I listened to the man last night, and it seems pretty clear to me that his is simply disputing the right of the federal government to assert ownership of land that it holds in trust for the people. He says it’s wrong that the Federal Government claims it “owns” 80% of Nevada.
I actually agree with that. Americans — even conservatives it seems — have this notion that can’t shake that land must belong to someone. It seems very hard to explain to people that just because land is unpurchased by individuals that it automatically is NOT owned by the Federal Government. This idea that the Federal Government “paid” Mexico for this land and took “ownership” after a war is a terribly misplaced idea. The Federal Government did nothing more nor less than the American Revolutionaries did in winning independence from the British. Did the Federal Government then “own” each of the 13 colonies? After the Louisianna Purchase, did the Federal Government “own” everything from Louisiana angling up toward Wyoming from the Mississippi west?
Or was it simply a new establishment of American borders with the Federal Government in a role of responsibility over those millions of acres within new borders? Is the Federal Government an individual in that it, like a monarch, exerts ownership over crown properties?
A steward does not own anything. A steward simply watches over the property of his boss. And since the Constitution gives the Federal Government direct control of only a limited list of places, that means the bulk of the steward’s watched over property is owned by the steward’s BOSS. That boss is “we the people of the United States in order to establish a more perfect union”.
Any power not granted to the Federal Government is reserved for the States or for the People.
The first constitutional branch of government mentioned is THE People.
The second is the States.
Old Clive Bundy is standing on principle. That principle is that the land in question is within the borders of Nevada, and that it, therefore, belongs to Nevada. And unclaimed and unpurchased, as of yet, by individuals it is “open range”. He is using open range and is willing to pay Nevada reasonable fees.
Your point is well taken. Almost by definition the FEDERAL government cannot OWN real property within a soverign state. The land within the state borders belongs to the State or by deed or homestead rights to the people within that state.
The Constitution does not grant the Federal government authority to own 80% of Nevada. Nevada owns 100% of Nevada and the Governor and the people of Nevada should be up in arms over this action at the Bundy Ranch and should begin to asset their 10th amendment right to reclaim that property and assert their ownership rights.
I had never thought about this before. The Federal government did not own even an acre of the 13 colonies. When they needed land they purchased it. After the Louisiana Purchase the government relinquished any title to the states as they were created.
The Bundys have asserted adverse rights for over 20 years. Under Nevada law the title of the property would transfer to them.
I really don’t like the idea that the federal government thinks it owns the land. If land is within the borders of a state, then the state and the people within that state have title. If the government needs the land for military bases or forts, then they can use it until they abandon it and at that point it would revert back to the state.
I think that Utah and Nevada and Arizona should join with the Bundys and reclaim their land from this bureaucratic dragon. Their land is their land. It is long past time for them to assert their ownership.