Nevada Cattle Rancher Standoff!!

I saw it on TV about an hour ago.

Seems pretty clear-cut, guy quits paying grazing rights fees, guy no longer has grazing rights. You don't get something for nothing these days....

Being from Las Vegas just a couple miles away from this you know I have an opinion. I worked for the Bureau of Land Management (DOI) in the past, in the Mojave National Preserve (same ecosystem as where this rancher grazes his cattle - the Mojave Desert) and cattle do for a fact have a DRASTIC effect on land. I know it is a desert (and many people from other places in the country may not understand what makes a desert) but they turn it from a beautiful planted sceney of cactus and shrubs into a barren waste land of trampled dust. I have seen it first hand, and for a fact it negatively affects native wildlife and fauna. That being said, the man does have rights and his family have rights to the land extend prior to the federal governments taking over. The Federal Government owns approximately 85%, yes I said 85% of the state of Nevada. I believe that it is the MOST of any state! Can a man not let his cattle graze some acres just miles from Las Vegas, a city which itself has a much more detrimental effect on surrounding wildlife? What about when the built the WORLDS largest solar plant just an hour south of Las Vegas in the Ivanpah desert. That was extremely destructive to land and native wildlife, no one said nothing then. Even kept the treasured desert bighorn sheep from accessing important waterholes. But then again the rancher is just one man, not a bunch of people with money and investors. I see both sides, and to be honest neither is a hundred percent right.

krichardson said:

Interesting,were you a member of BLM's law enforcement?

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No, never worked any type of law enforcement. My main project was assisting in monitoring Mule Deer populations (yes there are deer in the desert lol) along with the effects of water troughs on wildlife. Funny enough one of the things the rancher is claiming he is helping is with the water trough he provides. There is some evidence that this does help wild populations but deer tend to avoid troughs used by cattle. Again the cattle destroy all the land around the trough - so obviously this is bad for tortoises etc. It may be good for more nocturnal species such as coyotes, badgers, and bobcats etc.

We own a cattle ranch in Idaho and have permits to run on BLM ground in a high mountain desert. This is a right you have to pay for, at least in Idaho. We are permitted to run so many cattle in each area for so many days. While the is no question ground can be over used, if managed properly the areas that are grazed by cattle are in far better condition than areas that are not grazed at all. The cattle help distribute the grass seed( something that no group of wildlife will do as effectively as there simply aren't enough and most target brush more than grass). They also ensure that the grass and brush( when properly managed) doesn't get to tall and pose extra fire risk. If you think the cattle are harming the turtles, think what a desert brush fire will do to them. There are just way to many man made fire hazards in this day in time to let there be too much fuel for the fire to burn. It is the renters and the BLMs obligation that the area is properly managed. In this case, I have no idea who is doing there part and who isn't. There just aren't enough details to draw any conclusions. What I can say without a shadow of a doubt though is that cattle and the resources they bring, water troughs(which deer and elk heavily use no matter if there are cattle using them or not in my area. They often are seen around the water troughs at the very same time the cattle are watering) healthier stands of foliage due to better distribution of seed and the nutrients that the cattle pass back into the soil. It is in the renters best interest to manage the ground properly because if over used they will not only not be permitted to use the area again until it has been rested, but if overused than the cattle do poorly for years to come if the stands of grass are tromped out. And it is in the BLMs interest to have it grazed because while fires are a natural occurrence, they are better utilized in controlled burns and 9 out of 10 wildfires are caused by people.


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Im in vegas too, I had no idea about this.

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There is a long history of BLM & USFS abuses against ranchers in Nevada, and you'll never be able to understand what drove some to (albeit, misguidedly) stop paying permit fees until you know how illegal & insidious it has been.
http://nj.npri.org/nj98/04/hage.htm
http://blog.pacificlegal.org/2013/br...operty-rights/
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews...n-abusive-feds
Even after Hage won in this ruling, not one dollar that the court ordered repaid to them has been paid. Instead, just another filing for them to fight in court to run them out of business. Our tax money pays all costs of agencies fighting ranchers. it's all about wearing them out.

@Trace, when you have a couple hours for it all, listen to the whole story below. 2 pt video from before Hage Sr died, before the court ruling above supported his account. His son fought to get the above-posted "win", but nothing has been obeyed.

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=wayne+hage&vid=ff01599b020cf9e0cb1b194f4091c8ab&l=48%3A46&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608033443549151627%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F8520897&tit=American+Rancher+Uncut+Interview+Pt+1%2C+Wayne+Hage+at+Pine+Creek+2005&c=3&sigr=10o96ikre&sigt=124rcbe11&ct=p&pstcat=arts+culture+and+entertainment&age=0&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=b

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=wayne+hage&vid=62cf792d4e2f70bc555233b6dbd72b65&l=1%3A11%3A16&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608036587470324017%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F9776367&tit=Wayne+Hage%2C+American+Rancher%2C+Interview+Pt+2&c=0&sigr=10o4a38jd&sigt=11cmisio5&ct=p&pstcat=arts+culture+and+entertainment&age=0&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=b

petspoiler said:

There is a long history of BLM & USFS abuses against ranchers in Nevada, and you'll never be able to understand what drove some to (albeit, misguidedly) stop paying permit fees until you know how illegal & insidious it has been.
http://nj.npri.org/nj98/04/hage.htm
http://blog.pacificlegal.org/2013/br...operty-rights/
http://www.thenewamerican.com/usnews...n-abusive-feds
Even after Hage won in this ruling, not one dollar that the court ordered repaid to them has been paid. Instead, just another filing for them to fight in court to run them out of business. Our tax money pays all costs of agencies fighting ranchers. it's all about wearing them out.

@Trace, when you have a couple hours for it all, listen to the whole story below. 2 pt video from before Hage Sr died, before the court ruling above supported his account. His son fought to get the above-posted "win", but nothing has been obeyed.

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=wayne+hage&vid=ff01599b020cf9e0cb1b194f4091c8ab&l=48%3A46&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts4.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608033443549151627%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F8520897&tit=American+Rancher+Uncut+Interview+Pt+1%2C+Wayne+Hage+at+Pine+Creek+2005&c=3&sigr=10o96ikre&sigt=124rcbe11&ct=p&pstcat=arts+culture+and+entertainment&age=0&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=b

http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?p=wayne+hage&vid=62cf792d4e2f70bc555233b6dbd72b65&l=1%3A11%3A16&turl=http%3A%2F%2Fts2.mm.bing.net%2Fth%3Fid%3DVN.608036587470324017%26pid%3D15.1&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvimeo.com%2F9776367&tit=Wayne+Hage%2C+American+Rancher%2C+Interview+Pt+2&c=0&sigr=10o4a38jd&sigt=11cmisio5&ct=p&pstcat=arts+culture+and+entertainment&age=0&fr=yfp-t-701&tt=b

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Oh believe me, it wouldn't shock me in the least bit to find out this is a very one sided abuse on the BLMs part. We fortunately have a fairly good group of people in our area that fully understand the importance of grazing. I just hadn't seen all the information I needed to weigh very heavily on this case. There are good and bad ranchers, just like there are good and bad BLM offices. I don't like to go shooting my mouth off about things I don't know about so I shared what I did know. I truly believe the day that instances like this are a common occurrence for no real reason other than to push out American farmers and ranchers and further a governmental agenda is the day America falls. Once we are unable to provide our country with the food and goods we need domestically, we are done.


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