Dear editor:

I’ve written several letters to the editor trying to alert landowners to what is happening with the new land use regulations coming our way. Now I believe I need to address the rest of the county. I am sure I’m going to irritate some, but I believe it needs to be said.

When the majority gets to dictate how things go, remember there is always going to be the one person who doesn’t like it. No matter how many outnumber the one, it doesn’t make it right and it doesn’t make it good. This is democracy, the word that is thrown around constantly. We are a republic because of that lone and outnumbered person.

When all the people living in towns, and on smaller parcels in the country, outnumber the large landowners, that’s the situation that we have presently. Add in wealthy landowners who also side with the majority, all wanting to prevent development of the large pieces.

When farmers and ranchers are forced to deal with more regulations, it equates to more work, less money and most importantly lack of choices and frustration with a system you can’t fight. This, on top of dealing with weather that’s unpredictable and at times devastating, disease, pests, weeds and prices that can’t be controlled. They aren’t complaining but it adds up. 

Farming and ranching in Wyoming is marginal at best. People do it because they love the lifestyle or it’s a family heritage that defines their identity. More regulation tends to be the last straw, because it’s their fellow man making things more difficult. No one likes somebody else telling them what to do, and at times forcing them.

You people, the majority, are destroying the one thing you want to stay the same with the regulations you are asking for, in the name of preventing the fields from being developed. It doesn’t work. Telling a farmer they must keep their field open doesn’t work. What happens instead is they grow weary and give up, or they think "I’d better get out while I still can." Regulation encourages faster development of the fields.

The proposed regulations will make it more difficult to develop for sure. It will still happen, but instead it will be developers who have the money, who will develop anyway. It will translate to higher priced development. Los Angeles is the perfect example of failed attempts to control growth. The economy always dictates growth. Land use only twists growth but never stops it. 

Respectfully,

Margaret Lohman

Powell