By Chris Bennett
Is private land a federal playground? The government claims a phenomenally powerful right—access and surveillance on every inch of privately held farmland, hunting ground, pasture, and recreational acre in the United States, without warrant or probable cause.
The federal assertion to total power over private land is a chilling prospect to a significant portion of Americans and the alarm begs a subsequent concern: What activities does Uncle Sam assume the right to engage in after entry onto private land and precisely which government officials get a perpetual pass?
Fair warning: The uncomfortable answers arguably are a far cry from the liberty assumed by most landowners and reveal few concrete restrictions on the power of bureaucracy and government. In a word, unbounded.