The Cousins are called; the meanest goat is tied down by the gate; potato chips and bananas are rationed…

Tired of being beset by "for your own good" laws, and waiting for the Board of Supervisors to withdraw Sierra County from a state grown maniacal in a way only Nero could appreciate, the Prospect has seceded from the State of California.

Though technically not part of the proposed area, the Prospect has chosen to join the State of Jefferson.  Learn more about our new state bylaws here. 

The state of Jefferson was a concept that arose in the 1940s when people in Northern California and Southern Oregon got together to complain, mostly about the lousy roads which prevented them from efficiently selling off the mountains and woods. People in the rural north of California and south of Oregon recognized that they shared much more with each other than they did with the money hungry, and (in northern California) water hungry, metropolitan areas. Seeking to give themselves a stronger vote in their own destiny, people in the area staged a rebellion, of sorts, and some seized Route 99 around Yreka and handed out a declaration which began:

The sharp eyed will notice the date: November, 1941. World War II ended that attempt to secede, which was primarily intended to result in improved roads, so that resource exploitation could take place in the area.

There have been others since, including an attempt by some bioregionalists in the 1980s who had anything but resource exploitation in mind. Jefferson was also part of the territory of "Ecotopia," in Callenbach’s novel about a society living in harmony with the environment. That’s the only formulation which considered the environment.

In the 1990s and early 2000 there were the Klamath water wars, which resulted in the deaths of hundreds of thousands of fish in the Klamath river. Once again, the flag of Jefferson was lifted, again for resource exploitation, as the owners of water rights fought with Federal courts over water, some of which was intended to raise crops; more of which had been sold as urban water rights, and most of which needed to go to control fluctuations in water levels and temperatures to prevent the death of fish.

Two things are clear about the perpetual proponents of Jefferson: they love freedom and they think the land is a big cake we can cut and eat forever. That essential ignorance of the problems that landed southern California in the stew it’s in has discouraged the Prospect in the past. It is easier to deal with problems of air and water pollution if you start before they’re problems. It’s too late for the southern Central Valley; the ground water there is poison. It isn’t too late for the northern counties.

Clearly, the Prospect intends to bring a little Ecotopia back into the mix.

Sierra County isn’t part of the original mix of the "southern counties" which included Modoc, Lassen and Shasta, and in later versions, Plumas. We have waited for the Board to simply join that brave, happy group of rebels, but they won’t.

Ever in the lead, the Prospect will show the County how to seize destiny and break their bonds with a government gone mad. Unfortunately, this action requires us to also secede from Sierra County, at least until the Board gets on board and gives California the one finger bye bye.

Which, incidentally, is the official bird of Prospect County, State of Jefferson.


Not for sissies, this Prospect County, Jefferson.