One of the most enduring principles of liberty is owning property. "America's Founders understood clearly that private property is the foundation not only of prosperity but of freedom itself," Roger Pilon, founder of the Cato Institute's Center for Constitutional Studies, wrote in 2017.
And yet all too often, bureaucrats put unnecessary rules and regulations on how we can use our property. One couple is fighting with their town over the right to just let people go for a walk on their land.*
Charles Copley met his wife, Elizabeth, at Oxford University, while they were each pursuing a Ph.D. After living a few years in his native South Africa, they moved with their children to Connecticut to be closer to Elizabeth's family.
Wanting to make the area their permanent home, they purchased two plots of rural land in Roxbury totaling 50 acres in 2022. They hoped not only to live on the land but to really make it their own: farming, planting, and otherwise tailoring the property to their family while protecting and preserving its natural beauty.
They hired a forester to draw up a 10-year forest management plan, which the town approved, and then began removing invasive species and cutting miles of walking trails throughout all 50 acres.

#founders