Hage saga government at its worst

The case of Nevada rancher Wayne Hage should serve as a warning to all farmers and ranchers who depend on the cooperation of the federal government to make a living. What Hage and his family went through during 30-plus years of fighting with the government can best be described as a nightmare. In 1991, Hage sued the federal government in an attempt to regain access to the national forest grazing allotments. The U.S. Court of Federal Claims agreed with the government that the cattle were trespassing. However, in 2008, the court also agreed with Hage's lawyers that the government had taken his water rights, ditch rights-of-way, roads, water facilities and other structures. As compensation, the court ordered the government to pay Hage $4.22 million. It a final act of petulence, the government went back to court and asked the judge to reduce that award. The government claimed there was no proof Hage had built the fences, trails, pipelines and other facilities. He could only be compensated if he could prove he had built the facilities. Since Hage had died in 2006, the government's lawyers apparently thought they had a good chance of escaping from the damage it had done to Hage and his family. They were wrong. In a final twist, Senior Judge Loren Smith turned the government's request on its ear. Instead of reducing the judgment, he added $150,000 to the $4.22 million already awarded...read more

The editorial goes on to call this the "saddest chapter in the history of the U.S. Forest Service" and hopes "it is also one the federal government chooses not to repeat." It may not be the saddest chapter, but it is the saddest one brought to light as a result of the intellect and fortitude of Wayne Hage. The feds will repeat this and worse, unless there are others out there with the courage and wherewithall to stand up to them. It will, unfortunately, take more than one victory to push back the feds and they will employ all their powers to keep this case from setting a precedent. You just watch'em.