A group of us are trying to start a new community. Some of us are libertarian and some are conservative. You are invited to join us.
If you have any questions, please ask me. (One clarification - the game preserve mentioned is a game preserve in the sense of where we will go hunting, not in the sense of a fancy, government approved game preserve..) Freedom Ranch II In September of 2009, a group of people bought 500 acres of land in beautiful, lush, green North East Texas. We converged on our new home to prepare a place of safety, a place of retreat from natural disasters, a place of security in times of recession or depression, and a place of refuge from civil unrest. We were to be a self sustaining community. We planned to grow our own healthy food, raise healthy meat, and drink our own fresh milk. Also, we encouraged individuals to have their own businesses. Individuals would build energy efficient off grid homes for themselves and their families. We wanted minimal government interference in our lives. We wanted to be able to take care of ourselves, not rely on the government . After a long cold and record breaking rainy, wet winter, this project imploded. The land that we had been told was securely in our possession and there was no possibility of us losing, turned out have a $500,000 balloon payment due near the end of September 2010. And the old management had differences of opinion on how the leases were to be dispersed and and the land utilized. They could not come to an agreement. The old management is gone. The remaining project participants decided to try to salvage the project. We still have the same goals of creating a self sustaining community and place of safety in these troubled times, but we have learned from the mistakes made in the past . .We are reorganizing under new management. The new management will do its best to maintain transparency and openness in administering the business of the ranch and dealing with the leaseholders. The Ranch will be in the hands of a non-profit corporation. The corporation, and therefore the Ranch, will be run by the leaseholders through an elected board of directors. Although each individual will have complete autonomy over their own lot, there is plenty of acreage for community cooperative activities. This will be a working Ranch with hayfields, animals, food production, etc. We hope to generate enough income to employ some of our residents and pay for whatever is necessary to run a successful ranch. Our purpose is to allow us to be self sustaining. We are running the farm to be prepared for the hard times ahead with our own food . We need the ranch even more today than we did when it was conceived. The slow march of our country toward disaster has sped up to a jog. Unemployment is rising. Uncontrolled government spending and bailouts are bankrupting our government. High taxation, over regulation. Chemicals in our foods. The persecution of the small farmers. Poison in our water. Every day in the news there are reports of more intrusions by government into our personal freedoms. And now there is an ecological disaster of monumental proportions in the gulf of Mexico. Toxic gas and oil are being released into the atmosphere . Millions could potentially be evacuated from the coastal region. Where will they go? FEMA camps? We are looking for new members for our community. We are looking for people who live their lives in a moral and ethical manner and are honest in their dealings with others. New members may buy and hold their lot for an emergency or they may move here, settle, and help build the community. We are looking for people who will share our dream and we have a very short time to find them. We will lease up to 120 one acre lots with the remaining land to be used for ranching, forestry, and farming. We are selling 99 year leases on this Ranch for $5500 per acre. We chose leasing rather than outright sale because the legal complications of leasing are less involved. Leases would also have the benefit of reducing taxes for the leaseholders and being under the umbrella of the non profit. We have a balloon payment on the ranch due at the end of September. We will know for sure if we can save the ranch by then. We propose to accept new members into the community. Their checks will be deposited in an escrow account and held until we have the full amount to pay off the mortgage on the Ranch. In the event that we do not reach our goal, all your money will be returned to you. (A similar arrangement will be a made for money orders, silver, and gold.) There will be an application fee of $35 or so to pay the escrow fee and for a background check. This is mostly raw land right now. We have an almost complete community center built by the leaseholders. Work is at a standstill until the mortgage issue is resolved. No septic or water yet, but electricity has been run to the community center. On their leased land, each leaseholder will be responsible for their own water, sewer, power, and access roads for their own property. Most people on the Ranch will probably want to live a self sustaining lifestyle and be going off grid, but if people want to access the area's power or water lines, both are available at the leaseholder's own expense. Or you could go in with neighbors who also want to be on grid to reduce costs. There is a rough gravel road to the community center. The rest of the roads are unimproved dirt roads or just tracks across the pasture. The property is beautiful and lushly green with some large trees and ponds . This is not the arid Texas of the western movies. We have about 200 acres of open pasture and hayfields., about 50 acres of woodland with young 15-20 year old trees on it. We have a clear cut section of about 100 acres that needs ditching and pond digging - then we can use it as pasture or lots for leases. We also have about a 150 acre hunting preserve .We have wild turkeys, deer, and hogs that will go a long way to feed the people on the ranch in hard times. The land is beautiful but it is not easy. Building this dream will be hard work. The soil is mostly clay with a rich topsoil. The gardens we have planted are doing beautifully. With a minimal investment in fencing supplies and wire we will be able to pasture a good herd of cattle on the property and harvest enough hay to feed them through the winter. If you are interested in participating in this kind of intentional community, we hope you will join us. To join now, contact Laura at montemomma2...@yahoo.com. If you have questions or would like to discuss this, meet us at the discussion group to get your questions answered and participate in the exchange of ideas about how you would like to see this community work. http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/freedomranchII/ Laura Wilkins -- Toward freedom, Bobby Yates Emory [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
