Associated Press reports:
Supporters of cattleman and anti-federal government figure Cliven Bundy are protesting a presidential decision to give national monument protection to public land where Bundy grazes cows near his southern Nevada ranch.
With Bundy and four sons in federal custody awaiting trial on conspiracy and other charges, a small group of other family members and friends staged a peaceful weekend rally Saturday near the Bundy home and the Gold Butte area outside Bunkerville, a small town near Arizona.
“We, the Bundy family, would like to say to President Obama that we are saddened, but not surprised, by the decision to make our ranch and home a national monument,” the family said in a statement issued last week.
“The problems we have had with federal land management have never been about cows, tortoises, or fees,” the statement said. “It has always been about the constitutional limits on the federal government's authority.”
Other Objections
Sen. Dean Heller, R-Nev., urged Obama not to designate the land as a national monument because of concerns by local constituents and said he was disappointed by the president’s action.
The senator said he has urged “all new land designations, especially ones in Nevada, to be considered in an open and public Congressional process.”
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Northern Ag Note: When we saw this story, we wondered exactly how the Gold Butte Monument designation impacted where Cliven Bundy had grazed his cattle and was having a tough time finding the right map, so we made one using a combination of maps. The new Gold Butte Monument is designated in the solid red
The original maps used can be found here:
