Notice of Temporary Closure on Public Lands (BLM plan published in Federal Register in March)

Notice of Temporary Closure on Public Lands in the Gold Butte, Mormon Mesa, and Bunkerville Flats Areas in the Northeastern Portion of Clark County, NV

SUMMARY: Notice is hereby given that a temporary closure to public access, use, and occupancy will be in effect for the dates and times specified in this Notice on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Southern Nevada District Office, Las Vegas Field Office, within the Gold Butte, Mormon Mesa, and Bunkerville Flats Areas in the northeastern portion of Clark County, Nevada. This temporary closure is necessary to limit public access, use, and occupancy during an impoundment of illegally grazing cattle to ensure the safety and welfare of the public, contractors, and government employees. On March 10, 2014, the BLM signed a Decision Record to implement the temporary closure (see also Environmental Assessment DOI– BLM–NVS010–2014–0020–EA). The temporary closure decision was approved by the Department of the Interior on March 24, 2014.

DATES: Effective Dates: The temporary closure of public lands will be in effect between March 27, 2014 and May 12, 2014.

Ryan Chatterton, Project Manager 702– 515–5187, email: mrchatterton@ blm.gov. Persons who use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service (FIRS) at 1–800–877–8339 to contact the above individual during normal business hours. The FIRS is available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to leave a message or question with the above individual. You will receive a reply during normal business hours.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This temporary closure to public access affects public lands in the Gold Butte, Mormon Mesa, and Bunkerville Flats Areas in the northeastern portion of Clark County, Nevada that are managed by the Bureau of Land Management, and are within the legal description as follows:

The area described contains approximately 578,724 acres in Clark County, Nevada.

The temporary closure will not affect all of the above-described lands, but will instead only encompass those public lands necessary to ensure safe operations and only for the period of time necessary to achieve safety objectives.

The impound operation includes the authorized use of low-flying aircraft to herd and capture cattle from various portions of the Gold Butte, Mormon Mesa, and Bunkerville Flats areas. The area is remote with limited vehicular access over steep, rugged terrain. There will be numerous vehicles and support staff conducting operations in this area, as well as movement of feral cattle that pose a threat to public safety.

Enforcement of the temporary closure by law enforcement personnel will be limited to those geographic areas determined by Incident Command staff, within the overall closure boundary, that need to be closed based on planned and on-going operations to ensure the safety of the public, Federal employees, and contractor personnel.

It is anticipated the impound operations will last approximately 21 days, but could last up to 30 days depending upon weather, location of cattle, success of capture operations, and other variable conditions. The temporary closure may be rescinded prior to May 12, 2014, if impound operations are successfully completed before that date.

Maps of the affected area and other documents associated with this temporary closure are available at the Southern Nevada District Office, 4701 N. Torrey Pines Drive, Las Vegas, NV

Federal Register /Vol. 79, No. 59 /Thursday, March 27, 2014 /Notices 17179 89130 and at the BLM Web site http://www.blm.gov/nv/st/en/fo/lvfo.html. This Notice will be posted in the local BLM district office with jurisdiction over the lands to which the order applies (43 CFR 8364.1(b)(5) and 43 CFR 423.12, respectively).

Exceptions: The temporary closures will affect only public lands within the described closure area. Not all public lands within the closure area will be temporarily closed and some closed areas may be reopened during the impound operations if operations have moved to another geographic area. Areas temporarily closed to public access will be posted with signs, barricades, if appropriate, and copies of this temporary closure. Enforcement of the temporary closure by law enforcement personnel will be limited to those geographic areas determined by Incident Command staff, within the overall closure boundary, that need to be closed based on planned and on-going operations to ensure the safety of the public, Federal employees, and contractor personnel.

Two locations are available for members of the public to express their First Amendment rights: I–15 and Exit 112 for Riverside and State Route 170 and White Rock Road. Only one area will be available at a time; Incident Command staff will determine daily which location is most suitable, based on impound operation activities and safety considerations, and will post the location on BLM and National Park Service (NPS) websites.

A media information and interview area will be located at the Intersection of I–15 and Toquap Wash (between mile marker 114 and 115). This location will serve as the primary location for media to conduct in-person interviews during the impoundment operations and temporary closure. Staffed times will be flexible based on media interest and return times of media from observation tours.

Within the closure area, escorted media viewing opportunities will be made available for BLM/NPS credentialed media during the impoundment operation. In order to gain media access during the impound, media representatives must be BLM/ NPS credentialed and RSVP by calling 702–515–5226 the day before they wish to observe so guidelines and logistical details may be provided.

Private landholders and holders of valid rights-of-way will be granted access through public lands affected by this temporary closure for the purposes of accessing their private land or right of- way only.

Penalties : In accordance with Section 303(a) of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act of 1976 (43 U.S.C. 1733 (a)) and 43 CFR 8360.0–7, the BLM will enforce the temporary closures that are put in place on public lands in northeastern Clark County, Nevada. The following persons are exempt from this temporary closure: Federal, State, and local officers and employees in the performance of their official duties; members of organized rescue or fire-fighting forces in the performance of their official duties; and persons with written authorization from the BLM.

A person who violates the above order may be cited and tried before a United States Magistrate and fined no more than $1,000, imprisoned for no more than 12 months, or both. Such violations may also be subject to the enhanced fines provided for by 18U.S.C. 3571. (Authority: 43 CFR 8364.1)

Gayle Marrs-Smith,
Las Vegas Field Office Manager, Bureau of Land Management.
[FR Doc. 2014–06826 Filed 3–26–14; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 4310–HC–P

The following is a second hand re-posting by me:

This is the best explanation I have read on the reason why a person would not want to enter into a contract with the BLM and thus would not pay any grazing fees to them. Offer to pay to the county but not deal with the BLM. I did not write this so if you repost or copy and paste please credit the author.

Written By Kena Lytle Gloeckner

There have been a lot of people criticizing Clive Bundy because he did not pay his grazing fees for 20 years. The public is also probably wondering why so many other cowboys are supporting Mr. Bundy even though they paid their fees and Clive did not. What you people probably do not realize is that on every rancher's grazing permit it says the following: "You are authorized to make grazing use of the lands, under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management and covered by this grazing permit, upon your acceptance of the terms and conditions of this grazing permit and payment of grazing fees when due."

The "mandatory" terms and conditions go on to list the allotment, the number and kind of livestock to be grazed, when the permit begins and ends, the number of active or suspended AUMs (animal units per month), etc. The terms and conditions also list specific requirements such as where salt or mineral supplements can be located, maximum allowable use of forage levels (40% of annual growth), etc., and include a lot more stringent policies that must be adhered to.

Every rancher must sign this "contract" agreeing to abide by the TERMS AND CONDITIONS before he or she can make payment. In the early 90s, the BLM went on a frenzy and drastically cut almost every rancher's permit because of this desert tortoise issue, even though all of us ranchers knew that cow and desert tortoise had co-existed for a hundred+ years.

As an example, a family friend had his permit cut by 90%. For those of you who are non ranchers, that would be equated to getting your paycheck cut 90%. In 1976 there were approximately 52 ranching permittees in this area of Nevada. Presently, there are 3. Most of these people lost their livelihoods because of the actions of the BLM. Clive Bundy was one of these people who received extremely unfair and unreasonable TERMS AND CONDITIONS. Keep in mind that Mr. Bundy was required to sign this contract before he was allowed to pay. Had Clive signed on the dotted line, he would have, in essence, signed his very livelihood away. And so Mr. Bundy took a stand, not only for himself, but for all of us.

He refused to be destroyed by a tyrannical federal entity and to have his American liberties and freedoms taken away. Also keep in mind that all ranchers financially paid dearly for the forage rights those permits allow - - not rights to the land, but rights to use the forage that grows on that land. Many of these AUMS are water based, meaning that the rancher also has a vested right (state owned, not federal) to the waters that adjoin the lands and allow the livestock to drink.

These water rights were also purchased at a great price. If a rancher cannot show beneficial use of the water (he must have the appropriate number of livestock that drinks and uses that water), then he loses that water right. Usually water rights and forage rights go hand in hand. Contrary to what the BLM is telling you, they NEVER compensate a rancher for the AUMs they take away.

Most times, they tell ranchers that their AUMS are "suspended," but not removed. Unfortunately, my family has thousands of "suspended" AUMs that will probably never be returned.

And so, even though these ranchers throughout the course of a hundred years invested thousands(and perhaps millions) of dollars and sacrificed along the way to obtain these rights through purchase from others, at a whim the government can take everything away with the stroke of a pen. This is the very thing that Clive Bundy singlehandedly took a stand against. Thank you, Clive, from a rancher who considers you a hero.

Written By Kena Lytle Gloeckner

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