Posted on 03/02/2013 12:48:31 PM PST by george76
Multiple rural county sheriffs from Utah testified Thursday about the abusive use of police power by Bureau of Land Management rangers or forest protection officers with the U.S. Forest Service.
They are asserting it is time to rein in the authority the agencies should have never been allowed to exercise.
Sheriffs from San Juan, Kane and Garfield counties spoke in favor of HB155, sponsored by Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, which proposes to limit BLM rangers and forest protection officers from exercising police power over state and local laws unless someone's safety is at risk or federal contracts are in place with local police agencies.
"You cannot use our (laws) to arrest our people and issue citations," Noel said. "We don't believe they ever had that authority. Our chief law enforcement officer is the locally elected sheriff who is accountable to the people every four years."
Noel tapped the expertise of Mark Ward, an attorney with the Utah Association of Counties, to explore the legal ramifications of the bill and where police power appropriately rests over federal, state and local criminal behavior.
(Excerpt) Read more at deseretnews.com ...
Indeed.
After my father passed away, I went to the local Social Security office in our small city. I had to pass through a security checkpoint. I had to sit by another security guard while I was waiting. I finally talked to a clerk who was behind bullet proof glass. Are we, the taxpayers, the enemy?
All large bureaucracies are power hungry, no exceptions.
And it seems the lower you go down the command structure, the more arbitrary, capricious and criminal is their behavior, apparently with impunity.
They enjoy total control over our lands, but feel free to abuse and exploit the "unique" value they "protect" against us unwashed peons.
More and more power to these guys! The government that governs best is seated closest to the people. More so in local rural areas that anywhere else!!!
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BLM cops have a different set of rules. Much like game wardens, they can enter private property without a warrent in some situations.
Thanks for the Ping, Dave.
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Oh, the stories I could tell about illegal and unconstitutional acts by the US Forest Service.
And ones that friends have endured under the BLM.
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That said, I did meet a nice BLM Ranger down here a couple weeks ago. He could have cited me for driving down a recently closed road. I really did not see the (small) new sign, while driving down a well established dirt road to a place I have gone weekly for years.
The comments following the article at the SL Trib are depressing though.
Seems as if 9 out of 10 of them love the feds and hate freedom.
The comments following the article at the SL Trib are depressing though.
Seems as if 9 out of 10 of them love the feds and hate freedom.
Is the road closed permanently, or just until the spring rains stop?
Here in Southern Oregon they’ve been closing tons of roads and shutting down long-established campgrounds.
Ed
What rains? This is Southern New Mexico.
Naw, it is part of some new “National Conservancy Area” or something like that.
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