Republican congressmen trying to create a Texas-sized ‘Republic of Cliven Bundy’
What they want to do is remove as much federal authority as possible from as much of the country a they can get away with.
The counties that would be exempted from the Antiquities Act of 1906 cover more than 250,000 square miles — an area nearly the size of Texas. The amendment, which was authored by Rep. Stewart (R-UT) and Rep. Gosar (R-AZ), appears to have two main purposes.
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First, it would block the efforts of local communities inMaine, Utah, Arizona, and elsewhere which have been asking President Obama to establish new national monuments in their states.
In southern Utah, for example, the president would not be able to respond to the requests of tribal nations that he protect the Bears Ears area, which is a hotbed of grave robbing, looting, and desecration of sacred sites. It would also prevent the president from protecting Gold Butte in Nevada, where Cliven Bundy illegally grazed his cows for decades, as a national monument…
Second, the Stewart-Gosar amendment would make a major concession to the demands of scofflaw rancher Cliven Bundy and his followers who argue that the U.S. government should have no authority over national public lands in the West. Bundy and his sons Ammon and Ryan were arrested and indicted in February for their involvement in armed standoffs with federal law enforcement officials in Nevada and Oregon.
“Congressman Stewart’s proposal seeks to carve out an area of the country where only some laws apply,” said Jennifer Rokala of the Center for Western Priorities. “By first proposing to strip U.S. land management agencies of their law enforcement powers and now taking away the president’s authority to protect public lands, it seems that some members of Congress are trying to establish a Republic of Cliven Bundy in the West. What a recklessly bad idea.”
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