Nevada Cattle Rancher Wins 'Range War' With Feds

[Purveyor]

A Nevada cattle rancher appears to have won his week-long battle with the federal government over a controversial cattle roundup that had led to the arrest of several protesters.

Cliven Bundy went head to head with the Bureau of Land Management over the removal of hundreds of his cattle from federal land, where the government said they were grazing illegally.

Bundy claims his herd of roughly 900 cattle have grazed on the land along the riverbed near Bunkerville, 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas, since 1870 and threatened a "range war" against the BLM on the Bundy Ranch website after one of his sons was arrested while protesting the removal of the cattle.

"I have no contract with the United States government," Bundy said. "I was paying grazing fees for management and that's what BLM was supposed to be, land managers and they were managing my ranch out of business, so I refused to pay."

MORE...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/nevada-cattle-rancher-wins-range-war-federal-government/story?id=23302610

[Purveyor]

1. Deal Reached; BLM Will Release Confiscated Cattle To Rancher

LAS VEGAS -- A deal has been reached between Bundy family leaders and the BLM, but not without some very tense moments.

Armed Bundy family leaders met with BLM officers Saturday afternoon in Mesquite to discuss the fate of the Bundy's cattle that the feds removed from BLM land, over the past week. The cattle are being held at a holding area in Mesquite.

Prior to the meeting, hundreds of protesters, some armed, tried storming the BLM's cattle gate, but weren't successful. The crowd was urged to wait 30 minutes and give both sides a chance to talk. An agreement was reached that the cattle will be released to the Bundy family later Saturday.

At one point, I-15 was closed in both directions, about seven miles south of Mesquite, because protesters had blocked the freeway. Nearly two dozen police officers and a SWAT unit were at the scene to keep the peace and assist the BLM enforcement officers to safely leave the area.

MORE...

http://www.8newsnow.com/story/25231502/breaking-news-protesters-gather-on-i15-causing-traffic-delays-cliven-bundy-blm

[yeoman6987]

27. Ok good

This story is annoying and not really important in the big picture of getting Democrats elected in November. I tell you the other story that I am so sick of is that murder trial of the guy in South Africa….stunning that we have to hear it nonstop. The other story is the missing plane, but since at least there were 3 Americans on the flight, it is important to find out what happened to the plane so the news is appropriate for the United States.

[Jesus Malverde]

37. "murder trial of the guy in South Africa"

The reason we see the networks cover these stories ad naseum is they are given to the networks for free. They can talk about it with pundits in the studio. It's really cheap to make.

The same with reality TV shows. They are much cheaper to make than original dramas. No pay for writers, directors, set production. It's a couple of camera men and a producer, the script writes itself and the people eat it up packaged around cash generating ads.

[yeoman6987]

38. Thank you

I just am so sick of it. I of course feel for the woman but she isn't even American. I guess the networks have to put something on the air in this 24-hour news cycles.

[jwirr]

2. I have asked this before. When he says "my ranch" is he talking about the land he is renting from us

or does he actually own land apart from where he runs the cattle?

[MohRokTah]

5. HE owns 160 acres.

He couldn't keep any kind of a herd of cattle on such a small piece of desert.

[jwirr]

11. Thank you. As the daughter of a farmer that is a little ranch. No doubt holds his home and other

farm buildings. I understand why he wanted to run the cattle on public lands - do not know why he wanted to burn his bridges behind him. I doubt he is going to be given a permit again.

[Warpy]

13. Nope, most western ranchers have to rent BLM land for grazing

and the BLM is as popular as anthrax. However, even after paying the rent, they make money when they sell the cattle.

I hate it that this guy has gotten away with breaking the law for 20 years and the BLM caved.

[yeoman6987]

28. Normally I would agree with you on this

But I was really worried this was turning into a Ruby Ridge, Wacko, or Elian Gonzales. It is best to let it go and try again later. Really nothing to gain by the government to have this go wrong especially if shots are fired. Not worth it at all.

[Warpy]

29. That was the BLM's thinking

and they were likely right. However, I sincerely hope they manage to arrest the guy in the future. He's likely to be a total scofflaw and his "mistakes" are going to get bigger.

They're likely to get him on tax violations, at the very least.

[yeoman6987]

30. That would be fine with me

Arrest him and let him have his day in court. At the very least give him fines to pay. Even if they have to take it out of his Social Security Check someday that is the best option. I suspect that both sides will come to some sort of deal. I have no idea what that will be but I just have a feeling that will happen. His lawyer is going to tell him to make some sort of deal.

[ancianita]

33. He had his day in court. He and his whole bunch are scofflaws.

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2012/11/28/18-years-of-trespass-and-blm-still-hasnt-removed-the-cattle/

http://www.thewildlifenews.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/Order-US-v.-Bundy-7-9-13.pdf

[UTUSN]

34. The gunLOONS are itching for bloodshed, just a matter of when and where

Really, they are anarchists, freedom for them to do whatever they want.

*********QUOTE********

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/13/us-usa-ranchers-nevada-idUSBREA3B03Q20140413?feedType=RSS&feedName=domesticNews
[font size=5]Nevada ranching family claims victory as government releases cattle[/font]

.... A number of Bundy's supporters, who included militia members from California, Idaho and other states, dressed in camouflage and carried rifles and sidearms. During the stand-off, some chanted "open that gate" and "free the people."

A man who identified himself as Scott, 43, said he had traveled from Idaho along with two fellow militia members to support Bundy.

"If we don't show up everywhere, there is no reason to show up anywhere," said the man, dressed in camouflage pants and a black flak jacket crouched behind a concrete highway barrier, holding an AR-15 rifle. "I'm ready to pull the trigger if fired upon," Scott said.

LONG-SIMMERING ANGER

The dispute between Bundy and federal land managers began in 1993 when he stopped paying monthly fees of about $1.35 per cow-calf pair to graze public lands that are also home to imperiled animals such as the Mojave Desert tortoise. The government also claims Bundy has ignored cancellation of his grazing leases and defied federal court orders to remove his cattle.

"We won the battle," said Ammon Bundy, one of the rancher's sons.

The bureau said Cliven Bundy still owes taxpayers more than $1 million, which includes both grazing fees and penalties, and that it would work to resolve the matter administratively and through the court system. ....


http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-five-extra-words-that-can-fix-the-second-amendment/2014/04/11/f8a19578-b8fa-11e3-96ae-f2c36d2b1245_story.html?hpid=z6
[font size=5]Justice Stevens: The five extra words that can fix the Second Amendment[/font]
John Paul Stevens served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court from 1975 to 2010. This essay is excerpted from his new book, “Six Amendments: How and Why We Should Change the Constitution.”

.... For more than 200 years following the adoption of that amendment, federal judges uniformly understood that the right protected by that text was limited in two ways: First, it applied only to keeping and bearing arms for military purposes, and second, while it limited the power of the federal government, it did not impose any limit whatsoever on the power of states or local governments to regulate the ownership or use of firearms. Thus, in United States v. Miller, decided in 1939, the court unanimously held that Congress could prohibit the possession of a sawed-off shotgun because that sort of weapon had no reasonable relation to the preservation or efficiency of a “well regulated Militia.” ....

In recent years two profoundly important changes in the law have occurred. In 2008, by a vote of 5 to 4, the Supreme Court decided in District of Columbia v. Heller that the Second Amendment protects a civilian’s right to keep a handgun in his home for purposes of self-defense. And in 2010, by another vote of 5 to 4, the court decided in McDonald v. Chicago that the due process clause of the 14th Amendment limits the power of the city of Chicago to outlaw the possession of handguns by private citizens. I dissented in both of those cases and remain convinced that both decisions misinterpreted the law and were profoundly unwise. Public policies concerning gun control should be decided by the voters’ elected representatives, not by federal judges. ....

Organizations such as the National Rifle Association disagreed with that position and mounted a vigorous campaign claiming that federal regulation of the use of firearms severely curtailed Americans’ Second Amendment rights. Five years after his retirement, during a 1991 appearance on “The MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour,” Burger himself remarked that the Second Amendment “has been the subject of one of the greatest pieces of fraud, I repeat the word ‘fraud,’ on the American public by special interest groups that I have ever seen in my lifetime.”

As a result of the rulings in Heller and McDonald, the Second Amendment, which was adopted to protect the states from federal interference with their power to ensure that their militias were “well regulated,” has given federal judges the ultimate power to determine the validity of state regulations of both civilian and militia-related uses of arms. That anomalous result can be avoided by adding five words to the text of the Second Amendment to make it unambiguously conform to the original intent of its draftsmen. As so amended, it would read:

“A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms when serving in the Militia shall not be infringed.” ....

*******UNQUOTE********

[Crunchy Frog]

3. .

[MohRokTah]

4. So laws go broken by pointing guns. eom.

[IronGate]

6. As opposed to a shootout with the loss of life.

Let's see, which one is better? Backing off and letting things calm down? Or possibly a shootout with the loss of life?
I choose backing off and letting things calm down.

[Union Scribe]

8. Agreed.

The rancher hasn't really "won" anything but a little bit of time. If I ran the BLM I'd have done the same thing--why put a bunch of my people in harm's way, it's probably the last thing they're trained for is facing off with militiamen.

[Boreal]

20. Every day

[Arugula Latte]

7. Funny how the wingnuts don't mind it when white male cowboy types take handouts

from the government.

[Paladin]

16. Appearances are everything. (nt)

[NuclearDem]

9. Bunch of damn terrorists.

Defending someone mooching off the public, to boot.

[rumdude]

10. I suspect he hasn't 'won' anything

I think this is far from over...

[jwirr]

14. BLM has 500 cows that are in their custody and they will be sold. So yes, I do not think it is over

either.

[MohRokTah]

15. BLM agreed to return the cattle. eom

[rumdude]

17. Why?

Doesn't he owe range fees he's neglected to pay for well over a decade?

[MohRokTah]

19. That's what the BLM negotiator agreed to. eom

[struggle4progress]

25. ... The government also agreed to release at least 100 head of cattle that it had seized earlier

in the week, reports the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The government had already seized around 500 cattle ...

Feds Halt High-Profile Seizure of Nevada Rancher’s Cattle Due to Safety Fears
April 12 2014 6:25 PM
By Daniel Politi

[Texasgal]

12. I think this is just a reprieve.

I don's believe this issue has been 100% resolved either way.

[Ptah]

18. I think you are correct, Texasgal.

It's just a battle in the Water War.

[NutmegYankee]

21. He merely won a skirmish.

The war on the other hand will not be won by him.

[Dawson Leery]

22. I hope not.

Bastards such as Bundy believe they can do and take anything they want.

[NutmegYankee]

26. The BLM made the right decision.

Their employees were not trained to survive a gunfight between the meager law enforcement on scene and the extremists. Now the BLM can turn this over to an agency that is equipped and trained, like the FBI, who will plan to unleash hell at a time of their choosing. Such an operation would need a lot of manpower and equipment and would need swiftness and surprise. If the extremists saw such a buildup at this point, it would have likely resulted in a siege and could have cost many lives.

I think the man will either pay up now that the BLM rattled his cage, or he will get arrested while in town. Or the BLM has the ultimate fuckyou planned...

[Dawson Leery]

32. Agreed.

[Timez Squarez]

36. DEA/DHS/FBI/ATFE

should be involved.

They can take down a survivalist with no problems.

They can take on stupid militias and arrest them and detain as domestic terrorists (and hopefully shipped to Gitmo) them until after November 5th, and that's a status hearing.

[NutmegYankee]

39. They can't ship them to Guantanamo.

First, that prison is an abomination. But it houses people we consider to be unlawful combatants who were not following the laws of war. If they had been following the rules of war, they would be considered POWs.

US Citizens arrested are charged and held here like in any other domestic crime. Fundamental rights don't go away just because I charge them with a very serious crime.

[Strelnikov_]

31. Agree n/t

[struggle4progress]

23. ... In announcing the withdrawal, BLM director Neil Kornze said a safe and peaceful operation

was his agency’s number one priority.

"Based on information about conditions on the ground, and in consultation with law enforcement, we have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather because of our serious concern about the safety of employees and members of the public," said Kornze in a release. "We ask that all parties in the area remain peaceful and law-abiding as the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service work to end the operation in an orderly manner."

He said that the agency had made progress in enforcing two recent court orders to remove the trespass cattle from public lands. Kornze called this a matter of fairness and equity.

"We remain disappointed that Cliven Bundy continues to not comply with the same laws that 16,000 public lands ranchers do every year," said the BLM director in the release. "After 20 years and multiple court orders to remove the trespass cattle, Mr. Bundy owes the American taxpayers in excess of $1 million. The BLM will continue to work to resolve the matter administratively and judicially" ...

http://abcnews.go.com/US/nevada-cattle-rancher-wins-range-war-federal-government/story?id=23302610

[IronGate]

24. Much better than having an armed confrontation and possible shootout

as one poster seems to want.

[2naSalit]

35. You keep saying that

and I didn't see that as a hoped for conclusion in said poster's comments. i think you are reading something into that poster's comments that isn't there.

Frankly, I think you might be itching for a war of words that isn't warranted.

[treestar]

40. No just the right wing theme about emboldening them for the future

Waco type outcomes do the same - let them think they are the victims of some sort of fascist state (not that they are but that's how they see it).

It's black and white right wing thinking that you always have to use the maximum force or you are perceived as weak and will be attacked again.

[2naSalit]

41. Right

except for when they actually do that very thing. So then, I would imagine it's no longer a meme?

[Zorra]

42. "Slow elk" anyone? I've lived in the rural west my entire life, and would like

nothing better than to see all cattle grazing on federal land forbidden and illegal.

They destroy the land through overgrazing, and then destructive, invasive plant species move in and take the land over, and it is difficult to impossible to control and/or eradicate these nasty plants, such as knapweed.

Eat less beef.

[Kali]

44. can you define overgrazing?

then we can talk about invasives and what exactly destruction is




- western cattle rancher

[Rocknrule]

43. I am just going to move into someone else's house and treat it as my own

Get utilities in my name, use all the appliances, showers, etc.... Then when the owner finds out and asks me to pay up, I am going to say FUCK YOU!!! DERPA DERPA! TEA PARTY 2ND AMENDMENT AND MURIKA!"

Anarchy forever! Laws are for pussies and commies!