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Feds Steal Ranchers Cattle in Armed Helicopter Raids: Feds attempt to rub out Family Farmers
In the latest attempt to rub out the family farm, the Federal Government is targeting a rancher in Nevada by sending in armed agents, armored vehicles and low-lying helicopters to steal the ranchers cattle.
Cliven Bundy, who has been fighting the federal government’s attempts to shut him down for the last 20 years, is in a bitter battle that just took a turn for the worse. Over the weekend, armed federal agents from the Bureau of Land Management stormed Bundy’s land, stealing over 500 of the rancher’s cattle.
The government claims the cattle were illegally grazing on government land; but Bundy, who has been a rancher all his life, says he’s been doing it this way for decades. In fact, his cattle are grazing on the same land that his father and father’s father used to raise their cattle.
The trouble started in 1993 when Bundy refused to pay the feds for the right to allow his cattle to graze on land that he claims has been in his family since the 1880s. His family actually owned the land before the Bureau of Land Management ever even came into existence; so how the federal government can now claim they own the land is a bit puzzling.
“We own this land,” he said, not the feds. He said he is willing to pay grazing fees but only to Clark County, not BLM.
“Years ago, I used to have 52 neighboring ranchers,” he said. “I’m the last man standing. How come? Because BLM regulated these people off the land and out of business.”
So why now?
According to the feds, this is all about protecting the desert tortoise. Yep, apparently protecting a turtle is now reason enough to storm a man’s property and illegally steal his cattle.
Just before the round-up began, Bundy claims armed federal agents surrounded his 150-acre ranch.
“They’ve been bringing men in and equipment and setting up a compound,” Bundy told FoxNews.com Monday. “They got helicopters flying low. They got snipers around the ranch. Our access to public lands has been blocked.”
Federal Government Raiding Bundy’s Farm Stealing His Cattle
Bundy says he’s extremely fearful that the federal government is trying to turn this into another Ruby Ridge or Waco situation. The BLM has closed public lands in Clark County while they work on a plan to round up the “trespassing” cattle. Only marked vehicles are being allowed into the area and “free speech zones” have been set up several miles from the ranch in an attempt to corral protestors who have made their way into the area.
“I’ve tried to fight this thing legally, and I’ve tried to fight it politically,” Bundy said. “We’ve got one more fight. We the people haven’t fought yet.”
This is video shot by the family who claims the BLM assaulted and hauled off one of Bundy’s sons for filming them steal his dad’s cattle.
“He was there to do some filming when about 11 federal agents pulled up and arrested him,” Bundy told Las Vegas News 3. “They said he was outside of the First Amendment area and they took him down. We don’t know where he is now.”
Delivered by The Daily Sheeple
Contributed by Rob Richards of Offgrid Survival.
Source: http://www.thedailysheeple.com/feds-steal-ranchers-cattle-in-armed-helicopter-raids-feds-attempt-to-rub-out-family-farmers_042014
It’s funny how this family has been grazing cattle on this public land for over 150 years and there are still desert tortoises in the area. The turtles ‘status’ has been downgraded from endangered to threatened. This might help explain blm’s actions:
http://rt.com/usa/desert-tortoises-euthanize-nevada-024/ Federal funds are running dry at the Las Vegas Valley Desert Tortoise Conservation Center, and rather than release the animals, officials plan to euthanize about half of the 1,400 tortoises. The 220-acre facility will shut its doors in 2014, and the tortoises deemed feeble to survive in the wild will be set free. Many of the tortoises at the center were formerly kept as pets and are unable to survive in the desert.
“It’s the lesser of two evils, but it’s still evil,” US Fish and Wildlife Service desert tortoise recovery coordinator Roy Averill-Murray told the Associated Press.
The Bureau of Land Management currently funds the conservation and research center with fees inflicted on those who disturb tortoise habitats. During the housing boom in the early 2000s, the conservation center had plenty of cash, since developers were frequently fined for disturbing such habitats. But since the recession, the BLM has struggled to meet its annual $1 million budget.
Over the past 11 months, the BLM has only accumulated $290,000 in federal mitigation fees that developers are forced to pay.
After news broke of the Desert Tortoise Conservation Center’s plans to euthanize the vulnerable animals, a petition was launched on Change.org, asking the state of Nevada to seek an alternate method to keep the facility open.
“While I understand that budgets are tight and money is scarce, I believe that the funds required could be raised,” states the petition, which was launched by New York resident Seth Webster. “…Please show your support and ask the BLM to cease plants to euthanize and find another way.”
The petition had about 50 signatures out of a goal of 10,000 on Monday afternoon.
[blm found another way]