Posted on 04/15/2014 7:45:53 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
On Saturday, I wrote about the standoff at Bundy Ranch. That post drew a remarkable amount of traffic, even though, as I wrote then, I had not quite decided what to make of the story. Since then, I have continued to study the facts and have drawn some conclusions. Here they are.
First, it must be admitted that legally, Bundy doesn’t have a leg to stand on. The Bureau of Land Management has been charging him grazing fees since the early 1990s, which he has refused to pay. Further, BLM has issued orders limiting the area on which Bundy’s cows can graze and the number that can graze, and Bundy has ignored those directives. As a result, BLM has sued Bundy twice in federal court, and won both cases. In the second, more recent action, Bundy’s defense is that the federal government doesn’t own the land in question and therefore has no authority to regulate grazing. That simply isn’t right; the land, like most of Nevada, is federally owned. Bundy is representing himself, of necessity: no lawyer could make that argument.
That being the case, why does Bundy deserve our sympathy? To begin with, his family has been ranching on the acres at issue since the late 19th century. They and other settlers were induced to come to Nevada in part by the federal government’s promise that they would be able to graze their cattle on adjacent government-owned land. For many years they did so, with no limitations or fees. The Bundy family was ranching in southern Nevada long before the BLM came into existence.
Over the last two or three decades, the Bureau has squeezed the ranchers in southern Nevada by limiting the acres on which their cattle can graze, reducing the number of cattle that can be on federal land, and charging grazing fees for the ever-diminishing privilege. The effect of these restrictions has been to drive the ranchers out of business. Formerly, there were dozens of ranches in the area where Bundy operates. Now, his ranch is the only one. When Bundy refused to pay grazing fees beginning in around 1993, he said something to the effect of, they are supposed to be charging me a fee for managing the land and all they are doing is trying to manage me out of business. Why should I pay them for that?
The bedrock issue here is that the federal government owns more than 80% of the state of Nevada. This is true across the western states. To an astonishing degree, those states lack sovereignty over their own territory. Most of the land is federal. And the federal agencies that rule over federal lands have agendas. At every opportunity, it seems, they restrict not only what can be done on federal lands, but on privately-owned property. They are hostile to traditional industries like logging, mining and ranching, and if you have a puddle in your back yard, the EPA will try to regulate it as a navigable waterway.
That is only a slight exaggeration.
One could say that Cliven Bundy is just one more victim of progress and changing mores. The federal government has gotten more environmentally-conscious, and now we really, really care about desert tortoises. (It was the designation of desert tortoises as an endangered species that gave BLM the opportunity to squeeze Bundy in the early 1990s.) But here’s the thing: the Bureau of Land Management–the federal government–is not necessarily anti-development. Rather, its attitude depends entirely on what sort of development is in question.
Thus, BLM has developed a grandiose plan to develop vast solar energy installations on federal land across the Southwest. Wind power projects are favored, too. In fact, the same BLM that has driven Nevada’s ranchers out of business has welcomed solar projects with open arms. Some have claimed that Harry Reid is behind the BLM’s war against Cliven Bundy, on the theory that he wants the land for a solar project in which his son Rory is involved, along with the Chinese. I don’t believe this is correct. The solar projects are located north of Las Vegas, 30 miles or so from the area where Bundy ranches.
But the connection is nevertheless important in two respects. First, BLM has promulgated a regional mitigation strategy for the environmental impacts of the solar developments. Let’s pause on that for a moment: the excuse for limiting Bundy’s rights is the endangered desert tortoise. But wait! Don’t they have desert tortoises a few miles away where the solar projects are being built? Of course they do. That’s where they get to the mitigation strategy, which may involve, among other things, moving some desert tortoises to a new location:
The Gold Butte ACEC is preliminarily recommended as the best recipient location for regional mitigation from the Dry Lake SEZ. This ACEC is located 32 miles (51 km) east of the Dry Lake SEZ.
Gold Butte is the area where Bundy ranches. There are a few problems with the Gold Butte location as a mitigation area; one of them is that there are “trespassing” cattle:
The resource values found in the Gold Butte ACEC are threatened by: unauthorized activities, including off-road vehicle use, illegal dumping, and trespass livestock grazing; wildfire; and weed infestation.
So it is possible that the federal government is driving Bundy off federal lands to make way for mitigation activities that enable the solar energy development to the north. But I don’t think it is necessary to go there. Rather–this is the second and more important point–it is obvious that some activities are favored by the Obama administration’s BLM, and others are disfavored. The favored developments include solar and wind projects. No surprise there: the developers of such projects are invariably major Democratic Party donors. Wind and solar energy survive only by virtue of federal subsidies, so influencing people like Barack Obama and Harry Reid is fundamental to the developers’ business plans. Ranchers, on the other hand, ask nothing from the federal government other than the continuation of their historic rights. It is a safe bet that Cliven Bundy is not an Obama or Reid contributor.
Solar energy projects don’t draw BLM snipers.
The new head of the BLM is a former Reid staffer. Presumably he was placed in his current position on Reid’s recommendation. Harry Reid is known to be a corrupt politician, one who has gotten wealthy on a public employee’s salary, in part, at least, by benefiting from sweetheart real estate deals. Does Harry Reid now control more than 80% of the territory of Nevada? If you need federal authority to conduct business in Nevada–which is overwhelmingly probable–do you need to pay a bribe to Harry Reid or a member of his family to get that permission? Why is it that the BLM is deeply concerned about desert tortoises when it comes to ranchers, but couldn’t care less when the solar power developers from China come calling? Environmentalists have asked this question. Does the difference lie in the fact that Cliven Bundy has never contributed to an Obama or Reid campaign, or paid a bribe to Reid or a member of his family?
Based on the evidence, I would say: yes, that is probably the difference. When the desert tortoises balance out, Occam’s razor tells us that the distinction is political.
So let’s have some sympathy for Cliven Bundy and his family. They don’t have a chance on the law, because under the Endangered Species Act and many other federal statutes, the agencies are always in the right. And their way of life is one that, frankly, is on the outs. They don’t develop apps. They don’t ask for food stamps. It probably has never occurred to them to bribe a politician. They don’t subsist by virtue of government subsidies or regulations that hamstring competitors. They aren’t illegal immigrants. They have never even gone to law school. So what possible place is there for the Bundys in the Age of Obama?
Patrick Henry said: It is in vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gentlemen may cry, Peace, Peace – but there is no peace. The war is actually begun! The next gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our ears the clash of resounding arms! Our brethren are already in the field! Why stand we here idle? What is it that gentlemen wish? What would they have? Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death
Cattle ranching is Bundy’s livelihood; it’s how he feeds his family. Even if he is trespassing his cattle, it’s not a crime — he’s doing so “out of love.”
Aha! :)
1of3 Stephen Pratt speaking to Sheriffs at WSSA conference
2of3 Stephen Pratt speaking to Sheriffs at WSSA conference
3of3 Stephen Pratt speaking to Sheriffs at WSSA conference
Here's one that shows why the Sheriff of Clark County is duty bound to keep the BLM and all Federal agents from arresting Cliven Bundy.
Steven Pratt, Bound by Oath to Support THIS Constitution,/a>
Is there a difference between the desert turtle in the area of the Bundy ranch & the desert turtle in Death Valley?
Many acres were closed off in Death Valley National Monument to protect the desert turtle under Alan Cranston & Diane Feinstein. Access to those millions of acres no longer exist.
Now, that same department is claiming they no longer have enough money to run this agency & they are threatening to euthanize those Death Valley National Monument turtles!!!
Is there a difference in these turtles?
Can the Feds legitimately kill turtles in California & remove Bundy’s cattle 400 miles away to save Nevada turtles?
There are compound lies in all of the actions of the BLM, Harry Reid and the other Fed agencies who seem to even be at odds with themselves.
Connect the dots, people.
Sometimes, the law is an ass.
Meanwhile, the Obama administration has lare billboards facing south telling Mexicans they can have food stamps here in the USA and the Border Patrol is told not to have bullets in their guns.
Does anyone think these jackboots in these photos didn’t have bullets???
And since when does the BLM need such tactical people on their payroll?
How many does the BLM have on the payroll? Every single BLM truck I see here in N Nevada is a very new Ford, which runs about $55,000 per vehicle. They certainly are getting the very best & latest in equipment to keep the public off the public lands.
Exactly what Hitler & the Third Reich set up in the 30’s. You could not go a day without breaking a law.
Note also number 1 has a riot shield, number 2 has what looks like a bean bag gun, number 3 has a rifle. So they're ready to escalate from pepper spray balls to bullets in one little stack. This looks like doctrine, but it has serious flaws in the face of armed opposition.
I live right near the place he said that. In fact a fella that heard him from a window asked that when his time came he would be buried right there. He was.
I am a doc. I have told folks in the past that if they thought they could get out of my head what I have learned over decades against my will, well let’s say good luck.
You may be an MD, but I an pretty sure that if you don’t accept obamacare in your practice in the near future you will be an UNlicensed MD.
Practice at your peril after that...
They are the enemy and we need to wake up to that fact before it's too late.
If they won't hesitate to do it to him, they won't hesitate to do it to you or me.
Slavery was legal at one time and those who helped runaway slaves were lawbreakers and enters jury nullification.
Bad laws ought not to stand. They're not written in stone and we the people have the right to see them repealed.
LOL. I posted 5 years ago that if this Klown was elected abortion would be free on demand on Main Street but Lipitor could only be obtained in alleys shoved in the car window. I got no problem with unlicensed. In fact I been looking forward to it. Cash only. No malpractice. No more BS CME, PQRS, CAQH, AMA, AAFP, etc. it will be a huge improvement for me.
I’m actually OK with statins being unavailable. They may cause more harm than good. I’d personally never take one regardless of my cholesterol level. I’m not a litigious sort so I’d never get in the way of others taking them. That ‘dangerous’ low carb diet halved my LDL, doubled my HDL and lowered my overall cholesterol by a dramatic percentage. My trigs were 20 last time I had bloodwork.
Abortions will be free of course, but I expect there will come a time in the not too distant future when there will be remuneration for having one in some fashion. And not too long after that having live babies will be punished in some way.
Good luck with the unlicensed bit. State medical boards go for the jugular with that stuff...
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