Rescue Needed for Property Rights edict.(COMMENTARY)

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Byline: F. Patricia Callahan, SPECIAL TO THE WASHINGTON TIMES

The family of Charlie Johnson has been growing cranberries on its small farm near Carver, Mass., since the 1920s. But for the last six years, the federal government has been making life miserable for the 70-year-old Korean War veteran and his wife.

In 1996, the Environmental Protection Agency charged Mr. Johnson with violating the 1972 Clean Water Act, claiming - falsely - that he had destroyed isolated wetlands in order to create his cranberry bogs. The Justice Department has been dragging out court proceedings ever since, and the monetary, physical and emotional burden is destroying Mr. Johnson's business and his life.

Mr. Johnson - and hundreds of others in similar situations - thought relief was in sight in January of 2001, when, shortly before …