Annachie wrote:Peter, I like the lack of quotes and such.
Nameless, the rights you are refering to date from 1934. Before that it appears to have been a state law that ranchers wouldn't be charged with tresspass for grazing on public lands.
I still see no evidence that 200+ armed men were deployed.
I see no evidence that there is a fencing et al dispute. In fact, this would be the first mention of it that I have seen, and I've done a lot of reading recently,
So back to my original point. Quote me some evidence.
Not intending to be insulting, but you are profoundly ignorant of the American ranching industry and the established laws and customs of "free range grazing."
In the early 1800s, grazing on public land was completely unregulated. As a result, there was severe overgrazing. The two possible solutions was to either transfer the land to private ownership through sale or homesteading or create a system of regulated grazing where private ranchers owned the right to graze on specific tracts of public land. In cases where multiple ranchers held grazing rights on the same tract of land, their were established limits on how many animals each rancher could run on the land. Granting grazing rights on private property was the preferred solution in much of the West because it ensured public access for timber, mining, transportation, (rail roads) and eventually homesteading. The grazing permit system also enabled Government to regulate the number of animals grazing on public land and when they could graze (very critical for land management.)
Cliven Bundy OWNED the grazing rights on that land just as so many people OWN their homes. Just as home owners have to pay property taxes on their homes, Cliven Bundy had a legal obligation to pay grazing fees on the public land. The established law for grazing fees as well as the language of Bundy's grazing allotment specified certain responsibilities that the government had to maintain the land. Maintainance responsibilities included water troughs and ponds, fences and cattle guards. Usually the government pays much of the grazing permit fee back to the rancher to perform the maintenance.
Bundy was facing a situation where the State of Nevada had transferred Bundy's grazing allotment to the Federal Government. The Feds promptly increased the grazing permit fees, arbitrarily decreased the allowed number of cattle on Bundy's allotment, capriciously regulated the schedule of permitted grazing to increase costs, and refused to maintain fences or watering facilities.
I would concede that Bundy was also in default of his contractual obligations, but that does not excuse the government.
The presence of 300 Federal thugs is well documented by eye witnesses and film. Their characterization as thugs is documented by the mass graves that many of Bundy's cattle had been buried in during the Federal "roundup".
You really, REALLY should make at least a minimal effort to familiarize yourself with the issues before pontificating about "rightwing gun nuts.". It would make it easier for Americans such as myself to resist the temptation to make rude suggestions about what you should do with your opinion. (You will soon receive these suggestions from the US government as Obama is replaced by a neoisolationist President who will abandon all US alliances.
