Chuck is,
himself, a park inholder in Yosemite National Park. When his
cabin and other private property owners in the community of
Wawona in Yosemite were threatened with “Condemnation”
(eminent domain) by the National Park Service in 1972, he
organized the community to fight back and won.
Others across the country heard about his success.
They asked for his help in their own situations.
And, as they say, the rest is history.
Chuck now
works with many kinds of constituencies dealing with Federal,
state and local government.
He has helped organize numerous successful coalitions to
deal with all kinds of threats from Congress and various
Administrations over many years.
His first
experience in politics was starting a non-profit foundation at a
local school to help children with learning disabilities.
That resulted in his appointment to Los Angeles Mayor Tom
Bradley’s Education Committee that dealt with the Los Angeles
City Board Of Education. He
eventually was elected the Committee Chairman.
After leading
the successful effort to save Wawona in Yosemite, he organized a
national association to help park inholders nationwide in 1978.
That was the National Park Inholders Association.
That effort was so successful that many other types of
groups dealing with Federal land agencies asked for help.
The name of the organization was changed to the National
Inholders Association in 1980.
Finally, after becoming involved in numerous Federal and
state land issues, the name was finally changed to the American
Land Rights Association in the mid 1990’s.
In 1981 Chuck
was appointed by President Ronald Reagan to the National Park
System Advisory Board. Examples
of other participants at that time were Lady Bird Johnson and
astronaut Wally Schirra, who worked with Walter Cronkite on the
Moon landing broadcast.
Chuck is not
only the founder of ALRA, but also the League of Private
Property Voters (LPPV) and the Grassroots ESA Coalition.
The League of Private Property Voters is a national
coalition that publishes a scorecard on how Congress votes on
private property and environmental issues.
Through
numerous successful political battles over the years dealing
with Congress and various Federal agencies, Chuck was nicknamed
by the press as the “Desert Fox” and “Mr. Rent-A-Riot”
as a result of his aggressive and successful efforts to protect
landowners and permittees from overreaching Federal, State and
other land-use controllers.
Chuck
continues to be the executive director of the American Land
Rights Association to the current day.
He is also the coordinator of the League of Private
Property Voters.
E-mail: [email protected]
Physical Location: 30218 NE 82nd Ave
Mailing Address: PO Box 400, Battle Ground, WA 98604
