Range War: Feds vs The People

[American Patriot]

Son of rancher in public land dispute arrested by BLM

• Images

Cliven Bundy on his ranch in northeast Clark County.

Published: 4/06 6:25 pm



Updated: 4/07 6:56 pm







LAS VEGAS (KSNV MyNews3.com) -- A son of Mesquite rancher Cliven Bundy has been arrested by Bureau of Land Management rangers.

Dave Bundy was arrested at 4:30 p.m. Sunday as he was in a car parked along State Route 170 near Mesquite.

"He was there to do some filming when about 11 federal agents pulled up and arrested him," Clive Bundy told News 3. "They said he was outside of the First Amendment area and they took him down. We don't know where he is now."

The BLM confirmed the arrest in an emailed statement:

"An individual is in custody in order to protect public safety and maintain the peace," BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon wrote. "The individual has rights and therefore details about the arrest will not be disclosed until and unless charges are filed."

Cliven Bundy is embroiled in a dispute with the BLM and National Park Service over the court-ordered removal of his cattle from 1,200 square miles of northeast Clark County. The cattle have been grazing on public land for more than 20 years since his grazing permit was revoked in 1993.

Contracted cowboys removed 58 head of cattle Sunday in addition to the 75 impounded Saturday. The government's plan is to have all cattle removed within 30 days.

Most of 600,000 acres of public land in the northeast part of the county has been temporarily closed to the public during the impound; the removal operation is being conducted by contracted cowboys from a company in Utah.

The First Amendment areas are designated by the government for people to express their free speech rights about the subject.

Small protests were held Saturday morning on one of the areas and another was held in Mesquite.

Earlier Saturday, one of Bundy's daughter's was "harassed" by five BLM rangers while she was parked along the same road. Bundy said they threatened to give Stephey Cox several tickets and take her to court.

He said Cox told the BLM rangers they did not have jurisdictional or arrest powers.

"But what was bad is there was a Nevada State Highway trooper within about a hundred feet of all this action and he didn't come to help her," Bundy said. "She said I will recognize his (the trooper's) jurisdictional authority if he would just come and tell me to move or whatever and he would not come and so they harassed her for quite awhile."

Bundy told News 3 that he hopes that Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie will step in and end the dispute and confiscation of his cattle.

"The federal government has no jurisdiction or authority here," Bundy said. "The sheriff has unlimited constitutional authority, arresting and policing powers and all he has to do is say no and this thing would be over. Those people would back out and move out of here."

Bundy said he was considering a possible lawsuit as another course of action.

He did not make any more physical threats such as he made Saturday, but he did compare the action to Ruby Ridge and Waco, Texas, where citizens were killed in confrontations with the federal goverment.

"They are the same agents who killed that kid over at Red Rocks," Bundy said, referring to the Feb. 14 fatal shooting of a 20-year-old by two BLM rangers.

In a Sunday afternoon news conference call, Lake Mead National Recreation Area spokeswoman Christie Vanover, said the government's hopes violence will be avoided.

"We support everyone's rights to express themselves lawfully and peacefully, but when threats are made that could jeopardize the safety of the American people, the contractor and our personnel, we have the responsibility to provide law enforcement to account for their safety."

Vanover said the cost of the impoundment action won't be know until the event is concluded. Some estimates have placed it as high as $3 million.

[American Patriot]

Heller Joins Governor, Rips BLM

April 9, 2014 3:11 PM
Share on email
View Comments
(photo: Tate South/KXNT/CBS Las Vegas)


Related Tags:

BLM, cattle roundup, cattle trespass, Governor Brian Sandoval, Senator Dean Heller
Get Breaking News First

Receive News, Politics, and Entertainment Headlines Each Morning.
Sign Up


LAS VEGAS (AP) — U.S. Sen. Dean Heller is adding his voice to complaints about a federal roundup of cattle from a rural Nevada rancher who claims longstanding grazing rights on remote public land about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.


The Republican senator said Wednesday he told new U.S. Bureau of Land Management chief Neil Kornze in Washington, D.C., that law-abiding Nevadans should not be penalized by an “overreaching” BLM.


Bureau and National Park Service officials haven’t commented about criticism of the roundup of cattle from rangelands that rancher Cliven Bundy has used for decades in the Gold Butte area.


Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval says there’s an atmosphere of intimidation, and says constitutional rights are being trampled.


The elected officials say they’re concerned about closed roads and land declared off-limits during the operation.

[American Patriot]

Standoff at Nevada Ranch Drags On

‘The feelings run very high’

Government helicopters circle the Bundy ranch / Cliven and Carol Bundy



BY: Elizabeth Harrington Follow @LizWFB
April 10, 2014 10:30 am


A Nevada state senator is worried about the possibility of violence as the standoff between rancher Cliven Bundy’s family and heavily armed federal agents continued.



As previously reported by the Washington Free Beacon, an estimated 200 armed officials have surrounded the Bundy ranch, providing security for contractors to remove 908 cows designated by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) as “trespass cattle.”


Carol Bundy told the Free Beacon on Wednesday afternoon that there had been “no incidents, yet.”


Nevada state Sen. Peter Goicoechea (R.) expressed concern that the federal government was exacerbating the problem.


“This morning was the first I actually heard that there were military personnel there,” said Goicoechea, who is also a public land rancher. “If, in fact, we actually have military personnel down in that area because that equates to martial law.”


Goicoechea brought up the questionable handling of a previous case by armed BLM officers in the state two months ago.


“We have always challenged that BLM Rangers have no jurisdiction or police powers in the state of Nevada,” Goicoechea said. “They typically are an unsworn officer. And we had the case where a young man was shot a couple months ago at Red Rock by two BLM Rangers.”


The BLM officers shot and killed an unarmed young man in February near the Red Rock National Conservation Area, just outside of Las Vegas.


A graphic video documented the encounter. BLM officers fought with the suspect, ultimately shooting him seven times when he attempted to get into a Nevada Highway Patrol vehicle and remove an AR-15 rifle from a locked compartment, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal.


“He was definitely disoriented, he was unarmed, and they were questioning him, along the state highway,” Goicoechea said. “And if you press for this they’ll tell you it’s still under investigation.”


“They shot him seven times, killed him dead,” he said. “They said, well, they thought he was trying to get—there was a highway patrolman there, and they said it looked like he was trying to get into the highway patrolman vehicle, and we were afraid he’d get the shotgun out of there. So they shot him. They killed him.”


BLM officials arrested Dave Bundy, Cliven’s son, on Sunday, for taking pictures along a blocked of area on state highway 170. Carol Bundy said the officials “bruised him up pretty good,” and held him for 24 hours.


Goicoechea said this is not the first impoundment of cattle in the state, but typically county governments have handled public safety. A former county commissioner, Goicoechea said he never allowed for any roads to be closed.


“Don’t get me wrong, [impoundments] aren’t without incident,” he said. “The feelings run very high.”


Like the Bundys, Goicoechea’s family has ranched in Nevada for more than a century.


“Those of us that have spent generations here, my granddaughters are still pounding cows down the same trails my grandfather did,” he said. “We’ve been here well over 100 years, and livestock is our living, and by hook or crook we’ve ended up in some kind of politics.”


The dispute between the Bundys and the BLM revolves around unpaid “grazing fees” and public land that has been closed off to protect the “desert tortoise.”


The BLM designated 186,909 acres of the Gold Butte off limits for the “critical desert tortoise” population in 1998. Bundy had already lost his grazing permit five years earlier for refusing to pay fees for the land, which his family has ranched since the 1870s.


Since the 1800s ranchers have taken up homesteads and used land for their cattle herds. Ranchers abided by the “Three-mile Water Law,” which entitled them to grazing rights for land three miles around water the rancher owned or maintained. Disputes were settled amongst the ranchers themselves.


“There have been people shot through the last century over grazing disputes,” Goicoechea said. “There’s no doubt about it.”


Until 1934, disagreements over the land were not adjudicated. The “Taylor Grazing Act,” signed by President Franklin Roosevelt, set up districts for grazing on public land, and issued permits to ranchers for a more orderly process.


However, those permits for the majority of Clark County—including the permit for the Bundy Ranch—were transferred in 1998 to the Habitat Conservation Plan to protect the desert tortoise.


The tortoise is protected under the Endangered Species Act. However, Goicoechea says they don’t need any protecting, citing a recently passed Nevada regulation that imposed a one tortoise limit per person to “reduce the overbreeding and proliferation of unwanted pet desert tortoises.”


“People will get two or three of ‘em and all of a sudden they come home one night and you’ve got 15 of ‘em,” Goicoechea said. “I guess they’re diggy little boogers, they go under sidewalks and patios. So tortoises were causing damage in their neighbors’ yards.”


“We’re talking about an endangered species that in fact went out there and removed all these people off the public lands under the intent of protecting that desert tortoise,” he said.


“They have adapted, and they’re doing very well.”


The Fish and Wildlife Service lists the species as “threatened.”


This entry was posted in Issues. Bookmark the permalink.

[American Patriot]

Trying to get the facts up here.

Not sure any of them are accurate anymore though. The government just lies through collective teeth.

Cattle belonging to Cliven Bundy are rounded up with a helicopter near Bunkerville Nev. Monday, April 7, 2014. The Bureau of Land Management has begun to round up what they call "trespass cattle" that rancher Cliven Bundy has been grazing in the Gold Butte area 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. (AP Photo/Las Vegas Review-Journal, John Locher)
BLM holsters plan to sell seized cattle in Utah
BLM » Utah leaders argued the cows rounded up by the feds — and the controversy — should stay in Nevada.
By Brian Maffly
| The Salt Lake Tribune

First Published Apr 08 2014 06:54 pm • Last Updated Apr 09 2014 09:37 am
Cattle seized from public land in Nevada were once headed to Richfield for auction — but federal officials have changed their plans after Utah leaders argued the animals would threaten the state’s $1 billion livestock industry.
And any showdown over the controversial roundup should remain in Nevada, according to an April 2 letter Utah Gov. Gary Herbert sent to Acting Bureau of Land Management Director Neil Kornze.
Tweet 0 6
Photos

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

View photo gallery (12 photos)

"We don’t have a dog in this fight, and that’s why we want them to stay in Nevada," said Washington County Commissioner Alan Gardner.


On Saturday, federal agents and contract wranglers began rounding up some 900 cows off public land allotments in Clark County, where Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy has illegally had them grazing for years.


Bundy has refused to pay BLM grazing fees since 1993, according to the Associated Press, which reported Bundy argues in court filings that his Mormon ancestors worked the land long before the BLM was formed, giving him rights that predate federal involvement.


The roundup of his cattle has sparked an intense outcry from critics who see it as heavy-handed federal intervention, although it is sanctioned by court orders.


But BLM’s plan to ship the cows 200 miles to a Sevier County auction yard sparked even more controversy. Herbert and other Utah political leaders say the cows should remain in Nevada.


"There are serious concerns about human safety and animal health and well-being if these animals are shipped to and sold in Utah," Herbert wrote.
But the larger concern appears to be the potential reactions.


Sevier County Sheriff Nathan Curtis has told the governor that the proposed sale has generated "public disturbances" from those angered by BLM’s action against Bundy.




"Such threats place at risk the larger community, including residents and Utah state employees who must be present, should a sale in Utah occur," Herbert wrote.


Attorney General Sean Reyes visited Clark County on Tuesday to assess the situation, and said later in the evening that he is backing the governor on the issue, according to spokeswoman Missy Larsen. Utah Public Safety Commissioner Keith Squires was also in Clark County.


After a meeting with Utah officials Tuesday, BLM officials agreed to give seized cattle that are "feral" to the state of Nevada, and keep cows bearing Bundy’s brand in Clark County for now, according to Washington County Commissioner Jim Eardley, who attended the meeting.


BLM officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.


Some of the cattle so far seized apparently had wandered into Nevada from allotments on the Arizona Strip and will be returned to the Utah-based ranchers who own them, Eardley said.


On Friday, Eardly and his fellow commissioners passed an emergency resolution giving a litany of reasons why the Bundy cows must stay out. Topping the list are brucellosis and other diseases that could spread to Utah herds.


The resolution claims many of Bundy’s cows have been running loose on the range for so many years that they can no longer be considered domestic. In addition to being disease carriers, these animals are not accustomed to being gathered or transported and would be a menace to those handling them, it said.


"Feral cattle do not receive proper immunizations or other veterinary care," the resolution states. "Feral cattle are likely to interbreed, and interbreeding of cattle creates numerous problems with maintaining a healthy and vibrant herd."


The resolution also urges "citizens to remain peaceful and abide by the law in any protest activities they may engage in regarding this or any other issue."


Washington County Sheriff Cory Pulsipher also is working to keep the cows out. In a blog post Monday, however, Pulsipher tied his opposition to moving the cows to Utah’s efforts to wrest control of public lands and roads from the feds. The post doesn’t mention the health concerns, but does caution demonstrators to remain within the bounds of the law.

[American Patriot]

WND Exclusive
Feds 'killing cattle' in war with rancher
Waco-style confrontation looms in Nevada
Published: 1 day ago
author-image Jack Minor About | Email | Archive

Jack Minor is a journalist and researcher who served in the United States Marine Corps under President Reagan. Also a former pastor, he has written hundreds of articles and been interviewed about his work on many TV and radio outlets.
rss feed Subscribe to feed



Federal officials have now taken to killing the calves and cattle of a Nevada rancher as part of a standoff that his family says has the potential to become another Ruby Ridge, where, in 1992, federal agents shot an unarmed Idaho woman holding a newborn infant in her arms.

“We have seen cows with tight bags but no calves on them, who are being moved by the BLM,” Ammon Bundy told WND. “This means they have separated the newborn calves from their mothers and they will eventually die.”

Ammon, 38, is the son of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher whose ties to the area go back to the 1880s and who has been engaged in a land dispute since 1993 with the Bureau of Land Management over long-established cattle-grazing rights.

The elder Bundy is the last rancher operating in Clark County, where he’s been grazing his cattle on a 600,000 acre portion of land managed by the BLM called Gold Butte.

However, after years of wrangling in the courts, last week BLM secured a federal court order declaring Bundy’s herd to be “trespass cattle” and began removing the animals.

While media has reported the cattle seizures, Ammon Bundy says the impression people have is that the cattle are just being re-located. But he says authorities are going far beyond that and are taking actions resulting in the death of many of Cliven’s cattle.

“They are flying helicopters over the herd to chase them,” Ammon said. “It was over 90 degrees here today, and the cattle can’t run very far in this heat before collapsing. This is especially true for the young calves. We have a lot of them being born because it is springtime, and they don’t have the strength to keep up with their mothers when they are running. The cattle then become overheated and die.”

Since 1998, the Gold Butte area has been off-limits to cattle grazing because it has been designated home of the protected desert tortoise. Despite that, ranchers have been continuously using the land. BLM officials say they are tired of local citizens ignoring their regulations, and they believe they have exhausted all other options.

“For more than two decades, cattle have been grazed illegally on public lands in northeast Clark County,” BLM said in a statement. “BLM and (the National Park Service) have made repeated attempts to resolve this matter administratively and judicially. Impoundment of cattle illegally grazing on public lands is an option of last resort.”

Following the actions taken by the federal government, the Center for Biological Diversity, an environmentalist group, praised the federal government for taking action.

“Despite having no legal right to do so, cattle from Bundy’s ranch have continued to graze throughout the Gold Butte area, competing with tortoises for food, hindering the ability of plants to recover from extensive wildfires, trampling rare plants, damaging ancient American Indian cultural sites and threatening the safety of recreationists,” Rob Mrowka, a spokesman for the organization, said in a statement.

The federal government appears to be taking steps to escalate the situation, causing concern the incident could develop into another Ruby Ridge or Waco episode in which federal agents engage in assaults with mass civilian casualties.

Bundy told The Blaze that more than 200 armed federal officers currently are in the area, and his wife Carol said it appears snipers now surround the family’s 150 acre ranch.

Officials would neither confirm nor deny the sniper allegation to The Blaze.

Additionally, Cliven’s son, Dave Bundy was taken into custody after allegedly being roughed up for taking pictures along State Road 170, which has been closed. His camera was confiscated.

“They gave my nephew Dave a concussion, stomped him on the ground to where he has kidney problems,” Kay Sessions, Dave’s aunt, told WND. “They hauled him to jail and interrogated him all night before letting him go. Before they took him to jail officials left him in a hot vehicle for three hours.

“He was trying to get pictures of what government officials are doing and they confiscated his camera and tablet.”

Ammon said while what happened to his brother Dave was bad enough, federal officials have turned up the pressure yet again when they attacked him and members of a group peacefully protesting the removal of the cattle.

“We were protesting peacefully when, suddenly, 14 units with Rangers came off the mountain – 13 of them were armed ranger vehicles with two rangers per unit,” Ammon explained. “There was about 50 of us protesting when we went over to see what was in a dump truck that was with them, because we were afraid this might have been a rendering vehicle, and we wanted to know what was in the back of the truck.”

He said the rangers got out of their vehicles and the conflict escalated.

“Things got pretty ugly for awhile. They threw a 65-year-old woman on the ground, they tased me twice and they had dogs out there.”

The confrontation had the potential to spiral out of control rapidly. The Nevada Militia issued an alert on the Bundy Ranch’s Facebook page calling for supporters to mobilize in the area.

“Nevada Militia is mobilizing and requesting mutual aid if any Winter Soldier wishes to go, no further permission is needed – you may do as you wish. We will be monitoring the situation at this time as a group,” the alert said.

The alert concluded, “If things escalate we will mobilize as a group.”

Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, spoke out in opposition to the BLM’s establishment of so-called “First Amendment areas,” which are the only areas the federal agency will allow Americans to protest the removal.

“Most disturbing to me is the BLM’s establishment of a ‘First Amendment area’ that tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution,” Sandoval said in a statement Tuesday.

Clark County’s sheriff has called for both sides to resolve the issue peacefully, telling the Las Vegas Review-Journal “no drop of human blood is worth spilling over any cow.”

Ammon said while local officials are rattling the saber against the federal incursion, they are not willing to stand up to protect residents of their state and county from federal officials.

“The local sheriff has said they are not going to get involved in what is happening, saying this is a BLM issue,” he said. “This means they are leaving us completely vulnerable, because the BLM are the only side with the weapons and if they decide to use violent force there is nothing we can do.”

Cliven Bundy said he sees the issue as one of long-established rights going back to the early days of America versus a federal government determined to regulate citizens out of business to achieve their own ends.

“I have raised cattle on that land, which is public land for the people of Clark County, all my life. Why I raise cattle there, and why I can raise cattle there, is because I have preemptive rights,” he said, explaining that among them is the right to forage.

“Who is the trespasser here? Who is the trespasser on this land? Is the United States trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Or is it Cliven Bundy who is trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Who’s the trespasser?”

Read more at http://www.wnd.com/2014/04/feds-char...74YgdEAuvrs.99

[American Patriot]

Range war heats up again between defiant Nevada rancher and BLM

print
Comments
0



Email




Share


0



Cliven Bundy

A federal court has ordered rancher Cliven Bundy to remove his cattle from land managed by the Bureau of Land Management in central Nevada. He refuses to do so. (Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times / August 20, 2013)

Related photos »

Photos: Last man standing Photos: Last man standing
Wild horse advocates say 1,300 in BLM roundup is still too many Wild horse advocates say 1,300 in BLM roundup is still too many

By John M. Glionna

March 27, 2014, 7:07 p.m.

LAS VEGAS -- From the cab of his old pickup, Cliven Bundy watched the trucks congregate on the horizon near his ranch some 80 miles north of here. His ongoing range war with the federal government, Bundy said, has heated up yet again.

Officials say Bundy is illegally running cattle in the 600,000-acre Gold Butte area, a habitat of the protected desert tortoise. Last year, a U.S. District Court judge ruled that if the 68-year-old veteran rancher did not remove his cattle, they could be seized by the Bureau of Land Management.

On Thursday, federal authorities began closing off Gold Butte area and rounding up what they call “trespass cattle” there. Many of them belong to Bundy.

Photo gallery: Nevada rancher faces off with BLM

“I see where they’re set up,” Bundy told the Los Angeles Times by telephone Thursday. “There’s trailers and communications vans. I haven't seen them take any of my cattle yet, but they're getting ready to.”

For two decades, Bundy has waged a one-man range war with federal officials over his cattle's grazing on 150 square miles of scrub desert overseen by the BLM. Since 1993, he's refused to pay BLM grazing fees, arguing in court filings that his Mormon ancestors worked the land long before the BLM was formed, giving him rights that predate federal involvement.

Bundy also likes to say he "fired the BLM," vowing not to give one dime to an agency that he says is plotting his demise. The back fees exceed $300,000, he said.

The father of 14 insists that generations of his family have ranched and worked this unforgiving landscape along the Virgin River since the 1880s. He says government overregulation has already driven scores of fellow ranchers out of business in sprawling Clark County, leaving him as the last man standing.

For years the rancher has insisted that his cattle aren't going anywhere. He acknowledges that he keeps firearms at his ranch and has vowed to do "whatever it takes" to defend his animals from seizure.

"I've got to protect my property," he told The Times last year. "If people come to monkey with what's mine, I'll call the county sheriff. If that don't work, I'll gather my friends and kids and we'll try to stop it. I abide by all state laws. But I abide by almost zero federal laws."

In 1998, a federal judge issued a permanent injunction against the white-haired rancher, ordering his cattle off the land and setting off a long series of legal filings.

Kirsten Cannon, spokeswoman for the Nevada BLM office in Reno, said the federal government means business this time.

“His cattle have been illegally trespassing on federal land for two decades and it’s just unfair for those who ranch in compliance,” she said. “We made repeated attempts to resolve this. The courts have ordered him to move his cattle. Now we’ve reached the last resort, which is impoundment.”

Environmentalists say it’s time for Bundy to get his cattle off federal land because they are endangering the habitat of creatures who have been there forever.

"Despite having no legal right to do so, cattle from Bundy’s ranch have continued to graze throughout the Gold Butte area, competing with tortoises for food, hindering the ability of plants to recover from extensive wildfires, trampling rare plants, damaging ancient American Indian cultural sites and threatening the safety of recreationists,” the nonprofit Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement earlier this week.

The group added, “Surveys by the BLM have found well over 1,000 cattle — many in easily damaged freshwater springs and riparian areas on public lands managed by the National Park Service and state of Nevada as well as the BLM.”

Despite the court order, he refused to pull one head of cattle off BLM land. "At first I said, 'No,'" he told the Times last year, "then I said, 'Hell, no.'"

In a telephone interview Thursday, Bundy's wife, Carol, said the family remains as resolved as ever. “It just shows that we’re not a sovereign state,” she said of the government's action Thursday. “It just shows that the federal government thinks they have power over us. My county and my state is allowing this to happen. But you know what? They haven’t taken our cattle yet. We’re still hanging on.”

Carol Bundy told The Times that Clark County Sheriff Doug Gillespie has not responded to their requests to intervene. “We want him to step in and tell these federal characters that ‘This is Clark County, Nev., land and you have go through me to get these cattle.’ But we have not heard a word.”

Gillsepie told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that neither Bundy nor the BLM should resort to violence. “No drop of human blood is worth spilling over any cow,” he told the newspaper.

So the Bundy family waits. The rancher said he’ll be patrolling the land near his ranch, waiting for any sign the federal government is taking his cattle.

[American Patriot]

Nevada officials blast feds over treatment of cattle rancher Cliven Bundy
Published April 10, 2014
FoxNews.com
Facebook0 Twitter0 Gplus0

bundyranch1.jpg

Cliven Bundy said his family's herd has always grazed on public land. (Courtesy Bundy Ranch)

Next

Two of Nevada’s top elected leaders are riding to the rescue of a rancher whose decades-long range war with the federal government has reached a boiling point in recent days.

The federal Bureau of Land Management has surrounded the Clark County ranch of Cliven Bundy with armed officers, helicopters and four-wheel drive vehicles. Last week, they began seizing cattle found grazing on adjacent federal lands in violation of a law meant to protect an endangered desert tortoise.

“No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans.”

- Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval

Both Gov. Brian Sandoval and Sen. Dean Heller have condemned the BLS for what they characterize as heavy-handed actions involving Bundy and other Silver State residents.

“No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans,” Sandoval, a Republican, said. “The BLM needs to reconsider its approach to this matter and act accordingly.”

Heller, also a Republican, said he told BLM Director Neil Kornze the situation is being handled poorly.

“I told him very clearly that law-abiding Nevadans must not be penalized by an over-reaching BLM,” Heller said.

Bundy, 67, who has been a rancher all his life, told FoxNews.com last week he believes the federal agency is trying to push him to the breaking point and likened his situation to the 1993 disaster in Waco, Texas, in which federal and state law enforcement agencies laid siege to a compound of religious fanatics calling themselves Branch Davidians, a move that resulted in the deaths of 76.

“This is a lot bigger deal than just my cows,” Bundy told FoxNews.com. “It’s a statement for freedom and liberty and the Constitution.”

The fight involves a 600,000-acre area under BLM control called Gold Butte, near the Utah border. The vast and rugged land is the habitat of the protected desert tortoise, and ranchers whose cattloe graze there must pay fees. Bundy, a descendant of Mormons who settled in Bunkerville more than 140 years ago, claims an inherent right to graze the area and casts the conflict as a states' rights issue. He said he doesn't recognize federal authority on land that he insists belongs to Nevada.

BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon said agents on Saturday and Sunday rounded up 134 of an estimated 900 trespassing cattle in a vast 1,200-square-mile area of rangeland northeast of Las Vegas and the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Cannon said the roundup was a last resort and blamed Cliven Bundy for "inflammatory statements," including vows to fight and characterizations of the cow removal as a range war.

"Mr. Bundy has been in trespass on public lands for more than 20 years," Cannon said, adding that he owes the federal government some $1.1 million in unpaid grazing fees.

The bureau last week announced the area would be closed through May 12 while contractors conduct the roundup using helicopters, vehicles and temporary pens. Cannon said the agency paid the contractors $966,000.

Bundy's son, Dave Bundy, 37, was arrested Sunday for refusing to disperse as the roundup began, but freed the next day.

Federal officials tried to round up Bundy's livestock two years ago, but he refused to budge.

Since then, he has lost two federal court rulings — and a judge last October prohibited him from physically interfering with any seizure or roundup operation.

Federal officials said BLM enforcement agents were dispatched in response to statements Bundy made that the agency perceived as threats.

“When threats are made that could jeopardize the safety of the American people, the contractors and our personnel; we have the responsibility to provide law enforcement to account for their safety,” National Park Service spokeswoman Christie Vanover told reporters Sunday.

The trouble started when Bundy stopped paying grazing fees in 1993. He said he didn't have to because his Mormon ancestors worked the land since the 1880s, giving him rights to the land.

“We own this land,” he said, not the feds. He said he is willing to pay grazing fees but only to Clark County, not BLM.

“Years ago, I used to have 52 neighboring ranchers,” he said. “I’m the last man standing. How come? Because BLM regulated these people off the land and out of business.”

FoxNews.com's Robert Gearty contributed to this report.

[American Patriot]

I need to point something out.

If you have a rule, say, a HOA rule that isn't enforced for a "reasonable period of time" - say, six months or a year - and someone else suddenly is cited in violation of that rule, that rule has already become null and void.

If this man has been using this land for 20 years and suddenly the government says "no" and is calling it illegal, that rule is null and void.

When you have a government that is lying to get its way - who decides what is right and wrong then?


Nevada Racher Threatens "Range War" Against Feds on "Hannity"

FOX NEWS: One Nevada rancher is threatening to wage a “range war” against the government.

In 1993, the government decided that the land Cliven Bundy ranches on is a habitat for federally protected desert tortoises. Bundy then refused to pay new grazing fees and continued letting his cattle graze on the land, arguing that his ancestors worked the land since the 1870s, long before the Bureau of Land Management was formed.

In 1998, the Bureau of Land Management revoked Bundy’s grazing permit and issued a federal injunction ordering cattle off of the land and igniting more than a decade worth of legal filings. Last year, a judge authorized the order to impound cattle, and phase one of impounding began this April 5.

As of Monday, authorities had seized 134 cattle, many of which belong to Bundy.

Bundy was on “Hannity” to discuss the issue. He said that the land his animals are grazing on is public and that the tortoises are just an excuse for bureaucratic control.

Sean Hannity asked Bundy how far he is willing to go in his “range war.”

“My statement to the American people: I’ll do whatever it takes to gain our liberties and freedom back,” he said.

[American Patriot]

Last Man Standing

Rancher: armed feds are surrounding my farm

Government vehicles and personnel outside of the Bundy ranch / Cliven and Carol Bundy



BY: Elizabeth Harrington Follow @LizWFB
April 8, 2014 7:34 pm


A two-decades-old battle between a Nevada rancher and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has resulted in officials armed with machine guns surrounding the ranch and forcibly removing the owner’s cattle, according to the rancher’s family.


Cliven Bundy, the last rancher in Clark County, Nev., has been fighting a “one-man range war” since 1993, when he decided to take a stand against the agency, refusing to pay fees for the right to graze on a ranch run by his family for centuries.


After years of court battles, the BLM secured a federal court order to have Bundy’s “trespass cattle” forcibly removed with heavy artillery, the family said.


“The battle’s been going on for 20 years,” Bundy told theWashington Free Beacon. “What’s happened the last two weeks, the United States government, the bureaus are getting this army together and they’re going to get their job done and they’re going to prove two things. They’re going to prove they can do it, and they’re gonna prove that they have unlimited power, and that they control the policing power over this public land. That’s what they’re trying to prove.”


Bundy said the government has brought everything but tanks and rocket launchers.


Armed men outside the Bundy ranch / Cliven and Carol Bundy



“They’re carrying the same things a soldier would,” he said. “Automatic weapons, sniper rifles, top communication, top surveillance equipment, lots of vehicles. It’s heavy soldier type equipment.”


His wife, Carol Bundy, said that roughly 200 armed agents from the BLM and FBI are stationed around their land, located about 75 miles outside of Las Vegas. Helicopters circle the premises, and the airspace and nearby roads remain blocked.


“We’re surrounded,” Carol Bundy said. “We’re estimating that there are over 200 armed BLM, FBI. We’ve got surveillance cameras at our house, they’re probably listening to me talk to you right now.”


A National Park Service spokesman denied there were armed guards rounding up the cattle in a conference call on Tuesday. However, she confirmed that there was “security” in place, citing threats to the contractors who are removing the cattle.


“Contractors are here and they are in place to round-up the cattle and to bring them to the impound area,” Christie Vanover said. “As for security, there [is] security in place, but that is merely to protect the contractors.”


“As you know, we have received threats and the contractors have received threats,” Vanover said. “Our personnel here and throughout the park service and throughout the BLM have received threats, as well. So security is in place to merely protect the contractors so that we can complete this operation.”


As of Monday, officials have seized 234 of Bundy’s 908 cattle. Impounding the cattle alone could cost the government as much as $3 million.


“They just brought a load down today,” she said. “They kind of harass us as well. When we leave they follow us.”


This afternoon eight helicopters surrounded the family after they began taking pictures, according to Bundy’s daughter, Bailey. Their son, Dave Bundy, was arrested for taking pictures on state road 170, which has been closed, and is being held by BLM.


Government helicopters circle the Bundy ranch / Cliven and Carol Bundy



The BLM said they took Dave Bundy into custody following his “failure to comply with multiple requests by BLM law enforcement to leave the temporary closure area on public lands.”


Carol Bundy said five officials took Dave and “threw him on the ground.”


“One put his knee on his head, the other put his boot on his head and pushed him into the gravel,” she said. “He’s got quite a bruised head. Just bruised him up pretty good.”


Environmentalists are praising the government’s forceful actions, which are being taken to protect the “desert tortoise.”


“We’re heartened and thankful that the agencies are finally living up to their stewardship duty,” said Rob Mrowka, a Nevada-based senior scientist with the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Gold Butte area has been officially designated as critical habitat for threatened tortoises—meaning the area is essential to their long-term survival as a species.”


“[Cliven] Bundy has long falsely believed that Gold Butte is his ranch,” added Terri Robertson, president of Friends of Sloan Canyon.


The BLM designated 186,909 acres of the Gold Butte off-limits for the “critical desert tortoise” population in 1998. Bundy had already lost his grazing permit five years earlier for refusing to pay fees for the land, which his family has ranched since the 1870s.


The “federal grazing fee” is $1.35 per “Animal Unit Month,” or the amount of forage needed per animal, each month. Bundy said he owes roughly $300,000 in back fees, while the BLM asserts he owes over $1 million. The BLM defended the removal because Bundy did not “voluntarily” give up his cattle.


“We’ve tried to do this through the legal and we’ve tried to do it through the political, and what we’re at right now, I guess we’re going to have to try to stand,” Cliven Bundy said. “We the people have to stand on the ground and get our state sovereignty back, and also take some liberty and freedoms back to where we have at least access to this land.”


“The story is a lot about the cattle, but the bigger story is about our loss of freedom,” Carol Bundy added. “They have come and taken over this whole corner of the county. They’ve taken over policing power, they’ve taken over our freedom, and they’re stealing cattle.”


“And our sheriff says he just doesn’t have authority, our governor says he doesn’t have authority, and we’re saying, why are we a state?”


“I’m a producer,” Cliven Bundy said. “I produce edible commodity from the desert forage, and all of these things are governed under state law. So, in other words, this type of government has eliminated all of our state law, eliminated our state sovereignty, and has took control over our public lands and even took control over our Clark County sheriff. They’ve taken the whole county over. The whole state, almost.”


“This is just about power of the government,” Carol Bundy said.


Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval (R.) voiced his concern about so-called “First Amendment Areas,” designated locations set up by the BLM where citizens can protest the removal.


“Most disturbing to me is the BLM’s establishment of a ‘First Amendment Area’ that tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution,” he said in a statement Tuesday.


“To that end, I have advised the BLM that such conduct is offensive to me and countless others and that the ‘First Amendment Area’ should be dismantled immediately,” he said. “No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans. The BLM needs to reconsider its approach to this matter and act accordingly.”


Sandoval also said his office has received numerous complaints about the BLM’s conduct, including road closures and “other disturbances.”


This entry was posted in Issues. Bookmark the permalink.

[American Patriot]

BLM Rangers Brought in From Out of State for Nevada Ranch ‘Emergency’

‘They’re almost like a hired gun’

Follow @FreeBeacon


Cliven Bundy supporters raise a banner during a rally / AP



BY: Elizabeth Harrington Follow @LizWFB
April 10, 2014 6:05 pm
Armed Rangers were brought in from out of state by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to assist in security surrounding the Bundy Ranch, according to the family.
A heated confrontation on Wednesday resulted in Cliven Bundy’s son Ammon being tasered by BLM officials and a 57-year-old protester being shoved to the ground.
Stetsy Bundy Cox, Cliven’s daughter, told the Washington Free Beacon that some of the rangers had Oregon and California license plates.
“You know, some of these guys don’t even know why they’re here,” she said. “A few people have talked to them and they got called in here on an emergency feed and they didn’t know what it was for, it just said they had to be here.”
“They’re almost like a hired gun,” Cox said. “Because what they’re supposed to do is they each have a road, and are told to stay on that road, and they’re supposed to keep people off that road, whatever means possible. That’s their job. They don’t even know how many cows have been gathered.”
The BLM did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
Cox said she spoke with an out-of-state Ranger who was ashamed of his job.
“I actually went and talked to one, he was in the back, nobody was even talking to him. He didn’t say much,” she said. “He had a huge big gun on him, but he didn’t really even touch his gun.”
“I asked him, ‘What are you doing? Do you know what you’re doing? You’re stealing an old man’s cattle, his livelihood. He’s a poor man that doesn’t have anything,’” she said. “And I said, ‘You’re pushing baby cows’—I watched a baby cow not want to move and a helicopter swoop down and honk at him till he had to move.”
Cox said the Ranger said, “No, no, we don’t want that.”
“But I saw it,” she said.
“‘Well, well,’ and he goes, ‘I don’t even want to be here. Do you think my grandfather’s proud of me? You think I like this? You think this is fun for me?’”
“Then what are you doing here?” Cox asked him.
“He said, ‘It’s my job.’”
As of Wednesday, 352 cattle have been removed from the public land ranched by the Bundy family for more than a century. An estimated 200 armed officials have surrounded the ranch, the culmination of a dispute dating 20 years over “grazing fees” and the protection of the “desert tortoise.”
In a statement Wednesday evening, the BLM and the National Park Service said safety “remains the number one priority for the operation.”
“In recent days, some peaceful protests have crossed into illegal activity, including blocking vehicles associated with the gather, impeding cattle movement, and making direct and overt threats to government employees,” the agencies said. “These isolated actions that have jeopardized the safety of individuals have been responded to with appropriate law enforcement actions.”
“Today, a BLM truck driven by a non-law enforcement civilian employee assisting with gather operations was struck by a protester on an ATV and the truck’s exit from the area was blocked by a group of individuals who gathered around the vehicle,” they said. “A police dog was also kicked. Law enforcement officers attempting to protect the civilian federal employee from the attack were also threatened and assaulted. After multiple requests and ample verbal warnings, law enforcement officers deployed tasers on a protestor.”
The Bundy family posted a statement online that the Wednesday confrontation began after members of the family were taking pictures on an unmarked road of “helicopters running Bundy cattle to death.”
“When we saw the BLM start to surround them we knew they needed our help so we didn’t have a repeat of what happened to Dave Bundy,” they said, referencing their other son’s arrest on Sunday. “We didn’t go there to start a fight we went to stand for our rights, video what was happening and protect those boys and gentlemen.”

[vector7]

BREAKING: Militia Arrives at Bundy Ranch

Published on Apr 10, 2014

We bring you now the latest from the Bundy Ranch, where the militia has arrived in support of Cliven Bundy in his stand off against the Federal Government, where the Bureau of Land Management has surrounded his ranch with snipers, helicopters and heavy equipment.

Governor Sandoval and Sen. Dean Heller have condemned the actions of the BLM:

The governor has released a statement: "No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans."

Sheriff Richard Mack, of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, has declared the Governor's words to be, just that - WORDS - and that immediate action on the part of the Governor should be take to call off the pending Range War.

Radio Host Pete Santilli of Guerrilla Media Network, is standing by on the scene where the Militia has arrived to support the Bundy Family.

Rusty Hill a former Land Broker who worked in that area for nearly 20 years issued this to our news room,

"It is not about turtles it is about water. There are developers working for military contractors that want that land and water for mining weapons grade minerals for industry... they want to sell the land by the highway for real estate development because it's close to I-15 and the Bundy's have been refusing to sell what they actually own directly for over 20 years. Many buyers sent me out there with crazy offers for that land for many years. It is prime real estate not worthless desert. There is a natural gas pipeline going through there and lots of water under ground too. Somebody connected to a military corporation is using political power and the BLM to muscle those people out."

We go now to Pete Santilli on the scene where the Militia has arrived.




Militias ‘Mobilizing’ To Support Embattled Clark County Rancher In Clash With Federal Rangers


This is going to be bigger than Ruby Ridge. Will the feds deploy the excess MRAPs?


We reported on this story earlier today. Now reports of hundreds if not thousands of militia members are on the way to support the Bundys.



Via Las Vegas RJ and CBS Las Vegas

From near and wide, armed men are trickling toward Cliven Bundy’s ranch, where the rancher’s fight with the federal government has become a rallying cry for militia groups across the United States.

On Wednesday, that dispute teetered at the edge of deadly conflict, when Cliven Bundy’s family members and supporters scuffled with rangers from the Bureau of Land Management sent to protect the federal roundup of Bundy’s cattle on public land.

One of Bundy’s seven sons was shot with a stun gun, and Bundy’s sister was knocked to the ground; but no one was seriously hurt, and no arrests were made.

By late Wednesday, three militia members — two from Montana and one from Utah — had arrived at the ranch 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas. Other militia groups have inundated the Bundy household with calls and pledges to muster at the site. Their stated goal: to protect the Bundys from tyranny.

They say they are prepared for armed confrontation, but they insist they will not be the instigators if bloodshed happens.

Ryan Payne and Jim Lardy, members of the West Mountain Rangers, made the 12-hour drive from western Montana on Tuesday night. Payne is also a coordinator with Operation Mutual Aid, a national association that describes itself as a coalition of state militias.

“They all tell me they are in the process of mobilizing as we speak,” Payne said.

He didn’t put a specific estimate on how many militia members may come, but he said the groups expected are from places like New Hampshire, Texas and Florida and could number in the hundreds.

“We need to be the barrier between the oppressed and the tyrants,” he said. “Expect to see a band of soldiers.”

Payne, 30, and Lardy, 49, both wore holstered handguns as they spoke, but they downplayed the display of firepower. They wear their weapons daily.

They say the goals are for no one to be harmed, the Bundy family to be protected, and the Bundy property restored.

For now, the militia members will camp on the Bundy ranch. They say the issue isn’t about cattle or grazing rights; it’s about constitutional rights.

“We’re not anti-government,” said Lardy, who cuts firewood for a living. “We’re anti-corrupt government.”

Stephen Dean, 45, an artist from Utah, said he made the trip in hopes of heading off another Ruby Ridge or Waco, referring to deadly confrontations involving federal agents in Idaho in 1992 and in Texas in 1993.

A member of the People’s United Mobile Armed Services, Dean said he also carries weapons more powerful than his firearms: a camera and the Internet. Those tools will document the plight of the Bundy ranch and bring the issue to light, he said. “I’m here to see it does happen differently.”

Serious bloodshed was narrowly avoided earlier in the day, when a BLM ranger shot Ammon Bundy, a son of Cliven Bundy, with a stun gun during a heated confrontation a few miles from the ranch house.

A YouTube video shows protesters and law enforcement officers yelling and threatening each other as trucks involved in the roundup attempt to drive through. The officers have stun guns drawn, and one is trying to push the crowd back with a barking dog on a leash.

Cheryl Teerlink, said Ammon Bundy was hit by a stun gun in his arm, chest and neck, but he shook off the first attempt to incapacitate him. “I pulled the tasers out of him,” Teerlink said.

Keep reading
HT To a Weasel Zipper that wishes to remain anonymous


Dapandico | April 10, 2014 11:20 pm

Feds Move Against Cattle Rancher Supposedly To “Protect” Desert Tortoise…Which They Themselves Have Been Euthanizing



200 Federal agents, including marksmen with rifles and many agents from out of state, have surrounded the Nevada ranch of Cliven Bundy. Helicopters have been monitoring overhead. Thousands of acres of public land have been closed and people have been denied access. The Bureau of Land Management has already appropriated hundreds of cattle belonging to Mr. Bundy, claiming that Bundy is illegally grazing them on public land.

On Monday, Bundy’s sister was thrown to the ground by a federal agent. His son David was arrested for taking pictures of the government taking the family’s cattle. Bundy’s other son, Ammon, was tased multiple times.

What supposedly prompted all of this, and why has the government been moving against Mr. Bundy?

A tortoise. Many believe that is merely a smokescreen to take control of the land.

In 1998, the federal government dedicated the land to the conservation of the desert tortoise which they claimed was endangered. They claim the grazing, which Mr. Bundy and his family have done since the 1880s, is damaging the desert tortoise population.

A strange claim given that the federal government is probably endangering the desert tortoise more than Cliven Bundy ever could.

Last year in the midst of budget cuts, the government decided they no longer had the funds to maintain the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center in Las Vegas. In response, federal officials decided to close the site and euthanize hundreds of the tortoises.

So wait, what was that? The government doesn’t have the money to run the center to save the tortoise, but they can spend at last report at least a million dollars to move against Cliven Bundy to supposedly protect the tortoise, while they are actually killing them.

Makes perfect sense to me…

HT: Get A Clue

Nickarama | April 10, 2014 11:35 pm





Cliven Bundy on Hannity. Bundy Ranch Standoff Against The U.S. Government

Published on Apr 9, 2014 Cliven Bundy Hannity. For more than 20 years, Cliven Bundy, a Nevada farmer, has allowed his cattle to graze on federal land, and his main contention is that the government doesn't really own the land. The Bureau of Land Management finally started rounding up the cows this weekend. They initially wanted to sell them at auction in Utah, but Gov. Gary Herbert argued that the whole controversy needed to be contained to Nevada. He succeeded, according to the Salt Lake Tribune, but Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval is still pissed about the whole affair.

"No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans," Sandoval said in a Tuesday statement. "The BLM needs to reconsider its approach to this matter and act accordingly."

He took particular issue with the government's decision to establish a specific area in which residents could protest.

"Most disturbing to me is the BLM's establishment of a 'First Amendment Area' that tramples upon Nevadans' fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution," he said in the statement.

A park service spokeswoman told the Las Vegas Review Journal that the area was intended to do just the opposite. Roads had to be closed to protect safety during the cattle removal, she said, but the service wanted to make sure protestors still had an area to gather.

The fight dates to at least 1993, since which Bundy has refused to pay the federal government fees for his grazing cows, according to the Los Angeles Times. In 1998, a federal court told Bundy to stop letting his cows graze there. And, last July, the same court reaffirmed that order, giving Bundy 45 days to remove the cows before the federal government would. They started Saturday, acting on two federal court orders, they said in a statement that day.

"The BLM and the [National Park Service] have made repeated attempts to resolve this matter administratively and judicially," the Nevada BLM statement read. "The agencies are now implementing two Federal District Court orders to remove the cattle. The BLM and NPS are working closely with local, state and federal officials to ensure that removal occurs in a safe and orderly manner."

Bundy has insisted that his family owns rights to the land, which it has been working since the 1880s, according to the Los Angeles






Bundy Ranch Finally Hits MSM

Published on Apr 11, 2014
The Bundy Ranch Situation Finally Hits The Mainstream Media!

Could this be the second shot heard around the world?

Militia from all across the country joins the protest and more are coming every day. The Militia did not come alone... they brought their babies with them... that's right... they brought their AR-15 with them and a bunch of their brothers and they are not afraid to use them.

Follow me for more info as I post often and keep you informed of many things going on that you may not know about.

[American Patriot]

US Senator Joins Critics of Federal Cattle Roundup

By Associated Press April 11, 2014 6:45 am
Text Size: A A A

LAS VEGAS (AP) — A Republican U.S. senator added his voice Wednesday to critics of a federal cattle roundup fought by a Nevada rancher who claims longstanding grazing rights on remote public rangeland about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas
Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada said he told new U.S. Bureau of Land Management chief Neil Kornze in Washington, D.C., that law-abiding Nevadans shouldn't be penalized by an "overreaching" agency.
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval pointed earlier to what he called "an atmosphere of intimidation," resulting from the roundup and said he believed constitutional rights were being trampled.
Heller said he heard from local officials, residents and the Nevada Cattlemen's Association and remained "extremely concerned about the size of this closure and disruptions with access to roads, water and electrical infrastructure."
The federal government has shut down a scenic but windswept area about half the size of the state of Delaware to round up about 900 cattle it says are trespassing.
BLM and National Park Service officials didn't immediately respond Wednesday to criticisms of the roundup that started Saturday and prompted the closure of the 1,200-square-mile area through May 12.
It's seen by some as the latest battle over state and federal land rights in a state with deep roots in those disputes, including the Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s and '80s. Nevada, where various federal agencies manage or control more than 80 percent of the land, is among several Western states where ranchers have challenged federal land ownership.
The current showdown pits rancher Cliven Bundy's claims of ancestral rights to graze his cows on open range against federal claims that the cattle are trespassing on arid and fragile habitat of the endangered desert tortoise. Bundy has said he owns about 500 branded cattle on the range and claims the other 400 targeted for roundup are his, too.
BLM and Park Service officials see threats in Bundy's promise to "do whatever it takes" to protect his property and in his characterization that the dispute constitutes a "range war."
U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, noted that BLM officials were enforcing federal court orders that Bundy remove his animals. The legal battle has been waged for decades.
Kornze, the new BLM chief, is familiar with the area. He's a natural resource manager who grew up in Elko, Nev., and served previously as a senior adviser to Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Reid aide Kristen Orthman said her boss "hopes the trespassing cattle are rounded up safely so the issue can be resolved."
Sandoval, a former state attorney general and federal district court judge, weighed in late Tuesday after several days of media coverage about blocked roads and armed federal agents fanning out around Bundy's ranch while contractors using helicopters and vehicles herd cows into portable pens in rugged and remote areas.
"No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans," the governor said in a statement.
Sandoval said he was most offended that armed federal officials have tried to corral people protesting the roundup into a fenced-in "First Amendment area" south of the resort city of Mesquite.
The site "tramples upon Nevadans' fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution" and should be dismantled, Sandoval said.
BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon and Park Service spokeswoman Christie Vanover have told reporters during daily conference calls that free-speech areas were established so agents could ensure the safety of contractors, protesters, the rancher and his supporters.
The dispute between Bundy and the federal government dates to 1993, when land managers cited concern for the federally protected tortoise and capped his herd at 150 animals on a 250-square-mile rangeland allotment. Officials later revoked Bundy's grazing rights completely.
Cannon said Bundy racked up more than $1.1 million in unpaid grazing fees over the years while disregarding several court orders to remove his animals.
Bundy estimates the unpaid fees total about $300,000. He notes that his Mormon family's 19th century melon farm and ranch operation in surrounding areas predates creation of the BLM in 1946.
Since the cattle roundup began Saturday, there has been one arrest.
Bundy's son, Dave Bundy, 37, was taken into custody Sunday as he watched the roundup from State Route 170. He was released Monday with bruises on his face and a citation accusing him of refusing to disperse and resisting arrest. A court date has not been set.
His mother, Carol Bundy, alleged that her son was roughed up by BLM police.
Meanwhile, federal officials say 277 cows have been collected. Cannon said state veterinarian and brand identification officials will determine what becomes of the impounded cattle.

[American Patriot]

Showdown over cattle pits rancher against federal government

• 
  
  
  
  

By Michael Martinez



(CNN) — A 20-year dispute between a Nevada rancher and federal rangers over illegal cattle grazing erupted into an Old West-style showdown on the open range this week, even prompting self-proclaimed members of militia groups from across the country to join the rancher in fighting what they say is U.S. “tyranny.”


What began as a legal fight between longtime rancher Cliven Bundy and the U.S. Bureau of Land Management has escalated as Bundy has refused to keep his cattle off the federal land, and the government has responded by beginning roundups of the cows.


A confrontation teetered on violence Wednesday when Bundy family members and dozens of supporters angrily confronted a group of rangers holding Tasers and barking dogs on leashes near Bunkerville, about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.
Federal officials say a police dog was kicked and officers were assaulted.
Bundy family members say they were thrown to the ground or jolted with a Taser.
In the end, the rangers got into their white SUVs and drove away, a YouTube video of the incident showed.
“Get out of our state!” the cheering protesters yelled at the rangers as they departed in several vehicles. “BLM go away! BLM go away!” they added, referring to the Bureau of Land Management.
The entire incident is now under investigation, Amy Lueders, the bureau’s director in Nevada, said Thursday.
To some, the 67-year-old Bundy is a hero who hails from a long family of ranchers stretching back to the Wild West.
To environmentalists and the feds, however, he’s an outlaw of sorts who owes U.S. taxpayers more than $1 million in unpaid grazing fees.
The U.S. government is rounding up Bundy’s cattle that it says have been grazing illegally on public lands in Clark County for more than 20 years, according to the land-management bureau and the National Park Service.
Between Saturday and Wednesday, contracted wranglers impounded a total of 352 cattle, federal officials said. Bundy says he owns 500 of the more than 900 cattle that federal officials are planning to confiscate for illegal grazing, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported. Bundy told the newspaper that each head of his livestock is worth about $1,000.
Since the roundups began, protesters have been confined to two areas to publicly declare their grievances, but the peaceful protests in recent days “have crossed into illegal activity, including blocking vehicles associated with the (roundup), impeding cattle movement, and making direct and overt threats to government employees,” the two federal agencies said in a statement.
On Wednesday, a bureau truck driven by a civilian employee assisting in the roundup “was struck by a protester on an ATV and the truck’s exit from the area was blocked by a group of individuals who gathered around the vehicle,” the agencies’ statement said.
In the scuffle with protesters, a police dog was kicked, and officers protecting the civilian driver were threatened and assaulted, the two agencies’ statement said. “After multiple requests and ample verbal warnings, law enforcement officers deployed Tasers on a protestor,” the statement said.
The profanity-laced tussle was captured on a video posted on YouTube. A group that said it posted the video didn’t respond to requests for comment.
In the video, protesters demanded to know why a backhoe and a dump truck were being used in the roundup — and whether any livestock were killed. On Thursday, Lueders said the heavy equipment was used for field restoration.
“No BLM! No BLM!” the protesters chanted to rangers in the middle of a two-lane rural highway.
What sounds likes zapping Tasers can be heard in the video.
In the wake of the publicized protests, members of various militia groups have been traveling from Virginia, Texas, Montana, Idaho and Wisconsin and arriving at the protest site and Bundy’s ranch to support the family, said Stephen L. Dean, 45, of Utah, a member of one such group called the Peoples United Mobile Armed Services.
“It’s tyranny in government,” Dean said when asked what brought him to Nevada.
And, he added, “stealing people’s cattle.”
One banner at the protest side stated: “Has the West been won? Or has the fight just begun!”
In removing Bundy’s livestock from public lands, the park service and land bureau are carrying out two U.S. District Court orders from two different judges.
“Cattle have been grazing in trespass on public lands in Southern Nevada for more than two decades,” the National Park Service said. “The BLM and NPS have made repeated attempts to resolve this matter administratively and judicially. Impoundment of cattle illegally grazing on public lands is an option of last resort.”
Added the BLM: “Mr. Bundy has also failed to comply with multiple court orders to remove his cattle from the federal lands and to end the illegal trespass.”
The bureau does allow grazing on federal lands — it administers 18,000 grazing permits and leases on 157 million acres across the country, the agency said.
Bundy’s dispute with the government began about 1993 when the bureau changed grazing rules for the 600,000-acre Gold Butte area to protect an endangered desert tortoise, KLAS reported.
Bundy refused to abide by the changes and stopped paying his grazing fees to the federal bureau, which he contends is infringing on state rights. His family has been ranching since the 1800s, before the U.S. Department of Interior was created and endangered species became a federal issue, he said in an interview with KLAS.
“My forefathers have been up and down the Virgin Valley ever since 1877. All these rights I claim have been created through pre-emptive rights and beneficial use of the forage and the water. I have been here longer. My rights are before the BLM even existed,” Bundy told the station.
“With all these rangers and all this force that is out here, they are only after one man right now. They are after Cliven Bundy. Whether they want to incarcerate me or whether they want to shoot me in the back, they are after me. But that is not all that is at stake here. Your liberty and freedom is at stake,” he continued.
And Bundy sees it as a state issue.
“The federal government has seized Nevada’s sovereignty … they have seized Nevada’s laws and our public land. We have no access to our public land and that is only a little bit of it,” he said.
This week, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval told the bureau of residents’ criticism of the roundup.
What Sandoval said he found “most disturbing” was the BLM’s use of a “First Amendment area” that confined protesters to a designated area.
Such an area “tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution,” Sandoval said. “No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans.” In response, federal officials are allowing the protesters to gather on public lands as long as they don’t impede the roundup, said Lueders, the BLM’s director in Nevada.
Bundy is digging in for a long fight.
“I’ve been fighting this for a number of years. It’s not about my cows, I’ll tell you that much,” he said at a town meeting on Wednesday night. “It’s about freedom and liberty and our Constitution … and above all it’s about our policing power. Who has policing power today?”
With the growing controversy, it was uncertain Thursday how long the cattle roundup will now last. At Wednesday night’s meeting, residents gave Bundy a standing ovation when he publicly spoke.
“I love you people. And I love this land, and I love freedom and liberty,” Bundy told the crowd. “I know without doubt that our Constitution didn’t provide for anything like the federal government owning this land, and so when I pay my grazing fees — if I owe any grazing fees — I will sure pay it to the right landlord, and that will be to Clark County, Nevada.”

CNN’s Dottie Evans and Carma Hassan contributed to this report. Dan Simon and Chuck Conder contributed from Nevada. Michael Martinez wrote from Los Angeles.

[American Patriot]

Militias descend on Nevada ranch as threat of violence looms

April 11, 2014 by Tom Tillison 2 Comments
The stand off between Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management continues, and the potential for deadly violence looms large.
Following Wednesday’s physical altercation, which saw federal agents shoot son Ammon Bundy twice with a stun gun, militia members are said to be descending on the Bundy ranch, the Las Vegas Review Journal reported.
A West Mountain Rangers militia member who arrived Tuesday told the Review Journal that groups are coming from as far away as New Hampshire, Texas and Florida and the numbers could be in the hundreds.

VIDEO of heated Nevada cattle ranch riot!
Feds use attack dogs, tasers on protesters

“We need to be the barrier between the oppressed and the tyrants,” Ryan Payne said. “Expect to see a band of soldiers.”
Payne and fellow militia member Jim Lardy are armed and ready for confrontation, but insist they will not initiate the bloodshed.
Nevada Republican state Sen. Peter Goicoechea, a rancher himself, is worried about a violent outcome.
“This morning was the first I actually heard that there were military personnel there,” Goicoechea said, according to the Washington Free Beacon. “If, in fact, we actually have military personnel down in that area because that equates to martial law.”
The dispute with the federal government is over Bundy cattle grazing on public land, with the family claiming ancestral rights. The Bureau of Land Management says the “trespass cattle” have been allowed to graze on these lands illegally and have been rounding up the livestock.
A statement was released by federal agents on Wednesday’s incident, the Journal Review reported. The feds say peaceful protests have “crossed into illegal activity,” with Bundy supporters “blocking vehicles associated with the gather, impeding cattle movement, and making direct and overt threats to government employees.”
In his own statement, Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval expressed concern about an “atmosphere of intimidation.”
“No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans,” Sandoval said.
As tensions continue to mount, comparisons are being made with Ruby Ridge and Waco, where confrontations with federal agents turned deadly. We should hope that the current stand off turns out better, but armed militia on the ground are not a good sign.

[American Patriot]

‘Expect To See A Band Of Soldiers’: Militia Members Arrive At Nevada Ranch

April 10, 2014 3:39 AM
Share on email
View Comments
Related Tags:

BLM, cattle, Cliven Bundy, Nevada, ranch
Get Breaking News First

Receive News, Politics, and Entertainment Headlines Each Morning.
Sign Up


LAS VEGAS (CBS Las Vegas/AP) — Militia groups are rallying behind a rancher whose cattle are being seized by the federal government.
The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports that two militia members from Montana and one from Utah have arrived at Cliven Bundy’s ranch.
“We need to be the barrier between the oppressed and the tyrants,” Ryan Payne of the West Mountain Rangers told the Review-Journal. “Expect to see a band of soldiers.”
Payne said that militias from New Hampshire, Texas and Florida are likely to join and stand with Bundy and stay at his ranch.
“They all tell me they are in the process of mobilizing as we speak,” Payne told the Review-Journal, adding that hundreds of militia members are expected.
The Review-Journal also reports that Bundy’s son, Ammon Bundy, was shot with a stun gun by law enforcement officers Wednesday and that the rancher’s sister, Margaret Houston, was pushed to the ground.
“I pulled the tasers out of him,” Cheryl Teerlink told the Review-Journal.
Lawmakers are adding their voices into the fray, criticizing the federal cattle roundup fought by Cliven Bundy who claims longstanding grazing rights on remote public rangeland about 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas.
Sen. Dean Heller of Nevada said he told new U.S. Bureau of Land Management chief Neil Kornze in Washington, D.C., that law-abiding Nevadans shouldn’t be penalized by an “overreaching” agency.
Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval pointed earlier to what he called “an atmosphere of intimidation,” resulting from the roundup and said he believed constitutional rights were being trampled.
Heller said he heard from local officials, residents and the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association and remained “extremely concerned about the size of this closure and disruptions with access to roads, water and electrical infrastructure.”
The federal government has shut down a scenic but windswept area about half the size of the state of Delaware to round up about 900 cattle it says are trespassing.
BLM and National Park Service officials didn’t immediately respond Wednesday to criticisms of the roundup that started Saturday and prompted the closure of the 1,200-square-mile area through May 12.
It’s seen by some as the latest battle over state and federal land rights in a state with deep roots in those disputes, including the Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1970s and ’80s. Nevada, where various federal agencies manage or control more than 80 percent of the land, is among several Western states where ranchers have challenged federal land ownership.
The current showdown pits Bundy’s claims of ancestral rights to graze his cows on open range against federal claims that the cattle are trespassing on arid and fragile habitat of the endangered desert tortoise. Bundy has said he owns about 500 branded cattle on the range and claims the other 400 targeted for roundup are his, too.
BLM and Park Service officials see threats in Bundy’s promise to “do whatever it takes” to protect his property and in his characterization that the dispute constitutes a “range war.”
U.S. Rep. Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, noted that BLM officials were enforcing federal court orders that Bundy remove his animals. The legal battle has been waged for decades.
Kornze, the new BLM chief, is familiar with the area. He’s a natural resource manager who grew up in Elko, Nev., and served previously as a senior adviser to Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Reid aide Kristen Orthman said her boss “hopes the trespassing cattle are rounded up safely so the issue can be resolved.”
Sandoval, a former state attorney general and federal district court judge, weighed in late Tuesday after several days of media coverage about blocked roads and armed federal agents fanning out around Bundy’s ranch while contractors using helicopters and vehicles herd cows into portable pens in rugged and remote areas.
“No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans,” the governor said in a statement.
Sandoval said he was most offended that armed federal officials have tried to corral people protesting the roundup into a fenced-in “First Amendment area” south of the resort city of Mesquite.
The site “tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution” and should be dismantled, Sandoval said.
BLM spokeswoman Kirsten Cannon and Park Service spokeswoman Christie Vanover have told reporters during daily conference calls that free-speech areas were established so agents could ensure the safety of contractors, protesters, the rancher and his supporters.
The dispute between Bundy and the federal government dates to 1993, when land managers cited concern for the federally protected tortoise and capped his herd at 150 animals on a 250-square-mile rangeland allotment. Officials later revoked Bundy’s grazing rights completely.
Cannon said Bundy racked up more than $1.1 million in unpaid grazing fees over the years while disregarding several court orders to remove his animals.
Bundy estimates the unpaid fees total about $300,000. He notes that his Mormon family’s 19th century melon farm and ranch operation in surrounding areas predates creation of the BLM in 1946.
Since the cattle roundup began Saturday, there has been one arrest.
Bundy’s son, Dave Bundy, 37, was taken into custody Sunday as he watched the roundup from State Route 170. He was released Monday with bruises on his face and a citation accusing him of refusing to disperse and resisting arrest.
A court date has not been set.
His mother, Carol Bundy, alleged that her son was roughed up by BLM police.
Meanwhile, federal officials say 277 cows have been collected. Cannon said state veterinarian and brand identification officials will determine what becomes of the impounded cattle.

[American Patriot]

Sandoval Statement on BLM Roundup

---

Contact

Tyler Klimas
(775) 684-5667


Las Vegas, NV - April 08, 2014

Governor Brian Sandoval made the following statement today:


“Due to the roundup by the BLM, my office has received numerous complaints of BLM misconduct, road closures and other disturbances. I have recently met with state legislators, county officials and concerned citizens to listen to their concerns. I have expressed those concerns directly to the BLM.”


“Most disturbing to me is the BLM’s establishment of a ‘First Amendment Area’ that tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution. To that end, I have advised the BLM that such conduct is offensive to me and countless others and that the ‘First Amendment Area’ should be dismantled immediately. No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans. The BLM needs to reconsider its approach to this matter and act accordingly.”
###

[American Patriot]

U.S. seizes cattle in rare fight over federal land use in Nevada

By Laura Zuckerman
Thu Apr 10, 2014 8:18am EDT


Federal law enforcement personnel block access to thousands of acres of Bureau of Land Management (BLM) land that have been temporarily closed so they can round up illegal cattle that are grazing, south of Mesquite, Nevada, April 7, 2014.


Credit: Reuters/George Frey





Related Topics

• U.S. »

(Reuters) - Armed U.S. rangers are rounding up cattle on federal land in Nevada in a rare showdown with a rancher who has illegally grazed his herd on public lands for decades, as conflict over land use simmers in western states.


The dispute in Nevada came to a boiling point after environmentalists told federal land managers they planned to sue to protect a threatened tortoise whose habitat was being destroyed by grazing cattle.


Federal authorities sent in helicopters and wranglers on horseback, starting on Saturday, to seize the estimated 1,000-strong herd, in a battle rancher Cliven Bundy and his allies have likened to a range war with a remote government seeking to suppress the independent spirit of the U.S. West.


"It's a freedom issue that we're really fighting here, and it's bigger than our cows and bigger than the tortoises. It's about the federal government wanting control to do whatever it wants to do," the rancher's wife, Carol Bundy, said in an interview.


The showdown is emblematic of a broader conflict between a dwindling number of ranchers, who have traditionally grazed cattle on public lands and held sway over land-use decisions, and environmentalists and land managers facing competing demands on lands opened to oil and gas development, recreation and other uses.


The Nevada roundup follows a decades-long conflict between Cliven Bundy and U.S. land managers over a grazing allotment that spans nearly 600,000 acres of federal range and park lands in the southern Nevada desert.
Bundy stopped paying grazing fees of about $1.35 a month per cow-calf pair in 1993, ignored the government's cancellation of his leases and defied federal court orders to remove his cattle, according to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. But it took more than 20 years for the government to forcefully intervene.


Bundy is not the only rancher who violated federal grazing regulations, although his case is among the most severe, BLM officials said. Most violations are resolved by the next grazing season and tied to lesser issues such as failing to leave grazing lands by a specified seasonal date.


SOLD AT AUCTION


Wranglers have so far seized 277 head of Bundy cattle, many of them cow-calf pairs that may ultimately be sold at auction, in an operation that is expected to continue into May. Such large interventions are exceedingly rare.


The BLM, which oversees roughly 18,000 permits and leases for livestock on 158 million acres in mostly Western states, sees an average of four livestock impoundments a year involving a few dozen animals at most, said senior BLM rangeland management specialist Bob Bolton.


"What we're doing this week in Nevada is not the norm at all," he said of the action.


The BLM said the illegal grazing was unfair to thousands of other ranchers who abide by range laws, even as the move came under criticism from Nevada's Republican governor, who urged the agency to reconsider its approach.


"No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists," Governor Brian Sandoval said in a statement on Tuesday.


The Nevada Cattlemen's Association also said it was concerned how the Bundy cattle confiscation evolved.


The standoff with the BLM, better known for partnering with ranchers than fighting them, stems in part from the Bundy's belief that their right to graze the land predates the federal government's management of it, and that the county and state should ultimately have authority over lands in their boundaries.


That is the theme of a similar debate underway in neighboring Utah, where county commissioners have threatened to remove federally protected wild horses from U.S. rangelands after drought prompted federal managers to consider reducing the number of cattle permitted to graze there, BLM officials said.


In a show of support for Bundy's defiance, commissioners in Utah are pushing to remove one wild horse for every Bundy cow seized in Nevada. But the Center for Biological Diversity, which notified the government in 2012 that it was suing to protect the Mojave Desert tortoise, welcomed the Nevada move.


"The federal government has been caving in to Cliven Bundy for years at the sacrifice of lands that are not only being destroyed for the tortoise but also for all the people of the United States who own it," said Rob Mrowka, a senior scientist with the center.


(Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Richard Chang)

[vector7]

Militias head to Nevada rancher’s standoff with feds: We’re not ‘afraid to shoot’

Friday, April 11, 2014

Video: http://launch.newsinc.com/share.html...deoId=25800466

Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s decades-long battle against the federal government over grazing rights has heated to the point where militia groups have joined in and taken up spots against the feds who’ve circled his land — and talk is, they’re not afraid to open fire.

A spokesman for the one of the militia groups said as much to local 8 News Now: I’m not “afraid to shoot,” he said.

Margaret Houston, Mr. Bundy’s sister and a cancer survivor, said at a town hall gathering this week that the situation “was like a war zone” and that she felt “like I was not in the United States,” The Daily Mail reported.

The Las Vegas Review-Journal described it this way: “Serious bloodshed was narrowly avoided,” in a story about how dogs were unleashed on a woman who was pregnant while the rancher’s son was hit with a taser.

On Tuesday, armed Bureau of Land Management agents stormed Mr. Bundy’s property, escalating a court dispute that’s wound for two decades over the rancher’s refusal to pay for grazing fees.
Mr. Bundy’s view is that he owns his property — that it’s been in his family’s hands for centuries — and he doesn’t have to pay for his own 900-head of cattle to graze on the 600,000 acre Gold Butte property.
The government, meanwhile, says the land belongs to it, and agents have swooped and circled, closing off roadway access to the property and flying helicopters overhead the family’s home.

Following the agent occupation, one of Mr. Bundy’s sons, Ammon Bundy, was tasered by a federal official to the point that blood seeped through his shirt, video showed. Ms. Houston, meanwhile, said she was roughed up and manhandled by authorities, telling town hall attendees that she was “hit from the back; it was like a football tackle” and that “they just took me and threw me down to the ground,” The Daily Mail reported.

BLM, for its part, says the situation only turned violent when protesters who rallied to the family’s defense kicked a K-9 unit officer.

Now militia groups are on the scene, promising to help the Bundys keep up the fight.

“This is what we do, we provide armed response,” Jim Lordy, with Operation Mutual Aid, told the local broadcast station. “They have guns. We need guns to protect ourselves from the tyrannical government.”

Mr. Lordy also said “many more” militia groups are coming to the site to join in the Bundy family defense.

“They all tell me they are in the process of mobilizing as we speak,” another member told the Review-Journal.




Militia Should Not - Will Not Back Down in Cliven Bundy Case!

Published on Apr 10, 2014
As Militia members show up in Nevada to support Cliven Bundy they are reminded that this should be a stepping stone and that if tyranny is imposed then humanity must resist.




The Real Story Behind The Bundy Ranch Harassment

Posted on April 11, 2014 by danaradio



By now you’re familiar with the standoff between the federal government, i.e. the Bureau of Land Management, and 67 year-old rancher Cliven Bundy. (If not, check the backstory and my radio interview with him here.) The BLM asserts their power through the expressed desire to protect the endangered desert tortoise, a tortoise so “endangered” that their population can no longer be contained by the refuge constructed for them so the government is closing it and euthanizing over a thousand tortoises. The tortoises, the excuse that BLM has given for violating claims to easements and running all but one lone rancher out of southern Nevada, is doing fine. In fact, the tortoise has lived in harmony with cattle in the Gold Butte, Clark County Nevada for over a hundred years, or as long as Cliven Bundy’s family has lived on the land as ranchers. In fact, the real threat to it is urbanization, not cattle.

A tortoise isn’t the reason why BLM is harassing a 67 year-old rancher. They want his land. The tortoise wasn’t of concern when Harry Reid worked BLM to literally change the boundaries of the tortoise’s habitat to accommodate the development of his top donor, Harvey Whittemore. Whittemore was convicted of illegal campaign contributions to Senator Reid. Reid’s former senior adviser is now the head of BLM. Reid is accused of using the new BLM chief as a puppet to control Nevada land (already over 84% of which is owned by the federal government) and pay back special interests. BLM has proven that they’ve a situational concern for the desert tortoise as they’ve had no problem waiving their rules concerning wind or solar power development. Clearly these developments have vastly affected a tortoise habitat more than a century-old, quasi-homesteading grazing area. If only Clive Bundy were a big Reid donor.

BLM has also tried to argue that the rules have changed, long after Bundy claims he secured rights and paid his dues to Clark County, Nevada. BLM says they supersede whatever agreement Bundy had prior; they demanded that he reduce his living, his thousand-some-odd head of cattle down to a tiny herd of 150. It’s easy for the government to grant itself powers of overreach, but it doesn’t make it right. Many bad things are done in the name of unjust laws.

Just look at Obamacare. This heavy-handed tactic has run the other ranchers from the area and now Bundy is the last one. He’s the last one because he stood up to the federal government.

So why does BLM want to run Bundy off this land and is Reid connected?

I discussed this on “Kelly File” tonight, video via Jim Hoft

[American Patriot]

Video: Feds Taser Nevada Rancher’s Son During Tense Clash

Apr. 10, 2014 11:57am Becket Adams
17.3K

Shares






The standoff between a Nevada rancher and the U.S. government escalated Wednesday when protesters confronted federal agents tasked with the chore of rounding up approximately 900 “trespass cattle.”
The confrontation, captured on video, resulted in one protester, the rancher’s son, being hit with a stun gun while another, the rancher’s daughter, was pushed to the ground. One woman said federal officials struck her with their vehicle.
Demonstrators face off against federal officials in protest of the government taking action against a Nevada rancher, Wednesday, April 10, 2014. (Image source: YouTube)

“You have no right to be here!” a female protester shouted at agents.
One of agents warned the demonstrators to back up or they would get bitten by their K9 unit.
“Don’t threaten a woman!” another protester shouted back.
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management and U.S. National Park Service confirmed in a statement that one protester was hit with a stun gun, adding that the action only occurred after a demonstrator attempted to block federal agents with an all-terrain vehicle.
“A BLM truck driven by a non-law enforcement civilian employee assisting with gather operations was struck by a protester on an ATV, and the truck’s exit from the area was blocked by a group of individuals who gathered around the vehicle,” the agencies said in a statement.
Content warning: video contains strong language.
Protesters, many of whom have traveled from neighboring states to form “militias” in support of the rancher, have “crossed into illegal activity,” the statement added, claiming demonstrators are “blocking vehicles associated with the gather, impeding cattle movement, and making direct and overt threats to government employees.”
“These isolated actions that have jeopardized the safety of individuals have been responded to with appropriate law enforcement actions,” the agencies said.
Agents from the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service closed the Gold Butte area in Clark County, Nev., last week to remove 67-year-old rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle from land controlled by the federal government, but put in place “First Amendment zones” for protesters to gather.
Bundy does not own the land, which is near his 150-acre ranch, and has not paid grazing fees since 1993, claiming that he doesn’t recognize the federal government’s claim to the property.
The veteran rancher said he is entitled to use the land for grazing because his family has done exactly that for decades, even before the Bureau of Land Management was formed.
“I have raised cattle on that land, which is public land for the people of Clark County, all my life. Why I raise cattle there and why I can raise cattle there is because I have preemptive rights,” Bundy told TheBlaze Monday. “Who is the trespasser here? Who is the trespasser on this land? Is the United States trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Or is it Cliven Bundy who is trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Who’s the trespasser?”
Image source: YouTube

The federal government in 1998 declared the property off-limits to all cattle so that it could be turned into a habitat for the endangered desert tortoise. Bundy was ordered by a judge that year to leave the area. He refused.
Agents from the Bureau of Land Management and the National Park Service were sent to the area last week only after federal authorities decided that all other options had been exhausted.
“There is not much of a ‘legal claim,’” Jeremy Hudia, an Ohio attorney familiar with the legal claims being made, told TheBlaze in an email. “There is a permit process [that] was originally designed to ensure federal land wasn’t ruined by too many ranchers letting their animals graze. There is no legal right to access to the property.”
“Historically, ranchers would let their cattle graze on public land, and the government didn’t stop them. Back in the 1930s, however, the land was being harmed by all the uncontrolled grazing. So laws were passed to create a permit process to control the amount of grazing. There is no ‘right’ to use public land for one’s personal gain,” he added. “If that were the case, I would start drilling for oil in Yosemite National Park.”

“Don’t threaten a woman!”

Share:

Hudia said the few legal routes Bundy could have taken probably wouldn’t have helped him in his quest to use federal property for free.
“His legal recourse was to appeal the denial of his permit, but he has done that, and lost. He didn’t have much of a chance because the permit process is largely at the discretion of the Bureau of Land Management, and courts won’t overturn their permit decision without very strong evidence,” Hudia said. “Most of the time the courts will defer to the Bureau.”
Rancher Derrel Spencer speaks during a rally in support of Cliven Bundy near Bunkerville Nev. Monday, April 7, 2014, 2014 (AP)

Meanwhile, the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association said in a statement earlier this week that it would not side with Bundy against federal officials.
Though “sensitive and concerned how the Bundy cattle confiscation situation has evolved,” the statement said, the group is entirely uninterested in inserting itself into the fight between the U.S. government and Bundy.
“Nevada Cattlemen’s Association does not feel it is in our best interest to interfere in the process of adjudication in this matter,” the group’s statement said.
Federal agents have so far confiscated 352 of Bundy’s estimated 900 “trespass cattle.”

“There is not much of a ‘legal claim.’”

Share:

The Bundy family claims federal agents have also “surrounded” their ranch with snipers and have deployed heavy-duty military-grade weapons to the area. None of these claims have been confirmed by secondary sources. A spokeswoman for the Bureau of Land Management would only say that security personnel have been called on to ensure the safety of federal employees and contractors.
Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican, weighed in on the issue for the first time Tuesday, saying he was “disturbed” by the First Amendment zone established by federal officials to prevent protesters from spreading out all over the closed-off 600,000-acre Gold Butte area, which he said “tramples upon Nevadans’ fundamental rights under the U.S. Constitution.”
Nevada governor Brian Sandoval speaks during a news conference, Thursday, March 20, 2014, in Las Vegas (AP)

“To that end, I have advised the BLM that such conduct is offensive to me and countless others and that the ‘First Amendment Area’ should be dismantled immediately,” Sandoval said. “No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans. The BLM needs to reconsider its approach to this matter and act accordingly.”
A spokeswoman for the governor declined to comment to TheBlaze Wednesday on whether he plans to intervene directly or would continue to monitor the situation.
—
Follow Becket Adams (@BecketAdams) on Twitter

[American Patriot]

"Who is John Galt?" can be seen in one of these images.


Moment federal agents tasered son of last Nevada rancher caught on tape as critics accuse officers of acting like they're in 'Tiananmen Square' in fight over right to graze land

• Rancher's son seen being shot with a taser as he tries to kick away the police dogs coming after him
  
• Politicians have compared the standoff to Tiananmen Square
  
• The Bundy family says they've owned the 600,000 acres since 1870 but the Bureau of Land Management says they are illegally grazing
  
• Row began in 1993 when land was reclassified as to federal property after government claimed that they needed to protect a rare desert tortoise
  
• Federal officers swooped Tuesday equipped with helicopters and snipers
  
• They have reportedly seized around 350 of the 900 head herd
• Tensions escalated after private militias poured in to support the family
  

By Dan Miller and Meghan Keneally
Published: 07:00 EST, 11 April 2014 | Updated: 11:06 EST, 11 April 2014

848 shares
126
View
comments

A newly-released video has captured the moment a rancher's son was tasered by federal agents and the use of force has today provoked fresh outrage among libertarian groups across the country.

Ammon Bundy, the son of the Nevada rancher locked in an increasingly tense land dispute with the federal government, is shown being shot with a taser and threatened by police dogs.

The confrontation took place Wednesday and was caught on video by Bundy supporters and relatives who got into an aggressive- and at times violent- face off with the officers.

'Watching that video last night created a visceral reaction in me,' Arizona state Representative Kelly Townsend told The Las Vegas Review Journal today.

+19

Violent: An officer is seen firing a taser at Ammon Bundy as an aggressive police dog goes after him


Cliven Bundy supporters tased in violent standoff with feds





'It sounds dramatic, but it reminded me of Tiananmen Square. I don’t recognize my country at this point.'
Ms Townsend, a Tea Party-supporter who is based in Phoenix, said that she plans to drive up to Nevada to join the Bundy's supporters in their protest over the weekend.

Closer to home, Nevada state assemblywoman Michele Fiore has already made two trips to meet with the protestors in Bunkerville after seeing the 'horrifying' footage.

'I’m highly offended by the feds coming in as aggressively as they have,' she told the paper.

The outrage over the video has prompted a change in the federal agents' orders, as the Bureau of Land Management spokeswoman said that there would be adjustments.

'We are allowing people to congregate on public land as long as they don’t inhibit the operation,' Amy Lueders said Thursday.

+19

Bloodied: Krissy Thornton, right, looks at blood from a taser wound on Ammon Bundy

The week-long standoff started when federal agents swooped in Tuesday after Cliven Bundy, dubbed the last remaining rancher in southern Nevada, refused to remove his herd of 900 cows from land he claims has been in his family since 1870.
The heavily-armed federal agents, equipped with eight helicopters and backed-up by snipers, surrounded the Bundy ranch after the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) attained a federal court order to confiscate the family's herd.
'It sounds dramatic, but it reminded me of Tiananmen Square. I don’t recognize my country at this point.'
-Arizona state Representative Kelly Townsend


The latest Facebook instruction post made by Bundy supporters tells protesters to bring cameras and 'film everything' but 'any rifles people may have with them need to stay in the vehicles'.

Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval, who criticized the tactics used by the BLM agents earlier this week, has urged everyone to show restraint.

'Although tensions remain high, escalation of current events could have negative, long lasting consequences that can be avoided,' he said Thursday.
The cattle grab came after supporters of Mr Bundy had earlier told a town hall meeting that the showdown was like a 'warzone'.

+19

Fighting words: Bundy, seen at right in the plaid shirt, is heard yelling at the agents to get off of his family's land



+19

Recovery: Ammon backs away towards the group of supporters behind him as he recoils after the taser shot




Margaret Houston, Cliven Bundy's sister and a cancer survivor, told those gathered Wednesday at a town hall meeting that the scene 'was like a war zone. I felt like I was not in the United States.'
'All of a sudden I get hit from the back, it was like a football tackle,' she said. 'They took me and just threw me down to the ground.'
She was not hurt in the incident, but said she was 'shocked that somebody would actually do this.'
Armed private militias have even threatened to join the family in its fight against the government, according to 8 News Now.
However, local leaders of the protests have warned supporters of the Bundys not to wear camoflage and to keep any weapons they bring in their vehicles.

+19

Opening the gates: Federal officers are seen making way for a convoy of cattle on Thursday



+19

Speaking out: Margaret Houston, Cliven Bundy's sister, told how she was tackled by officers when she was protesting (seen here at a Wednesday town hall meeting)


Mr Bundy told ********.com that they were able to 'gathered about 30 head' of cattle.

'We did have a small confrontation with them, but they didn’t have the forces to do a whole lot,' he said.

'They couldn’t mobilize fast enough and we were able to gather those cattle and get them to the ranch.'
Cliven Bundy has been battling the BLM since 1993 when he refused to pay for grazing rights after 600,000 acres of public land were reclassified as federal property.
Land managers claimed the change was necessary to protect a rare desert tortoise and limited the Bundy herd to just 150 head.

The government insists it is federal land which Bundy is using illegally claiming he owes more than $1.1million in unpaid grazing fees and has consistently disregarded federal court orders to remove his animals.
+19

No passage: Federal law enforcement officers block a road into the land Bundy claims is his

+19

Defiance: Cliven Bundy, (right), and friend, Clance Cox, stand at the Bundy ranch near Bunkerville Nevada on Saturday during the escalation of their dispute with the Federal Government

At least three people have been arrested while protesting the removal of the cattle with armed private militias rallying to support the family in what is being seen locally as a First Amendment fight against a bullying federal government.

The arrests were made at nearby Overton Marina, where cattle moved off the land are being held by BLM agents, according to the station.
Clashes erupted soon after the armed agents began trying to impose their will on the protesters.
The incidents did not deter the family from defiantly pressing on.
'These are heavily armed individuals with fully automatic weapons,' Ammon Bundy told the station.
Another protester, from Utah, accused the BLM agents of 'Throwing women to the ground, tasing them [and] sticking K-9 dogs on them'.

The claims of brutality have resulted in private militias taking up the Bundys' cause.
+19

They won't go: Charlie Brown holds up a sign Thursday from the Bureau of Land Management's 'first amendment area' during a protest of the Bureau of Land Management's roundup of cattle near Bunkerville

'That is what we do, we provide armed response,' Jim Lordy with Operation Mutual Aid told the station, adding that he isn't afraid to shoot.

'They have guns,' he continued. 'We need guns to protect ourselves from the tyrannical government.'
The Montana native claimed 'many more' militias are on their way to join their brothers in arms. They appear to be organizing via Twitter using the hashtags #BundyRanch and #rangewar.
+19

Ammon Bundy, seen earlier this week, says 20 cowboys managed to break the blockade and retrieve 30 of his family's cattle

'They all tell me they are in the process of mobilizing as we speak,' Ryan Payne boasted to the Review-Journal.
Groups from as far away as New Hampshire and Florida are expected, he added.
One Twitter account even released the exact GPS coordinates of the ranch and advised people to 'bring cellphone chargers and cameras.'

Another quoted former president John Adams, saying that 'resistance by arms, against usurpation and lawless violence, is not rebellion by the law of God or the land.'
Both sides have dug in, and the militias feel they are doing their patriotic duty - the rising tensions are beginning to worry locals.
'These people that are coming in could totally disrupt everything,' one told the station. 'That frightens me. That absolutely frightens me.'
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.'

'The battle’s been going on for 20 years,' Bundy told the Washington Free Beacon from his ranch 75 miles outside of Las Vegas.

'What’s happened the last two weeks, the United States government, the bureaus are getting this army together and they’re going to get their job done and they’re going to prove two things.

'They’re going to prove they can do it, and they’re gonna prove that they have unlimited power, and that they control the policing power over this public land. That’s what they’re trying to prove.'
'Why I raise cattle there and why I can raise cattle there is because I have preemptive rights,' he added, explaining that, among them, is the right to forage,' he said in a different interview.
+19

Help: Supporters prepare to rally for Cliven Bundy at the Bundy ranch near Bunkerville Nevada on Monday, April 7, 2014



+19

People power: People help erect a pole to hang a banner during a rally in support of Cliven Bundy near Bunkerville Nevada on Monday

+19

We shall not be moved: John Banks holds up a banner during a rally in support of Cliven Bundy near Bunkerville Nev. Monday, April 7, 2014, 2014. The Bureau of Land Management has begun to round up what they call 'trespass cattle' that rancher Cliven Bundy has been grazing in the Gold Butte area 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas

'Who is the trespasser here? Who is the trespasser on this land? Is the United States trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land?
'Or is it Cliven Bundy who is trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Who’s the trespasser?'
Nine helicopters were circling the land Thursday, and federal officials have seized about 350 of Bundy's 908 cattle, according to various reports.

It is estimated that impounding them will cost upwards of $3million. Bundy estimates the unpaid fees total about $300,000.
The BLM has released a statement on its website regarding the matter, saying, 'cattle have been in trespass on public lands in Southern Nevada for more than two decades.

'This is unfair to the thousands of other ranchers who graze livestock in compliance with federal laws and regulations throughout the west.
'The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Park Service (NPS) have made repeated attempts to resolve this matter administratively and judicially.'
+19

Pressure and surveillance: A helicopter takes off from a staging area of Bureau of Land Management vehicles and other government vehicles off of Riverside Road near Bunkerville, Nevada over the weekend



+19

Property: Cattle belonging to Cliven Bundy are rounded up with a helicopter near Bunkerville Nevada on Monday, April 7, 2014. The Bureau of Land Management has begun to round up what they call 'trespass cattle' that rancher Cliven Bundy has been grazing in the Gold Butte area 80 miles northeast of Las Vegas



+19

Constitutional: Contractors for the Bureau of Land Management round up cattle belonging to Cliven Bundy with a helicopter near Bunkerville, Nevada on Monday

On Wednesday, officials from the federal Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service didn't immediately respond to Gov. Brian Sandoval's call for the BLM to 'reconsider its approach and act accordingly' in the ongoing roundup of about 900 cattle roaming a vast area about half the size of the state of Delaware.

'No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans,' Sandoval said in a statement released after business hours Tuesday.
The Republican governor weighed in after several days of news coverage and radio talk show commentary about blocked roads and armed federal agents fanning out around Bundy's ranch while contractors using helicopters and vehicles herd cows into portable pens in rugged and remote areas.
Sandoval's comments came the same day the U.S. Senate confirmed Neil Kornze, a Nevada native, as the new BLM director.

Kornze is a natural resource manager who grew up in Elko and served previously as a senior adviser to Senate Democratic Majority Leader Harry Reid.
+19

Free speech? Cliven Bundy walks by a first amendment area set up by the Bureau of Land Management near Bunkerville

+19

A higher cause: Krissy Thornton, right, and Burgundy Hall protest Wednesday with others - they say the cows are a proxy for the freedoms of all Americans



+19

Continuing on: Jim Olson puts up a flag near what was the Bureau of Land Management's 'first amendment area'








Read more:

• 20 Cowboys Break Fed Blockade in Nevada, Retrieve Cattle
• Bundy vs. BLM: Interest in cattle dispute widens