According to Drovers Journal, and other media outlets, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has restored grazing permits for the Hammond family from Oregon after losing the right to graze following federal charges that were later pardoned. Almost six months after receiving a Presidential Pardon, one of outgoing InteriorContinue Reading
First published in Range magazine. At conclusion of the 2018 Utah legislative session, Rep. Mike Noel, from House District 73—comprising five full rural southern Utah counties, and parts of two others—announced that after eight terms he was retiring from the legislature. “It’s been a great ride,” he said, “But I’veContinue Reading
First published in Range magazine. “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness… But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuingContinue Reading
Press release issued by Senator Mike Lee (R.Ut) on June 21 A little over a week ago, a nurse who was riding as a passenger in an off-road vehicle was shot by an armed BLM ranger in California. While investigations into the incident are ongoing, there are reports that the riders wereContinue Reading
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah Attorney General Sean Reyes is praising a 26-page ruling from a federal judge in Georgia that exempts Utah and 10 other states from a controversial regulation involving water. SEE also Ranchers Praise Delay of Controversial Federal Water Rule. Utah was among an 11-state coalition thatContinue Reading
First published on ksl.com. SALT LAKE CITY — Sen. Mike Lee, R-Utah, wants to rein in the law enforcement authority of the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service and is crafting legislation he says will either restrict or abolish their authority. Lee said Monday he aims to hemContinue Reading
First published in January, 2017, we are revisiting the issue a year later, based on recent developments, as noted at the bottom. The past few years have been very eventful on the Western “public lands” front. I put quotation marks around the term/phrase “Public Lands” because according to my evolvingContinue Reading
According to a recent Op/Ed piece in the esteemed Capital Press, the Hammond Family case involving the father and son ranchers in Central Oregon reveals unfairness and injustice on several levels. By any measure, the five-year sentence given to Eastern Oregon rancher Dwight Hammond and his son Steven was excessiveContinue Reading
I have been sitting back waiting for the dust to settle a little bit in the recent dust-up between the Public Lands Council (PLC) and the Range Allotment Owners Association (RAO). The dust-up has actually been fairly one-sided, with the PLC and some of its attorneys, whom PLC Executive Director,Continue Reading
While Judge Anna Brown continues to try the misdemeanor charges against Jason Patrick, Duane Ehmer, Daryl Thorn and Jake Ryan, the Jury has returned its verdict: Daryl Thorne: Gulty of Conspiracy. Guilty of Possession of Firearms in federal facility. Duane Ehmer: Not Guilty of Conspiracy. Guilty of Depredation ofContinue Reading