Community’s outcry over disputed land ownership, rising taxes, and restricted access echoes in heated meeting
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Boundaries only scratched the surface of the complaints many St. Johnians have expressed regarding the parks. Congresswoman Plaskett listened to accounts from several residents, including Lorelei Monsanto, who insinuated that the National Park Service has wrongfully claimed land belonging to their families. “They still owe us 300 acres of land,” stated Ms. Monsanto, who explained that her mother had successfully sued the NPS to recover some of the family’s property. “The park has stolen and still needs to give us back the land they stole."
Raymond Roberts, who said that his family on St. John could be traced back five generations, revealed that his family is currently in court with the National Park Service over land that had been in his family for centuries. “How could they own all property that four generations before me have been living on?” Mr. Roberts asked. According to him, upon the death of his grandmother in 2004, the matter was thought to have been settled, but as another resident revealed, the NPS requested that the case be reopened, and “insists on fighting them for their property.”
Abigail Hendricks, the resident in question, also raised concerns over increasing property taxes on “landlocked” land within the National Park’s boundaries. “So then all of a sudden, now my land tax has gone way up because I’m a part of the National Park,” she complained. She detailed land access issues, saying that several roads to access owned properties within the park have been blocked off. “How do you block me from getting to my property, but the government expects us to still pay for it?” asked Ms. Hendricks. That question was met with rousing applause.