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Watchdog Comments
Watchdogs frequently share their ideas on a variety of subjects. Every good idea is not always immediately acted on by Watchdog Indiana. The ideas categorized below are those submitted by individual Watchdogs that have not yet been adopted by Watchdog Indiana. An idea can be submitted for this Watchdog Comments page by sending an E-mail to taxless3@comcast.net.
Eminent Domain and INDOT
I am trying to retake 10 acres or so of very valuable US 6 and 149 corner frontage fraudulently taken by INDOT allegedly for "highway purposes" but really to cheat me out of Verizon fiber optic cable easements that I was entitled to. Have you covered INDOT or eminent domain looting for real estate interests?? Any ideas besides doing a federal RICO suit to recover my land?? Somebody in INDOT took a bribe to cheat our family out of Verizon easement moneys- which should be thousands per year at that corner.
Doc Hass
Indiana Department of Natural Resources Tree Seeding Nursery
The Indiana DNR has a tree seedling nursery. Seedlings are sold at a very low cost for two reasons: production cost are subsidized by taxpayer dollars, and state law mandates that they must be sold below their cost of production. Our State feels that without low cost seedlings there is no incentive for Hoosiers to plant trees. Indiana's State Nursery operation is a first class in facilities--very BIG. About four years, because federal cost share $ for tree planting dried up, the state nursery had a surplus of over 3 million trees. In their infinite wisdom, they decide to start selling these low cost seedlings to anybody, regardless to what state they lived in. We have reports that Indiana tax dollar supported seedlings are being brokered even into Canada. Hundreds of thousands of these cheap seedlings are being gobbled up all over the United States and individuals and business are profiting at the expense of Indiana taxpayers. Sales of tax supported seedlings to out of state customers must help tremendously to justify Indiana's State Government; the Director of the Division of Forestry has implemented a internet seedling sales format to come on line in 2007.
I may be all wet, but I think someone with a better understanding of state funding etc. needs to look at our State Nursery programs. I work for a private Indiana Nursery and we're struggling with the current actions of the DNR--basically we'll be out of business after 53 years of growing seedlings.
Scott Heeren
This page was last updated on 03/19/10.