Mr. Colson,

I would argue that we are already there. What was the first step that your friend had to take to work on his property? When he purchased the property he had to go cash in hand to pay property taxes and then get "Permits". The very word permit is insultingly obvious. You are paying for permission to use your own property. That is where the process actually came to a halt. After that he just had to grease the wheels of more extortionists for the Federal take. All that money doesn't plant a single tree, or clean a single cup of water. It only goes to pay the people who demand that people like your friend do that work himself.

I'm tired of every generation thinking that things haven't gotten bad enough. If you could suggest a way to fix this system what would it be?

I really want to know what you would fix, eliminate, or streamline to get this system to work for the people and from what position in government you could accomplish these changes.

And last but not least, how long do you estimate it will take for these reforms to make it into law, or policy, or just get a good hearing?

You write very well about the problems, but what advice do you have for someone who wants to make those changes a reality?