Liberty Matters News Service

December 5, 2001

DOI Seeks Law Enforcement Authority

Circulating inside Interior is a draft bill, which would give specific DOI employees full law enforcement authority.  The draft title of the bill is “Department of Interior Law Enforcement Clarification Act of 2001.”  It specifically authorizes DOI officers to carry firearms, make arrests without a warrant, execute orders, warrants or subpoenas and other powers usually reserved to Federal Law Enforcement agencies and local sheriffs and police.  At every opportunity, DOI has tried to acquire this authority, most recently by rewriting regulations during the Babbitt administration. But all attempts to do so have wisely been struck down by Congress and public opposition.  But unfortunately DOI is using the recent terrorist attacks as justification for expanding its agencies law enforcement authority.  As pointed out by Congressman George Nethercutt (R-WA) who has requested a meeting with Secretary of the Interior, Gale Norton, DOI officers already have the necessary authority they need which allows them to work with local law enforcement.  Nethercutt questions the wisdom of giving such broad police powers to a department with a history of misusing the limited power it currently assumes.  Contact your Congressman immediately to alert them to this draft bill and ask them to support Nethercutt’s opposition of the bill.  Also, contact the Secretary of Interior’s office directly and voice your concern.  Our best opportunity to stop this ill-conceived idea is before it is ever filed.  
Draft Bill 
Norton’s Letter
Nethercutt’s Letter

Conservation Groups Buy Grazing Allotments

Conservation groups are using another weapon to rid the West of cattle, with the help of the courts.  The Arizona Supreme Court recently ruled that state Land Commissioner, Dennis Wells, erred by refusing to allow environmental groups to bid on grazing leases.  Citing federal law that states the sale or lease of government land must go to the “highest and best bidder at a public auction,” the Court opined that the environmental groups have a place at the bargaining table.  Attorney Tim Hogan praised the Court’s decision and called it a victory for Arizona’s public schools which are beneficiaries of trust and share in lease proceeds.  But “Doc” Lane, of the Arizona Cattlemen’s Association argued that the ruling will result in losses in revenue for Arizona’s schools in the long run. If conservation groups gain control of grazing allotments and drive ranchers away, there will be no one left to bid when the leases mature and the environmentalists have achieved their goal of cleansing the land of cattle.  Justice Frederick Martone voted in favor of the Land Commissioner’s actions, saying he should not be forced to accept a bid on grazing land from any individual or groups with a different agenda.  He could also have added that the environmental groups have the unfair advantage of using million of dollars of tax-free funds, while the rancher must pay for the leases with his own money.

In a related story, the Grand Canyon Trust has purchased the grazing rights to 256,000 acres in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah.  Spokesman for the group, Bill Hedden, said they plan to petition the Bureau of Land Management to let the trust end most of the grazing in the allotment.  Since 1996, the year of the Clinton stealth land grab, the GCT has paid ranchers for grazing rights on about 500,000 acres of the monument.  The trust has spent more than $1 million on buyouts in southern Utah.  The goal is to sweep out the cattle and let the land “go back to a more natural productive condition.”
Environmentalists May Outbid Ranchers
Conservation Groups Buy Large Grazing Allotment...

Clinton Monument Legacy to Stand

U.S. District Judge Paul Friedman has upheld Bill Clinton’s monument designation of vast areas of the American west.  The Judge ruled that Clinton acted within his authority through the Antiquities Act of 1906 and that there was no need to seek Congressional approval.  The four monuments, in Arizona, Colorado, Oregon and Washington, effectively closed millions of acres to legitimate uses by loggers, ranchers, and mining interests, among others.  The lawsuit was brought by the Mountain States Legal Defense Fund to challenge the constitutionality of the law and Clinton’s authority to create the monuments, in his desperate search for a legitimate legacy.  William Perry Pendley said the Judge gave too much weight to the president’s judgement and that the ruling will be appealed.
Judge Upholds Clinton Bid to Protect Federal Lands in 4 States