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The Bureau of Land Management is investigating claims that Ryan Bundy illegally built irrigation trenches across Gold Butte National Monument in Nevada. A four-page complaint submitted to the agency last month by a group of hikers includes GPS coordinates and photos of equipment used to lay irrigation pipe, stating "It's a true scar where just that morning there had been pristine desert."
The Bundy family, famous for leading multiple armed standoffs with federal officials, has illegally grazed cattle on public lands in the area since 1993, racking up millions in unpaid grazing fees and damaging a sensitive landscape. New irrigation may indicate the family is looking to increase their number of cattle, further damaging the national monument and setting up yet another confrontation with the BLM.
Unfortunately for Gold Butte, the Trump administration has sided with public land extremists like the Bundys, placing BLM leadership in a bind. In 2018, President Trump pardoned two ranchers whose case sparked the armed takeover of a wildlife refuge, and the previous year he dramatically reduced national monuments in Utah. These actions have only emboldened Ryan Bundy, who told E&E News, "Gold Butte is not located on land belonging to the United States. Gold Butte is land [within] the external boundaries of the sovereign Nevada State, an admitted State of the Union. And therefore I know nothing of which you speak regarding irrigation on a non-existent monument."
Join the Road to 30 Virtual Tour
Next Tuesday, May 19 at 3:00pm ET, join the Center for Western Priorities and the Sierra Club to kick off a virtual road tour discussing the bold vision to protect 30 percent of America by 2030—a goal that can conserve nature, strengthen communities, and increase public health. We'll be joined by U.S. Senator Tom Udall and National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence Dr. Enric Sala, both leaders in the effort to protect our natural heritage.
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The grid is changing so much faster than anyone expected. A decade ago, I was teaching my students that coal was the ‘baseload’ source that runs all the time, and solar was something you might sprinkle in if you want to pay more. Now coal’s been pushed to the margins and it’s wind and solar that are the cheapest options.”
