Some additional information.
My brother grazes cattle in Nevada. He has, of necessity, become very knowledgeable on Nevada grazing law.
Here is what he tells me about this case that I haven’t heard or read anywhere else:
In Nevada, ranchers could vote to establish or not establish grazing districts. Once these districts were established, the BLM would “manage” the grazing land. By statute, the fees paid are not to lease the ground, but for BLM to manage the range.
According to the Taylor Grazing Act, the BLM is there to manage the range for grazing - NOT for tortoises or solar panels. BLM has been so far off the reservation for so many years that it is unlikely they will ever return to performing their legal activities.
The area where Bundy grazes voted against a grazing district. This means the land remained open range, and by Nevada law, the Bundy family had established their grazing rights by historic precedence. This right is to the forage on the property - regardless of who owns the deed to the land. (analogous to mineral rights). Therefore, since the ranchers voted AGAINST having BLM manage the land, they had no right to demand management (grazing) fees.
Also - cattle have enhanced the environment for the tortoises. Cattle can travel farther and faster than a tortoise. By shitting, the cattle deposit food and water for the tortoise - making areas previously too far from water now hospitable to the tortoise.
Finally - Nevada range cattle are far different than most other cattle in the US - even other range cattle. Because of the harsh environment (over 300 acres required to support 1 cow for 1 year), native cattle do much better than non-native cattle. My brother tells me that non-native cattle will lose at least a year of production before they learn the range. So Bundy cannot just go buy more cows and be made whole - he needs HIS cows that were taken, or he needs to be compensated for the cows AND the lost production while replacement cows become acclimated.
Interesting. Thanks.
My brother grazes cattle in Nevada. He has, of necessity, become very knowledgeable on Nevada grazing law.
Here is what he tells me about this case that I haven’t heard or read anywhere else:...
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Thanks for posting that info, GilesB! It adds to what I read several days ago, wherein the BLM fees were to help mantain the roads, waters and fences. ...Seems the BLM stopped doing that around 1994, so Bundy has spent his own money to do so and stopped paying the BLM. The BLM broke the contract.
BOOKMARK: Nevada grazing rights/law explained.
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Thanks so much for the info.
Thank you so much for sharing the information from your brother. I have not seen that anywhere else. With Harry Reid in that state it immediately made me suspicious when this story first broke. It was such overkill. I found some videos from sheriff Tony DeMeo in Nye County NV that concerned a situation with a rancher in his county and the BLM and how he handled it based on the Constitution and honoring his pledge to protect his constituents. It is obvious BLM has systematically used their power to run off ranchers in a lot of places. FOX had a special on Fed over reach tonight and I assumed it was on Bundy—but it was a rancher with a horror story so bad he wrote a book about it. After that they got harassed and fined pretty much daily. One fine was for a single nail being out on the fence on top of a mountain. People are past ready to remind the Feds they are not our boss, but our employees!
Here’s some good info from a great Constitutional sheriff that shows the BLM could not have done this operation at Bundy’s without the sheriff giving them that authority:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=JaEKB8pU2Tw
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Truths like this will be suppressed or twisted to serve the purpose of the regime.
Now that is interesting. I know that the law in Nebraska is different in regards to BLM land (same with Wyoming). The range is much different in most places also.
Thanks for the explanation!