Mike Adams
Natural News
4/10/2014
The Bureau of Land Management says its 200-man armed siege of the Cliven Bundy ranch in Nevada is all about protecting an “endangered tortoise.” But a Natural News investigation has found that BLM is actually in the business of raking in millions of dollars by leasing Nevada lands to energy companies that engage in fracking operations.
This document from the Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology (1) shows significant exploratory drilling being conducted in precisely the same area where the Bundy family has been running cattle since the 1870’s. The “Gold Butte” area is indicated on the lower right corner of the document (see below), and it clearly shows numerous exploratory drilling operations have been conducted there.
What’s also clear is that oil has been found in nearby areas and possibly even within the Gold Butte area itself…
…Heavily armed snipers, helicopters and militarized soldiers have never been invoked over tortoises. (Anyone who thinks this siege is about reptiles is kidding themselves.)…
The complete article, with video, is at Natural News.
Related: Defiant Nevada rancher faces armed federal agents in escalating confiscation standoff
…Since 1993, Cliven Bundy has been battling the agency, as well as the National Park Service, the Center for Biological Diversity and the courts, to graze his cattle on 150 square miles of Gold Butte scrub land in the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. He stopped paying his grazing fees back then, saying he “fired” the Bureau of Land Management as land manager. His Mormon ancestors had tilled the unforgiving soil since 1887, long before the 1934 Taylor Grazing Act allowed the federal government to seize control, TheBlaze reported.
“I have raised cattle on that land, which is public land for the people of Clark County, all my life. Why I raise cattle there and why I can raise cattle there is because I have preemptive rights,” he asserted, explaining to TheBlaze that this includes the right to forage, too…
Bundy supporters rally and kick federal agents off public land (video)
…The group approaches federal rangers that have been circling Gold Butte and began verbally lashing out at the men. One woman shouts at the federal agents, “I guess you’re gonna march us to the gas chambers too because it’s doing your duty? …What in the hell is money worth to you guys? Freedom!” The group told the agents they were trespassing on their land, calling them “puppets” and “the king’s army.”
The name calling had the desired effect as the agents left the scene looking embarrassed. The government is continuing to round up Bundy’s cows, and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval is not pleased.
“No cow justifies the atmosphere of intimidation which currently exists nor the limitation of constitutional rights that are sacred to all Nevadans,” Sandoval said in a Tuesday statement. “The BLM needs to reconsider its approach to this matter and act accordingly.”
Yesterday, the federal agents appeared to step up its game, and tasered Bundy Ranch supporters…
‘They have separated the newborn calves from their mothers’ (video)
…“We have seen cows with tight bags, but no calves on them, who are being moved by the BLM,” Ammon Bundy told WND. “This means they have separated the newborn calves from their mothers and they will eventually die.”…
Why We need to stand with #BundyRanch @sototg pic.twitter.com/WYYGD2PYbW
— A Federal Farmer (@AFederalFarmer) April 10, 2014
Click here to see a larger view of the map.
Update: via Stand With Arizona:
“Expect to see a band of soldiers”: Militia members arrive at Nevada ranch (video)
Militia groups are rallying behind a rancher whose cattle are being seized by the federal government…
Update 2: A press release from Oath Keepers:
Coalition of Western State Legislators, Sheriffs, and Veterans Stand Vigil in Support of Embattled Nevada Rancher, Cliven Bundy ‘To Prevent Another Ruby Ridge or Waco”
A Delegation of state legislators, lead by Washington State Representative Matt Shea, along with a delegation of current serving Sheriffs, lead by Sheriff Richard Mack of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, and military and police members of Oath Keepers, are converging on the site of a stand-off between federal law enforcement and Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy, to prevent bloodshed and to stand in defense of hardworking rural Americans who are under assault by a runaway federal government.
LAS VEGAS, NV, April 10, 2014
The Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association (CSPOA.org), led by retired Arizona Sheriff Richard Mack, and the Oath Keepers organization (oathkeepers.org) are assisting Washington State Representative Matt Shea in organizing a delegation of current serving Western state legislators and Sheriffs to travel to the site of a tense stand-off between Bunkerville, Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The delegation is traveling to Nevada to support a coalition of current serving Nevada legislators being organized by Nevada State Assemblywoman Michele Fiore, of Las Vegas, to stand vigil at the Bundy ranch to prevent Federal Government provocation of violence resulting in another Ruby Ridge or Waco type incident. They also hope that their example of oath-sworn public servants defending the rights of the people will prompt Clark County, Nevada Sheriff Douglas Gillespie and Nevada Governor Brian Sandoval to honor their oaths of office by taking real action to defend the rights of the Bundy family, the rights of all Nevadans, and the sovereignty of the State of Nevada.
Yesterday, April 9, 2014, Nevada State Assemblywoman Michele Fiore served the first watch in this vigil shortly after Cliven Bundy’s son, Ammon Bundy, was tazered by BLM “Rangers” during a heated confrontation. The video of that confrontation can be seen here.
The courage and resolve displayed by Ammon Bundy and his relatives is inspiring, and may well go down in history as a watershed moment – a turning of the tide. But the above video also amply demonstrates the heavy-handed behavior of the BLM that risks escalating an already volatile situation into open bloodshed, that, once begun, may spiral out of anyone’s control…
The press release, with video, continues at Oath Keepers.
CAJ note: Information about the forces behind the stand-off at the Bundy ranch continues to emerge and the situation is very fluid. On 11 April more very credible information surfaced involving Senator Harry Reid and his son, Rory. Read our post, Reid’s shady secret land deal behind Nev. dispute?.
