final report. Beyond the Bundy Ranch.

There are many different elements to this story. The small picture is about a defiant ranching family who has whittled out a life in the wilds of the American west. Bunkerville, Nv. is in the middle of nowhere. It is close to the borders of Arizona and Utah. 80miles North East of Las Vegas. This family has been on this land sense the 1870's. Their stand against the federal government has brought to light many different issues that in my opinion, are the reason for Americans to be concerned. Here are a few of them.

1) The federal government claims ownership of the land. This in and of itself is the biggest issue to me.. Our federal government has "Assumed" responsibility and authority over 89% of the land mass of the State of Nevada. Not only is this unconstitutional at the federal and state levels, it is also of detriment to the state. (no property tax paid to the state for that land). Nevada is not alone in this situation.. The federal government has be systematically claiming more and more land in all the States.. Yes, there is a need for our federal government to claim and manage land to benefit the Nations interests, i.e., military bases and state parks. This country was founded with the understanding that any land within the boundaries of a State were owned and managed by that state..

Our Federal government has overtime used its position to claim dominion over all the states.. In the 1970's the federal gov. mandated to the States that if the states did not limit their hi way speeds to 70mph the Federal Gov. would withhold their federal road funds.. In the 80's they did the same thing with drunk driving laws. In the 90's they started putting pressure on the states in regards to gun control laws and the list goes on and on.. Our federal gov. has assumed these responsibilities and in doing so have overstepped the bounds of their authority.

2)The Federal gov. used the plight of the desert tortoise to assert their authority and push their agenda. We need to look no further than the pacific northwest in the 1990's to see how our federal government used the Spotted owl to disrupt a local economy and then lay claim to hundreds of thousands of acres in Washington and Oregon. Every time this has happened it has been found out that the research was flawed but then it was too late, the damage to local economies had been done and the land was no longer free.. The desert Tortoise sanctuary has been closed down do to a lack of funding and some of the tortoises have been euthanized.. I hope that you and I never sold on the idea of being placed in a government run sanctuary. I'm sure that the outcome would be the same.

3) The Majority speaker, Senator Harry Reid, Nev. Has been tied to a land deal for 9000 acres of this "federal land" to be sold to a Chinese energy company for a solar farm and the manufacture of solar panels. The first question that entered my mind was, it will be a hell of a daily commute for the workers cause there aint no one that lives in the area.. It has come to light that Harry Reids son, a Clark county commissioner had been retained as legal council for the chinese energy company. At the very least, Senetor harry reid has once again used his family and his political position to benefit himself and his family. By stepping on the backs of the American people harry reid has once again lined his own pockets.. and why has there not been more public outrage in regards to this corruption ? Because the main stream media will not cover these issues.. Can you imagine The US attorney general bringing charges against the senate majority leader. ??

one of the issues that was voiced by locals while i was at the ranch was this.. The Department of the Interior and the BLM are federal entities. The people who are voting on these issues at the federal level have not been voted for or elected by the People of Nevada. They feel that they have no representation. This has become the norm here in the land of the free and the home of the brave.

I've said it before and here I will say it again.... The only solution is to get back to State Run Government.. The power and authority of the Federal Gov. should be limited. Currently there are 294 departments in the Federal Gov. Each state has a corresponding office for each department. We as a country were founded with the belief that each state as independent. each state chose to join the union  for the collective good of the States. Our Federal Gov. has turned our country into "The 50 identical states of America". Think about this.. State run government. WE THE PEOPLE.  Accountability.

In closing, I want to share with you one last story of Big Government abuse.
We have all heard about "The Americans With Disabilities Act". It makes sense to me. We as a people are better off for this kind of legislation BUT.... because it is run at the federal level it doesn't always work at the state level.
A friend of mine is a cattle rancher just north of Sturgis, SD. He is also on the local school board. One day we talked about The federal Gov. suing his school district $700,000 because the two story school building does not have an elevator. The law states that the public school has to be handicap accessible . The Federal law does not take into account that this public school building was built in 1890. But here is the kicker.. sense the doors opened in 1890 the school has never had a handicap student enrolled. The taxpayers in that district are being bullied by the federal government. Some people think its the responsibility of the federal government to address every issue in an Americans life.. I disagree completely..

We, as Americans need to redefine the purpose, responsibilities and authority of OUR federal Government. It is my opinion that the definition can be found in The Constitution of The United States of America (notice in the title of the document the words UNITED STATES).  The declaration of Independence  and The Bill of Rights..


Until next time,
Peace&Grease

part two... Beyond the Bundy ranch.

there has been so much mid information that we as Americans, don't know what to believe anymore..
I talked with a local woman and her mother. They were bringing water in 200gallon tanks for cooking and cleaning..we were talking about the $1.1mil fine that the government says the Bundys owe.. Here is her explanation.
when the BLM counts the cattle on an alotment, the count from the air and they count them all.. About half the cattle in the Bundy herd are not Bundys. She called them slick ears. Cattle with no brand, no ear tags no ownership. These cows have been wild on the open range. The state of Nevada has claimed ownership of the wild animals. A rancher cannot sell cattle that they do not own. The federal government is including the wild cows into the Bundy count and charging them fines for the tresspass cattle...
there are people who feel that they should pay their fines to the Federal government. I disagree. This family has seen the federal government systematically put ALL the other ranchers out of business.. A total of 53 ranching operations closed down. The ranchers of this area are a hearty lot.. They have whittled out a life in the middle of nowhere. The Bundys raise cows, horses, lamb, chickens, melons and 6-8 cuttings of alfalfa a year. And they raise kids.. 14 in all. Cliven married a second time after his first wife past from cancer. A family of the Mormon faith, a teatotaler and a man who is well respected by the community.
I witnessed a group of over 100 men armed and dedicated to the cause. These men and women belonged to The Oathkeepers and different malitias from all across America.. These people are resolute in their mission.. that mission is this, protect the Bundys from assassination and to protect the sovereignty of The State. No one that I talked to came across as the crazy who wants to send the first bullet.. These people have studied the generational disolve of our State rights.. I heard this quote several times. " if there be trouble let it be in my day that my children will know peace". Tomas Payne, A Revolutionist.... This is not just a Nevada issue.. It is happening all over the country. Look at the red river area of texas/Oklahoma. There is no better Stewart of the land than the man who lives on it...

more to follow.

Beyond the Bundy Ranch.

like most things in my life, the idea of me going to Bunkerville, NV. was a spur of the moment thing. It was my opinion that the situation there was a pivotal time in American history. When people made contributions to get me there to report what I found, I knew that it was important to them as well. So I left Ashville NC and headed west. 2250miles west.. I wasn't in a huge hurry to get there for several reasons. One, I knew that this would be a long term situation and two, I didn't want to be there with thousands of "kooky Lou's.
As I approached exit 112 on interstate 15, I was anticipating law enforcement, cameras and traffic counting devices.. I found none of that. What I did find was a new $2million interstate interchange in the middle of nowhere. There is currently no good reason for that interchange to be there. I can only speculate as to why that interchange was built but you can bet that someone convinced the state DOT that it was needed to develop the area... Three miles south of I-15 on state route 170. As I rounded a downhill curve I knew I had arrived at the protest site. American flags, caution tape, traffic cones, six large RVs, 20 portable toilets and 15 people milling about. I pulled in and the first person I encountered was quite the Dude. A jovial Californian of about 75 yrs young. His wardrobe choice told me that he had never bothered with reading a fashion magazine. He wore a colt 1911 on his hip and a badge on his chest. The badge read "Brothel Inspector. Nevada City, California". An intelligent character who gave me the lay of the land and his life story.. I used the excuse of needing to set up my camp to separate myself from this man. I made camp on the bank of the Virgin river under the highway bridge.
the next morning as I took a stroll along the river, I came upon the tent camp of Buddy Cox and his 16yr old son, Chris.. More Californians. they had been there sense the day of the standoff with the Feds. They told me of everything that they recalled and we discussed, at length, the misinformation that the media was putting out.. We spent the rest of the day and well into the night together.. Good people. We went to town shopping and I saw him buy the dinner meal for 100 people. We were unloading the food supplies at the improvised kitchen when I started meeting all the people on location.. The man in charge of the kitchen had to tend to his son who was suffering from a heat stroke so I became the camp cook. This allowed me to talk with everyone. And this is what I learned.....