That’s the problem here, the County bought up the ranchers land and then turned it over to BLM. Seems like it’s time to end feudalism, return the land to private ownership, or at least let the States control it. What purpose does the FEDERAL BLM serve anyway? Other than as we saw today, as is obviously part of the plan.
At least the feds were smart enough to realize this was a battle they could not win.
The FEDs will never turn over a significant fraction of any western land because eventually they are going to use it and its mineral, grazing and water right resources as collateral to issue more government debt...
Gotta have lots of money to keep the parasites fed, or they will turn on the host!
That's not correct. Mr Bundy owns a homestead of 160 acres. The rest of the land is the property of the federal government and has been since the Mexican War. The BLM manages the land and that is the crux of the problem.
Mr. Bundy owns water rights and leases grazing rights on federal land that, by law, is open for use by ranchers. He has legal rights as a tenant. The BLM is doing exactly what Irish and Scottish landlords did in the 18th and 19th centuries, forcing tenants off the land so that they could use it for other, more profitable, purposes. The big difference is that the Scottish and Irish landlords were private land holders, in this case the land is owned by the federal government and is therefore held in trust for the public good. The BLM has redefined public good without due process for the benefit of people like Harry Reid.