1st, this "legislation" was brought about by lobbying after the
aforementioned collisions with meteorological towers. The tower heights
were presented in the light that the companies using the towers were
doing things on the cheap by taking advantage of the 200 ft "loophole"
in the "regulations". The interested parties presented the tower users
in the most negative light they could use.
Please note: This is legislation has the power of law directing the FAA
to enact specific regulations. Plus it gives the FAA the power to add to
the rules, not subtract. The FAA "may" choose to add reason to the
regulations with help from the ARRL. Lets hope so, but these regulatory
agencies are becoming highly politicized and do their best to please
their masters. Just look up the FCC and "Light Squared Vs GPS" with
retiring FCC personnel going directly to light squared.
Congress makes laws, regulatory agencies are required to follow laws,
not that has reigned in either the executive, or regulatory branches of
the past few administrations.
http://www.forbes.com/sites/fredcampbell/2015/08/31/fccs-lightsquared-scandal-another-solyndra-in-the-making/#33f6425472b6
Each one has seemed to be testing how far they can push the boundaries
One correction, farm land is farm land, whether it's in a soil bank in,
or out of production, who or how it is owned. There is range land,
pasture and crop land, but in most states they are all a form of farm
land. The Western states may and probably do handle open range land
(public/govt land leased by the ranchers) differently.
This area is mostly wood land with some parcels of farm land. Most of
this soil is not suitable for cash crops, so much of what exists is used
to raise silage rotated with beans or Hay to put the nutrients back in
the soil. There is a pig farm about a half mile to the E of us.
Thankfully the prevailing winds are from us to them, but not always. I
never knew that "stuff" could spoil until Europe exported the "Honey
Wagon" to the states. They only have 24, or 48 hours to work it in, but
there is no doubt which way the wind is blowing. Real farm land starts
pretty much with the Southern border of Midland County. Just look it up
on Google Earth
Much of lower Michigan including the Saginaw Valley ( a more 360 sq
miles) is covered by a huge network of drainage ditches. (10' wide by 8
or 10 feet deep) that require constant dredging to keep them
operational. Without them this entire area would revert to wetlands.
Wet lands? It'd be an everlovin swamp. Under today's rules, none of
this land could be developed into farm land.
I was raised on that flatland and still own what is left of the old
family farm.
Unfortunately, MOST of the crop land in lower Michigan will revert to
"wetlands" if not properly taken care of. Plants and grasses that define
the land on which it grows as wet lands. Just three miles from me there
was a small farm of 60 to 100 acres. The county redid the road that
borders his land on two sides. In doing so, they cut the major drainage
pathways for excess water, rendering the land unsuitable for what little
it did produce. By the time he managed to get the state and feds
involved, those plants had sprouted resulting in his land being
immediately labeled, wetlands, preventing anyone from doing anything to
change that. Now, the farm land he had planned on subdividing for
retirement can not even be properly drained. It's just a big swamp!
Even if your neighbors on 3 sides have the same land, if it has not
reverted, they will usually leave them alone. I forget the family's
name or state, but there is a prime example where their neighbors on
either side have the same soil, the same frontage on a lake, and the
same drainage.. All permits were obtained ahead of time including
federal, yet after they had done considerable work and spent a lot of
money, the feds *_changed their minds_* and are leveling huge fines per
day that the land is not put back into pristine shape. IOW the feds
changed their friggin minds after giving their blessings and letting
work proceed.
So how this turns out depends on how much the FAA will listen to the
ARRL and IF they have the will and the leeway to exempt ham towers.
73
Roger (K8RI)
On 7/18/2016 Monday 1:24 AM, Larry Loen wrote:
Another interesting consideration is that a lot of this out of town
property is likely to be _zoned_ agricultural. An interesting distinction
for regulators and lawyers to consider. A lot of farm land is in various
land banks and so on, so it isn't necessarily the case that you can spot a
farm or its land simply by looking for crops even before we consider
grazing land.
I would not try such an interpretation on my own without spending a few
bucks on some learned counsel. But, depending on how the regulations shake
out, it might matter.
Larry WO7R
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