Authorities on defensive over Nevada cattle roundup on federal land

Federal authorities were on the defensive Tuesday during the fourth day of their planned monthlong offensive to remove an outspoken rancher’s cattle from lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. As dozens of protesters chanted slogans in designated “First Amendment areas,” armed federal officials oversaw the roundup of hundreds of cattle belonging to Nevada cattle rancher Cliven Bundy, who for decades has thumbed his nose at Washington, refusing to pay grazing fees to run 900 cattle on federal land. But critics are questioning the rationale of the cash-strapped BLM spending resources to round up the cattle. Residents near the land closure areas, habitat for the federally protected desert tortoise, have complained of lack of access during the roundup. Bundy’s relatives say the federal government has exaggerated the patriarch’s promise to protect his cattle at any cost, misusing his words as rationale to wage what they call a misguided range war against a veteran rancher. A local newspaper editorial on Tuesday chided the government for its “incompetence in public land management,” saying the cattle roundup was “heavy handed.” “Instead of rounding up Mr. Bundy’s cattle on the public’s dime, the BLM should sell of more of its land holdings to local owners – in Nevada, Utah and across the West – who would be far better caretakers," said the lead editorial in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “They certainly couldn’t do any worse than Washington.”...more