Cliven Bundy And The Great Montana Land Grab

I just want to say a couple of things about this Cliven Bundy thing in Nevada and the land grab going on right here in our own backyard.

Lots of folks are under the mistaken impression that Bundy refused to pay for his BLM lease. He simply refused to pay the feds. He first tried paying the state of Nevada, but they refused to take his payment. He then tried to pay the county, but they also refused.

I also feel he was goaded into acting as he did when the BLM drastically cut back his allotment, so his cowies wouldn't harm the fragile and near-extinct “some-kind-of-turtle.”

Seems the BLM ruined a couple tortoise nests themselves in their haste and zeal to oust Bundy.

Yes, folks, the Bundy thing is a land grab deal by the EPA and the BLM. Seems those two government acronyms wanted two-thirds of Bundy's allotment. Cliven didn't want to give it up. He needs all the grass and water he can get to produce cattle for the American public to consume.

Bundy has bills to pay that are dependent on what he can produce. When a huge cutback in his earning potential happens, he's in a world of hurt. Wouldn't you be?

I'm not condoning his not paying for his grazing rights. Don't get me wrong there. Seems to me his thoughts are OK but he's gone at it all wrong, much like the “Freemen” back in the day.

And all this to protect a desert tortoise that maybe ... just maybe five people out of 10 million people will want to brave the Nevada desert with its dusty, gravel roads, its prickly pear cacti, rattlesnakes, scorpions and sidewinders just to lay an eyeball on a turtle.

Good heavens … go to the zoo.

When the EPA, BLM, USFS, USF&G or any other government agency sees a plot of land they want, they will create a situation such as the Bundy thing to get it. It's happening all over the West. You've seen it right here in Phillips and Valley counties.

A local ranch was sold to a corporation from back East that in turn hired a cow outfit from another state to manage the property for five years, at which time the property will be “diverted” to the American Prairie Reserve.

This piece of property is not contiguous with what the APR now holds south of Malta, but it will give them (the APR) a toe-hold in northern Valley County.

This is just another part of the American Prairie Reserve's goal of obtaining control of 3.5 million acres in north central Montana for their proposed Century Twenty-One National Wildlife Preserve and Park.

Or whatever they are calling it now.

See, this is how the whole thing works. Let's say I own a 1974 Impala that's worth at best $100. Someone with more money than brains comes along and offers me $1,000 for this rusted bucket of bolts and plastic. I'd be a total moron to not take the deal wouldn't I? Now, equate that to a parcel of land.

That's what's happening with ranches, farms and other property all over the Western states.

I'm sorely confusioned 'bout all this.

That's it for now folks. Thanks for listening.