Posted on 04/13/2014 5:55:42 PM PDT by Texas Fossil
Byers, Texas along the Red River — The BLM stole 140 acres of the Tommy Henderson ranch thirty years ago. They took his land and paid him absolutely nothing. He sued and lost. Now the BLM is using that court case as precedent to do it again. The problem is, the land they want to seize is property that ranchers have a deed for and have paid taxes on for over a hundred years.
The BLM claims that about 90,000 acres (116 miles along the Red River) have never belonged to Texas in the first place. They will seize the land and it will seriously change the boundaries between the two states.
Avulsion versus Accretion
Since 1803 when the Louisiana Purchase was completed, there has been a controversy over the boundary between Oklahoma and Texas. The boundary is supposed to be the vegetation line on the south side of the Red River. But the River has moved over time. The problem is the definition of that boundary line- Oklahoma and Texas each use different semantics to define it. And the BLM is finding ways to use the disputed words to give them the ability to seize the land.
According to the BLM, the Red River is always Accretion (gradual accumulation of sediment) to the south, and always Avulsion (rapid formation of a new river channel) to the north. So according to the BLM, the boundary only moves one direction, never in the direction that favors the ranchers. They are looking to re-draw the entire portion of the Red River boundary. That includes 90,000 acres of land along a 116 mile stretch of the river.
“BLM officials believe they have a responsibility to manage land they believe is federal which includes an estimated 90,000 acres along 116 miles of the Red River. If land is found to be public, BLM officials say they have three options: leave the land open, closed, or open with limitations.” January 2014
Public input ignored?
Land that has been in the families of ranchers is to be seized as “public lands” that would be subject to fees or blocked off entirely from rancher’s use. Or in some cases, moving the boundary line over to Oklahoma, where Texas ranchers can lose their rights to the lands that they have owned for more than a century. The BLM had open meetings back in January to “take input” from the public …but they are moving forward with their plan to seize the land anyway. There was likely never any intention of actually listening to the rancher’s stand.
The taking of property from land owners, the stealing of cattle, all of these things are apparently the modus operandi of the Bureau of Land Management. There are no tortoises involved in this incident, just land-grabbing feds who are intent to take away the property of ranchers that have owned it for hundreds of years. Will it come to armed confrontation as is occurring in Nevada? We don’t know.
Open grazing of cattle has always been a common law right in America. It is time for the American people to rise up against the theft of private lands and property by a government that is out of control. Ranchers have contact Texas Representative Mac Thornberry for assistance. We will monitor this situation as it progresses.
“Now one could argue I suppose that the amount of new land on the south bank actually belongs to the rancher to the north...”
There is NO new land - it was there all the time, just had water over it. The line should stay where it has always been, water over it or not. That’s what I think, bet Att. General Abbott thinks the same thing.
No where in there is there room for the BLM.
/johnny
How long do you think it would take for Texas Rednecks to solidly cover that whole area with their bodies and their weapons? There would be so many of them, they would be in ranks behind each other. And, I can see Attorney General Abbott in his wheelchair in front of them with his weapon drawn.
Bookmark for later reading.
There is no profit for the federal employees in getting bitch-slapped back into a corner, over and over again.
Someone in FedGov should recognize that it's time for cooler heads to prevail, while it still looks like they matter.
/johnny
There WAS a "long-standing dispute over the boundary". But it was resolved in 1999 (I believe) when GWB and the Oklahoma governor signed an interstate compact settling the matter.
The Feds were NOT involved.
A sight to see.
The BFLM is currently a more accurate abbreviation of the BLM.
The BFLM is the abbreviation for the Bureau of FEUDAL Land Management.
Feudalism is what Europe was based on, and if it was good enough for Europe, then it is good enough for America! FORWARD!
Currently, the purpose of the BFLM is to provide land, free of charge, to the Commune-organized Obamanation to do with as the ruling Senate and Administration Feudal Lord Democrats see fit.
Predictions are that the cave-in Doormat Republican Leaders will, as usual, just huff and puff on TV, as required by the 2 year Congressional No Fight Contract that Pelosi, Reid and Obama have forced them to sign.
Well, I agree, but that would be too simple. The deeds were apparently written referencing the banks of the river. And was legally defined as the vegetation line on the south bank to settle the dispute regarding the state line.
Such a definition is crappy, because it actually means that the line changes as the river changes. And the actual amount of land changes as well, so apparently there is additional acreage on the southern side and less on the north.
An adequate description would function as you stated, and the amount of acreage would not change, but the location of the river would.
I have a deed to property that starts in the middle of a creek bed and west from there, so I have a somewhat similar problem. The state owns land located from the middle of the creek and the eastern side.
When the creek changes east or west, my boundary line would change so that it’s in the middle of the current path of the creek.
God Bless Texas and their AG.
Look at the resumes of this group in the middle of the recent Bundy-BLM standoff/land grab in Nevada, especially notice the colleges and universities where most of them went: Biological Diversity
This would be a chance for Perry, Strauss, Dewhurst and Abbott to show what they’re made of.
Ping to a story which should interest you!
We’d be likely to cancel the feud over something like this.
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The Longhorns vs. Sooners ‘feud’ will remain.
In recent years, the Okies have become probably the closest ally of Texans, with regard to politics and States rights!
Lake Texhoma is fed by the Red River. The State’s borders meet in the middle of the big lake and have nothing to do with the shorelines. .........A good friend was ticketed there while fishing. An OK fish and game officer found him to be over that “line” and with only a TX fishing license.
“When the creek changes east or west, my boundary line would change so that it’s in the middle of the current path of the creek.”
And the MOST important thing, is that you, and the people out west, still have access to the water. Although not sure how that works if it only extends to the brush line? Perhaps there is another river nearby to the south to provide for the Texans.
If it was me, and the feds wanted to get the land between me and my backyard neighbor (the jerk!), I’m pretty sure that we would BOTH figure something out between ourselves to keep the feds out of our backyards. (Hey - I’m a “NIMBY”!)
I can tell you it won’t happen in TX.
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Agree. I believe Rick Perry, AG Greg Abbott and the Texas Rangers would not sit on their hands like the dorks in the NV government did regarding the Bundy Ranch.
Perhaps there is another river nearby to the south to provide for the Texans.
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I have no idea what that means.
The Red River is a “border” river. It begins at the Eastern base of the TX Panhandle, separating OK, small portion of SW AR and then forms the Western LA border before it empties into the Gulf of MX just East of Port Arthur TX.
The subject of the thread is the land grab more than access to water, although water is very important to the ranchers and farmers.
Well, I am sure that there is a due process, for the government to take it. My neighbor happens to be the State of Missouri. Their property on the East is a narrow strip of land that is the right of way for a state highway.
USA keeps trying to redefine stuff to give Fedzilla control of all internal water ways. I am not sure how long that type of stuff can be defeated, since the Government seems to have early onset dementia.
and then forms the Western LA border before it empties into the Gulf of MX
just East of Port Arthur TX.
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Not that it matters a lot but the Red isn’t the Western border of LA. It enters
LA east of I-49 and Shreveport and flows south east through Alexandria and finally
ends when it meets the Atachalafaya - Mississippi river basin on the eastern
side of LA north of I-10 some 50 plus miles.
I already know what they are made of. They all are Texans.
And they all know it.
Put Ted Cruz on the team and we have a formidable staff.
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