Thread: MY TWO CENTS: THE BUNDY RANCH & FREEDOM IN AMERCIA

Jeff Head
Idaho, USA
April 14th, 2014

MY TWO CENTS: THE BUNDY RANCH & FREEDOM IN AMERCIA

What happened in Clark County Nevada, north of Las Vegas, with the Bundy Cattle Ranch in late March and April of 2014 is a story that should be told to all Americans. We should all be proud of what fearcely independent, God-fearing Americans accomplished there in standing up to Federal Government over-reach.

Having been personally involved with other such incidents in the western United States over the last 15 years, I wanted the people of the United States to understand exactly what happened and why. Many may not have heard about the trouble that was brewing over in this part of the country...many others have. As I indicated, the event is not an isolated one and it is representative of an ever encroaching, over-burdensome and repressive Federal government...particularly motivated by progressive elements within that government. They are dedicated to aborgating and setting aside individual rights and state soveriegnty so they can "fundamentally change," America.

It is an effort that has been going on for decades.

In this instance a rancher by the name of Cliven Bundy and his family have been ranching a particular area for over 135 years.

Here's some background:

Background History:
Nevada joined the Union in October 1864. The Bundy family began ranching in Clark County, Nevada, where they currently still ranch, in 1877.

State of Nevada 100 year Anniversary Commemorative Stamp The US Constitution is very specific on the requirements it takes for a US territory to appy for statehood and join the Union. Once those requirements are met, the state can be formed and accepted into the Union. Such was the case in Nevada in 1864.

However, as was the case in several western states, when Nevada became a part of the Union it ceded control of vast areas of its territory, which was to become part of the soverign state of Nevada, over to the Federal government. Back then, most of that land was considered waste lands and not worth monitoring or maintaining. Of course, now we know that was not the case.




Western States Federal Land Control/Ownership (in Red) The fact is, there is nothing in the constitution that allows for this. Outside of military bases or preseves, the Federal government has no power to own and control state lands. Also, in the Constitution, it is very clear that any powers like these that are not specifically outlined in the constitution for the federal government, belong specifically to the people or the states themselves and not the federal government. So, all of that land should never have been under federal control in the first place...and it should not be now.

Just the same, beginning in 1933-1934, during the Roosevelt administration, the Federal government (who at the time, like the rest of the country, was in need of operating funds), decided to cause ranchers in these western states to pay a lease to the Federal government for the use of that land as an avenue to increase revenues. The leases were low, and the ranchers did not envision the government of the United States ever considering to take away their property rights and freedom. Almost all ranchers, including the Bundy family, complied. But, as we shall see, it was a mistake to pay those leases just the same. As far as I can ascertain, the leases were renewed every ten years. So, right up through 1993, the Bundy family paid the Federal lease for 60 years, nearly the same length of time they had lived on and operated their lanch without any lease before the 1933-1934 time frame.

So, after living on the land, ranching it, earning their livelihood and providing for the family, and raising a good product of beef cattle for the market, and doing so for upwards of fifty-six years, the Bundy family began paying a lease for land that they had lived on. worked, and ranched as their own.

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Location of Bundy Ranch off of I-15 in Southern Nevada And they did so, for sixty years.

Through the end of the Depression in the 1930s, through World War II in the 1940s, through the Korean War and the 1950s, through unsettling times and the Vietnam War (though out in Nevada, such social upheavels were of little impact) in the 1960s and 1970s, through the Reagan years in the 1980s, and finally into the 1990s, now under the Clinton Administration.

That was when things changed. Here's info on that:

The 1993 Change and events afterwards:

In 1993, Cliven Bundy, who was then in his 40s, was running the ranch that his grandfather had founded. He decided that the new lease that the Clinton administration was trying to renew at the time, was just too onerous. Things were changing. The government was exerting more "control," and Cliven Bundy felt that his family should not have to pay the federal government in any case for his ranching on land that his family had ranched at that point for 115 years. So he stopped paying.

After a few years, and particularly because of provisions of the Endangered Species Act which had declared the Deseret Tortise in Nevada and the Southweastern United States an "endangered species," the Federal government took the Bundy family to court. Through an almost 20 year process, rulings were reached in U.S. Federal Court, and they did not favor the Bundy's.

The courts ruled in favor of the US govrnment and Bundy was ordered to pay over one milion dollars in back lease and penalties. According to these rulings, Cliven Bundy would have to pay the back lease and penalties, aggree to a new lease, and abide by the restrictions of the Endagnered Species Act if he wanted to keep ranching on the land he and his family had occupied now for 135 years. Otherwise, their cattle would be rounded up and confiscated, and leans and other legal proceedings would be levied against them and their operations to recover the amounts owned.
The Bundy's were faced with either bankrupting themselves to pay for a ruling that they vehemently opposed and which would render them with no livelihood and a loss of their way of life or to try and continue the fight.
Cliven Bundy refused to comply.

Citing that the federal government in reality had no right to control the land, that is was part of the State of Nevada, citing that the Endagered Desert Tortoise was recovering so well in other areas that the government was now having to kill many of the turtles themselves to keep them from overpopulating their designated preserve areas, and citing that there were politcal considerations and forces who were interested in and striving to remove the Bundys from their ranch in order to accomplish other programsn and businesses, Cliven Bundy took his plea to the American people. Starting with his family and friends, moving to his neighbors, and moving to the wider audiences available through the internet and social media, Cliven Bundy fought for his way odf life and livelihood, and what he considered to be his very liberty.

At first, the response was relatively meager. There were family, friends, and neighbors who supported Bundy, and even some state senators and to a certain degreee the Governor's office. But Cliven BUndy had outstanding court rulings and orders...and they were Federal rulings and orders. Despite the growing support, these orders and rulings were generating a life of their own, and the various agencies who were in charge of "Managing the Land," particularly in the werstern United States, were already moving towards their goal of executing and upholding those orders and bringing Cliven Bundy and his ranch to heal.

The Beginning of the Confrontation of 2014:

Cliven Bundy's outspoken and direct refusal to comply with these court orders and rulings led to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to involve its Law Enforcement Officers to force compliance. Cliven Bundy continued to refuse to comply. He and his family wetre standing on their constitutional rights and their belief that the Federal government had no jurisdiction or say regarding what are Nevada lands, and the ranching activities of its citizens within the State of Nevada. He refused to pay (which would have banktrupted he and his family in any case) and he refused to remove his cattle.

So, beginning in late March 2014, and extending into early April, the BLM ammassed upwards of 200 of its personnel and their various government vehicles and surrounded the Bundy ranch, placing sniper teams in the hills around it, and employing many men with automatic assualt rifles to watch over the Bundy operations. They did this to try and ensure that the Bundys and their family, friends, and supporters were sufficiently intimidated so they would be cowed into not interfering with the helicopters and Federal Wranglers portion of the operation which were starting to round up and confiscate their cattle and transport them to a holding pen the BLM has established along Interstate Highway 15 (I-15) near Mesquite, NV, where the cattle werre being held in preparation to sell themn to help pay the Bundy's "debt."


Heavily armed BLM officers arriving, setting up sniper positions, and aiming at protestors filming them



BLM operations using helicopters and wranglers to round up Bundy cattle The Federal officers established an "Area of Control," around the Bundy Ranch and attempted to regulate access to the it.

When the Bundy's protested and even more people began flocking to help protest, the Federal Government, in a rediculous attempt to try and exert even more control of things, established two "Free Speech" zones within the Area of Control around the Bundy ranch that the Federal government had established. These "Free Speech Zones," were small fenced off compounds of a few hundred square freet where no more than 25 people could gather at a time, and then only at specifically scheduled times, and of specific durations, to give free speech utterance to their grievances...where the press could be invited to hear them. And then only one such zone could be scheduled at any one time.



The so-called "free speech" zones, hand-made signs and continued free protests This inflamed the situation considerably. The people in the area would have none of it. Soon, hand-made signs began to adorn the fences around these zones declaring that, "All of America is a Free Speech Zone," and these zones and their scheduling were ignored. Despite court orders and despite government law enforcement orders to the contrary, the people continued to exercise their free speech rights, and the conflict, and the tensions, emotions, and anger built.

Such an actions may work with people in large urban areas who are used to being controlled and regulated by law enforcement and politicans and their appointed officials and bureaucrats. But it was not going to work in the intermountian west...and not in Nevada. As stated, the farming and ranching people and their supporters simply ignored these unconstitutional "zones," and continued to protest the actions of the federal officers.

Tempers rose...emotions got heated...both amongst the people there, and ultimately among the Law Enforcement officers who felt it their duty to enforce these court orders and rulings. And so they continued to attempt to enforce them
Civil disobedience ensued.

The Incident of April 5th, 2014, on a State road near the Bundy Ranch:

The pent up emtions and frustration on both sides spilled over on April 5th not far from the Bundy ranch. That day, a group of fifty or sixty family, friends and protestors gathered and were wanting to proceed to the Bundy Ranch. They noticed a Federal truck with a large backhoe on its trailer, escorted by several Bureau of Land Management (BLM) SUVs and wanted to ask what the federal employees intended to do with the backoe. It is well known in the western United States that when a Federal Agency wants to deny access to any part of "public lands," that they will dig large and deep trenches across trails, roads, tracks, and access points to prevent vehicles and four wheelers from accessing the land. The people approached the Federal Officers there on the side of the road. Tempers and emotions were already high.

The law enforcement officers, fifteen or twenty of them, were armed. They also had tasers and K-9 dog untis, so apparently they expected trouble in regards to whatever they were inrending to do.

One of the woman with the family and friends, who were there to protest, was a 54 year old grandmother, who stepped in front of the stopped BLM vehciles to ask them what they were intending with the backhoe before the vehciles could leave. Apparently, she was thrown to the gound and roughed up in the process of the BLM officers ordering her to move and to cease and desist.

Cliven Bundy's adult son was in attendance and had very heated words with the officers. The officers had weapons drawn, and used their tasers to try and control and subdue Bundy's son. He was tased at least twice, and each time he was, he retreated back into the crowd, pulled out the taserleads, and then returned to confront the officers. They tried to use one of the K-9 dogs on him and he kicked it away. A woman tried to talk to the officers and she was very heatedly warned by another officer with a dog that she would be bit, at which time another woman confornted this officer and chided him for threatening a woman, and a woman who was pregnant at that.



The confrontation on the road on April 5th, with the woman being knocked to the ground, confrontations, and tasing This confrontation was very heated and very nearly led to violence. The latter parts of it were videoed on scene by one of the protestors:



Despite the tasings, despite the rought treatment, despite guns being drawn and K-9 units, the people supporting the Bundy's stood their ground and demanded that the Federal officers leave before things got even further out of control...which, as shown in the video, the Federal officers ultimately did.

This video and the clear high emotion and dangerous actions by frustrated Federal Law Enforcement went viral after it was uploaded to Youtube.

The video produced immediate and dramatic results. Several national news outlets began carrying the story and leading with portions of the video.

People by the hundreds of thousands, saw it in the first two days after it was published on youtube by one of the protestors on April 9th. In a few days, over a million people had seen it. Throughout the Untied States, people who had been involved in other similar confrontations throughout the west from the Rio Grande River in Texas and New Mexico, to the Central Valley of Californis viewed this video as a call to arms, and were determined to not sit idly by and allow another federal intrusion to occur.

Citizen Militia organizations from Texas, Utah, Florida, Ohio, Montana, and as far away as New Hampshire (most of which had first organized during the 1990s Clinton years after such infamous killings of citizens by Federal Law Enforcement officers like Randy Weaver's wife and son at Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and dozens of Branch Davidian men, women, and children near Waco, Texas), immediately responded and also also took up the call. They mobilized and people began traveling to Nevada to stand with the Bundys...and many of them were coming armed.


Bundy supporter meetings, speeches, and prayer



Volunteer State Militia from around the country begin arriving at the Bundy Ranch As stated, the news media picked up and documented the rough treatment and roundup of Bundy's cattle, and the destruction of his way of life. They also documented the fact that the Desert Tortise was thriving, and that the Bundy's had been ranching that land since the 1870s. As a result, public sentiment all over the country clearly favored the Bundys.

Along with this, however, a number of pundits and "legal minds," spoke to the fact that the Bundy's were in violation of court orders, and had not paid the leases. These prognosticators and anchors freely shared their thought that, "the law was not on the Bundy's side," and that they would ultimately fail. Meagen Kelly on Fox News, though clearly sympathetic to the Bundy's plight, was also one who expressed the view that although what the law enforcement people were doing in enforcing the order was wrong, that the Bundy's themselves were on "the wrong side of the law," in this and cpould not prevail..

Well, let me say a thing or two about that.

Who is and who isn't on "the right side of the law":

In 2001, I personally stood with friends and farmers in the Klamath Basin of Southwest Oregon during a similar event and confrontation. In that case, according to supposed scientific findings owing to the the Endgangered Species Act, the Sucker Fish were delcared endangered in that particular valley (despite the fact that an over-abundance of them throughout the west causes them to literally be clubbed to death to protect other fish species). As a result of this finding, and a subsequent court order by a federal judge, the irrigation water to 1,500 families was shut off to supposedly protect the Sucker fish (despite the fact that anyone familiar with that species of fish knew that if the lake were drained to mud, the species would survice in that mud and come back the following year). The Sucker Fish in the western United States is like the Carpie. It is considered a trash fish.

In defiance of those "orders," hundreds of local people and some of us protestors occupied the headgates of the irrigation canal (which was supposed to have been transferred to the ownership of the farmers themselves back in the 1940s) and turned the water back on. Everyone there knew that the "order" to turn off the irrigation water to these people was based on the intentionally flawed science and the whims of an out of control environmental lobby and the progressive politicans and judges who supported them.

The Federal agencies sent in armed men to take the headgates back...and they did. Then they occupied them and you had the specter of armed Federal Officers, standing on headgates, taking irrigation water away from American farmers, who had the water rights to that very water. It was like something out of Stalinist Russia, or Maoist China...but right here in the United States.

The call went out then too, by cell phone and earlier, less connected internet. First hundreds, and then thousands of citizens came, and surrounded those federal officers, began pumping water around the headgates, and, after 2-3 months, ultimately sanity prevailed and the gates were re-opened and the farmers returned their water. Strangely enough, new "studies," were conductied showing what everyone knew all along. The Sucker Fish did not need the farmer's irrigation water to survive, nor as a species were they endagered.

But getting that turned around, and avoiding out and out violence were a very near thing:



The Klamath Basin, Oregon, Irrigation Water Crisis of 2001 Earlier, in the summer of 2000, on July 4th, I personally went to a place called Jarbidge, Nevada, and stood with over two thousand fellow Americans when the Federal government had shut down a county road there because they did not want the road maintained by the county...once again because of the Endangered Species Act. We defied Federal Law enforcement officers, and court orders that day and were joined by the local County Sheriff and his deputies who were there to protect us from the Federal officers. So, we too were "violating the law," and court orders, but we opened that road, which was owned and maintained by that County in Nevada...and ultimately the will of the people in the face of egracious actions by Federal Officials prevailed...in spite of court orders to the contrary.



The Jarbidge Nevada Countty Road Crisis of 2000 And, finally, I might add, regarding "being on the wrong side of the law,"the Founders of this nation were also supposedly in that same group. At their time they violated English law and the Crown wanted them arrested and tried for treason Yet they prevailed because the law itself had become a thing of criminnal action and behavior. That was the case in Jarbidge, it was the case in in Klaamth, it has been the case in literally hundreds of places across this nation, and it is the case on the Bundy Ranch in Nevada.

So, as stated, after the confrontation of April 5th, 2014 near the Bundy Ranch, the call went out and people began to converge.

By Friday, April 11th, over 5,000 people had arrived to assist the Bundys. It was an outpouring of monumental proportions. They came on their own dime, and they came to help. And more were coming.

...and hundreds of them came openly armed, carrying the same types of weapons the Federal officers had brandished against the Bundys. And it was clear that those people were not going to back down.

I realize that in today's America many have been indoctrinated int thinking that individual citizen's carrying fire arms outside of a hunting or sporting activity is to be viewed as dangerous and some kind of bad thing. Yet, the founders of this nation understood human nature, and they provided for a common defense by the people as a whole against any future unbridled power exerted by out of control governmentr officials. That is the true reason for the 2nd amendment. A time comes when life itself is worth risking for liberty and a moral, free, way of life.

The Showdown at the BLM Holding Pen near Mesquite, NV, on Saturday, April 12th, 2014:

By the morning of Saturday, April 12th, the people who had gathered to help the Bundys had met, organized themselves, and talked at length with the Bundys. They decided to Act. Rather than remain defensively at the Bundy ranch, or near it...they determined to proactively take the protest and the confrontation to the BLM and their Federal officers.



Protestors gather on the morning of April 12th, 2012 First at 8AM they met with the Sheriff and the Sheriff indicated that they BLM was willing to re-open the range for cattle operations. This was not enough for the Bundy family or the protestors. They gave the Sheriff one hour to confiscate the weapons from the BLM and to have them leave. When the hour past, Bundy told the large group of protestors that they knew where the cattle were and that they would simply go over there and get them.

And so they did.

One large group left by vehcile, another large group of cowboys on horseback.
They went over to the Federal cattle holding compound near Mesquite, Nevada, where the Burea of Land Management were collecting the Bundy cattle off of I-15.
It was a large group, numbering several hundred people who went to the compound by vehicle, with another one or two hundred coming by horseback.

That's a lot of cars and as the Nevada officials became aware of it, many Highway Patrol and local law enforcement converged to direct traffic and try and prevent violence. For a period of time, I-15, was shut down to acocmodate the large group coming to the holding pen.


Protestors arriving at the BLM holding pen off of Interstate Highway 15



Protestors taking up position and then marching up to the holding pen gate Those people came to BLM holding pen with two simple, and very direct demands...and the demands were non-negiotiable:

1) The Federal BLM officers, had to, then and there, give the Bundy cattle back to the Bundy family.
2) The Federal BLM ofcciers, had to, then and there, vacate the area and not continue harassing or interfereing with the Bundy operations.

There were perhaps eighty BLM officers at the compound, twenty or more of them completely decked out in miltary gear, with full webbing, assault rifles, helmets, etc. Looked like soldiers. But plenty of the arriving Bundy supporters, particularly the militia members, also had on cammo and similar weapons. In addition, the protestors took up the high ground, including on the Interstate overpass, overwatching the coumpound. The protestors alos had the governmnet position flanked on both sides. Tactically, it was untenable for the government people..
The protestors were their to accomplish the two demands. Plan and simple...one way or another.

A tense standoff ensured at the gate of their compound. The BLM had a recording playing over loud speakers telling the people to disburse and leave, and that the BLM Officers would shoot on the crowd...that they would open fire on the protestors. They were announcing this over and over again...like it was Red China or soemthing. But the protestors were undeterred, they advanced on the compund, right up to the gate.

Cliven Bundy's son was there leading the protest. The Federal Officer at the gate was clearly concerned and did not like what was happening.

But, by that time...that was just too bad.

To stave off an assault, a brief discussion was held. The protestors were not willing to negotiate. Their demands had to be met then. Ammon Bundy, Cliven Bundy's son, told the officer there that the BLM people had to leave, and that they had to give the cattle back. The officer tried to convince the Bundy's to come in the compound to negotiate, but they refused...not trusting the officer or the BLM. I believe the Federal officer and his people knew that they were in an untennable situation.


Heavily armed BLM officers at the holding pen



The meeting at the gate to the pen, and BLM officers backing away after a brief discussion That day, either the Federal Officers were going to give up those cattle and leave voluntarily, or they were going to be forced to do so by the armed Bundy supporters. Nothing else would do. The people who had come viewed these individual rights and state soveriegnty in the face of what was occurring to be as valuable as life itself...and the BLM officers clearly believed them. The Federal Officers, under protest and making clear that this did not settle the issue, agreed to turn over the cattle, and they agreed to leave.

And they did release the cattle, and then they left. About eighty vehicles altogether. And it was to the cheers of the crowd who were holding American flags, Vertan's flags, and State Flags.


Cattle being set loose and returned to the Bundy Ranch


BLM Vehicles departing the area, around eighty left altogether There is a video of part of the confrontation near the Interstate Highway:



...and a report of the same events by an online reporter who was there:



Thank God those officer recognized the futility and danger of their position. If they had attempted to physcally arrest or stop those protestors, violence would have ensued and a lot of people would have been injured or died...including, in all likelihood, all of those federal officers.



Jubilant protesters and Bundy Supporters grateful for the immediate outcome

Summary:

I am so very proud of my fellow Americans and westerners. They are God-fearing, solid, honest folk, who are ranching and working with the land for their livelihood...and they know their rights and they recognize snakes when they see them in the grass. God bless them for this stand...and God be with them, because this issue is not over.

The charges and court orders still stand. Unless sanity returns, and these charges and fines are dropped, or unless the people continue to support the Bundy family in very large numbers and with very serious intent, the Federal officials and officers may well (and probably will) ultimately still try and enforce them. But Cliven Bundy and his family have shown that they will not back down, and so will have to remain ever vigilante. It is likely, that during this process, the Bundy family, and particularly Cliven Bundy will need to be protected. It would not be unheard of...indeed, it may well be expected...that the Federal Government would use helicopters and raid the Bundy Ranch to take Mr. Bundy and or his son into custody and come in with guns blazing.

This entire episode is representative of the point end of the sword of the continuiing assault on persoanl libery and state's rights in this nation. It has been going on out here in the west, at different locations from JArbidge, Nevada, Klamath, Oregon, along the Rio Grande in New Mexico and Texas, to the central valley of Californis, for decades. Here, the Fedrral Officers were forced, early on, to back down.

But truthfully, if those officers were doing their actual sworn duty, instead of just "folllowing orders," they would not have been there, but would have acted against their own superviors issuing such orders, and the Judges giving such orders to supress Free Speech and citizen rights.

This fight will continue. And it will continue because our nation has become infected by people, particularly in this administration, who are infected with power, and who feel that it is their job to fuindamentally change America. And they are willing to lie stright to pour faces about it.

• They lied about being a transparent administrtation.
• They lied about the depth and breadth of unemployment in the United States.
• They lied about hundreds of billions of dollars of stimulus monies and the companies (like Solindra) that received it, and then lost it.
• They lied about clear voter intimidation during the 2008 elections and stopped the prosecution of it.
• They lied about Fast and Furious and deaths of American law enforcement, and gun running to Drug Cartels by the US Government.
• They lied about the Muslim Brotherhood take-over of Egypt they encouraged, which thankfully the people of Egypt overturned a year later.
• They lied about Benghazi and the deaths of four brave American there, and the clear terror attacks that caused them.
• They lied about the energy situation in America and held back energy production and our ability to become energy independent.
• They lied about the extent of NSA recording and storing American citizen private info from email, internet, credit card, cell phones, etc.
• They lied about whether American could keep their Health Care under Obama Care.
• They lied about whther Americans could keep their own Doctors under Obama Care.
• They lied about annual insurance costs under Obama Care.
• They are lying now about this incident in Nevada.

Despite all of this, and this administrations best efforts to the contrary, journalists (yes, there ate a few of those left in America) have already reported and documented that Harry Reid, the Senate Majority Leader and an unabashed water carrier for the progresiive/liberal Obama administrationw, was found to have direct ties to a Project for building a Solar Wind Farm near the Bundy's Ranch. Imagine that! Is anyone surprised?

Senator Harry Ried (D) and Son combine to push China firm solar plant in Nevada

Does anyone believe that it is simply coincidence that this firm and Harry Reid, andf Harry Reid's son who is a lobbyist for the firm, have been seeking to build that Solar plant near the Bundy's ranch? No, of course not. And how did Harry Reid's aide get appointed to that position? HArry Reid seems to be involved in this up to his eyeballs. The Bureau of Land Management controls tens of millions of acres in Nevadas. Developers have to go to them to get permits. How many of those developers contribute to Harry Reid? What kind of quid pro quo is going on with Harry Reid, the land, and the BLM?

That Solar Farm was to be built by a Chinese firm. That discovery and and all of these questions and considerations beginning to get the light of day, probably had as much to do with the "agreement," with the Bundys as the very clear facts on the ground on April 12th...which were that the Federal officers were not going to be able to stop American citizens from achieving their aims of reclaiming the Bundy's cattle, and evicting those officers from the area...by force of arms if necessary.

Which leads to my final point. NEVER GIVE UP YOUR ARMS! THis is the reason the progressives and liberal are so committed to undoing the 2nd amendment. They fear a moral, free people who are armed. As the founders meant such tyrants to fear the people. Plain and simple.

http://www.jeffhead.com/bundy-ranch.htm

I am curious to know how much the government spent for this operation to supposedly collect a million dollar range fee, if true they lost money in my estimation. Sadly our government appears more interested in attacking the American citizen then defend our borders and country as a whole. If we step back and look at spying from all agencies it "appears" they seem more concerned with citizens then outside forces if I'm correct on this it's reached a dangerous point. One thing is certain in my mind government is daily taking more control of our lives not just ranchers but everyone, time for voters to wake up.

GOOD FOR YOU BUNDY YOU STOOD YOUR GROUND . YOU SEE USA YOU HAVE TO FIGHT BACK GOOD LUCK
IF THE GOV WANT TO CHECK ON SOME ONE CHECK & SEE IF THE BORDER IS CLOSE DO YOUR JOB LEAVE
THE COW BE

Originally Posted by oldguy

I am curious to know how much the government spent for this operation to supposedly collect a million dollar range fee, if true they lost money in my estimation. Sadly our government appears more interested in attacking the American citizen then defend our borders and country as a whole. If we step back and look at spying from all agencies it "appears" they seem more concerned with citizens then outside forces if I'm correct on this it's reached a dangerous point. One thing is certain in my mind government is daily taking more control of our lives not just ranchers but everyone, time for voters to wake up.

Word has it they spent close to 3 million dollars...

You guys are awesome. I think any sane American would agree with you all 100 percent. We all know that Washington is absolutely full of criminals and now they have finally been fully exposed for what they are. Many thanks to all of you.

Obama administration’s ‘Culture of intimidation’ seen in Nevada ranch standoff

Critics say fight isn’t first instance of feds’ ‘overkill’


Sending scores of armed agents along with helicopters and dogs to confront an elderly Nevada rancher over grazing fees may seem like overkill, but critics say it’s not inconsistent with the federal government’s recent approach to environmental enforcement.The simmering truce between the Bundys and the Bureau of Land Management comes after high-profile raids last year by armed federal agents on small-time gold miners in tiny Chicken, Alaska, and guitar makers at the Gibson Guitar facilities in Tennessee.

That doesn’t include more subtle threats, such as recent efforts by the Obama administration to raise grazing fees or pressure permit holders to transfer their water rights as a condition of renewal, said Ryan Yates, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau.

“Some have called it a culture of intimidation,” Mr. Yates said. “It’s issue after issue, threat after threat. It’s becoming harder and harder to keep those operations in business.”

The atmosphere was quiet but tense Tuesday at the Bundy ranch near Bunkerville, Nev., just days after Bureau of Land Management chief Neil Kornze pulled federal agents off the property and returned about 400 head of cattle to rancher Cliven Bundy.

A BLM spokesman said the agency would work to resolve the dispute “administratively and judicially,” but so far Bundy supporters aren’t buying it. Patrols of armed supporters remained at the ranch on the lookout for the return of BLM agents, instead of heeding calls from lawmakers to disband and return home, according to KLAS-TV in Las Vegas.

That may be in part because Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid warned Monday that “it’s not over.”

Meanwhile, former Rep. Ron Paul, Texas Republican, told Fox News he worried the federal government could hit back hard at the Bundy ranch.

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“The other thing is, governments don’t give up their power easily, and they may well come back with a lot more force, like they did at Waco with the Davidians,” said Mr. Paul, referring to the deadly 1993 federal raid on the Branch Davidian compound. “So I don’t know which way it’s going, but so far, so good.”

Examples of hostile behavior by federal agencies prompted an Oct. 29 oversight hearing by a House Natural Resources subcommittee on “Threats, Intimidation and Bullying by Federal Land Managing Agencies.”

Rep. Rob Bishop, Utah Republican, said in his opening statement at the time that the hearing would feature “a number of troubling cases in which federal land managing agencies have employed abusive tactics to extort rural families into giving up property rights or to bully farmers and ranchers into making concessions to which the federal agency had no legal right.”

While Mr. Bundy has been criticized for failing to pay his grazing fees, a move made after federal efforts to limit grazing after the desert tortoise was listed as threatened, the BLM’s over-the-top response has helped turn him into a sympathetic figure among rural Westerners.

“I think there are many people who object to someone not paying grazing fees but who also find the federal government’s behavior in this situation in particular, and with regard to management of the enormous federal estate in general, to be increasingly indefensible — intimidating, destructive and cruel,” said Heritage Foundation senior adviser Robert Gordon.

As Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval put it shortly after the BLM’s arrival, “No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation, which currently exists, nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/...a-ranch-stand/

The inside story of how one New Yorker may have kept the Bundy protestors from a bloody end

Documentary filmmaker Dennis Michael Lynch was at the Bundy Ranch front line and has never seen that type of force at the border where drugs and people are routinely smuggled across.

http://www.westernjournalism.com/foo...undy-massacre/

Fox News

EXCLUSIVE: Did Feds Kill Rancher's Cows, Dig Mass Grave?


* VIDEO AT SOURCE - MASS COW GRAVE *

In an On the Record exclusive, FOX News correspondent Griff Jenkins spoke with a lifelong friend of the Bundy family about their range dispute with the Federal government.

Tuffy Ruth stood overlooking an expanse of land with binoculars, hoping to find one or more of the Bundys' missing cattle, yet unaccounted for after the feds returned about 130 they had previously seized.

"It's a disgrace to our government," Ruth said of the ordeal.

In addition to missing cattle, fenceposts and important water lines had been left damaged after the Bureau of Land Management left the Bunkerville, Nevada ranch.
"I'll back him 100%," Ruth said of Cliven Bundy, "The government owns us instead of we owning the government, and we've got to get it back some way." he added.
Cliven's son Ryan Bundy shared video of what he believed to be a mass grave dug by the government.

He noted that at least one dead cow could be seen in the 18-by-45 foot area.
Cliven Bundy told FOX News that a single cow could fetch as much as $2200 at market, meaning that the numerous missing cattle could have a damaging effect on the family's business going forward.

Officials have yet to comment on Ryan Bundy's video.

http://nation.foxnews.com/2014/04/15...dig-mass-grave

Why One Man Traveled Almost 3,000 Miles To Take On The Federal Government At A Ranch In Nevada

Brett LoGiurato
Apr. 16, 2014, 11:21 AM



Protester Eric Parker from central Idaho aims his weapon from a bridge next to the Bureau of Land Management's base camp where seized cattle that belonged to rancher Cliven Bundy are being held near Bunkerville, Nev. April 12, 2014. U.S. officials ended a standoff with hundreds of armed protesters in the Nevada desert on Saturday, calling off the government's roundup of cattle it said were illegally grazing on federal land and giving about 300 animals back to rancher Bundy who owned them.

In early March, the Bureau of Land Management sent a letter to cattle rancher Cliven Bundy informing him they intended to impound his "trespass cattle," contending he owes more than $1.2 million in fees. On April 5, they started rounding up the cattle on his property. Since then, his story has become a cause for conservative activists frustrated with the federal government. The plight has attracted numerous activists to his property, and the conflict between Bundy's supporters and federal officials exploded onto the national scene last weekend.

Days after agents with the Bureau of Land Management ended their effort to round up Cliven Bundy's cattle to ease mounting tensions, the showdown between the rancher and the federal government is still attracting armed conservative activists from around the country to a dusty stretch of land about 80 miles east of the Vegas Strip.

Last Tuesday, as he started to read more and more about the situation on The Drudge Report, Jerry DeLemus decided to give Bundy a call.

They spent more than an hour on the phone. "What do you need?" said DeLemus, who was calling from some 2,700 miles away in Dover, N.H.

"I need help," Bundy told him. "I need bodies."

"I'm coming," DeLemus said.

Google Maps
Bundy's ranch is located approximately 80 miles from the Vegas strip.

It was as simple as that, DeLemus told Business Insider Tuesday. Soon, he began the long drive in his truck. His son; his friend, Jack; and Jack's son accompanied him on the cross-country trip. All in all, it took 41 hours across a three-day span.

They began driving at 5:30 a.m. last Thursday and made it there by Saturday afternoon. They barely took any breaks. This Wednesday, DeLemus remains in Nevada. He is now running the makeshift "militia" of conservatives protecting the ranch, some of whom are armed with handguns and rifles. DeLemus said about 100 conservative activists are still there, three days after federal agents returned hundreds of cattle they had taken from the ranch.

To DeLemus and these other activists, the Bundy ranch standoff is one of their most important fights yet over what they consider to be an oppressive federal government.

"We are willing to give our lives," he said in a phone interview.
Bundy's fight with the federal Bureau of Land Management dates back to 1993, when the BLM eliminated livestock grazing in the area, citing protection of an endangered tortoise species.

That was when Bundy decided to stop paying grazing fees. And now, the agency says he owes more than $1.2 million in fees. A federal judge first ruled in 1998 that Bundy was trespassing on federal land. Last year, a federal judge ruled the agency could remove the cattle. The BLM, among others, says Bundy is breaking the law.

But activists view the situation in terms of a dispute over states' rights and an oppressive federal government. It was a major topic of conversation among conservative activists last weekend in New Hampshire, where the grassroots groups Americans for Prosperity Foundation and Citizens United hosted the Freedom Summit. It was there that Business Insider met DeLemus' wife, Susan, who said he had been inspired by "freedom."

"Lawlessness," DeLemus said of the situation. "You look that up in the dictionary, and you'll see the definition of our government right beside it. They all are. Congress, both houses, and the White House."

Despite the retreat of the BLM, which cited "escalating tensions" when it returned the cattle to Bundy, DeLemus and many others there have no plan to leave anytime soon.

"You s---in' me?" he said, when asked if he was planning to head back to New Hampshire.

They, and the Bundy family, do not believe their fight with the federal government has ended. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, the senior senator from Nevada, said Monday the situation was "not over," citing Bundy's apparent violation of federal law. BLM spokesman Craig Leff told CBS News the agency would now seek to resolve the situation "administratively and judicially," but was unclear on the specific next steps.

Bundy, DeLemus, and the other activists, however, might face another, more unexpected hurdle. They have failed to see much support from some prominent conservatives, who are far from unified in their opinions on the situation.
Daily Caller editor Tucker Carlson said on Fox News Monday that, while Bundy was mistreated by the federal government, the land doesn't belong to him. Conservative host Glenn Beck warned conservatives against glorifying "the right's version of Occupy Wall Street."

DeLemus is an avid follower of Beck, having started up a local version of Beck's "9-12 project," comprised of nine principles and 12 values Beck says represent those of the Founding Fathers.

Though he said he actually agreed with some of the points made by Occupy Wall Street, DeLemus thinks there's a key difference here: The Bundy supporters are not being reactionary and "causing destruction." They are fighting for constitutional rights, he said.

His message to Beck and other skeptical conservatives: Come to Nevada and see the situation firsthand.

"Glenn doesn't know the whole story," DeLemus said. "He needs to come out here."

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/bundy...#ixzz2z9YfYXzk

Nevada Cattlemen’s Association gives statement on rancher Bundy

Rancher Cliven Bundy, middle, sings the National Anthem outside of Bunkerville while gathering with his supporters to challenge the BLM on April 12, 2014. The conservative Nevada Cattlemen’s Association issued a statement Wednesday that sympathizes with Bundy. (Jason Bean/Las Vegas Review-Journal)

By KEITH ROGERS
LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL


While distancing itself from the legal issues that prompted the Bureau of Land Management to round up Bunkerville rancher Cliven Bundy’s range cattle then release hundreds of them as the threat of violence loomed, the conservative Nevada Cattlemen’s Association issued a statement Wednesday that sympathizes with Bundy.

“The situation in Nevada stands as an example (of) the federal agencies’ steady trend toward elevating environmental and wildlife issues over livestock grazing,” reads the statement from Ron Torell, the cattlemen’s group president.

The statement adds that ranchers like Bundy, who graze livestock on multiple-use public lands, which include habitat for the threatened desert tortoise and other federally protected species, “have found themselves with their backs against the wall as, increasingly, federal regulations have infringed on their public land grazing rights and the multiple-use management principle.”

“This is not only devastating to individual ranching families; it is also causing rural communities in the West to (wither) on the vine. In the West, one in every two acres is owned by the federal government,” the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association statement notes. “Therefore, the integrity of the laws protecting productive multiple use is paramount to the communities that exist there.”

The group contends that the Endangered Species Act and other such laws “are being implemented in a way that are damaging to our rights and to our Western families and communities. In Bundy’s case the designation of his grazing area as a critical habitat for the endangered desert tortoise gave the BLM the rationale they needed to order a 500% decrease in his cattle numbers. There never was any scientific proof that cattle had historically harmed the desert tortoise.”

The BLM halted its roundup Saturday as gun-toting militia and protesters in support of Bundy converged on a corral near Mesquite where government cowboys were preparing to haul away some 380 head of cattle gathered in the Gold Butte area for auction.

The association emphasized, however, that it doesn’t support those who break the law and abuse grazing privileges.

“In accordance with the rule of law, we must use the system set forth in our Constitution to change those laws and regulations. Nevada Cattlemen’s Association does not condone actions that are outside the law in which citizens take the law into their own hands,” the group’s statement reads.

The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association is a nonprofit trade association that was established in 1935. The group has 567 dues-paying members who convene annually to “review, renew and create policy for our organization,” according to Torell. He said Bundy is not a member of the association, which consists of cattle and sheep ranchers who hold grazing permits and pay fees for grazing privileges on public, federal lands.

The association made it clear that it doesn’t take a stand on Bundy’s legal issues because the membership “does not feel it is our place to interfere.”
Instead, the matter is solely between Bundy and the federal court system, the association’s statement says.

“This case was reviewed by a federal judge and a decision was rendered to remove the cattle. Nevada Cattlemen’s Association does not feel it is our place to interfere in the process of adjudication in this matter,” the group said in its statement.

“We regret that this entire situation was not avoided through more local government involvement and better implementation of federal regulations, laws, and court decisions,” the statement reads. “While we cannot advocate operating outside the law to solve problems, we also sympathize with Mr. Bundy’s dilemma. With good faith negotiations from both sides, we believe a result can be achieved which recognizes the balance that must be struck between private property rights and resource sustainability.”

A BLM spokesman said Wednesday that bureau officials have seen the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association statement but wouldn’t comment on it.

Contact Keith Rogers at krogers@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0308. Find him on Twitter: @KeithRogers2.

http://www.reviewjournal.com/news/ne...-rancher-bundy