Some World-Class Astroturf: Defending 28,000-Home RE Project "Defending Small Town America" [View all]

[hatrack]

Last edited Mon Sep 23, 2019, 09:26 AM - Edit history (1)

A new nonprofit group says it will push for economic development and property rights in the Southwest, supporting projects such as the 28,000-home Villages of Vigneto in Benson. In a news release, in interviews and on its website, the Southwestern Communities Coalition signaled its intention to battle what it calls “fake environmentalists,” who it says are using lawsuits to impede private landowners and drive them off their land.

While the news release doesn’t mention any groups by name, the group’s members’ comments and website clearly target the Tucson-based Center for Biological Diversity, one of six environmental groups that have sued to try to block the Vigneto project. The Southwestern Communities Coalition announced its creation at a Benson meeting and news conference last week, saying it’s formed to protect “the future of small-town America.”

About 140 supporters attended the meeting, the group said. In its news release, it said it would promote “thriving communities, sustainable growth, a strong economy, sound stewardship of natural resources and protection of property rights, especially from radical groups bent on stopping all economic development.”

The group said it’s backed by 16 Arizona and New Mexico counties, including Cochise County but not Pima County, and that it has hundreds of individual members. They include “ranchers, farmers, residents, wine makers, environmental organizations and others who are backing sustainable economic development,” the group’s news release said.

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https://tucson.com/business/new-group-will-battle-environmentalists-over-vigneto-and-other-projects/article_1b8cb54b-41e5-5291-8da7-8420203a5049.html