Nevada Live Stock Association
9732 State Route 445, #305
Sparks, NV 89436
775.424.0570

For Immediate Release
December 20, 2003

Judge to Hear Case Monday on State Allowing BLM to Confiscate Nevada Cattle Without Due Process of Law

The Washoe County Second Judicial District Court is set to a hear several motions in the Nevada Department of Agriculture’s Petition for Judicial Confirmation Monday, December 22, 2003 at 9:30 a.m. The controversy before the Court stems from the Nevada Department of Agriculture Brand Department’s failure to ensure due process of law to property owners before the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) confiscated and sold privately owned livestock off Nevada ranges.

“The policies of the Nevada Department of Agriculture provided for the transfer of ownership of livestock to the Federal government on the mere signature of a brand inspector denying the property owners a day in court before their property was confiscated. Protection from unlawful seizures is one of the most basic tenets of the Constitution. Just because the federal government is the entity conducting the seizure doesn’t make the action lawful and the State needs to recognize this,” said Ramon Morrison, Secretary/Treasurer of the Nevada Live Stock Association.

The BLM has threatened to confiscate 3,000 head and millions of dollars worth of livestock from Nevada ranchers. To date, they have rounded up several hundred head of cattle in five para-military raids on Nevada ranches. The most notorious and disturbing raid involved 50 federal law enforcement agents invading the ranch of two elderly sisters, Carrie and Mary Dann.

“The federal government spent an untold amount of tax payer money to jam cell phones, operate helicopters, and import command and control centers so they could gather the livestock of two elderly ladies who are well known peace activists. This action was so over the top it defies understanding. How the State could aid and abet the federal government in this action by refusing to enforce its laws I’ll never know,” said Jeannie Voigts, a NLSA Board Member who witnessed the Dann cattle confiscation.

“The practice of the BLM has apparently been to use coercion when it cannot accomplish its objectives lawfully. Many of the District Attorneys and Sheriffs in the counties in which the government raids took place have stated that they were threatened by the BLM, through the U.S. Attorney’s office, not to interfere in the BLM actions. One sheriff stated that he was told he would loose his retirement if he interfered or tried to stop the government raid on Ben Colvin,” noted Ms. Morrison.

“Interestingly, the Nevada Department of Agriculture had previously stated in writing that it would not allow any federally impounded livestock to be removed unless the Department was provided with a court order. A few months later, apparently under pressure from the federal government, the Department of Agriculture changed its position to require a court order. The problem with the Nevada Department of Agriculture and their brand inspector, James Connelley, is that they are not paid to do what the federal government tells them to do. They are paid to enforce Nevada’s brand laws,” Morrison continued.

Esmeralda County rancher Ben Colvin, whose cattle were confiscated by the BLM and who recently filed a $30 million takings suit against the federal government for shutting down his ranching operation, commented on the State’s involvement in his case. “Because the State transferred ownership of my cattle on the mere signature of a brand inspector I never got my day in court before the federal government showed up with armed agents, cannons and helicopters to take my cattle. If rapists and murderers are guaranteed due process of law and their day in court, I think I, as a law abiding citizen and tax payer should at the very least be afforded the same Constitutional protections before my property is stolen,” he continued.

By refusing to enforce Nevada’s brand laws against the federal government, the Nevada Department of Agriculture allowed the federal government to avoid the necessary interim step of obtaining a court order prior to transfer of ownership of Nevada livestock. By allowing the agents of the federal government to transport, and to sell property (livestock), of which the ownership was disputed, the Department erased the primary remedy available to the rightful owner of the property, namely a Court resolution of the ownership issue--called due process of law. By lending itself to the BLM actions the State has become complicit with the federal government in the confiscation of cattle without due process of law.

“Unfortunately we find that when state officials deal with the federal government they often forget state law exits and that the federal government is not immune from being governed by state law. Now we, the State’s citizens are suffering the burden of hiring an attorney and going to court to force the State to do its job,” said George Parmen, NLSA Board Member.

Contacts: Ramona Morrison 775.424.0570
Ben Colvin 775.485.6366
Jeannie Voigts 775.267-3757