In an effort to help educate the public as three tiers of defendants go to trial and jury selection begins today in Las Vegas Nevada for Tier 3 the following background information is provided.
The following article, in part, was published in the Moapa Valley Progress-
A long-time dispute between local rancher Cliven Bundy and the federal government over grazing cattle on the southern Nevada deserts nearly came to a head last week. At the last minute on Wednesday April 11 2012, BLM officials in Washington D.C. pulled the plug on an operation that would have rounded up and impounded hundreds of Bundy’s cattle ranging over thousands of acres of northeastern Clark County. Bundy’s ranching operation is based out of his Riverside home just south of Bunkerville along the Virgin River.
The BLM gather had been in planning for months, according to Bundy. During recent conversations with Sheriff Doug Gillespie, Bundy had learned that the BLM planned to enforce an impound notice which had been issued in July 2011. The cattle were scheduled to be gathered and removed from the land on by contract cowboys Catoor Livestock Roundup, Inc., Bundy said.
On Monday afternoon, April 9, as the situation became more volatile, Bundy and his family sprang into action. They contacted family, friends and sympathetic organizations to notify them of the situation. They also contacted the local and regional press.
In addition, Bundy sent notice to the Catoors, the Sheriff, the Clark County Commissioners and other state elected officials; promising to hold them liable for any loss of his cattle or equipment in the raid. In the notice, he urged the Sheriff to “say NO to this unconstitutional power without limitation seizure”.
“Cliven Bundy will do whatever it takes to protect his property and rights and liberty and freedoms and those of We the People of Clark County, Nevada,” the notice stated.
In an interview with the Progress, Bundy said that he had been willing to defend his rights at all costs. When asked whether the matter might have come to violence he said, “Why not? I’ve got to protect my property. I have a right to life, liberty and property.”
But within 24 hours of Bundy’s notice, the BLM backed down. Bundy reported receiving another phone call from Sheriff Gillespie.
“He said he’d gotten a call from Washington that they were not going to do it,” Bundy said. “They were calling it off. He told me to go ahead and go back to ranching.”
BLM Southern Nevada District Manager Mary Jo Rugwell told the Progress Wednesday afternoon that the BLM had decided not to proceed with the impoundment operation and instead would move forward with legal action.
“We will work with our solicitor to put together a case that describes what the effects of the long-standing trespass have been,” Rugwell said.
Last year the BLM conducted a cattle count in the region to determine how many of Bundy’s cattle were in the area, Rugwell said.
“The first count in March of 2011 found over 900 cattle out in that area,” she said. “It was a lot more than we thought we’d get.”
Multiple letters were sent to Bundy over the past year requesting that he voluntarily remove the livestock from the area, Rugwell said.
“Our goal all along has been to get the cattle out of the area in a safe way,” she said.
Rugwell said that the cattle have been causing damage to vegetation and cultural resources in the area. Much of the range-land in question is under a special federal designation as habitat for the endangered desert tortoise.
“The problem is that the cattle adversely affect vegetation in the area,” Rugwell said. “Yes, tortoise burrows can also be crushed by the cattle. But mainly the vegetation is what the tortoise counts on to have a healthy population.”
Rugwell also claimed that the cattle pose a safety hazard to other people using the public lands.
“The cattle are wild and are not really managed,” Rugwell said. “So they get on roadways, get into other people’s private property and they can be dangerous to people. It’s not a good situation in terms of health of the land and safety of the public.”
Bundy dismisses the claim that the cattle are damaging tortoise habitat. He states that there has been absolutely no proof that the tortoise is affected by cattle on the range.
He also admits that his cattle have roamed beyond the lands that he claims as his grazing allotment. As the waters of Lake Mead have receded, Bundy’s cattle have been found to have roamed across the Muddy River and onto National Park Service lands at Lake Mead.
But Bundy says that Nevada is a ‘fence-out’ state in its laws.
“According to Nevada law you don’t have to fence your cattle in, you have to fence your neighbor’s cattle out,” Bundy said.
Years ago, when ranching in Clark County was common, this law worked well, Bundy said. Neighboring ranchers built fences to establish the boundaries of their allotments, he said.
“Now the ranchers are all gone but me,” Bundy said. “No one has been maintaining those fences.”
But Rugwell said that, aside from all of this, the heart of the matter for the BLM is one of fairness.
The BLM claims that Bundy is grazing his cattle on public lands wholly without authorization. Rugwell explained that Bundy fell out of compliance with grazing regulation as far back as the early 1990s when the desert tortoise was listed as endangered, (therefore the BLM slogan “No Moo By 92’, Cattle Free By 93’). Grazing permits, which were issued then in ten year increments were re-analyzed and adjusted at that time to reconcile the needs of the tortoise, Rugwell said.
“Mr. Bundy did not accept those adjustments,” Rugwell said. “He just said: ‘I’m not going to pay my grazing fees anymore’.”
Later, in 1997, Clark County, as part of its Multiple Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP), offered to purchase all the existing grazing permits from Clark County ranchers and then retired all the existing grazing permits. Bundy refused to sell his rights. But the entire allotment was still retired at that time, Rugwell said. This is why Cliven Bundy bares the title “Last Rancher Standing”.
“The result is that there is no authorized grazing on any of the area,” Rugwell said, despite Cliven Bundy’s refusal to forfeit his property rights, the BLM just usurps them.
But Bundy insists that he has retained his rights to ranch on the land. He does not accept federal jurisdiction over his various ranching rights and maintains that the county and the state have policing power in the matter.
“I have pre-emptive rights through beneficial use,” Bundy said. “Those include rights for forage, water, access and range improvements. I believe in Nevada’s sovereignty over them as stated in the 10th amendment.”
Bundy’s water and range rights originate with his grandfather who began ranching the area in 1877. Since then, Bundy has either bought or inherited other rights which, he says, includes allotments over 120 square miles in the Virgin Mtn. range, the eastern side of the Mormon Mesa, the Toquop wash area, and some areas south of Bunkerville.
Bundy explained that, before the tortoise was listed as endangered, he paid grazing fees regularly to the BLM.
“Those grazing permits were a signed contract,” Bundy said. “They were a fee for service to manage and administer my rights to ranch on the land.”
But as the tortoise increasingly came into the picture, Bundy, who at the time served on the State Grazing Board, noticed that the arrangement seemed to be changing.
“I could see that the BLM was not managing the land for multiple use,” Bundy said. “Instead they were working to eliminate agriculture and other uses. When I figured out where the money was going I sent them a notice essentially firing them. I wasn’t going to pay them to manage my ranch out of existence.”
In response, 14 years ago, the federal government took Bundy to court and prevailed. The decision found Bundy in Trespass and it levied a heavy fine of $200 per day per cow on the land. Bundy expected an appeal to the Supreme Court by the state of Nevada who he said should have proclaimed its sovereignty in the matter. But nothing was ever done about it. Meanwhile, Bundy just kept ranching.
“This has gone on for 14 years,” Bundy said. “I’ve just kept going. They couldn’t collect and they never did collect.”
Bundy sees the issue as larger than just himself and his own grazing rights. It involves all of the public of Clark County, he says.
“I’m the last man standing,” he said. “I’m the only one left who is exercising pre-emptive and invective rights anymore. Right now Clark County has policing power over those rights. If they get rid of Cliven Bundy, the land is just federal land and they will exercise unlimited power on it. The public won’t have anything to say about road closures or access. This is as much the people’s battle as it is mine.”
For now, at least, the crisis seems to be over. Bundy is unsure of what the next steps will be. But whatever comes down the pike, he is determined to keep up the fight to the end.
“Despite all of the legal struggles of the past 14 years, I have still been successful in the livestock industry when everyone else was gone,” Bundy said, “And I was successful this morning, too!”
end article
A more detailed account of what went on at the "Last Man Standing" in Bunkerville, please visit these links.
A former Eco-environmentalist Dan DaggetIn this segment of "I Am Angus", discusses the important role people and livestock play in protecting and restoring health to the
world's ecosystems.
Armed Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Officers Assault the Public
One of many events that transpired at the Bunkerville StandUp
Interesting how events in the West escalated after the BLM Policy of "No Moo in 92', Cattle Free in 93'" was implemented. This rancher can vouch that it all started "happening" in 1994.
UPDATE ~
September 28, 2017
Via Angie Bundy FB ~ "Just a few of my observations from Cliven's hearing
yesterday...he objected over and over that Prosecutor Myhre was in
attendance with an assistant. They (prosecution team) were also in
attendance for Ryan's hearing that he wasn't transported to. Why do
they need to be involved with who represents our side legally? What
happened to choosing our legal assistance? Cliven fired his attorney,
but was told yesterday that he couldn't, by Magistrate Leen. It's my
opinion that the Prosecutor is running this show, and these judges and
magistrates need him present to make decisions. Also, Cliven has been
an incredible Grandpa and Father. We love and miss him. He is capable
of making decisions for himself. He is very aware of his rights, and
that is really what this case is about. Our family knew our rights, and
simply protested when they were being violated. But happy Thursday my
friends...God is still in charge 😊"
The Life on State project establishes a shared vision for the future of
our valley's central, historic corridor. The vision was built on broad
involvement from residents and stakeholders along State Street, claims Wasatch Front Regional Council, a Metro Planning Organization social engineering every community along the Wasatch Front. An un-elected board of state and local elected leaders under the direction of Andrew Gruber. To uncover the was these organizations work and co-opt the community to accept THEIR PLAN as our own the following information is very enlightening.
Planners
call Envision Utah a ‘national model’ for regional planning. The
Brookings Institute cited Utah as a “leader in [voluntary] regional
planning…”
Behind the inflated congratulations lies sophisticated deceit and manipulation fast becoming the standard for regional planning.
Envision Utah began over 15 years ago as a public-private partnership
offering recommendations to cities and counties to preserve open space,
increase transportation choices and more.
Envision Utah claims to have one of regional planning’s most successful
outreach programs. Nearly 2,000 people attended 50 workshops and 17,500
responded to online and mail-in surveys. Yet, the turnout is no wonder.
In one of the longest-running marketing campaigns in planning history,
Envision Utah proponents assured residents that joining the plan was
voluntary. There would be no un-elected regional councils, no regional
plan, and the community would design the planning scenarios. This
‘no-risk’ campaign effectively disarmed community members’ objections,
leaving planners free to advance their programs beneath a mantel of
“neutrality”.
But, Envision Utah’s promissory jargon belies the unscrupulous tactics
they used to win residents’ approval for the same mixed-use-open space
algorithm that has been rejected in Utah and communities across the
country.
Marketing to values-
Early in the planning process, the Envision Utah steering committee
hired nationally recognized polling firm, Wirthland Worldwide, to
determine the ‘quality of life’ values held by community members.
Survey results revealed that most respondents saw their state as a “safe
haven, where others shared their common sense of honesty, morality and
ethics.” They placed these values in the context of children and their
families.
Envision Utah proponents then used these values as the centerpiece of a
targeted marketing strategy designed to impose the planner’s ideas
community by community.
Renaming controversial ideas-
Since the survey indicated family interaction was a high priority,
planners re-branded their efforts. Urban planning became the glue that
held families together. “High-density living”, was recast as compact
housing that allowed young families to locate near relatives.
Grandparents were urged to buy condos near their children rather than
worry about new zoning laws that could restrict single family homes.
Planners rarely discussed their role in creating the “restrictions.”
Planners replaced the unpopular term “Smart Growth”, with the more
benign, “Quality Growth Strategy.” In keeping with their targeted
marketing, Quality Growth meant keeping the air and water clean for
children and grandchildren.
In 1998 Envision Utah developed a unique “chip game” which allowed
community participants to place chips, representing homes, on a map to decide the future layout of their community. In deciding where to place
homes, people had to consider complex issues such sewage lines,
utilities and other services. It was billed as people talking charge of
their future. Yet, even this community activity was highly controlled.
Early on planners established basic understandings. More open spaces
were needed, long work drives damaged the environment and urban sprawl
was to be avoided. This left the players few planning options. It was no
surprise when most participants decided in favor of the same mixed-use,
transit oriented living the planners wanted all along.
Promoting the vague-
Envision Utah avoided creating a visible plan that could be analyzed.
Instead planners talked about principles, and suggested, rather than
advocated, transit-oriented living, mixed-use and open spaces. They
then ‘nudged’ community members to “do the right thing” by barraging
them with internet ads, newspaper articles and workshops educating
Utahans to the dangers of not having these urban designs.
In one example, Utah Transit Authority’s “King of the Road” commercial
showed a man driving his convertible top-down, humming to the 60’s tune.
Meanwhile, the crawl says, “He doesn’t know the words…Also doesn’t know
that UTA takes 81,000 cars a year off the road.”
In 30 seconds, the ad depicts young, carefree people who love freedom as
clueless, while reinforcing the dubious assumption that driving less is
undeniably beneficial. At best, it is undeniably controversial.
Winning through fear-
Often scare tactics employed half-truths as in this example from Envision Utah’s website:
“In urban areas, land close to existing job centers is rapidly disappearing, and if we’re not careful about how we grow, housing costs
could skyrocket and force many of our good, hard-working neighbors
elsewhere— excluding from our communities teachers, fire fighters, and
our own children as they get their start in life. The further Utahans
live from where they work, shop and play, the more they spend on
car-related expenses.”
Notice the implied threat that if people do not live in a high density
area, they could lose teachers, firefighters and even their own children
(remember the values survey results) to rising costs. Little
consideration was given to the exorbitant housing costs in other Smart
Growth areas like, Seattle and Portland. The observation that car-costs
rise if you move away from the urban center, overlooks the reality
that, for many, this may be a worthwhile trade-off.
In spite of Envision Utah’s calculated posturing, there is little “neutral” about these statements.
The king of surveys-
Colorful, interactive online surveys still attract thousands and are promoted by Envision Utah and the state.
In this survey, targeting residents of Madison County, Utah, the
planners explain that higher priced home costs are the result of larger
lots and will require “individual families to sink wells and septic
tanks.” Larger properties and self-contained services are positioned as
burdens with no talk of the benefits.
Beneath the graph, planners note, “The more you spread out, the more
expensive it is. This is not a judgment, just facts to think about.
Road costs [are] paid by everybody.” The message is clear. Roads are
costly, and if you want more, you are selfish since everyone else pays
for them. There is no mention of the increased respiratory diseases,
traffic congestion and exorbitant housing costs that accompany the
high-density living planners are promoting.
As one seasoned planner observed, “Envision Utah uses the most biased surveys I have ever seen.”
Keys to success-
If Envision Utah has met success, it is mainly the result of distorted
facts and a relentless, decade’s long marketing campaign creating the
illusion that planners are neutral and participation is “voluntary.”
One must wonder how many communities would volunteer if equal efforts
were expended marketing the failures of compact living.
In spite of the deceptions, other regions, including Envision Missoula,
Building the Wyoming We Want, Envision Central Texas, Louisiana Speaks,
Superstition Vistas, Thrive 2055, and many more are adopting all or a
portion of the Envision Utah model.
But plans that lure participants through deception can result in unwanted surprises.
Un-elected regional councils with the authority to mandate local zoning
and regulations are the goal post of regional planning. Yet, Envision
Utah created no new un-elected council. Urban designs are built upon
pre-existing regional authorities like local Metropolitan Planning Organizations and the Utah Transit Authority. But once the smaller
regional plans are completed, there is little to prevent a consortium of
their leaders from formalizing a single larger region. Will this
happen? It’s hard to say.
But history shows, all it takes is a little deceit and a good marketing campaign.
Learn more about planning and Sustainable Development
Learn The Lingo, Vernacular, Buzz Words, Jargon here.
The Inspector General's Office initiated an investigation into Daniel P. Love in October 2015, after receiving two anonymous complaints concerning a Supervisory Agent, Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Office of Law Enforcement and Security (OLES), Salt Lake City, UT.
Salvatore Lauro’s Knowledge of the Supervisory Agent’s Actions include this statement.
“in fact we probably could have written it
before it happened because he’s had like eight anonymous complaints in the last two years.”
The agent also is accused of
bragging that he “owned” the national director of BLM’s Office of Law
Enforcement and Security and that nothing would happen to him.
According to the report, Love
told the woman she better do damage control after the investigation
began in 2015. Once he was removed from his position, she said he told
her: “You know, if you don’t side with me, grenades are going to go off
and you’ll get hit.”
The Supervisory Agent's Misconduct Charges Include, Favor from Prohibited Source at Nevada's Burning Man Event, Agent Seeks Favor from BRC for Special Passes to (BME), Misuse of OLES Personnel and BLM-Procured, All-Terrain and Utility Type Vehicle, Agent’s Disregard for the Accommodations Directive and Allegations of Meals at BLM’s Expense, Agent’s Misuse of a Government-owned Vehicle, Lodging for the Supervisory Agent’s Family, including Agent’s Influence On the Hiring Process and Reference Checks for the Supervisory Agent’s Friend, and the Agent’s Attempts to Influence Employee Testimony and Employee Concerns of Retaliation.
A link to the report released to the public is included in the article below.
SALT LAKE CITY Deseret News Reports — The Interior Department’s Office of Inspector
General investigated an unnamed Bureau of Land Management supervisory
agent in Salt Lake City for more than a year on ethics complaints, with
the independent panel concluding that breaches had occurred.
The agent, which the Deseret News has confirmed is Dan Love through a
source familiar with the investigation, is accused of using his
position to secure preferential treatment for his family during the 2015
Burning Man event in Nevada, including using federal law enforcement
officers as personal escorts for their safety, using his BLM vehicle to
transport his girlfriend and allowing her to share overnight BLM lodging
with him.
The national office of the BLM released a statement on the
investigation, saying it takes the allegations of misconduct seriously.
“These types of allegations do not align with our mission or the
professionalism and dedication of our 10,000 employees doing essential
work for America’s public lands each and every day. This is an internal
personnel matter under review by the BLM, and we have no additional
information to provide at this time,” said spokesman Michael Richardson.
Efforts to reach Love for comment were unsuccessful and BLM officials
had no additional information on his current status of employment with
the agency.
According to the Office of Inspector General report, Burning
Man organizers said Love asked for, and was granted, special access for
him and his family inside a restricted area to watch the “Man Burn
event” in an area typically reserved for event organizers and the
pyrotechnics crew.
Because of scrutiny surrounding the agent’s role in a request for a
$1 million “luxury” compound to take care of BLM needs for the event,
the report said the supervisory agent purchased tickets from the
attorney representing the event’s for-profit subsidiary and at full
price because he knew people “would be looking.”
Although unnamed in the inspector general’s report, Love — who was
the top cop for Utah and Nevada before being promoted to a national
position — was linked to many of the requests associated with the luxury
compound, according to emails obtained in an investigative news story
cited in the report.
The Office of Inspector General, which is tasked with independent
oversight and accountability of the Interior Department, launched the
investigation in September of 2015 based on a pair of anonymous
complaints.
Love has been at the center of multiple complaints by rural sheriff
offices in Utah about the deteriorating relationship between the BLM and
their officers.
They’ve cited Love in particular for an attitude they
say is dismissive and uncooperative. At least one county sheriff and six
county commissioners traveled to Washington, D.C., in 2014 to express
their frustration and ask for his removal.
Love led a controversial artifacts trafficking raid in the Blanding
area in 2009 and was involved in the armed standoff on the Utah-Nevada
border with the Cliven Bundy family over unpaid grazing fees.
Dan Love talks to media following failed BLM raid on the Bundy Ranch in 2014
Aside from the Burning Man incidents, the agent investigated by the
Office of Inspector General was found to have manipulated the hiring
process so his friend got a job at the agency, even though the man was
not as qualified as other applicants and received an unfavorable
recommendation by another employer, the report states.
The investigative report was forwarded to the Interior Department’s
assistant secretary over lands and minerals for any action deemed
appropriate.
The report also noted several instances of threatened retaliation by
Love — who has since been removed from his post — to the point where one
colleague said she began locking the door to her office.
The agent also is accused of bragging that he “owned” the national
director of BLM’s Office of Law Enforcement and Security and that
nothing would happen to him.
According to the report, Love told the woman she better do damage
control after the investigation began in 2015. Once he was removed from
his position, she said he told her: “You know, if you don’t side with
me, grenades are going to go off and you’ll get hit.”
Add theft to the long list of ethical violations! Dan Love must be prosecuted and pay restitution for the damage he's done and theft committed in the governments name! Love was reported to have given away pricey rocks as gifts to his favorites who did favors to the tune of $160,000.00 - $520,000.00. The OIG MUST release the redacted portions of documents included in their report. Harry Reid is STILL pulling the strings!
Leaked Footage Bundy Ranch Stand Off April 2014.
UPDATE ~
House Committee On Natural Resources Chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) submitted by letter a request for BLM Spokeswoman Megan Crandall to provide the Committee an UN-Redacted copy of the OIG-Office of Inspector General Report on Bureau Of Land Management Special Agent Daniel P. Love entitled "Investigative Report Of Misconduct By A Senior BLM Law Enforcement Manager". The letter was dated August 23, 2016. Krandall was given 24 hours to produce the report. Bishop also stated "the previous administration turned a blind eye to corruption and promoted a culture of mismanagement at the Department of the Interior".
A federal agent who had been scrutinized for his handling of rare evidence as well as behavior at the counterculture Burning Man festival is no longer an employee of the Bureau of Land Management, authorities said Friday.
Daniel Love, who played a command role in federal agents’ 2014 standoff with Nevada rancher and states’ rights figure Cliven Bundy, no longer works for the agency, spokeswoman Megan Crandall told the Associated Press.
"Apparently, we don't pay Megan Crandall enough to answer the public's questions", She did not answer questions about the timing or circumstances of his departure, citing federal privacy laws.
A lawyer for Love, Lisa Kleine, did not immediately return messages seeking comment. There was no answer at a publicly listed phone number for him.
Love still worked for the agency on Aug. 24, 2017 when a federal investigative report was released saying he handed out valuable stones known as moqui marbles to colleagues and a contractor “like candy,” as one witness told investigators.
The rocks are unique geological formations of iron oxide that form in sedimentary rock and the agency was holding them as evidence in an investigation into whether they were illegally collected from an unnamed national park, according to a U.S. Department of Interior report.
It also found Love told an employee to delete some emails that contained bureau information requested by then-U.S. Rep. Jason Chaffetz in 2016.
The Bundy cattle roundup pitted weapon-toting Bundy supporters against heavily armed BLM agents who, in the end, gave up efforts to collect Bundy cattle for nonpayment of grazing fees.
Love also led agents in a 2009 southern Utah artifact-looting investigation that marked an early skirmish in the Western U.S. conflict over control of public lands.
Department Of The Interior David L. Bernhardt issued a memo addressing misconduct in its agencies including the Bureau Of Land Management and addressed the dismissal of Agent Daniel P. Love. Bernhardt is quoted as saying “the Department must be free from any retaliation or reprisal for reports of misconduct”.
UPDATE ~
October 23, 2017
Dan Love attended a pre-trial hearing from Salt Lake City via Skype to Nevada Federal Court. He dawned his Teflon suit, retaining his singular leadership role in the Bundy Ranch operation to confiscate Cliven Bundy's grazing land and rustle his cattle beginning in 2012 and by serving a court order at gunpoint on April 12, 2014. Love, of coarse, continuously repeating his favorite "I do not recall" mantra throughout the proceedings. As par for the course, Love lost government property like laptops and PCs, notebooks with government orders and contacts and claimed Las Vegas Metro/Clark County Sheriffs Department NEVER had control of the government troops on site April 12, 2014, although comm voice recordings on that day prove otherwise. Former Agent In Charge Love complained during questioning that Federal Government "Higher Ups" were giving orders he did not agree with and admitted those above him were giving orders to employees on site in real time in which he was not privy to such as, shredding paperwork and confiscated notebooks and computers. Love was asked several times about emails and those with whom he was communicating via email, and if he'd been asked to turn them over to those within the government and just like Clinton, he claimed he didn't know anything about any of it, although Congressman Rob Bishop Utah has been asking those emails be released to Congress and the investigation into misconduct be un-redacted and also released. Looks like Dan Love took a look at what Loretta Lynch did before Congress in regards to James Comey. I've provided a video of a synopsis as to what went on in court so far.
~ Sorry my friends for the delay in getting the video up, but as the "powers that be" do desire chaos, I had to produce a last minute video on another subject. So without further a due, here is a record of the Court Hearing entitled "Teflon Dan".
