# Home, Home on the Range: Where the Desert Tortoises Roam? Nevada Busiiness, N



## Cowboy_Ken (Nov 5, 2013)

Cliven Bundy is a man on a mission. Heâ€™s been battling the federal government â€” specifically, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) â€” for more than 20 years, and heâ€™s determined to win this David-and-Goliath battle.

Bundyâ€™s family has raised cattle on the land around Mesquite since the 1870s, and he now owns about 500 cattle roaming through the desert rangeland. He tends them, brands them, and drives them to market much like his ancestors did. Itâ€™s a hard way of life, but heâ€™s carrying on the family tradition. Now 67, Bundy hopes to someday pass it on to his 14 children.

The only problem is that Bundy doesnâ€™t own the land his cattle are grazing on. Like more than 85 percent of Nevada, that land is owned by the federal government and managed by the BLM, which leases grazing rights to ranchers for an annual fee. Since 1993, Bundy has refused to pay the fees, claiming that his Mormon pioneer family settled the area long before the BLM even existed. He also insists that the land belongs to the state, not to the federal government, which has no right to order him around or fine him. The government at first wanted him just to pay the fees, then cancelled his grazing rights altogether and demanded he remove his cattle from â€œtheirâ€ land. The BLM keeps winning judgments against him in court, where he defends himself, and Bundy keeps ignoring their orders.

In July, the U.S. district court ruled that if Bundy didnâ€™t remove his cattle by August 23rd, they could be seized by the BLM. The government also wants him to remove all his improvements, including water tanks and wells. The deadline came and went, and so far (as of press time), the cattle are still on the land and Bundy still refuses to pay the fees, which may now total more than $300,000. He has declared himself willing to do whatever it takes to defend his property, which seems to have scared off the feds.

Bundy says he has â€œfiredâ€ the BLM, whose so-called experts said he would be permitted to run his cattle on the range only from mid-summer through winter. As a rancher, Bundy knows that spring is the only time cattle fatten up, but the BLM was concerned that cows might step on baby tortoises when they emerge in the spring, and as everyone knows, the desert tortoise is an â€œendangered speciesâ€.

Range biologists demonstrated years ago that desert tortoises actually do better on land thatâ€™s being grazed by cattle and managed by ranchers. People who have lived in Southern Nevada awhile know that this business of â€œprotecting the desert tortoiseâ€ is an example of government interference at its worst. In the 1990s, the feds insisted that tortoises were in danger of extinction. They blocked off huge areas of land from development, and charged exorbitant fees to developers, which were used to establish a Desert Tortoise Conservation Center. You may have read recently that the center was so overcrowded with tortoises that they had to euthanize many of them. They couldnâ€™t release them into the wild because that would cause overcrowding in the native population. How can an endangered animal population be overcrowded? Thatâ€™s government logic for you.

Cliven Bundy may be on the wrong side of the law according to the courts, but to my way of thinking, we need more citizens like him to stand up to the federal government instead of giving in to their insatiable power grabbing. Let the cattle graze and the cowboys ride the range, and if they occasionally step on a tortoise, thatâ€™s a small price to pay for living free.


Surprised I'd link a report of someone who makes their living on the back of a horse ?


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## Arnold_rules (Nov 5, 2013)

Good for him and his determination. Unfortunately, the government might win in this case.


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## Tom (Nov 5, 2013)

Thanks for sharing this Ken.

What's it gonna take to get EVERYBODY to stand up to government abuse and absurdity like Cliven? There are more of us than there are of them. Why are we tolerating this?


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## mike taylor (Nov 5, 2013)

We do need people to standup to the man !!!! Tell Buddy I'll ride out and fight with him guns a slinging . Yeeehaaaas cow boys !!!!!


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## Cowboy_Ken (Nov 5, 2013)

Although I'm gun toting, I think when the Feds are involved it's best not to be. Out here, we've got â€œcentury farms" these are farms own and worked by the same family at least 100 yrs. they get special help to keep the dream alive. Yet this man is being shut down. And his operation encourages the wild tortoises population. Yup. Shut him down. Clear as â€¦?


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## mike taylor (Nov 5, 2013)

Its all about the money Ken . The feds need to learn how to manage it.


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## ascott (Nov 5, 2013)

His reasoning is a farce. While I believe the BLM along with like agencies are full of crap....I believe this man is as well. Why is 1993 suddenly say I am not paying? There is more to this story than is delivered in this article....and I love how folks conveniently pull in CDTs as a part of their story....nothing like further capitalism on an already tell der issue.....I would like to see what entity put together the "torts do better with grazing cattle" propaganda portion....


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## Cowboy_Ken (Nov 5, 2013)

Here is just one report I found with a simple search. 

http://nytts.org/proceedings/avery.htm

I know for my place, the pasture is made better with the grazing of animals or the regular mowing of the pasture. When grasses aren't capable of reproduction by seed, they reproduce by root running. This stabilizes the soil from erosion as well as allows for more plants to get a seed hold for rooting.


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## ascott (Nov 6, 2013)

> Here is just one report I found with a simple search.
> 
> http://nytts.org/proceedings/avery.htm



Good read, however---it supports that there is more damage than positive benefit....I would however, be hesitant on total reliance on this information due to the source of the information, there is an ethical conflict there....

I have seen what damage is done in the desert when cattle and wild burros have gone through---there is no apparent benefit what so ever....


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## Arnold_rules (Nov 6, 2013)

ascott said:


> I would however, be hesitant on total reliance on this information due to the source of the information, there is an ethical conflict there....



Yeah, you really cannot trust research scientists from/working in CA.


Based on further reading, it appears that another government agency has paid for the grazing rights to the land and declared that it cannot be used for livestock grazing. So, unfortunately, he might not have any legal recourse.

This issue is not necessarily about the rancher's environmental impact, environment was in better shape when most of the southwest was ranching and farming, and more about government running amok. Come on people, don't be sheep, because we all know how bad sheep are to the environment  Sorry, cattleman joke.


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## mike taylor (Nov 6, 2013)

Yep ,reminds me of a joke. A vegetarian say he whats to help the environment by stopping cattle framing doe too methane gas . The carnivore says he is helping the environment by eating the cow . It goes something like that. I'm not good at jokes .


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