Three time Indy 500 winner, Bobby Unser, found himself on the wrong side of the law while trying to survive.

He was snowmobiling in a non-restricted area, got caught in a blizzard, lost his snowmobile and had to walk for 18 hours to find help. He faces a $5000 fine and up to six months in jail for maybe crossing into a wilderness area while trying to get out of the blizzard. No one knows for sure. They still haven’t found the abandoned vehicle.

When we get to the point where the government values land more than the lives of the citizens, then the citizens need to reevaluate their system. When farmers can lose their entire farm and livelihood for filling in a mud puddle, which is determined to be a wetland, then the government agency has outlived its purpose. When people are held hostage by the preservation of such pesky creatures as the kangaroo mouse, then it is time for the human species to stand up and be counted.

Conservation and environmental wisdom are important and necessary, but they should never be at the expense of individual human liberty.

This is Nina May for the Renaissance Women.