Nevada rancher threatens war against the Feds, fails to follow through on threat

[mota bhai 2,675]

The roundup of as many as 900 illegally grazed cattle from Nevada public lands continued with nary a hitch on Monday, despite grandiose threats of a "range war" from the livestock's owner.

Bunkerville, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy had issued the threat in response to a long-postponed confiscation of his cattle, which he's been grazing illegally on publicly owned Mojave desert land around Gold Butte in Clark County, Nevada since 1993.

That was the year in which Bundy, who denies the federal government legally owns land managed by the BLM, started to refuse to pay the token grazing fee required of ranchers who graze their livestock on public land.

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The National Park Service and other federal agencies are assisting in the roundup, which may cover as much as a half million acres of land when all is said and done.

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"Mr. Bundy has long falsely believed that Gold Butte is his ranch," added friends of Sloan Canyon's president Terri Robertson. "We all know that is not the reality, and it is time for him for obey the law."

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Though Bundy is attempting to rally support, he's not getting much traction outside of the furthest reaches of the anti-government right. Mainstream ranching organizations seem to be taking steps to distance themselves from Bundy's campaign.

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That may well be out of a sense that ranchers are getting a good deal from public lands ranching, and Bundy's antics may jeopardize that. After all, paying a couple dollars a month per head of cattle and letting the public pick up the multi-million dollar tab to repair damage to the land is kind of a sweetheart deal.

http://www.kcet.org/news/redefine/rewild/commentary/range-war-fizzles-as-feds-round-up-illegal-cattle.html

[lostinblue 1,989]

Just another spotted owl shake down. Cattle have been grazed there for over a hundred years. The desert tortoise and cattle have co-existed for that long. Just another BLM land grab.