AJ Episode 7 – Love Everybody

1. Bundy has been fighting BLM for more than 20 years. The rancher hasn’t paid the BLM’s grazing fees since 1993, and a federal judge first ordered him to remove his cattle from the land in 1998. In July, another judge said the BLM could remove his cattle if it was still on public land by the end of August. Bundy says he owes the government more than $300,000 in unpaid fees, but the government says he owes $1 million, plus the cost of the recent round-up. Either way, Bundy tells the Las Vegas Sun that he won’t pay.

2. The Bundy family has owned its ranch since the 1870s. The ranch is only about 160 acres, which isn’t enough space to sustain the hundreds of cattle that Bundy owns. He insists the disputed land around his ranch belongs to the state of Nevada, rather than the federal government, and he says the feds have no authority in the area. He told the Sun the government is trying to sabotage his plans to someday turn the ranch over to his son.

3. Bundy doesn’t recognize the federal government. Speaking to conservative radio host Dana Loesch last week, he said he believes in a “sovereign state of Nevada” and abides by all state laws, but, “I don’t recognize the United States government as even existing.” (As The Atlantic notes, the Nevada Constitution says a citizen’s first allegiance is to the federal government.)

4. Environmentalists are also slamming the BLM over Bundy Ranch. They’re coming at it from the other side, though, saying the agency has been ignoring its requirement to protect a fragile habitat for desert tortoises. The reptile is native to the Mojave and Sonoran deserts and is listed as a threatened species at high risk of becoming endangered. BLM is required to submit annual reports about threatened species on its land, but hasn’t done so for several years, according to the Center for Biological Diversity. A coalition of environmental groups, led by the Sierra Club, threatened to file a lawsuit against the agency at the beginning of the month for letting Bundy’s animals graze in the tortoise’s fragile habitat.

10. The Bundys have received more than $2,000 in donations. In addition to more than 1,000 protesters and armed militiamen joining the cause in Nevada, the Bundys set up a PayPal account for donations. In a blog post Friday, they said money was coming in from across the United States and from other countries as well.

 

Read more: https://www.politico.com/story/2014/04/cliven-bundy-bureau-of-land-management-10-things-to-know-105735.html#ixzz2z5klk9Od 

The BLM – Under the Wilderness Act, the Bureau of Land Management is responsible for 221 Wilderness Areas with 8.7 million acres in 10 Western States.

In managing livestock grazing on public rangelands, the BLM’s overall objective is to ensure the long-term health and productivity of these lands and to create multiple environmental benefits that result from healthy watersheds. The Bureau administers public land ranching in accordance with the Taylor Grazing Act of 1934, and in so doing provides livestock-based economic opportunities in rural communities while contributing to the West’s, and America’s, social fabric and identity. Together, public lands and the adjacent private ranches maintain open spaces in the fast-growing West, provide habitat for wildlife, offer a myriad of recreational opportunities for public land users, and help preserve the character of the rural West.

As I mentioned above, the feds already own more than 40 percent of the land in 9 different U.S. states…

Nevada: 84.5 percent

 Alaska: 69.1 percent

 Utah: 57.4 percent

 Oregon: 53.1 percent

 Idaho: 50.2 percent

 Arizona: 48.1 percent

 California: 45.3 percent

 Wyoming: 42.4 percent

 New Mexico: 41.8 percent