Questions answered about the Nevada cattle roundup and standoff

[NightHawkeye]

Is Harry Reid Involved? Seven Answers to Seven Questions You’re Probably Asking Right Now About the Nevada Rancher Situation | Video | TheBlaze.com

Short version
- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forced other ranchers off land twenty years ago ... citing the desert tortoise an endangered species.
- At that time Bundy quit paying his fees.
- In 2013 BLM decides to euthanize hundreds of desert tortoises.
- Harry Reid's senior policy adviser becomes head of BLM in 2014.
- Bundy goes public and gains nationwide support.
- Recent estimates say BLM spent $3 million attempting to evict Bundy ... before abandoning the effort and returning cattle.

“Based on information about conditions on the ground, and in consultation with law enforcement, we have made a decision to conclude the cattle gather because of our serious concern about the safety of employees and members of the public,” Neil Kornze, the Director of the Bureau of Land Management, said Saturday in a statement. “We ask that all parties in the area remain peaceful and law-abiding as the Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service work to end the operation in an orderly manner.”

Which means, they'll be back.

 

[EdwinWillers]

The administration, via the BLM, shoots one across the bow of ordinary American citizens.

 

[MachZer0]

The administration, via the BLM, shoots one across the bow of ordinary American citizens.

The legacy of this administration will be all about power and control over the lives of citizens, so we shouldn't really be surprised

 

[JustMeSee]

Easy solution. Shoot and kill any trespassing cattle in the future.

 

[Vylo]

Wait, according to the blaze, the feds bought the land from the other ranchers, not forced them out. They bought their land. This guy was the only hold out. So its complete bunk that the feds forced the others out.

 

[NightHawkeye]

Wait, according to the blaze, the feds bought the land from the other ranchers, not forced them out. They bought their land. This guy was the only hold out. So its complete bunk that the feds forced the others out.

That depends on what, if any, additional information is uncovered in relation to the "buyouts".

Ordinarily, this would be considered a simple buyout, which is obviously different from being “forced into bankruptcy” or being priced out entirely. However, as Cox wrote, the ranchers were bought off with their “own grazing fees,” suggesting they made no net gain from turning over their permits.

TheBlaze will request clarification from the Clark County clerk’s office as soon as possible to help explain this question.
​

The "sniff" test smells fishy.

 

[katherine2001]

Wait, according to the blaze, the feds bought the land from the other ranchers, not forced them out. They bought their land. This guy was the only hold out. So its complete bunk that the feds forced the others out.

! Thank you!

 

[GarfieldJL]

! Thank you!

Uh Vylo isn't exactly quoting everything in context. Being given back the money they paid for their "grazing fees" for that year and told to take a hike, isn't compensation.

In other words, they were forced out of business by the Feds, and Bundy had the courage to stand up and tell the Feds to take a hike.

 

[wing2000]

The "sniff" test smells fishy.

I'm sure Blaze "investigative reporting" will assure its sufficiently fishy for ya :0

 

[Douger]

Uh Vylo isn't exactly quoting everything in context. Being given back the money they paid for their "grazing fees" for that year and told to take a hike, isn't compensation.

In other words, they were forced out of business by the Feds, and Bundy had the courage to stand up and tell the Feds to take a hike.

Do you have any details about this buyout of the other ranchers? Anything that shows that the buyout of their leases was unfair?
I've looked but haven't really found anything about these buyouts.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Is Harry Reid Involved? Seven Answers to Seven Questions You’re Probably Asking Right Now About the Nevada Rancher Situation | Video | TheBlaze.com

Short version
- The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) forced other ranchers off land twenty years ago ... citing the desert tortoise an endangered species.

Nope. That's not what it said.

- In 2013 BLM decides to euthanize hundreds of desert tortoises.

The Blaze left out some rather important information. The euthanized tortoises weren't in the wild and weren't being culled as a means of population control - they were being cared for at a rescue center. The rescue center was initially set up to take care of tortoises displaced by new construction in the area. It was funded (at least partly) by fees paid by the developers, but when the housing bubble crashed, there was no more development and the funding dried up.

- Recent estimates say BLM spent $3 million attempting to evict Bundy ... before abandoning the effort and returning cattle.

Where did you see that they'd returned the cattle? I don't see that in the Blaze story and I haven't read it anywhere else. AFAIK, they seized at least some of the cattle. The ranchers also rounded up some of them and brought them back onto private land.

I'm sure Blaze "investigative reporting" will assure its sufficiently fishy for ya :0

FWIW, this Blaze summary was a lot more reasonable than I expected it to be. As far as I've seen, the general right-wing attitude on this issue has been way off the insurrectionist deep end (check the threads in the News subforum) and while the Blaze piece didn't dampen that sentiment much (it did a little), it didn't inflame it.

 

[Loudmouth]

I want to puke whenever someone calls the USA "the land of the free". We live under a communist dictatorship.

What makes America a communist dictatorship?

If anything, the opposite happened. They required ranchers to use private land instead of using public lands.

staff edit

You mean the peaceful citizens that voted Obama into office as part of a free democracy?

 

[DaisyDay]

We live under a communist dictatorship.

That's true if by "communist" you mean democratically elected and by "dictatorship" you mean a representative republic; otherwise, it's just counter to reality.

staff edit

That's a bit inflammatory, don't you think?

staff edit .

Of course, that must be it!

 

[NightHawkeye]

FWIW, this Blaze summary was a lot more reasonable than I expected it to be. As far as I've seen, the general right-wing attitude on this issue has been way off the insurrectionist deep end (check the threads in the News subforum) and while the Blaze piece didn't dampen that sentiment much (it did a little), it didn't inflame it.

Glenn Beck interviewed the cattle rancher this morning and found out that his beef is mostly about the federal government owning western lands. He is not alone in that stance, and other legal actions about that are in process (not related to his case though).

That part hadn't come out in what I'd read anywhere.

Turns out Cliven Bundy is also deeply religious and eschewed violence ... which seems to be key to why the standoff ended the way it did, given that some of his supporters were attempting to provoke federal agents.

Harry Reid said this: Sen. Harry Reid on Nevada Ranch Battle: ‘It’s Not Over’ | Video | TheBlaze.com

“Well, it’s not over. We can’t have an American people that violate the law and then just walk away from it. So it’s not over,” Reid told KRNV-TV.​

 

[iluvatar5150]

Glenn Beck interviewed the cattle rancher this morning and found out that his beef is mostly about the federal government owning western lands. He is not alone in that stance, and other legal actions about that are in process (not related to his case though).

Yeah, good luck with that. The US government got that land from Mexico in 1848.
Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

That part hadn't come out in what I'd read anywhere.

I've seen it a bunch of places, but it doesn't mean it's not nutty.

Turns out Cliven Bundy is also deeply religious and eschewed violence ... which seems to be key to why the standoff ended the way it did, given that some of his supporters were attempting to provoke federal agents.

That's good, but that strikes me as a little convenient. I haven't seen him out there denouncing the violent rhetoric of his supported and IIRC even his wife said something about having a shotgun and knowing how to use it, with regards to protecting fending off the feds.

Harry Reid said this: Sen. Harry Reid on Nevada Ranch Battle: ‘It’s Not Over’ | Video | TheBlaze.com

“Well, it’s not over. We can’t have an American people that violate the law and then just walk away from it. So it’s not over,” Reid told KRNV-TV.​

IMO, they ought to let it go for a month or two - until that Nevada sun gets really hot and all the protesters go home, then they should just go out and round up the cattle again, keeping them this time, and hitting Bundy with a bill for both roundups.

 

[NightHawkeye]

IMO, they ought to let it go for a month or two - until that Nevada sun gets really hot and all the protesters go home, then they should just go out and round up the cattle again, keeping them this time, and hitting Bundy with a bill for both roundups.

Why don't you want Bundy to be able to ranch the land his family has ranched for generations? Is there a better use for the land?

 

[iluvatar5150]

Why don't you want Bundy to be able to ranch the land his family has ranched for generations? Is there a better use for the land?

I have no problem with him ranching the land. I do have a problem with him gleefully flouting laws, then using his asinine anti-government theories to get a bunch of nutjob insurrections riled up to the point of threatening violence against the government.

If he wants to go ahead and pay the grazing fees, I couldn't care much less if his cows pick the place clean.

 

[NightHawkeye]

I have no problem with him ranching the land. I do have a problem with him gleefully flouting laws, then using his asinine anti-government theories to get a bunch of nutjob insurrections riled up to the point of threatening violence against the government.

If he wants to go ahead and pay the grazing fees, I couldn't care much less if his cows pick the place clean.

Kinda seems to me like the "nutjobs" here are in the federal government.

One wonders for instance why the federal government didn't follow "due process" in the legal system if their case is so strong?

Was Bundy afforded his day in court?

 

[Armoured]

Glenn Beck interviewed the cattle this morning

How I first read what you said.

 

[iluvatar5150]

Kinda seems to me like the "nutjobs" here are in the federal government.

Because they tried to enforce the law?

Because they were lenient on the guy for 20+ years?

Because they backed off when a bunch of insurrectionists showed up with guns, realizing that, although they (the feds) were in the right, a bunch of cows and pasture land aren't worth going to war over?

Yeah, those are hallmark behaviors of the unstable.

One wonders for instance why the federal government didn't follow "due process" in the legal system if their case is so strong?

They did. For 20+ years.

Was Bundy afforded his day in court?

Numerous times. He lost every time, because his legal argument doesn't have a leg to stand on.