Editorial: Gerber takes a page from history to fight BLM

Grant Gerber took off his county commissioner hat on Memorial Day, put on a Stetson, and mounted up for a “Grass March” to defend the grazing rights of ranchers. The relay ended five days later with the delivery of a petition to Gov. Brian Sandoval.

It was a fitting reminder that government exists to serve its citizens, not the other way around.

Modeled after Gandhi’s Salt March against British oppression, “Mahatma Gerber” and his son Travis chose a non-threatening approach to what they saw as an unfair decision by a Bureau of Land Management district manager to close the Argenta Allotment by fiat.

It was probably no coincidence that the BLM negotiated a deal with the ranchers as Gerber finished organizing the protest. They turned their cattle out on Mount Lewis while the Cowboy Express was en route to Carson City.

Gerber has spent much of his life challenging the federal government on decisions he considers to be overreaching, such as the closure of roads and other restrictions on the use of federal lands. He and Travis have studied the writings of the pioneers, and they believe wholeheartedly that it was ranchers who made the harsh Western landscape more habitable for both man and beast.

We agree with their conclusions. Good ranchers like the families affected by the Argenta Allotment closure are stewards of the land. Still, unwelcome realities such as drought and competition for resources lead to inevitable conflicts.

We don’t envy the BLM’s duty to address the multiplicity of values held by various segments of American society, but we applaud them for listening to reason and making the right decision — at least for now — on the Argenta Allotment. Anyone who makes a living off the land must be pragmatic at heart, and it is good to see the BLM adopt the same perspective in this situation.

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