Interesting link from ICMJ

[goldenIrishman]

Hey guys! The ICMJ home page had this link posted and since it's not to one of their subscription articles I thought I'd pass it along.

Lawmakers Look to Strip Federal Land Management Agencies of Law Enforcement Authority - Management - GovExec.com

I think a huge can of worms is about to be opened up here. Take a look and see what you think.

 

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[russau]

I tried to open this and some spam popped up . I hope I didn't catch something!

 

[rodoconnor]

There is a sentence in the article that reads: " If local sheriffs decide they do not agree with certain federal land management policies, they could refuse to provide their services or ignore certain orders." Well, that already exists. The most powerful authority is the locally elected sheriff.It has been affirmed and reaffirmed in Federal Courts. The dredgers in Idaho will attest to that. The return of our land to the states is a very popular movement in Utah , Wy and Id.

 

[goldenIrishman]

It's just an ad Russ. Give it a couple of seconds and it will go away and the article will pop up.

 

[goldenIrishman]

What I was looking for was more like how do you think this will effect mining? I myself can see this as a double edged sword. In some areas it could be a real boon to miners that have had problem with the Forest Circus and BLM, but if the local Sheriff happens to be a card carrying member of the "Green Gestapo" it could be opening the door for more problems for miners within their area.

I can also see where it may be a big problem getting the local LEOs trained up on the federal laws that cover the public lands. In many cases they've got a lot of their plates already. Here in Mohave County, our rather small Sheriffs Department has to cover an area of 13,311 square miles. That is about thirteen times the size of the state of Rhode Island. Needless to say they're kind of like cheap paint in that they're spread so thin they don't know which way to run. If you have to call the sheriff to come out, be ready for a very long wait! Adding even more responsibilities to what they're already handling would be problematic at best. For those of you that don't know this area, Mohave County has a LOT of public lands. In fact the majority of the land in our county are public lands of one type or another. We have BLM, BOR, National Park Service, State Trust lands, Forest and Wildlife Service and one or two more I can't think of at the moment. This isn't even counting the tribal lands (BIA). With an average of 2.14 people per Sq/Mi, that's a lot of open public lands that need looking out for. On the other hand, to the best of my knowledge we have all of two BLM people that actually do field work in this county. The only Forest Circus I've seen since I've been here were a couple of cartographers. I have zero idea on how many people they have working the Arizona side of the Lake Meade Recreation area.

 

[rodoconnor]

Well Jeff , that's why they have elections. Sounds like a flippant response, but the sheriff is a very direct representative of the local population. If he is a wacko "environut" ,then that is a problem. The ballot box is your friend or your enemy. Here in Twin Falls County I heard the stats on the square miles covered by the deputies and I think was comparable to Mojave Co. Rural areas like we live in tend to have people that are quite a bit more self-reliant. So far the LEOs are miner friendly. I have had deputies, and F&G check me out and end up taking a minute or two do a little panning. Most folks here have a relative that is a miner/prospector of sorts. One thing to consider , if the LEOs are kept busy chasing bad guys they won't have time to hassel us ! HA

 

[goldenIrishman]

I hear ya Rod. Did you notice who made that statement that you quoted? It was the president of the Federal Law Enforcement Officers Association. (Spell that UNION?) If this should go through, who is going to loose a LOT of their power base? With no authority to enforce laws those members that belong to sections like Forest service and BLM would most likely be required to withdraw from FLEOA.

I agree that the local governments should have more control over local public lands and I applaud those sheriffs and deputies that stand up for those that they are sworn to protect. Too many of the federal folks have a chip on their shoulders and overstep their mandated authority every chance they get. If you go to the other article linked to at the bottom of the article we're discussing here, Lawmaker Launches Investigation Into Feds' Bonuses - Pay & Benefits - GovExec.com Go to the last paragraph for some interesting reading. I always wondered why BLM needs assault weapons in the first place since they're an assets management agency and not a law enforcement one.

 

[OwenT]

Yea I heard this had been happening with sheriffs in ID in regards to the FS and the EPA, for reasons directly related to mining I believe, the Utah stuff I think is more about grazing so then it could be kind of worrisome for miners having things changed up but usually I'd expect those sheriffs to let us do our thing.

 

[rodoconnor]

Interesting indeed. "Recouping EXCESS firearms from federal agencies". Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they"re not
out to get you.

 

[goldenIrishman]

Interesting indeed. "Recouping EXCESS firearms from federal agencies". Just because you're paranoid doesn't mean they"re not
out to get you.

AMEN!!!! I love my country but I trust my government about as far as I could throw them collectively! Every once in a while you'll hear of a politico that actually seems to understand mining and miners and the problem we face. The rest seem to be determined to make our country dependent on foreign sources for the materials needed to keep our country going and growing. Of course every governmental agency out there is trying to increase its level of importance and hence increase its budget. Miners are not alone in having to fight for our rights to use public lands like congress intended. Ranchers are finding it harder and harder to get their grazing leases renewed and are loosing a lot of land to the so called "National Monuments" that are monuments to nothing.

 

[H&F909ORO]

I have only had a brief experience with the California Department Fish and Wildlife. My brother and I were at a diving spot in Monterey, it's an extremely popular place for any diver, along with plenty of tourists. We had our tanks filled up at a store and upon walking out I noticed a dark green truck. It did carry a trailer for a small boat so I'm assuming they were out checking permits. But the thing that stood out the most were the heavy weaponry located in the middle of the truck.

Now, keep in mind we were about 1/8 of a mile away from Cannery Row which is a spot full of tourists, restaurants and other novelty shops. I was curious as to why they need such weapons, especially not being police. To me there would be no need for them to carry those arms in an area that is suburban, touristy, and I doubt they have violent fishermen in Monterey. Although it's possible, the coast guard which is stationed right on the pier would be more qualified to carry such weapons.

 

[rodoconnor]

About 15 years ago F&G, dog catchers, and many other Kal public employees were given law enforcement status.

 

[Hefty1]

Fish and Game...waiting for you to make the wrong move....

 

[goldenIrishman]

The miners in Chicken, Alaska sure learned first hand about the excess armament available to BLM/EPA when they were raided. The excuse given was that they'd been warned about "drug activity" in the area. Depending on the area, I can understand agents carrying a sidearm for protection from wildlife but full auto assault rifles are very excessive. Do these agencies seem to think that they're all Navy S.E.A.L. team members or something? As a desert miner I carry for protection from Rattlers but when I'm not out mining, I leave the pistol at home. If I was out working an area and was raided by BLM carrying full assault rifles and dressed in tactical gear the first thing I'd wonder about is what they've been smoking and why the excessive display of force! I mean a dust cloud from a drywasher is not much of a threat and even with the Rattlers and an occasional Javalina from time to time there's NOTHING in this area that requires a 5.56mm full auto assault rifle to be in their inventory.

 

[bedrock bubba]

As bad as FED agencies have been on miners, I think the STATE agencies have been much worse!

So we can't be sure of what the outcome of this proposal will be.

 

[rodoconnor]

BB not in Idaho, Utah, Wy and a lot of other places. Rather than some faceless authority residing in who knows where , I think local management is way more efficient and user friendly. The nightmare we have now is obviously not working. Scrap it.