BLM – Page 6 – It Matters How You Stand

Newspaper column : Rural groundwater grab gets federal court hearing by Thomas Mitchell

Three years ago several counties and groups filed lawsuits in federal court seeking to block the water grab, claiming the federal land agencies had failed to properly evaluate the environmental damage and follow the law. The lawsuits claimed the Interior Department and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) violated the National Environmental Policy Act and the Federal Land Policy and Management Act in approving the groundwater project.

This past week in a Las Vegas courtroom federal Judge Andrew Gordon heard nearly two hours of oral arguments from both sides seeking summary judgment.

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DeLemus moved from Nevada to federal prison at Fort Devens

Jerry DeLemus, the 62-year-old Rochester man serving a six-year prison term for his role in Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy’s armed standoff in 2014 has been permanently moved to the federal prison at Fort Devens in Ayer, Mass., his wife said.

Former state Rep. Susan DeLemus said she hasn’t spoken to her husband for nine days while he’s been “quarantined” and processed since his move from a Nevada prison to Devens, 90 minutes from their home.

“Never in my life would I ever think I would be happy my husband was in a prison of any kind, but I am happy he will be in Devens permanently now so I can see him,” Mrs. DeLemus said during a telephone interview.

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Secretary Zinke Order, It is Time for Your Voice to be Heard.

THE SECRETARY HAS ASKED FOR PUBLIC COMMENTS ON ALL DOI REGULATIONS. SUBMIT YOUR COMMENTS ON THOSE THAT NEED TO BE ELIMINATED.

On March 28, 2017 President Trump signed an Executive Order rescinding several Obama memorandums and executive orders. Among others, this specifically included;

Executive Order 13653 of November 1, 2013 (Preparing the United States for the Impacts of Climate Change);
The Presidential Memorandum of June 25, 2013 (Power Sector Carbon Pollution Standards);
The Presidential Memorandum of November 3, 2015 (Mitigating Impacts on Natural Resources from Development and Encouraging Related Private Investment); and
The Presidential Memorandum of September 21, 2016 (Climate Change and National Security).

The President then instructed agency heads to identify existing agency actions that occurred as a result of the now rescinded executive orders and memorandums.

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Navarro’s Counterfeit Court – Bunkerville Retrial

The Bunkerville Retrial in Las Vegas has taken yet another turn for the worst. Judge Gloria Navarro allowed the defense to proffer several witnesses via SKYPE today. The testimony was taken out of the hearing of the jury so that she might determine if the testimony is relevant.

Included in this group was former FOX News reporter Dennis Michael Lynch, and a few citizens that were actually in the wash on April 12, 2014.

Each of the witnesses testified to the fear they felt that day watching the multiple law enforcement agencies point guns at them and hearing statements on the loudspeakers that the BLM had been given authority to shoot the protesters.

“If you move forward you can be shot,” Lynch said, reciting the message.

“I thought we might die in the wash that day,” Kenneth Rhoades testified.

The same testimony was repeated throughout the day. However, when it was all said and done, Judge Navarro said that this testimony was not relevant to the case so she will not allow it to be presented to the jury.

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With jury absent, Cliven Bundy supporters give testimony

With the jury box empty, defense attorneys called four witnesses Wednesday in the retrial of four Bunkerville standoff defendants.

U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro allowed three men and one woman, each of whom attended the April 2014 protest, to give proffer statements or a preview of what they might tell a jury. But the judge ruled that jurors should not hear their testimony because none of them offered evidence of self-defense the men on trial hoped to claim.

All of the witnesses testified via Skype.

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Pardon the Bundy Family and their Supporters

No more well-defined example of the injustices wrought by the hands of an out-of-control Federal Government can be found than the case of the Bundy Family from the State of Nevada, whose multiple family members rot in a Federal Prison on this very day.

Our Founding Fathers said that Federal Government was to be limited in power regarding to land use within states, and that states themselves should have the say over how the land was used. This is made crystal clear in the Federalist Papers.
Over time, as if in slow motion, our enumerated Constitutional rights have been eroded, to the point of being unrecognizable today.

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Runaway Jury in Bunkerville Retrial?

AUSA Myhre took him through extremely tedious testimony while the spectators and jury made every attempt to stay focused. Myhre does seem to have perfected the soporific art of direct examination.

Cross examination began late this afternoon with Rich Tanasi, attorney for Steven Stewart, walking the witness through to admission that the only time Stewart was seen holding his firearm above the concrete jersey barrier was after the BLM had left the area.

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Secretary Zinke: Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument will stay

CEDAR CITY – Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke said Friday he is not recommending changes to Arizona’s Grand Canyon-Parashant National Monument.

The Arizona reserve, located west of the Grand Canyon, has some of the most pristine geological formations in North America, Zinke said. The formations “show the scientific history of our Earth while containing thousands of years of human relics and fossils,” he said.

Zinke’s decision comes just three months after he was tasked with reviewing a list of 27 national monuments for possible elimination or reduction.

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Editorial: Western congressmen seek monument size reductions

Recently the 17 members of the Congressional Western Caucus — which includes Nevada’s Rep. Mark Amodei — took Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke up on his request for feedback on what to do about all the national monuments created in the past two decades, sending him a letter with specific recommendations about 27 of those monuments.

These recommendations called for vastly scaling back the size of two monuments created by President Obama in his last year in office at the urging of then-Sen. Harry Reid — the 300,000-acre Gold Butte in Clark County and the 700,000-acre Basin and Range in Nye and Lincoln counties.

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Is Judge Navarro Afraid of the Defendants?

Judge Gloria Navarro is presiding over the Bunkerville retrial in Las Vegas, Nevada. She has continued to show her bias against the defense in her rulings and her reactions in the courtroom.

She has insisted that they not look around, at all, while in the courtroom, even during breaks and sidebars. Navarro was so concerned, one day this week, that she had Eric Parker removed from the courtroom for an entire segment of the trial because he turned to look at the overheard viewscreen.

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3 Percenters Demonized in Federal Court

Though the defendants are actually Eric Parker, Scott Drexlar, Steven Stewart and Ricky Lovelein, the prosecution has made their association the the group “Idaho 3%” a material part of the case against them. It is enough to believe the government is trying to prosecute the group, as well as the individuals.

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Prosecution Links Bunkerville Defendants to Timothy McVeigh

The Bunkerville Retrial in Las Vegas continued today with Judge Navarro’s bias being highlighted for the world to see.

The day was filled mostly with time outside of the jury presence, going over Facebook posts that were offered for evidence. Both sides had their say on why they did/did not want the evidence admitted.

Facebook evidence is highly controversial. There are too many variables within Facebook to guarantee that a post was made by a particular person. The prosecution wants to show that this attitude of “conspiracy’ continued long after the Standoff was over. They want the jury to believe that the dissidents were recruiting based on their belief that they had won against the government.

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Protesters On Trial

It is known that the jury favored acquittal in the previous trial with 2 of the defendants receiving 10-2 votes in their favor.

Additionally, the jury forms showed marks indicating acquittal, which were later scratched out over confusion on legal points.

However, the government has learned a few lessons since then. They have attempted to change their narrative to reconcile with, what they hope will be, a more popular view of their prosecution.

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Interior Secretary Zinke Comes To Bunkerville

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke visited Bunkerville, Nevada over the weekend and spoke with reporters of his support for the national monuments.

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Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke caps review of monuments with Bunkerville visit

BUNKERVILLE — Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke spoke to reporters Sunday evening in Bunkerville as he wrapped up a much-anticipated visit to Southern Nevada that included a hike at Gold Butte National Monument and a stop at Basin and Range National Monument to see American Indian rock art.

The interior secretary traveled to Nevada to visit the two monuments as part of President Donald Trump’s executive order mandating a review of 22 national monuments and five marine national monuments created by presidential decree since Jan. 1, 1996, to determine whether the designations should be scaled back or eliminated.

Zinke is expected to present Trump with his final recommendations by the end of August.

Speaking outside at a ranch not far from Gold Butte, Zinke offered some insights into criteria for downsizing.

Before Zinke arrived in Bunkerville, Russ Graves voiced concern about the size of the Gold Butte monument.

“I’d just like to see the size reduced,” said Graves. 73, who owns an orchard that is part of a 220-acre ranch.

Whitney Pocket, the Devil’s Throat sinkhole and a few other locations on Gold Butte should be part of the monument, but other parts don’t have antiquities value, he said.

Zinke had planned to stay in Mesquite through Monday to meet with U.S. Rep. Dina Titus, D-Nev., and stakeholders there and in Overton on the fringe of Gold Butte on the last leg of a swing through the West. But he canceled those plans to return to Washington, D.C., for the first Cabinet meeting with new White House Chief of Staff John Kelly.

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Interior head to stop in Nevada hometown of standoff family

U.S. Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke was expected to make a stop Sunday in the hometown of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher accused of organizing an armed standoff three years ago that forced federal agents to end a roundup of his cattle.

Zinke’s planned stop in Bunkerville, Nevada — about 80 miles (129 kilometers) northeast of Las Vegas — is part of his tour of national monuments being scrutinized by the Trump administration.

Trump announced the review of 27 monuments in May, saying the designations imposed by previous presidents amounted to a massive federal land grab. Monument designations protect federal land from energy development and other activities.

Zinke plans the stop in Bunkerville ahead of visits Monday to the nearby Gold Butte and Basin and Range national monuments, which cover a combined 1,500 square miles (3,885 sq. kilometers) — more than twice the size of Delaware.

Gold Butte is the grazing area at the center of the cattle round-up and armed standoff in April 2014 involving Bundy and federal land management agents.

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Prosecutors in Bunkerville Retrial Rely on Deception

The chaotic events of “Bundy standoff” near Bunkerville, Nevada on April 12, 2014 were captured on hundreds of cameras. There is video from almost every angle (including from multiple surveillance aircraft flying above). The feds occupied the high ground (despite what they claim in court) and were filming by dash-cams, body cams and handheld cameras. Nevada Highway Patrol had two (2) vehicles positioned on the all-important northbound bridge of I-15 with dash-cams rolling continuously. The standoff may have been one of the most well-recorded spontaneous crowd events in history.

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Greg Burleson: Life in Prison for Facebook Posts

By far the longest sentence handed down thus far in any of the “Bundy” cases was given to Arizona militia man Greg Burleson on Wednesday, July 26, 2017. Burleson looked sunken, shaggy and disheveled as he sat in a wheelchair in yellow jail clothes in his Las Vegas, Nevada sentencing hearing. He suffers from seizures and has become blind during the past two years.

Nonetheless, Nevada’s Chief U.S. District Judge Gloria Navarro sentenced Burleson (who is 53 but now appears much older) to spend 68 years in federal prison for his relatively minor role in the April 12, 2014 Bunkerville standoff roughly 80 miles north of Las Vegas. Burleson was convicted of assaulting federal officers, threatening federal officers, extortion, using a firearm in crimes of violence, and related offenses. Unlike inmates at some state levels (who can be paroled after a few years), federal inmates must serve at least 85 percent of their time. Burleson was also sentenced to pay $1.5 million in “restitution” (supposedly to compensate the government for costs of impounding 400 of Cliven Bundy’s cattle in 2014.) Navarro ordered Burleson to pay $25 per quarter toward restitution while he is in prison.

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Bundy supporter Burleson sentenced to 68 years in prison

Gregory Burleson, a member of Arizona militia groups who participated in the 2014 armed standoff in Bunkerville, was sentenced Wednesday to more than 68 years in federal prison.

Burleson, 53, was photographed with a long gun during the standoff, moving around the sandy wash where federal agents were headquartered. The Bureau of Land Management was in Bunkerville to carry out a court order to round up rancher Cliven Bundy’s cattle from public lands. The operation was unsuccessful after hundreds of protesters, many armed, descended on the small rancher town in southwest Nevada.

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Review of Nevada’s national monuments chills legislator

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is expected in Nevada soon to review two national monuments here, but the Democratic congressman who represents the area said he feels left out of the process.

At a press conference in Las Vegas on Friday, Rep. Ruben Kihuen called it “highly disrespectful” for Zinke not to tell him about his upcoming visit or respond to a letter the congressman sent to Zinke’s office a week ago about the ongoing national monuments review.

President Donald Trump has ordered Zinke to scrutinize 22 monuments created by presidential decree since Jan. 1, 1996, to determine if the designations should be scaled back or eliminated to allow more public use and economic development. Five marine national monuments in the Atlantic and Pacific oceans are also under review.

During a June 26 stop in Pahrump, Zinke promised to return to Nevada in July to talk to local stakeholders and tour Gold Butte and Basin and Range national monuments before he decides whether they should be reduced, rescinded or left intact.

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Retrial begins for four Bundy supporters from 2014 armed standoff

ury selection began Monday for a retrial of four men accused of conspiring against the government when they joined an armed protest with Cliven Bundy on his Nevada ranch in 2014.

Eric Parker, Scott Drexler, Steven Stewart and Ricky Lovelien were present during a tense confrontation in Bunkerville between Bureau of Land Management agents who were trying to seize cattle from Bundy.

The case centers around constitutional issues including free speech and land and gun rights. The U.S. attorney’s office for the state of Nevada would not comment on pending litigation.

The retrial follows a mistrial that occurred this past April when jurors couldn’t decide on the first group of defendants in a three-tier case.

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Jury selection crucial in Bunkerville standoff retrial

Another trial in the Bunkerville standoff case opens Monday in Las Vegas, but instead of trying a new set of defendants, prosecutors will launch their second attempt to win convictions against four men accused of conspiring against the government with rancher Cliven Bundy.

The retrial follows a mistrial in April, when jurors deadlocked on 50 of the 60 counts against the first batch of defendants in the three-part case. Prosecutors eventually plan to try 17 men on charges resulting from the April 2014 armed standoff between individual rights activists and Bureau of Land Management agents, who came to Bunkerville to seize Bundy’s cattle from public land.

The hung jury did not come as a surprise to local court observers, who previously have said that the trial against the first group hinged on ideological issues that typically are not litigated inside a courtroom. In a 2 million-population metropolitan area built in the middle of a desert, federal jury pools draw people from rural and urban areas — with different political views, policy priorities and perceptions of law enforcement.

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Thomas Mitchell : Ownership of land better than paltry PILT payouts

It is that time of year again, when counties in Nevada and across the West squat on the street corner with their tin alms cups extended anxiously awaiting the tinkling sound of a few coins from the federal till — otherwise known as Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILT).

Since 1977 Congress has parsimoniously paid out pennies on the acre to local governments to make up for the land the federal government controls but on which it pays no local property taxes. Since 85 percent of Nevada land is controlled by various federal agencies that is a lot of property tax to forgo.

Just a few weeks ago the Trump administration budget for this year proposed limiting PILT funding to an average of the most recent 10 years or about $397 million, but this past week in Pahrump Interior Department Secretary Ryan Zinke announced at a meeting with various Nevada officials that the PILT largesse this year will be $464.6 million, a 6 percent increase over the previous year. The about-face was roundly ignored.

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$10,000 Reward Offered For Info In The Bundy Trial Just The Beginning Of Effort To Obtain Justice

$10,000 Reward Offered For Info In The Bundy Trial Just The Beginning Of Effort To Obtain Justice

This plan was conceived in order to see that Justice is afforded to the Bundy family, others who came to the Bundy Ranch in 2014 to support them, and journalist Pete Santilli. Pete and the Bundys have been held without bail in maximum security federal custody since the day the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge came to an end with the violent killing of LaVoy Finicum and the arrest of the members of the Bundy family and their supporters.

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