- 1880s: Bundy family begins ranching near Gold Butte, Nevada

- 1946: Bureau of Land Management is formed. "The BLM's stated mission is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations"

- 1973: The Endangered Species Act is passed by congress. The stated purpose of the Endangered Species Act is to protect species and also "the ecosystems upon which they depend." After the listing of a species, 'critical habitat' must be provided, 'regardless of economic impact'. Of the 2000 species listed, only 15 have recovered--a ~1% success rate. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, fewer than 10% of listed species are improving at all. Of the 15 species that have recovered, only 2 of them had a designated 'critical habitat'. There have been very few thorough, quantitative studies on the effectiveness of the law.

-1993: The Gold Butte area is designated a critical habitat for the desert tortoise due to pressure from environmental groups. As a result of this designation, the BLM tells over 50 ranching operations in the area to reduce herd size by 50% or more. The Bundy ranch is told to reduce from 500 to 150 cattle, effectively a 70% reduction in income. THIS is the point where Bundy quit paying his range fees. Nobody can afford that kind of pay cut. I'd quit paying my fees as well if said organization was openly trying to shut me down.

-1998: The ranchers in the area are 'bought out' by the BLM based on the number of cattle they had and all ranching is forbidden. As a result of complying with the BLM instructions from 1993, 50 of the 51 ranchers had fewer than 50% of the cattle they previously owned. Convenient. Cliven Bundy's herd is still growing.

-1998-2013: The BLM brings several court cases against Cliven Bundy. The federal court rules in favor of the federal agency against the Bundys.

-2014: The BLM initiates the cattle roundup costing over $3 million dollars and using BLM agents from as far as Alaska as well as federal agents in full tactical gear with machine guns.

Aside from the 'first amendment zones' that were taken down on Thursday as a result of the Nevada governer commenting on how ridiculous they were, my main concern and reason for protesting is the amount of power that a federal agency (the BLM) has with very little congressional oversight and no elected officials to be accountable for their actions. And, when this powerful, unaccountable agency is openly influenced by environmental lobbyists they have a tendency to steamroll hard working folks who just don't have the time or experience to play the media/politics game. When the Gold Butte area was ruled a 'critical habitat' for the desert tortoise in 1993, that decision directly impacted over 50 ranching operations, several hundred people, and numerous small communities in the area.

Around the same time, in 1998 (the same year that all ranging was completely banned in the Gold Butte area), Harry Reid and John Ensign were sponsoring legislation to remove restrictions on the sale of certain federal wilderness lands in Nevada. In 2002 there was more legislation by Reid called "The Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002", that allowed his billionaire donor friend Harvey Whittemore to build Coyote Springs, a real estate development on 10,000 acres of desert tortoise sanctuary. Pretty sketchy stuff--read the wikipedia article on Harvey Whittemore. And, these aren't conspiracy theories--they're fully documented by newspaper articles and public record. So all I'm saying is that the little guy gets run over while the corrupt politicians and businessmen are in bed together. It's not fair and it's not right. Cliven Bundy was completely legal until the BLM demanded that he cut his income by 70%. I've been to the Bundy homestead, and I can tell you that he's definitely not living large--a pay cut like that is essentially a financial death sentence. As I said before, I know that if I were in his shoes I definitely wouldn't pay anything to an agency that was putting me out of business, essentially forcing me to move from a homestead my family had settled almost 140 years before.

Interestingly, just last year the BLM euthanized up to 1000 desert tortoises being kept in a preserve due to a 'lack of funding'. Apparently the 'regardless of economic impact' clause applies to everyone else except the government themselves. Once again, the little guy is expected to play by the rules and the government is able to act however they see fit. Oh, and the current director of the BLM was Harry Reid's senior advisor for many years.

The second major concern revolves around states' rights and the fact that land in the east is owned almost exclusively by the state/privately, while in the West the majority of the land is federally owned. This is the argument the Bundys have focused almost exclusively on. States are promised equal treatment under the constitution. Historically when a state was approved for statehood, the federal government would turn over all land within the state's boundaries with the exception of some small plots of land for military bases or national parks. Yet, when the western states tried to do the same, the US government twisted their arms and forced them to relinquish control of huge swathes of land. 85% of the land in Nevada is owned by the federal government. How is that equal treatment? How is that constitutional? The states tried to protest this in the 'range wars' of the 1970s and 1980s, but (as expected), the federal courts ruled in favor of the federal government. Are we seeing a trend here? There is no system of checks-and-balances for the federal government. And that's what we all need to protest and stand up against. I'll be arrested every day of the week if it helps keep an overreaching, corrupt federal government in check. Oh, and in case you didn't know, yesterday the BLM backed down and left town. This is America.

- 1880s: Bundy family begins ranching near Gold Butte, Nevada

- 1946: Bureau of Land Management is formed. "The BLM's stated mission is to sustain the health, diversity and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations"

- 1973: The Endangered Species Act is passed by congress. The stated purpose of the Endangered Species Act is to protect species and also "the ecosystems upon which they depend." After the listing of a species, 'critical habitat' must be provided, 'regardless of economic impact'. Of the 2000 species listed, only 15 have recovered--a ~1% success rate. According to the Fish and Wildlife Service, fewer than 10% of listed species are improving at all. Of the 15 species that have recovered, only 2 of them had a designated 'critical habitat'. There have been very few thorough, quantitative studies on the effectiveness of the law.

-1993: The Gold Butte area is designated a critical habitat for the desert tortoise due to pressure from environmental groups. As a result of this designation, the BLM tells over 50 ranching operations in the area to reduce herd size by 50% or more. The Bundy ranch is told to reduce from 500 to 150 cattle, effectively a 70% reduction in income. THIS is the point where Bundy quit paying his range fees. Nobody can afford that kind of pay cut. I'd quit paying my fees as well if said organization was openly trying to shut me down.

-1998: The ranchers in the area are 'bought out' by the BLM based on the number of cattle they had and all ranching is forbidden. As a result of complying with the BLM instructions from 1993, 50 of the 51 ranchers had fewer than 50% of the cattle they previously owned. Convenient. Cliven Bundy's herd is still growing.

-1998-2013: The BLM brings several court cases against Cliven Bundy. The federal court rules in favor of the federal agency against the Bundys.

-2014: The BLM initiates the cattle roundup costing over $3 million dollars and using BLM agents from as far as Alaska as well as federal agents in full tactical gear with machine guns.

Aside from the 'first amendment zones' that were taken down on Thursday as a result of the Nevada governer commenting on how ridiculous they were, my main concern and reason for protesting is the amount of power that a federal agency (the BLM) has with very little congressional oversight and no elected officials to be accountable for their actions. And, when this powerful, unaccountable agency is openly influenced by environmental lobbyists they have a tendency to steamroll hard working folks who just don't have the time or experience to play the media/politics game. When the Gold Butte area was ruled a 'critical habitat' for the desert tortoise in 1993, that decision directly impacted over 50 ranching operations, several hundred people, and numerous small communities in the area.

Around the same time, in 1998 (the same year that all ranging was completely banned in the Gold Butte area), Harry Reid and John Ensign were sponsoring legislation to remove restrictions on the sale of certain federal wilderness lands in Nevada. In 2002 there was more legislation by Reid called "The Clark County Conservation of Public Land and Natural Resources Act of 2002", that allowed his billionaire donor friend Harvey Whittemore to build Coyote Springs, a real estate development on 10,000 acres of desert tortoise sanctuary. Pretty sketchy stuff--read the wikipedia article on Harvey Whittemore. And, these aren't conspiracy theories--they're fully documented by newspaper articles and public record. So all I'm saying is that the little guy gets run over while the corrupt politicians and businessmen are in bed together. It's not fair and it's not right. Cliven Bundy was completely legal until the BLM demanded that he cut his income by 70%. I've been to the Bundy homestead, and I can tell you that he's definitely not living large--a pay cut like that is essentially a financial death sentence. As I said before, I know that if I were in his shoes I definitely wouldn't pay anything to an agency that was putting me out of business, essentially forcing me to move from a homestead my family had settled almost 140 years before.

Interestingly, just last year the BLM euthanized up to 1000 desert tortoises being kept in a preserve due to a 'lack of funding'. Apparently the 'regardless of economic impact' clause applies to everyone else except the government themselves. Once again, the little guy is expected to play by the rules and the government is able to act however they see fit. Oh, and the current director of the BLM was Harry Reid's senior advisor for many years.

The second major concern revolves around states' rights and the fact that land in the east is owned almost exclusively by the state/privately, while in the West the majority of the land is federally owned. This is the argument the Bundys have focused almost exclusively on. States are promised equal treatment under the constitution. Historically when a state was approved for statehood, the federal government would turn over all land within the state's boundaries with the exception of some small plots of land for military bases or national parks. Yet, when the western states tried to do the same, the US government twisted their arms and forced them to relinquish control of huge swathes of land. 85% of the land in Nevada is owned by the federal government. How is that equal treatment? How is that constitutional? The states tried to protest this in the 'range wars' of the 1970s and 1980s, but (as expected), the federal courts ruled in favor of the federal government. Are we seeing a trend here? There is no system of checks-and-balances for the federal government. And that's what we all need to protest and stand up against. I'll be arrested every day of the week if it helps keep an overreaching, corrupt federal government in check. Oh, and in case you didn't know, yesterday the BLM backed down and left town. This is America.