Enough is Enough is Enoughr

Last year, the Federal government seized land, nearly 500,000 acres, in New Mexico for a National Monument. That land grab has hindered law enforcement’s ability to patrol the area, because nearly half of the land was set aside as wilderness. The "wilderness" designation closes off the area to vehicles, including police cars.  It also disallows most human uses, such as camping, hunting, fishing, mountain biking, etc.

The 2014 grab in New Mexico destroyed ranches that had been in families long before there was a National Park system or a U.S. Forest Service.  One of those ranches was established in 1883, when New Mexico was a territory, not a state. Hundreds, in not thousands, of ranching families are being squeezed off their land throughout the West.  By the way, the total amount of land grabbed by the Feds in 2014 was around 10 million (10,000,000) acres.

When Obama announced the grab in New Mexico, setting aside 498,815 acres of land as the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument, he said, “I’m not finished." He added, “I am here to pick up a little bit of the slack because there is no time to waste to preserve precious resources and give a shot in the arm to local economies.”  What isn't said is that the acreage was nearly 1/4 of  the entire county of Dona Ana. Dona Ana supported a smaller size monument of around 60,000 acres, not nearly 500,000.  Make no mistake, this was an orchestrated grab by environmentalists, people who consider humans as an "invasive species."  It was pushed by the NM Wilderness Association, the Sierra Club, League of Conservation Voters, and other environmental protection groups.

So, the other day, I posted on my FaceBook page an article, "Obama’s designation of monuments just another ‘land grab,’ Republicans say." In response to the posting, the following was stated, 

"Weren't these already public lands? I's not as though the government came in and took the land without compensation. What this does is protect these lands from unfettered development and preserves pristine open space. Far from a "land grab". God forbid every last square inch isn't developed and ruined."

So, in response, I need to ask, when is enough enough?   The Feds already owned & controlled 650 million acres of US land before this grab. That 650 million acres was about 30% of the country. Somehow, I don't think the claim of "every last square inch" is applicable.  

The United States has a total land area of nearly 2.3 billion acres (2,300,000,000). This grab now brings the total up to 910,000,000 (910 million acres),  This is nearly 40% (39.56%) of the nation, if my calculator is correct.  That's just the Feds.  No idea how much land is owned by the states.

So, tell me, when is enough enough?

The lands seized are state lands.  In their grabs, the Feds have seized family homes. They have displaced and destroyed working ranches. The Feds have confiscated and destroyed privately owned property all in the name of "society"....  Uhm...  isn't that what happened during the Russian Revolution?  

In addition to land grabs, the Feds are also trying to seize control over all of the nation's waters by way of the Federal Water Pollution Act of 1972 and the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) new Clean Water Rule.

In 2012, the Feds filed suit against the State of New Mexico, asserting claims for damages to groundwater in a natural resource damage case in New Mexico involving Chevron/Molycorp. The claim seeks for those damages to be awarded in the form of future water rights management.  In other words, the Feds are seeking control over New Mexico's water. Out here, water is a big, big deal. It affects water supplies for cities; it affects land use such as ranching. Out here, water is a precious commodity and it affects every decision made.

In 2014, the Clean Water Restoration Act (CWRA) reared its ugly head again.  Now, don't get me wrong, I'm all for clean water. However, the CWRA is another example of government overreach and how the Feds are kowtowing to the extremists. From an article published in "The Hill",

"More than 260 lawmakers, spanning both chambers and parties, have come out against the EPA’s action.

A group of 231 members of the House recently sent a letter to the EPA and the Army Corps asking them to withdraw the regulation. The group included almost the entire House Republican conference, as well as 19 Democrats.

“Although your agencies have maintained that the rule is narrow and clarifies CWA jurisdiction, it in face aggressively expands federal authority under the CWA while bypassing Congress and creating unnecessary ambiguity,” the lawmakers wrote."

You realize (I hope), if the government owns the land and controls the water, which it now does through another Presidential proclamation, it controls the people.  People cannot survive without food and water.  Do you really want government controlling it?