The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #154266   Message #3617996
Posted By: pdq
12-Apr-14 - 04:42 PM
Thread Name: BS: Bundy ranch stand off
Subject: RE: BS: Bundy ranch stand off
The Department of the Interior manages about 1/3 of all the land in the United States, but it is part of the federal government which is not allowed to own more than one parcel that is 10 miles square (or 100 square miles) in a region. The City of Washington DC was this size for this reason (now down to 68 square miles). Only reason to take a parcel would be to build a fort in the Wild West days or other such needed facility.

The land in question is owned by the state of Nevada and the state legislature is the only body that has the legal power to charge for gazing rights. The fact that most ranchers do pay the Feds when the bill comes is simply a matter that they cannot fight the federal monstrocity.

Note that the Obama administration has 200 fully armed federal police agents with attack dogs and fully automatic military weapons chasing a few cattle ranchers around the Nevada desert. Obama earlier in his administration ended Posse Comitatas which had prevented the use of US military against the citizenry. That act had stood since just after the Civil War.

For the record, Cliven Bundy does pay the state of Nevada for his grazing rights and is current on his payments.