The Great Nevada Range War of 2014

cattle

THE FACTS

Clive Bundy has been in a dispute with the BLM for over 20 years about grazing permits for his cattle herd of over 500 head. Each head of cattle costs $1.35 per head of cattle, per month for the permit. That amounts to $8100.00 per year, and over $1 million dollars for twenty years.

Clive Bundy has insisted that he has no problem paying the permit fee; however he feels the BLM has no right to the money, and that the state of Nevada owns the land. Clive Bundy also has not paid any permit fees to the state of Nevada.

Over twenty four months ago two Federal Judges ruled against Clive Bundy, and required him to pay the over $1 million dollars in fees to the BLM. He refused and the federal government attempted to seize his cattle that were grazing on the disputed land; however Bundy interfered with the roundup causing another Federal Judge to rule that Clive Bundy could not intervene with the roundup.

Bundy’s Mormon family settled here over 140 years ago and although he does not actually own the land, he claims the inherited right to graze his cattle on it.

Clive Bundy made statements to the affect that this was now a “range war”. This further escalated the issue because those are threatening statements to the Federal Government and the BLM responded accordingly by using a “show of force”. This included armored vehicles, snipers, federal law enforcement, and canine support.

Further escalating the situation was Clive Bundy’s supporters causing the situation to go viral on the internet. Hundreds of new-found supporters began to go to Bunkerville, Nevada and “poke the snake” causing the federal government to exercise their authority, and protect those that oversee the roundup.

As seen in the viral video that supporters of Clive Bundy have put on YouTube, his supporters blocked a truck, on a federal road, and threatened the occupants of it. This is obvious as witnessed in the video. Law enforcement were seen trying to protect the occupants by approaching with canines and giving warnings to those making the threats to officers. Over ten warnings were given before they commanded canines to “repel” an assault. The assailant kicked the canine (assaulting a police officer), and they used Tasers on them to repel them. When the truck was able to move on the escalation ceased.

This entire problem started in 1993. Bundy refused to pay grazing fees in 1993.The trouble started there. He claimed that he didn’t have to pay any fees because his Mormon ancestors used the land since the 1880s. He feels this gives him the right to the land.

Nevada is a sovereign state, and like many other states in the western United States it has an “Open Range Law” that should be reviewed by people that are involved with this tussle. I have read this document, and the history of range laws. I have read the news concerning this event, and watched the compelling videos. I feel I can form an opinion now.

 

MY OPINION

If money was not the issue with Clive Bundy then why not pay it and be done with it? If it was an issue of not wanting to pay the federal government, then why didn’t he make a legitimate offer to Clark County, Nevada to pay them? The truth is that he does not want to pay at all. He does not own this land and just because a family has lived in an area and free-range grazed for many years does not give them ownership of the land, or its resources. Just ask anybody living in Alaska. The very minimal grazing fee imposed my BLM is not out of line with what the BLM does on lands across the rest of the nation. The issue is that he refused to pay anyone. The permit money is supposed to be used to “protect habitats”, etc. This is understandable, and acceptable. The two Federal Judge’s that ruled on this case both are known to be fairly conservative in their leanings.

Clive Bundy was able to graze his cattle for free for twenty years while others paid the permit fees for their own cattle to graze there. I’m from Missouri and from where I’m sitting that’s a tidy little profit for him. He thought he could do that indefinitely but it caught up with him, and now he can’t pay the accumulated bill. He had no other place to graze his cattle. He stated that “all the other ranchers around him stopped grazing there.” What he didn’t say is that they used their profits to buy grazing land around him instead of paying for permits.

This is not about “fracking”, “solar power”, “drilling”, “grazing”, “tortoise conservation” or other operational agenda. The fact is when one looks at a map of the area it’s easy to see that all of these things can coexist simultaneously, and not conflict upon each other. Nevada’s “Open Range” law does not protect other people from a rancher’s livestock. The state of Nevada has this one last area of land that is under the BLM. All others have been turned over to the state and subsequently sold to ranchers, and private interests. If the BLM were to cease managing it then the same thing that happened to the rest of the lands would happen. It would be sold to the highest bidder, and not held as “open range” land. Mr. Bundy would have to pay for his beef to be raised like everybody else does.

I hate when people do not research before they fan flames of deception. The cold, hard truth about this is that Clive Bundy owes the federal government a lot of money that he is compelled to pay because he continued to graze his cattle on “Open Range”, permit required land. Since he can no longer pay the accumulated bill he now is trying to graze on the sympathy of others around him. The fact is that if Nevada had the right they would sell the land immediately for profit and unless Clive Bundy bought the land, he couldn’t graze his cattle there anyway. This is why two Federal Judge’s ruled the way they did.

Clive Bundy is a selfish man vying to get a free handout from sympathetic activists.

 

7 thoughts on “The Great Nevada Range War of 2014

  1. When all else fails. Join in prayer for the best of Gods Blessings for American’s and our country. To guide us with wisdom, faith and courage to make the true stand against every evil. Wisdom in the Justice handed down. Over all that our American people know that God is for us in the good for all. That the American people be for God in humble gratitude and servant hood to each other.
    Can he? Will he? Must first open the door.
    The Foxhole Prayer at Work.
    I got this story out of Lake St. Louis Newstime maybe a year back or so. And each time someone says something like they don’t work I think of this one. And have had many answered myself. But this one stuck.
    It was in Afghanistan, one of our elite was being hunted down by the Taliban up in the mountains. They was closing in on him he was trapped. He crawled into one of the many small caves but they was going through them all. Sure he was done for he asked God to send help with everything within himself.
    He looked up and seen a spider busy himself building his web across the front of the cave.. Thinking to himself he needed a bigger door. How was that going to stop them from coming in after him?
    Bracing himself for what he felt was his last stand hearing them getting closer. One started to go into his cave another stopped him. Telling him don’t you see that big web across the opening. Nobody has been in there a long time. With that they gave up the search and left.
    This was told as a true story, I may not have got it exactly word for word right. But struck me, remembering the foxhole prayers God answered for me.
    Funny we look for the large grand answer or help. But he sends just what we need when we need it. And how we need it. We just have to see it.
    Thanks to Newstime for the printed story. And thanks to our soldier who shared it. And Thanks to God for being him.

  2. Beware Don’t Get Sucked In.
    Obama, Reid and DOJ WANT to use our law enforcement and troops like Hitlers Storm Troopers against Americans. Obama, His Goon’s and Thug’s Want it. For Full Marshal Law and Gun Confiscation. Stop and Think! Nov. 2014 Take House and Senate with Constitution Patriots!!! Then again in 2016. Americans For Americans..don’t sacrifice Americans for Treasonous Traitors the likes of Obama, Reid and every other Progressive Democrat or GOP.

  3. While I understand Nevada’s and BLM legal claims and rights. And the short coming’s of Clive Bundy. I still have a problem how Harry Reid and his son has slid in one sweet deal for themselves. His son heading up the solar power farm belonging to China through the legal firm he works for. Senator Dad has nothing to do with it just his trip to China. About the time the concern for the turtle came into play.
    These ethic’s are standard for Washington and industry. After all Solyndra isn’t that far back in this administrations history.. The only research in have personally done has been through those like the Breitbart News as I have below. I’m sure everything is legal and justified , perhaps rancher Bundy could have made better choice’s. Maybe he could purchase the land at the same price they are offering the China solar industry.
    From Breitbart News:
    The son of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV), Rory Reid, is the primary representative for ENN Energy Group, a Chinese energy company seeking to build a $5 billion solar panel plant on a 9,000-acre Clark County desert plot in Laughlin, Nevada.

    ENN scored big when Clark County commissioners unanimously voted to sell the Chinese company the public land for just $4.5 million, despite the fact that it was appraised at $38.6 million.

    Sen. Reid has been one of ENN’s biggest supporters, having recruited the company during a 2011 trip to China. According to Reuters, last month Sen. Reid tried to “pressure Nevada’s largest power company, NV Energy, to sign up as ENN’s first customer.”

    • Yea, I checked out land prices in Laughlin, Nevada. The average price for land is about $19,000 around the outskirts of town. Further out the price hovers around $2,000-$4,000 in the desert. I don’t understand why Nevadan’s tolerate such corruption! I looked on a Google map and found the approximate location of the land grab in question. I think that ENN should pay the additional market value for the land. ENN also had to make contractual concessions as well. These include employment for local residents during and after construction, and they must have an energy company willing to buy the power they generate. No energy company was willing to bend over for that prostate exam until Harry Reid stepped into the picture to coax the largest energy company in Nevada to sign on to it. This is a disaster waiting to happen. How is this man still a Senator?

  4. You have done some very good investigation into both sides of this issue. And thank you for the link to back up what you are talking about.
    The people of this country has been lied to so much. And the lawless actions of a Tyrant (p)resident along with the Justice Department. There is zero to little trust in anything that is said coming from them. While the mainstream media has covered up and carried the misleading without investigating. Or being the large part of the problem.
    Being lied to on a regular basis makes taking the easier softer way just that to easy to follow reporting that fits their MO.
    We American Citizens need to be very careful being sucked into a fight. I believe this administration would like nothing more than to give just cause for Marshal Law.
    Keeping eye’s, ear’s and minds open. Don P.

    • His strategy seems to have worked in the short-term. In time I think the federal government will turn this last remaining parcel of land over to Nevada simply because Clive Bundy is causing a ruckus, and it’s too controversial for them to deal with during the election season. Then Clive Bundy will not have free grazing land anymore. He will have to buy it from the State of Nevada to be able to use it.

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