Officials from
nine Western states met in Salt Lake City on Friday to discuss taking control
of federal lands within their borders on the heels of a standoff between Nevada
rancher Cliven Bundy and the Bureau of Land Management. The lawmakers
and county commissioners discussed ways to wresting oil-, timber- and
mineral-rich lands away from the feds. Utah House Speaker Becky Lockhart said
it was in the works before this month's standoff.
The BLM rounded up hundreds of Bundy's cattle, saying he hasn't paid more than
$1 million in grazing fees he owes for trespassing on federal lands since the
1990s. But Bundy does not recognize federal authority on the land, which his
family has used since the 1870s.
The BLM
released the cattle after a showdown last weekend with angry armed protesters
whom Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid referred to as
"domestic terrorists." "What's
happened in Nevada is really just a symptom of a much larger problem,"
Lockhart said, according to The Salt Lake Tribune.....To Read More......
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