Wayne Hage's has passed into glory.

Wayne Hage: CORRECTION on Hage family address P.O. Box

June 6, 2006

The address I gave out to send cards and condolences to the Hage family was wrong; my abject apologies.

The Correct Address is:

Pine Creek Ranch

P.O. Box 513

Tonopah, NV 89049

To send flowers, call Gunter's Funeral Home in Hawthorne, Nevada - Phone # 775-945-2047

Sorry for the error; I'm sure that the Tonopah Post Office will see that the Hage mail gets to them.

Subject: Wayne Hage

June 6, 2006

from Stewards of the Range

June 6, 2006

Dear Members,

Yesterday afternoon, we lost a great hero, a great father, and a great patriot. Wayne Hage passed away at home on Pine Creek Ranch.

On behalf of the Wayne Hage family, I want to be certain you know how much he appreciated your years of support for his fight. He was honored to be surrounded by such good Americans, and to fight side by side with you for the right to own private property.

We invite you to join us this Saturday, June 10th, at Pine Creek Ranch in Monitor Valley, Nevada, for a service celebrating the life of this great man. The service will begin at noon in the meadows of Pine Creek, his final resting place on Earth.

Dad left this world in peace. He was proud of his family whom he loved and cherished, was honored to have been involved in some of the most important challenges of our time, and was humbled by the generosity and goodness of the people around him He knew the battle would continue, but was satisfied that his work here was complete. He was ready for the next phase of his life.

Dad told us as children that life on earth is like Boot Camp. It is our training ground where we learn hard lessons, our character is molded, and we are prepared for the afterlife. He often ignored birthday's because to him they were not the moment of life that should be marked. Moving on to Heaven was the day that should be celebrated.

It is in this sprit that the family prepares to say goodbye to Dad. Whether you knew him personally or through his work, we hope you feel welcome to join us in remembering one of the greatest men to have walked this earth, that we were blessed to know and love.

Warm regards,

Margaret Hage Byfield
Executive Director

P.S. - Cards can be sent to the Stewards office at P.O. Box 490, Meridian, Idaho 83680. Some of you have asked where contributions can be sent in memory of Dad. Those contributions made to Stewards on his behalf will be applied to the litigation expense of the Hage v. United States case. As always, we appreciate everything you have done for our family.

P.S.S. - A map to the ranch is available by calling Stewards at 1-800-700-5922.

Here are the media stories, so far:

Wayne Hage, Nevada rancher and sagebrush rebel, dies

(Note: Wayne Hage, one of the greatest property rights fighters in America's history, is in Heaven.)

June 6, 2006

By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org

The Associated Press

Reno, Nevada - Wayne Hage, who battled the federal government for decades over public lands and private property rights and came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion, died Monday.

Hage had been ill and died in his sleep at his Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah, his family said. He was 69.

"He actually successfully beat cancer a number of years ago," said Bob St. Louis, and longtime friend and fellow rancher. "In the past couple weeks, it came back in really aggressive form."

A memorial service is planned for noon Saturday at the Hage ranch in Monitor Valley, and he will be buried at the Pine Creek Ranch cemetery.

"He was ready to go home," his daughter, Ramona Morrison, said in a telephone interview from the ranch. "He was able to see his saddle horses out the window. That's what he wanted."

A widower, Hage married former Republican U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth of Idaho in 1999. The couple was introduced by another daughter, Margaret Byfield, who heads Stewards of the Range, an educational group based in Boise, Idaho, that works on property-rights issues nationwide.

Hage had battled the government since the Forest Service started scaling back the number of cattle allowed to graze on national forest land in the early 1980s.

He sued in 1991, claiming the Forest Service repeatedly harassed him for more than a decade after he rejected the agency's offer to buy his ranch for half of what he paid for it. All but 7,000 acres of the 759,000-acre ranch were Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management property on which Hage held grazing allotments.

A longtime state's rights activist and author of "Storm Over Rangelands," Hage filed a claim seeking $28 million in damages after Forest Service officials confiscated more than 100 of his cattle and suspended his grazing permits on parts of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, saying overgrazing was causing ecological damage on the high-desert range.

In 2002, U.S. Claims Court Judge Loren Smith ruled in Washington D.C., that Hage had a right to let his cattle use the water and forage on at least some of the federal land where he held a federal grazing permit north of Tonopah, in central Nevada.

Hage said the water rights came with the Pine Creek ranch when he bought it for about $2 million in 1978 and those rights carry with them the right to the associated forage.

After that ruling, Hage wrote, "The potential ramifications of this decision are enormous; thousands of ranchers now have good hope for redress against harassment and abuse by federal agencies."

Two years later, during another court hearing on whether the government's action amounted to an illegal taking -- thereby requiring compensation. Hage said, "If you don't have the water rights, you don't have a ranch."

Born December 21, 1936, in Elko, Hage grew up ranching. He persuaded his parents to let him drop out of high school to help other ranchers who were struggling during the harsh winter of 1952.

After that, he was not to be corralled.

"The big cattle outfits would put out a roundup wagon and they'd just stay out on the range for maybe 10 months of the year," he wrote in the May 2002 edition of The New American. "For a teenage boy, that kind of life -- riding horseback on the open range -- was an adventure that made school pretty dull and uninteresting by comparison, so I just stayed with it."

C.J. Hadley, editor of Range Magazine, said Hage was a "bulldog" who "had the guts to go up against the federal government."

"No more stronger, more tenacious rancher I've ever seen," said Hadley, who visited Hage about two weeks ago at a Reno hospital.

He told her, "All I want to do is go to my ranch, look out my window and see my horses and cattle."

Chuck Cushman, director of the American Land Rights Association in Battle Ground, Washington, said Tuesday that he didn't know if his property rights organization would even exist if not for Hage.

"Few people have made more of a difference in the history of the West than Wayne Hage," Cushman said. "His effort to protect the rights of ranchers and other private property owners paved the way for many to save their future and the future of ranching in the West."

Janine Hansen, a longtime conservative Nevadan running for secretary of state as a candidate of the Independent American Party, said Hage's "willingness to battle gave all of us courage."

"We can thank the Lord for his courage in opposing the heavy hand of government tyranny," she said.

Hage is survived by his wife, Helen Chenoweth-Hage; daughters Ramona Morrison of Reno; Margaret Byfield of Taylor, Texas; Ruthe Agee of Elko and Laura Perkins of Boise, Idaho; son Wayne Hage Jr., of Pine Creek Ranch; and 10 grandchildren.

His first wife, Jean, died in 1996.

Copyright 2006, Las Vegas Sun.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jun/06/060610085.html

Two earlier versions:

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jun/06/060610061.html

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jun/06/060610049.html

Helen Chenoweth's husband, sagebrush rebel Wayne Hage, dies

June 6, 2006

By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org

The Associated Press

Reno, Nevada - Wayne Hage, who battled the federal government for decades over public lands and private property rights and came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion, has died.

Friends say Hage had been ill with cancer and died Monday at his Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah. He was 69.

A memorial service is planned Saturday at the Hage ranch in Monitor Valley.

A widower, Hage married former U.S. Representative Helen Chenoweth, an Idaho Republican, in 1999.

A longtime state's rights activist and author of "Storm Over Rangelands," Hage filed a federal claim in 1991 seeking $28 million in damages after Forest Service officials confiscated his cattle and suspended his grazing permits on parts of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest.

In 2002, a U.S. Claims Court judge ruled that Hage had a right to let his cattle use the water and forage on at least some of the federal land where he held a grazing permit.

Copyright KTBV.com.

http://www.ktvb.com/news/localnews/stories/ktvbn-jun0606-wayne_hage_dies.5e32b0c3.html

Cattle Activist Dies

(Note: Wayne was sixty-nine years old, but accomplished more for the freedom and property rights of America during those years than almost anyone. No matter what the media says, he did a great deal to educate people on the fact that "public lands" are extinct. They are, in fact, federal lands -- and are often off-limits/closed to the public.)

June 6, 2006

By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org

The Associated Press

Wayne Hage, the Nevada man known for his battles with the federal government, and who came to epitomize the state's "sagebrush rebellion," has died.

Hage had battled the government since the Forest Service started scaling back the number of cattle allowed to graze on national forest land, in the early 1980s.

In 2002, U.S. Claims Court Judge Loren Smith ruled that Hage had a right to let his cattle use the water, and forage on at least some of the federal land, where he had formerly held a federal grazing permit, north of Tonopah.

Hage died yesterday of cancer.

Friends say he was in his sixties.

Copyright 2006, KOLOtv.com.

http://www.kolotv.com/home/headlines/2940941.html

Wayne Hage, Nevada rancher and sagebrush rebel, dies

(Note: Wayne was sixty-nine years old, but accomplished more for the freedom and property rights of America during those years than almost anyone. No matter what the media says, he did a great deal to educate people on the fact that "public lands" are extinct. They are, in fact, federal lands -- and are often off-limits/closed to the public.)

June 6, 2006

By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org

The Associated Press

Las Vegas Sun

Las Vegas, Nevada

http://www.lasvegassun.com

To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@lasvegassun.com

Reno, Nevada - Wayne Hage, who battled the federal government for decades over public lands and private property rights, has died.

Hage, who came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion, had been ill and died Monday at his Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah, friends said. He was in his 60s.

"He actually successfully beat cancer a number of years ago," said Bob St. Louis, and longtime friend and fellow rancher. "In the past couple weeks, it came back in really aggressive form."

A memorial service is planned Saturday at the Hage ranch in Monitor Valley.

Hage, who married former Republican U.S. Rep. Helen Chenoweth of Idaho in 1999, had battled the government since the Forest Service started scaling back the number of cattle allowed to graze on national forest land in the early 1980s.

In 2002, U.S. Claims Court Judge Loren Smith ruled in Washington D.C., that Hage had a right to let his cattle use the water and forage on at least some of the federal land where he formerly held a federal grazing permit north of Tonopah, in central Nevada.

A longtime state's rights activist and author of "Storm Over Rangelands," Hage filed a claim seeking $28 million in damages in 1991 after Forest Service officials suspended his grazing permits on parts of the Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest, saying overgrazing was causing ecological damage on the high-desert range.

Hage said the water rights came with the Pine Creek ranch when he bought it for about $2 million in 1978 and those rights carry with them the right to the associated forage.

"If you don't have the water rights, you don't have a ranch," he said during a 2004 court hearing.

Copyright 2006, Las Vegas Sun.

http://www.lasvegassun.com/sunbin/stories/nevada/2006/jun/06/060610029.html

Rancher, sagebrush rebel Wayne Hage dies

(Note: Wayne was explicit -- and right -- when he said there are no "public lands," only federal lands.)

June 6, 2006

By Sandra Chereb schereb@ap.org

The Associated Press

The Reno Gazette-Journal

Reno, Nevada

http://www.rgj.com

To submit a Letter to the Editor: letters@rgj.com

Reno, Nevada - Wayne Hage, who battled the federal government for decades over public lands and private property rights, has died.

Hage, who came to epitomize Nevada's Sagebrush Rebellion, had been ill and died Monday at his Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah, friends said. He was 69.

AP-WS-06-06-06 1227EDT

Copyright 2006, The Reno GazetteJournal.

http://news.rgj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060606/NEWS18/606060368&oaso=news.rgj.com/breakingnews

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