There
have been a lot of people criticizing Clive Bundy because he did not
pay his grazing fees for 20 years. The public (are) also probably
wondering why so many other cowboys are supporting Mr. Bundy even
though they paid their fees and Clive did not. What you people probably
do not realize is that on every rancher’s grazing permit it says the
following:
“You are authorized to
make grazing use of the lands, under the jurisdiction of the Bureau of
Land Management and covered by this grazing permit, upon your
acceptance of the terms and conditions of this grazing permit and
payment of grazing fees when due.”
The “mandatory” terms and conditions go on to list the allotment, the
number and kind of livestock to be grazed, when the permit begins and
ends, the number of active or suspended AUMs (animal units per month),
etc. The terms and conditions also list specific requirements such as
where salt or mineral supplements can be located, maximum allowable use
of forage levels (40% of annual growth), etc., and include a lot more
stringent policies that must be adhered to. Every rancher must sign
this “contract” agreeing to abide by the TERMS AND CONDITIONS before he
or she can make payment.
Had
Clive signed on the dotted line, he would have, in essence, signed his
very livelihood away. And so Mr. Bundy took a stand, not only for
himself, but for all of us.
In the early 90s, the BLM went on a frenzy and drastically cut
almost
every rancher’s permit because of this desert tortoise issue, even
though all of us ranchers knew that cow and desert tortoise had
co-existed for a hundred+ years. As an example, a family friend had his
permit cut by 90%. For those of you who are non ranchers, that would be
equated to getting your paycheck cut 90%. In 1976 there were
approximately 52 ranching permittees in this area of Nevada. Presently,
there are 3. Most of these people lost their livelihoods because of the
actions of the BLM. Clive Bundy was one of these people who received
extremely unfair and unreasonable TERMS AND CONDITIONS.
Keep in mind that Mr. Bundy was required to sign this contract before
he was allowed to pay. Had Clive signed on the dotted line, he would
have, in essence, signed his very livelihood away. And so Mr. Bundy
took a stand, not only for himself, but for all of us. He refused to be
destroyed by a tyrannical federal entity and to have his American
liberties and freedoms taken away.
Also keep in mind that all ranchers financially paid dearly for the
forage rights those permits allow – - not rights to the land, but
rights to use the forage that grows on that land. Many of these AUMS
are water based, meaning that the rancher also has a vested right
(state owned, not federal) to the waters that adjoin the lands and
allow the livestock to drink. These water rights were also purchased at
a great price. If a rancher cannot show beneficial use of the water (he
must have the appropriate number of livestock that drinks and uses that
water), then he loses that water right.
Usually water rights and forage rights go hand in hand. Contrary to
what the BLM is telling you, they NEVER compensate a rancher for the
AUMs they take away. Most times, they tell ranchers that their AUMS are
“suspended,” but not removed. Unfortunately, my family has thousands of
“suspended” AUMs that will probably never be returned. And so, even
though these ranchers throughout the course of a hundred years invested
thousands(and perhaps millions) of dollars and sacrificed along the way
to obtain these rights through purchase from others, at a whim the
government can take everything away with the stroke of a pen. This is
the very thing that Clive Bundy single-handedly took a stand against.
Thank you, Clive, from a rancher who considers you a hero.
