In the United States, a person is innocent until proven guilty. The burden of proof is on the accuser. This is known as presumption of innocence. But ... what if the reverse were true? What if everything you’ve worked for your entire life, all your parents and grandparents had worked for, your retirement, savings, assets, home and children’s future could vanish at the whim of a government official’s decision based only on his own findings and opinion? Now the burden of proof is on you. A presumption of guilt ensues.
One might think this could not happen in America. Wrong. This is exactly what happens to many ranchers grazing livestock on public land managed by the Bureau of Land Management. In this bureaucratic system, one person’s decision can destroy lives.
A district manager for the BLM has the power with a stroke of the pen to take everything a rancher has by closing a grazing allotment to all livestock. He can do this without accountability, acknowledgment of private property rights, or unbiased third party review prior to his decision.
The burden of proof to reopen the grazing allotment falls on the shoulders of the rancher who might exhaust his finances in lengthy court battles against an opponent with infinite resources and limitless spending capabilities thanks to your tax-payer dollars. Meanwhile, the rancher must sell off his cattle as his grazing land has become inaccessible. He is forced to go out of business and faces financial ruin...
Nonetheless, BLM policies and ineffective practices continue to wreak havoc on those ideals. Along with removal of cattle from rangeland and grazing allotment closures, these practices include BLM’s continued failure to meet their own standards for wild horse population numbers and management. In addition, propaganda from misinformed environmental and animal rights groups, wild horse advocates, and the Endangered Species Act continue to cause financial hardship, put ranchers out of business, and destroy hard-working American families...
Actions such as allotment closures devastate ranching families with generations of experience. The Nevada ranching heritage of my children proudly spans six generations on both sides of the family, even ranching on the same mountain range on their father’s side. This is not profound or unusual in any way. In fact, generational ranching is the norm throughout the industry. For the permittees in the Battle Mountain area, it is no different.
Many ranchers today have college degrees. More importantly, they have generations of experience to back their management decisions. They are experts in caring for the land and effectively managing their livestock to best maintain the health of the range. These people have earned respect for their knowledge and effective land use practices.
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