Hammonds get BLM lease reinstated.

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I don't agree with how they went about it, but I don't blame them for defending themselves and what they believe is their rights.

 

[LopeHunter]

Felony charge was not out of thin air. Damage was done. Preventable damage. The intent was clear as that fire was lit and even if that fire had not gotten out of control then likely a future careless fire would have gotten out of control.

This behavior is why there is a growing movement to attack below-market grazing rights on BLM. Auction off 10 year leases if there is to be grazing. Ten years is long enough to justify some improvements to infrastructure such as fencing. The BLM is supposed to generate revenues and an auction would be more successful financially than a simple renewal.

Why should I support BLM subsidizing a millionaire beef rancher to have his cattle literally shit all over BLM land?

 

[TheJason]

I don't agree with how they went about it, but I don't blame them for defending themselves and what they believe is their rights.

Key phrase being “what they believe is their rights”. When your belief doesn’t align with law, then you can adapt or face the consequences.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I guess all us perfect choir boys will have to agree to disagree. Cause I think they paid their debt in prison and deserve the same rights and second chances as everyone else.

 

[FI460]

The court proceedings showed us that these weren't simple ranchers who made a mistake. Testimony provided evidence that an almost gangster level culture of bullying and disregard for the law has been the modus operandi for this bunch.

Their guilty plea made them felons. Felons don't get to hold grazing allotments.

Time for some honest rancher to have a shot at the land.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Felony charge was not out of thin air. Damage was done. Preventable damage. The intent was clear as that fire was lit and even if that fire had not gotten out of control then likely a future careless fire would have gotten out of control.

This behavior is why there is a growing movement to attack below-market grazing rights on BLM. Auction off 10 year leases if there is to be grazing. Ten years is long enough to justify some improvements to infrastructure such as fencing. The BLM is supposed to generate revenues and an auction would be more successful financially than a simple renewal.

Why should I support BLM subsidizing a millionaire beef rancher to have his cattle literally shit all over BLM land?

Curious to why matters if he is a millionaire? Would it be different if he was middle class? What about lower middle class? What about dirt poor below the poverty line? Are his rights to public land different than yours cause of his income level?

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

I do like the auction idea tho! That is a great idea! It would have to be regulated in a way so that ranchers can only buy so much auctioned off land tho.

 

[Schaaf]

The Hammonds are also poachers. Don’t forget that.

They can get bent.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

The Hammonds are also poachers. Don’t forget that.

They can get bent.

If their poachers I take back all my standing up for them comments.

 

[Hilljackoutlaw]

Haha

 

[1_pointer]

Their guilty plea made them felons. Felons don't get to hold grazing allotments.

What part of the BLM grazing regulations prevent felons from holding a grazing permit?

 

[hossblur]

Been a while. But wasn't the issue that they started fires to hide carcasses of poached animals? I may be confused, but I thought I read that was the charge.

 

[FI460]

What part of the BLM grazing regulations prevent felons from holding a grazing permit?

Good question. That's one of the few points of the story I havent read up on. I read a news report that claimed they were ineligible after the conviction and haven't fact checked that.

Been a while. But wasn't the issue that they started fires to hide carcasses of poached animals? I may be confused, but I thought I read that was the charge.

That is correct.

 

[mtmiller]

I do like the auction idea tho! That is a great idea! .

Fort Meade BLM in SD conducts a sealed bid. Hint, it is much higher than the $1.41 AUM rate (2018) the Hammonds have a "right" to graze.

 

[Grundy53]

Felony charge was not out of thin air. Damage was done. Preventable damage. The intent was clear as that fire was lit and even if that fire had not gotten out of control then likely a future careless fire would have gotten out of control.

This behavior is why there is a growing movement to attack below-market grazing rights on BLM. Auction off 10 year leases if there is to be grazing. Ten years is long enough to justify some improvements to infrastructure such as fencing. The BLM is supposed to generate revenues and an auction would be more successful financially than a simple renewal.

Why should I support BLM subsidizing a millionaire beef rancher to have his cattle literally shit all over BLM land?

An auction would also pretty much guarantee that only the big time ranchers could stay in business. Small operators would be pushed out.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Was a little disappointed to hear everyone cheering this decision on the ag update on the radio in Central MT last week.

That's because welfare ranchers as a group stick together. They want to keep the freebies coming. And they have friends in the legislatures.

 

[shootbrownelk]

Fort Meade BLM in SD conducts a sealed bid. Hint, it is much higher than the $1.41 AUM rate (2018) the Hammonds have a "right" to graze.

In Wyoming, the current lease holder has the right to bid just above the highest bid to keep the lease. And you HAVE to run a certain amount of cattle/sheep on a lease. A conservation group cannot win with a high bid, let the land rest and not graze it. Rancher/Legislator rules you know.

 

[shootbrownelk]

A felony because government tried to disrupt their way of making a living by what looks like serious over reach. I wouldn't want you on my team if push ever comes to shove.

Their way of living is mooching off the Taxpayers of the country. BLM fees do not begin to cover their expenses to run the grazing programs. They operate in the red every year....for multi-millions. The Bundy's are the same kind of welfare rancher as the Hammonds. They have had a BLM lease for 50 years, so in their eyes they own it.

 

[FI460]

The AUM certainly needs addressed. At today's rate it's only 19 cents more than it was in 1966.

 

[Handlebar]

Aum rate is based on a formulas that congress controls not the agencies