Standoff in the desert: Last rancher in south Nevada takes on 200 armed federal agents and snipers trying to confiscate cattle from his ancestral land in constitutional dispute over a rare TORTOISE
- Cliven Bundy is appealing for help to stop the Federal Bureau of Land Management and the FBi from removing his 900 or so cattle
- He claims his family have owned 600,000 acres of Gold Butte since 1870
- The federal govern ment claims that the cattle are trespassing on arid and fragile habitat of the endangered deserttortoise
- Heavily armed federal officers equipped with 9 helicopters and backed up with snipers have descended on the land
- They have removed hundreds of the cattle in the past two weeks
- The federal authorities say that Bundy has refused to pay for grazing rights for 20-years
- Bundy has said the land is his and his constitutional rights are being trampled on
More than 200 armed federal agents and snipers were deployed on Tuesday to forcibly remove the cattle of a Nevada rancher - signaling a dangerous escalation in the two-decade long constitutional land dispute over an endangered tortoise.
Cliven Bundy, the last rancher in Clark County, Nevada, has been battling the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) since 1993 when he refused to pay for the right to graze on the 600,000-acre Gold Butte land he says his family have owned since the 1870s.
Claiming that the government has 'brought everything but tanks and rocket launchers', Bundy said his livelihood is being taken away from him by agents carrying, 'Automatic weapons, sniper rifles, top communication, top surveillance.'
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Terribly sorry - the Feds "withdrew" that land in the 30/40's for range purposes and his family began grazing leases. BLM cancelled his grazing lease, the courts have "evicted" him from the property three times, BLM, on court orders, attempted to move his cattle off the "range" but stopped for fear of a "war". The man has not had a legal leasefor 21 years and he's claiming it's "HIS" land????
Gimme a friggin' break. He needs some serious jail time and some serious fines.
Very true 1st and he and his family have been living free off the BLM land for all 21 of those years.
Have you read any of the other posts on Drudge??? Everyone of those stories are so friggin' slanted towards this family - I mean, it sounds like BLM/FBI/DHS/ATF/other initials have taken them hostage and beat the shit outta them. Even the Gov says the Feds are in the wrong because of the Enabling Act where Nev became a state. Think he needs to reread it, eh?
Last "legal" count was 900. He's been saying it's only 300.
Can't imagine the look on his face when they hand him the bill for all this activity
This must be a government job...
You know how much food those critters eat??? Hell, that's one of the reason BLM/USDA has established standards as to how much grazing they're allowed to do. They're expensive.
You know how much food those critters eat??? Christ on a crutch-- 200 federales and 8-9 helicopters, to rustle some cattle? All they need to do is put up some signs: 'FREE BBQ, 1/2 Mile Ahead-- Shoot It, Gut It, Cook It'-- the guys ranch will be cleaned out in 48 hours. All the gov't would have to supply is paper plates & napkins...
Having lived in Clark country for 9 of the years this has been going on, I'll say this.
This guy is a nutcase, it was never his land. He has not had a lease from the BLM for 20 years and he ''miscounts'' his cattle.
In other words, he owes us, the taxpayer, a hell of a lot of money. Take his frickin cattle and give them to a good cause. I'm sick of listening to his whining.
$3million/300 head of cattle = $10,000/head.....
No Wonder beef is so expensive....
If he says he's got 300 head, the feds say over 900 & they've nabbed 200+, that leaves about 400 head out there somewhere... that's a lotta barbeque waiting to be rounded up.
Is this what they are using that money from the Department of Homeland Security grant for.......
I think they're a very rare breed, Bro-- 'Gold Plated Angus'...
I don't care if what he has been doing violates grazing rights agreements . There is no reason to use deadly force for some tortoise ...
Maybe folks need to read stories printed by AP or CBS or others to get a NON-biased report of what is happening.
Bundy's lease was for a maximum of 150 cattle to graze. When he tried to renew his lease in 1993, he had 600 cattle on the range and the BLM denied the lease because of the overextension/overuse of the lands. Bundy has not had a lease with BLM since 1993 - he continues to graze. Bunday was told by the BLM to move his cattle as they were trespassing in 1996 - he refused. Bundy has been told by three courts that he is in violation of the laws - he told them he's above the law. The court ordered the BLM to move Bundy's cattle off of BLM lands three times - Bundy said he didn't have to and in 2008 fought the BLM when they attempted to move the cattle the first time. At the present time, Bundy owes $1.1M in past-due grazing fees. He says he will not pay as the land has been his since the 1860's - there are no real estate documents to support that claim.
The man is a Reid-ite - he's above the law and now he's trying to put himself in the "poor-me" mode and it's all the governments fault.
They would rather belittle the story rather than read the truth and then have to back the effort to remove this mans cattle from land he doesn't own and has no lease to use. Ignorance is bliss I guess.