Tuesday, April 15, 2014

In His Own Words: Here’s Why the Nevada Rancher Refuses to Recognize Federal Authority

In His Own Words: Here’s Why the Nevada Rancher Refuses to Recognize Federal Authority

Posted on by Jean
Erica Ritz
The Blaze [Click on the link to listen to a portion of the (complimentary) interview. ~J]
Thanks to D. 

Cliven Bundy, the last remaining rancher in Clark County, Nev., stands at the center of what has become a national controversy over the private use of federal land. He is focused on one big issue, he said in a radio interview with Glenn Beck on Monday: He doesn’t believe the land belongs to the federal government.
“I think this is very clarifying to people,” Beck said. “Your stance is, ‘I do not recognize these lands to be federal … I am staking out my claim that the United States government does not have any jurisdiction, and any rights to the land that [I am] now grazing on.’”
“That’s right,” Bundy said. “It’s Nevada land.”

Bundy said he has “no contract with the United States government,” and the federal government has “no jurisdiction or authority” on his grazing rights, water rights, access rights, ranch improvement rights or anything else that “belongs to ‘we the people’ of Clark County.”
The rancher took his argument back to the 19th century, when Nevada became a state. According to him, the federal government did, in fact, control the land when Nevada was a territory. But, he claimed, when the territory became a state, the government turned that land over to the sovereignty of the state of Nevada, and thus the federal government lacks the power to control it today.
“At the moment of statehood, what happened?” Bundy asked. “At the moment of statehood the people of the territory become people of the United States with the Constitution, with equal footing to the original 13 states. They had boundaries allowing them a state line. And that boundary was divided into 17 subdivisions, which were counties. Which I live in one of those counties, Clark County, Nevada.”
“As a citizen of that county, I abide by all the state laws,” he concluded.
Though he has grazed his cattle on federal land for decades, Bundy has refused to pay grazing fees since 1993. Last week, the conflict sharply escalated after federal agents arrived in an attempt to round up Bundy’s “trespass cattle,” only to be met by protesters.
The story has taken many turns — including whether Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is involved (it appears he isn’t), and whether the confrontation could escalate to a situation like Ruby Ridge in 1992.
On Saturday, Neil Kornze, the director of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, started returning Bundy’s cattle due to the “serious concern about the safety of employees and members of the public.” Bundy confirmed on Monday the cattle have been returned. But it is unlikely that the controversy will go away quietly, since Bundy is remaining defiant in his position and doesn’t seem eager to pay the decades of grazing fees he still owes.
Beck said “America needs to decide” where it stands on the issue, and he’ll weigh in more on his television program at 5 p.m. ET, and on his radio program Tuesday.
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

The Constitution is absolutely clear. Article I, Section 8, Clause 17 - Powers vested in Congress - The Congress shall have power to exercise exclusive legislation in all cases whatsoever, over such district (not exceeding ten square miles) as may, by cession of particular states, and the acceptance of Congress, become the seat of government of the United States, and to exercise like authority over all places purchased by the consent of the legislature of the State in which the same shall be, for the erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dockyards, and other needful buildings. Unless the state of Nevada (Nevada Republic) specifically sold or gave that land to the federal government, of which we see no evidence, the land may belong to Nevada. The Bundy family has used and maintained that land for 150 years and probably has rights of ownership. Also, the Treaty of Ruby Valley of 1848 gave most of Nevada to the Northern Shoshone. A map would show whether the area in question was part of that treaty. One thing is absolutely clear, the federal government and the asshole Harry Reid have no rights to that land. Just because the feds got a decision from a corrupt federal judge means zip. A decision contrary to the Constitution is null and void. We no longer have a viable justice system in America, evidenced by the criminal Attorney General, Eric Holder.