.  We find just what Mr. Thompson meant when he said he would do “whatever it takes…”  And for “before” and “after” pictures of what the farm looked like under the Thomas’s and the PEC’s stewardship, watch Farming in Fear.