Discussion for article #235368
The BLM’s records, Whittington said, show that the surface rights at the Sugar Pine Mine were ceded to the agency in 1961 by the party that owned the claim at that time. He said the BLM in March served the Sugar Pine Mine with two letters saying as much.
For court purposes, if the BLM can produce the documentation the previous owners ceded the surface rights to the BLM, then–legally–case closed and the two mine owners will be in violation of the law if they do not do as instructed.
That said, if BLM does not ever intend to use that (surface) land, why not attempt some sort of sale of said property rights to the two men who own the rights to the mine that is under the land? Again, if BLM legally owns the surface rights, and really never intends to use the land, the two men would be foolish not to attempt a peaceful sale. Are there other pertinent details to this story? Thank you.
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To jerks like these Oath Keepers, or whatever they call themselves, these kinds of events are the most exciting things that can happen for them. They are enjoying themselves and I mean that quite literally.
Why hell, they’re fightin’ thet thar tyeranical gubmint! We showed 'em at Bundy ranch. We’ll show 'em here, too.
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It is easier for these guys to make noise and attempt to intimidate BLM than to get a lawyer and settle.
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Sure, call the “Oath Keepers”. Why even consider calling a lawyer?
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Another reason why Eric Holder is the worst Attorney General since the Nixon years. He will go after every two bit drug dealer snatched up in some DEA dragnet and get the courts to give them decades in jail, but when someone threatens a full throated rebellion against the Federal Government he fears the optics on Fox News of a confrontation. If I was a Republican I would want him in office because he helps the Tea Party’s rallying points stay alive and kicking.;
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A study found that something like 3.7 million Americans possess two things…guns, and a record of anger management problems. The larger the latter, the more of the former they tend to own.
I suspect a few of these folks would LOVE to visit Oregon right now. Stir the pot with some rhetoric from folks like
Mr. Cruz for example, and you got yourself some real opportunities for idiocy on the half shell.
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If there’s some type of Wild West flare-up over this?
It’s due to the intransigence of the current owners/squatters.
There’s an appeals process-- though apparently described as lengthy.
Seems like had the Sugar Pine Mine folks simply initiated that bit of bureaucracy–
there might not have been any notable aspects to draw the ammosexual flies to their incendiary sugar-water.
Best of luck with those new squatters all around the mining area.
jw1
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And this is what freaking happens when the government lets crazy fucks like Bundy claim stake to land that doesn’t own them. Now all the crazy fucks in the US will think they can just claim land and nothing will happen because the government doesn’t have the balls to take them on. God.
Grow a pair BLM! Either you nip this kind of shit in the bud now, or it will continue to escalate.
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And Attorney General Super Chicken keeps giving these thugs pass after pass.
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Yes, the same government that stamped out Occupy gives these right wing thugs pass after pass.
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Just build a fence around the place and declare it to be a federal prison.
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Is that picture taken on a Star Trek set? wtf
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The Oath Keepers will be bringing hammer and chisel along with their guns.
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Don’t forget their bibles. And their bedsheets and hoods…
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Can TPM please not use terms like “constitutional activists” to describe crazy anti-government yahoos with guns?
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Okay, setting aside for a minute the not very mysterious question of why the fuck you would call the goddamned Oath Keepers when you get into a property rights dispute rather than say, oh, I don’t know, maybe a lawyer (hint: you know you’re in the wrong and you’ll lose in court), is there no law in Oregon mandating the public filing of deeds?
Because, unless the reporters don’t know what the hell they’re talking about (which, granted, is the norm when reporters talk about stuff requiring expertise), this doesn’t sound like a fight over mining rights on public land under the Mining Act of 1862. (The act that allows people to mine on federal land by filing a mining claim–title to the land remains vested in the Federal Government and whether you can surface mine is governed by regulations applicable to the whole area).
Instead, this sounds like an ordinary, run-of-the-mill property ownership dispute that could be resolved by, oh, I don’t know, maybe going down to the local county courthouse and looking at the damn deeds.
What am I missing?
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You are missing the need for the BLM to fake out the “militia”. While the all run like rats to the next sinking ship, the BLM sneaks into the Bundy Ranch, arrests everyone there and haul off all the cattle without a shot being fired, agents being threatened, and the “militia” even being aware of it.
A dream perhaps, but I can dream the gooberment actually decided to work.
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You’re just not thinking about this correctly. If there’s a deed at the county courthouse, it was obviously planted there, and backdated, by the BLM. And the clerk is in on it.
What, is your local Food Lion plumb out of tin foil?
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Cite for the study?
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