Texas 391 Commission Alliance

Hill Country Cattlewomen January Meeting

Mason County News
Copyright 2009

Hill Country Cattlewomen will begin the new year with their January legislative meeting to be held on Tuesday, January 19th at the Inn of the Hills, 1001 Junction Highway, Kerrville. The public is invited to join members and guests to hear our guest speaker, Margaret Hage Byfield who serves as executive director of American Stewards of Liberty, the newly merged association of Stewards of the Range and the American Land Foundation.

She will be discussing the "coordination" strategy American Stewards has been teaching across the nation to help local leaders protect their economy and way of life. American Stewards helped form the first 391 Commission in Texas, which allowed five towns and their school districts in Eastern Bell County to require the Texas Department of Transportation (TXDOT) to "coordinate" the Trans Texas Corridor (TTC) with their communities.

This resulted in the Commission convincing the Federal Highway Administration that the environmental study could not be approved, forcing TXDOT to recommend the "no-build" option for the TTC-I-35 Corridor. American Stewards has since helped form 14 similar commissions across Texas to fight several issues including the CREZ transmission lines proposed through the Hill Country.

Margaret is the wife of Dan Byfield and daughter of Wayne and Jean Hage who filed the landmark property rights case Hage vs United States in the US Court of Federal Claims in 1991. She will also be bringing us a report on the latest decision in this case. Coffee and social begins at 10:00 a.m., with the meeting starting at 10:30 a.m. Mrs Byfield will speak at 11:00 a.m. and lunch will follow.

Reservations for the luncheon will be necessary at the cost of $16.00. Members please call your area reservation chairman, non-menbers please contact Marsha Kothmann at 325-347-5511 or by email at bkr@hctc.net no later than January 12th.

© 2009 Mason County News: www.masoncountynews.com