Hage is out there, pretty much alone. But like his Viking ancestors confronting a Celtic stone wall, he is given to storming the issue, no quarter given, none expected. In the West today, if you haven’t heard of Wayne Hage, you haven’t learned to listen.
Here are the media stories, so far:
Wayne Hage, Nevada rancher and sagebrush rebel, dies
(Note: Wayne Hage, one of the greatest property rights fighters in America's history, is in Heaven.)
June 6, 2006
By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org
The Associated Press
Reno, Nevada - Wayne Hage, who battled the federal government for decades over public lands and private property rights and came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion, died Monday.
Hage had been ill and died in his sleep at his Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah, his family said. He was 69.
"He actually successfully beat cancer a number of years ago," said Bob St. Louis, and longtime friend and fellow rancher. "In the past couple weeks, it came back in really aggressive form."
A memorial service is planned for noon Saturday at the Hage ranch in Monitor Valley, and he will be buried at the Pine Creek Ranch cemetery.
"He was ready to go home," his daughter, Ramona Morrison, said in a telephone interview from the ranch. "He was able to see his saddle horses out the window. That's what he wanted."
A widower, Hage married former Republican U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth of Idaho in 1999. The couple was introduced by another daughter, Margaret Byfield, who heads Stewards of the Range, an educational group based in Boise, Idaho, that works on property-rights issues nationwide.
Hage had battled the government since the Forest Service started scaling back the number of cattle allowed to graze on national forest land in the early 1980s.
He sued in 1991, claiming the Forest Service repeatedly harassed him for more than a decade after he rejected the agency's offer to buy his ranch for half of what he paid for it. All but 7,000 acres of the 759,000-acre ranch were Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management property on which Hage held grazing allotments.
A longtime state's rights activist and author of "Storm Over Rangelands," Hage filed a claim seeking $28 million in damages after Forest Service officials confiscated more than 100 of his cattle and suspended his grazing permits on parts of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, saying overgrazing was causing ecological damage on the high-desert range.
In 2002, U.S. Claims Court Judge Loren Smith ruled in Washington D.C., that Hage had a right to let his cattle use the water and forage on at least some of the federal land where he held a federal grazing permit north of Tonopah, in central Nevada.
Hage said the water rights came with the Pine Creek ranch when he bought it for about $2 million in 1978 and those rights carry with them the right to the associated forage.
After that ruling, Hage wrote, "The potential ramifications of this decision are enormous; thousands of ranchers now have good hope for redress against harassment and abuse by federal agencies."
Two years later, during another court hearing on whether the government's action amounted to an illegal taking -- thereby requiring compensation. Hage said, "If you don't have the water rights, you don't have a ranch."
Born December 21, 1936, in Elko, Hage grew up ranching. He persuaded his parents to let him drop out of high school to help other ranchers who were struggling during the harsh winter of 1952.
After that, he was not to be corralled.
"The big cattle outfits would put out a roundup wagon and they'd just stay out on the range for maybe 10 months of the year," he wrote in the May 2002 edition of The New American. "For a teenage boy, that kind of life -- riding horseback on the open range -- was an adventure that made school pretty dull and uninteresting by comparison, so I just stayed with it."
C.J. Hadley, editor of Range Magazine, said Hage was a "bulldog" who "had the guts to go up against the federal government."
"No more stronger, more tenacious rancher I've ever seen," said Hadley, who visited Hage about two weeks ago at a Reno hospital.
He told her, "All I want to do is go to my ranch, look out my window and see my horses and cattle."
Chuck Cushman, director of the American Land Rights Association in Battle Ground, Washington, said Tuesday that he didn't know if his property rights organization would even exist if not for Hage.
"Few people have made more of a difference in the history of the West than Wayne Hage," Cushman said. "His effort to protect the rights of ranchers and other private property owners paved the way for many to save their future and the future of ranching in the West."
Janine Hansen, a longtime conservative Nevadan running for secretary of state as a candidate of the Independent American Party, said Hage's "willingness to battle gave all of us courage."
"We can thank the Lord for his courage in opposing the heavy hand of government tyranny," she said.
Hage is survived by his wife, Helen Chenoweth-Hage; daughters Ramona Morrison of Reno; Margaret Byfield of Taylor, Texas; Ruthe Agee of Elko and Laura Perkins of Boise, Idaho; son Wayne Hage Jr., of Pine Creek Ranch; and 10 grandchildren.
His first wife, Jean, died in 1996.
Copyright 2006, Las Vegas Sun.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jun/06/060610085.html
Two earlier versions:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jun/06/060610061.html
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jun/06/060610049.html
Helen Chenoweth's husband, sagebrush rebel Wayne Hage, dies
June 6, 2006
By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org
The Associated Press
Reno, Nevada - Wayne Hage, who battled the federal government for decades over public lands and private property rights and came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion, has died.
Friends say Hage had been ill with cancer and died Monday at his Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah. He was 69.
A memorial service is planned Saturday at the Hage ranch in Monitor Valley.
A widower, Hage married former U.S. Representative Helen Chenoweth, an Idaho Republican, in 1999.
A longtime state's rights activist and author of "Storm Over Rangelands," Hage filed a federal claim in 1991 seeking $28 million in damages after Forest Service officials confiscated his cattle and suspended his grazing permits on parts of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.
In 2002, a U.S. Claims Court judge ruled that Hage had a right to let his cattle use the water and forage on at least some of the federal land where he held a grazing permit.
Copyright KTBV.com.
http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-jun0606-wayne_hage_dies.5e32b0c3.html
Cattle Activist Dies
(Note: Wayne was sixty-nine years old, but accomplished more for the freedom and property rights of America during those years than almost anyone. No matter what the media says, he did a great deal to educate people on the fact that "public lands" are extinct. They are, in fact, federal lands -- and are often off-limits/closed to the public.)
June 6, 2006
By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org
The Associated Press
Wayne Hage, the Nevada man known for his battles with the federal government, and who came to epitomize the state's "sagebrush rebellion," has died.
Hage had battled the government since the Forest Service started scaling back the number of cattle allowed to graze on national forest land, in the early 1980s.
In 2002, U.S. Claims Court Judge Loren Smith ruled that Hage had a right to let his cattle use the water, and forage on at least some of the federal land, where he had formerly held a federal grazing permit, north of Tonopah.
Hage died yesterday of cancer.
Friends say he was in his sixties.
Copyright 2006, KOLOtv.com.
http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/2940941.html
Wayne Hage, Nevada rancher and sagebrush rebel, dies
(Note: Wayne was sixty-nine years old, but accomplished more for the freedom and property rights of America during those years than almost anyone. No matter what the media says, he did a great deal to educate people on the fact that "public lands" are extinct. They are, in fact, federal lands -- and are often off-limits/closed to the public.)
June 6, 2006
By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org
The Associated Press
Las Vegas Sun
Las Vegas, Nevada
http://www.lasvegassun.com
To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@lasvegassun.com
Reno, Nevada - Wayne Hage, who battled the federal government for decades over public lands and private property rights, has died.
Hage, who came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion, had been ill and died Monday at his Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah, friends said. He was in his 60s.
"He actually successfully beat cancer a number of years ago," said Bob St. Louis, and longtime friend and fellow rancher. "In the past couple weeks, it came back in really aggressive form."
A memorial service is planned Saturday at the Hage ranch in Monitor Valley.
Hage, who married former Republican U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth of Idaho in 1999, had battled the government since the Forest Service started scaling back the number of cattle allowed to graze on national forest land in the early 1980s.
In 2002, U.S. Claims Court Judge Loren Smith ruled in Washington D.C., that Hage had a right to let his cattle use the water and forage on at least some of the federal land where he formerly held a federal grazing permit north of Tonopah, in central Nevada.
A longtime state's rights activist and author of "Storm Over Rangelands," Hage filed a claim seeking $28 million in damages in 1991 after Forest Service officials suspended his grazing permits on parts of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, saying overgrazing was causing ecological damage on the high-desert range.
Hage said the water rights came with the Pine Creek ranch when he bought it for about $2 million in 1978 and those rights carry with them the right to the associated forage.
"If you don't have the water rights, you don't have a ranch," he said during a 2004 court hearing.
Copyright 2006, Las Vegas Sun.
http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jun/06/060610029.html
Rancher, sagebrush rebel Wayne Hage dies
(Note: Wayne was explicit -- and right -- when he said there are no "public lands," only federal lands.)
June 6, 2006
By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org
The Associated Press
The Reno Gazette-Journal
Reno, Nevada
http://www.rgj.com
To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@rgj.com
Reno, Nevada - Wayne Hage, who battled the federal government for decades over public lands and private property rights, has died.
Hage, who came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion, had been ill and died Monday at his Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah, friends said. He was 69.
AP-WS-06-06-06 1227EDT
Copyright 2006, The Reno GazetteJournal.
http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060606/NEWS18/606060368&oaso=news.rgj.com/breakingnews