Cliven Bundy and Friends

They're at it again. These people have suckled at the federal teat for generations. First they got the US Army to drive away the Indians so they could graze their cattle. Ever since, they have been using federal grass, federal water and federal subsidies to "earn a living" by raising cattle. Now that the fedrull gummit wants more than two cents on the dollar for all that grass and water, these hard working ranchers are all upset. Poor babies. Their plan is to throw the system into chaos and grab what they can while the turmoil has everyone distracted. And they'll probably get away with it. Again.

By MICHELLE RINDELS and RILEY SNYDER Associated Press

CARSON CITY, Nev. -- Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who garnered national attention a year ago when he and armed supporters engaged in a showdown with federal authorities, came to Carson City Tuesday with scores of allies to rally behind a bill seeking to reclaim land from the federal government.

A bus from Phoenix and another from Las Vegas brought more than 100 people, according to Bundy's son, Ammon Bundy, and others came on their own to fill several legislative hearing rooms. Many wore shirts and carried signs that read "the land belongs to the people."

Assembly Bill 408, is sponsored by Republican Assemblywoman Michele Fiore and would require the federal government to obtain permission to use land within the state's borders. The proposal also strips the federal government of state water rights and would allow county commissions to parcel out state land for commercial use.

"We're here to take our state back and act like we're sovereign citizens," Bundy said at a rally outside the Capitol before the hearing. "We're going to have agency. We're going to own our rights here on this land."


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Nevada's state conservation department estimated that transferring around 60 million acres of federally controlled land would cost the department around $95 million and that the parceling process for mining, logging and other industries could become "complicated and controversial."

"If we want to take control of all that," said Democratic Sen. Kelvin Atkinson, who opposes the plan, "I think we'll go broke as a state."