02-28-2016, 05:11 PM
So, now that LE has rounded up the criminal Bundys, the Bureau of Land Management needs to figure out how to round up Cliven Bundy's unmanaged, unvaccinated cows.
![[Image: image_asset_11027.jpg]](http://www.eenews.net/image_assets/2016/02/image_asset_11027.jpg)
Snip:
The Bundy herd, last estimated at 1,000, has trampled sensitive soils, devoured native saplings and bedded down against Native American artifacts. One of Bundy's bulls attacked a Nevada wildlife official, while others have run roughshod over a community garden and a golf course, BLM said.
BLM and its allies -- following court orders -- want Bundy's cows gone from the public lands surrounding his Bunkerville, Nev., ranch, and particularly Gold Butte, a 350,000-acre mesa of Joshua trees, cacti and creosote bushes below the snow-dusted Virgin Peak.
But removing Bundy's ornery, battle-tested herd -- estimated by one Nevada official to be worth up to $800,000 -- will be expensive, logistically difficult and potentially dangerous.
"It's like hunting cape buffalo," said Ken Mayer, the former director of Nevada's Department of Wildlife. "They're nasty, they're smart, and they won't hesitate to charge."
Bundy's militant followers may be the bigger hurdle. It's unclear what kind of resistance Bundy or his sons Ammon or Ryan could muster behind bars without access to the ranch or social media, which was a key catalyst in the 2014 standoff. Two others whom the government accuses of helping rally militants to Bunkerville -- Ryan Payne and Pete Santilli -- are also in custody.
Bundy has been grazing his cows without a permit since 1993, and multiple federal judges have ordered they be removed. Since 2012, he has made threats against contractors hired by BLM to round them up.
The next roundup is "not going to be easy," said Rob Mrowka, a biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity who has lobbied for decades for BLM to remove Bundy's cows. "I think the price is going to be a lot more when you add the risk."
Full story: http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060033077
Snip:
The Bundy herd, last estimated at 1,000, has trampled sensitive soils, devoured native saplings and bedded down against Native American artifacts. One of Bundy's bulls attacked a Nevada wildlife official, while others have run roughshod over a community garden and a golf course, BLM said.
BLM and its allies -- following court orders -- want Bundy's cows gone from the public lands surrounding his Bunkerville, Nev., ranch, and particularly Gold Butte, a 350,000-acre mesa of Joshua trees, cacti and creosote bushes below the snow-dusted Virgin Peak.
But removing Bundy's ornery, battle-tested herd -- estimated by one Nevada official to be worth up to $800,000 -- will be expensive, logistically difficult and potentially dangerous.
"It's like hunting cape buffalo," said Ken Mayer, the former director of Nevada's Department of Wildlife. "They're nasty, they're smart, and they won't hesitate to charge."
Bundy's militant followers may be the bigger hurdle. It's unclear what kind of resistance Bundy or his sons Ammon or Ryan could muster behind bars without access to the ranch or social media, which was a key catalyst in the 2014 standoff. Two others whom the government accuses of helping rally militants to Bunkerville -- Ryan Payne and Pete Santilli -- are also in custody.
Bundy has been grazing his cows without a permit since 1993, and multiple federal judges have ordered they be removed. Since 2012, he has made threats against contractors hired by BLM to round them up.
The next roundup is "not going to be easy," said Rob Mrowka, a biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity who has lobbied for decades for BLM to remove Bundy's cows. "I think the price is going to be a lot more when you add the risk."
Full story: http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060033077