Obama's Land Grab in Nevada

I live in Nevada, and what most of America doesn't know is how much of this state's land is controlled by the federal government.

When Obama took office, 81% of Nevada was designated as federal land.  By the beginning of 2016, he extended that percentage to 84.9, a nearly 4% increase in land that can't be used for anything other than viewing, although 99.999% of the nation's people have not, nor will ever see it.

Now, in another parting shot, and as a gift to the environmentalists, the President has stolen another 300,000 acres by federalizing an area called the Golden Butte; just outside of Las Vegas.  That is the equivalent of an additional 470 square miles added to the ridiculous amount already possessed.  To put that into perspective, the sprawling city of Los Angeles is slightly larger at 503 square miles.  As a result, there can be no oil/gas drilling or mining (in a state known as the "Silver State") because it was designated as not only federal land but also a national monument.

With the result of this last election cycle, Democrats should be "soul searching" to determine why they have lost so much power both federally and nationwide since Barack Obama took office.  One  reason could be this constant pitting of environmentalists against the average American.  In just 8 years, Obama has "federalized" more land than any other President before him. All in an attempt to shut down drilling.

References:

Obama designates monuments, protects federal land in Utah, Nevada: http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/USA-Update/2016/1228/Obama-designates-monuments-protects-federal-land-in-Utah-Nevada

More than half the West is federally owned. Now some states want that land: Almost exactly two-thirds of Utah land—66.5 percent—is federally owned, making it second only to Nevada’s 81 percent: https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2013/10/15/almost-half-the-west-is-federally-owned-now-some-states-want-their-land-back/?utm_term=.e325d7a23f91

Here's how land is used by the federal government in Nevada: http://www.reviewjournal.com/trending/silver-state/heres-how-land-used-the-federal-government-nevada

Los Angeles in Square Miles: https://www.google.com/search?q=square+miles+los+angeles&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8
 
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Obama's Latest "Green" Legacy: Destruction of Wilderness Areas.

For decades, Democrats and environmentalists have blocked and drilled for oil and gas in the almost humanly uninhabitable and so-called pristine land known as the Alaskan Arctic Wildlife Refuge (ANWR).  The fear was that any drilling would disrupt fragile wildlife in the area.  In 2015, President Obama finalized a ban on all drilling in the "Refuge" by expanding the span of land covered by the ban to 12 million acres.

But, this concern over preserving wildlife appears to be gone to the wind (literally) because Obama has  now finalized plans to allow wind farms and solar power plants on millions of  acres of federal land in our Western states.  Already, 60 renewable projects are approved to begin before he leaves office.

The problem with wind and solar is that they, themselves are killers of wildlife.  Birds, by the thousands, die each year by either being burned to death at solar collection farms; or hacked to death in the blades of wind turbines.  Worse, is that many of the birds being killed are protected raptors such as the Bald Eagle.  Additionally,  the abnormal ground vibrations and noise from wind turbines have caused still births and birth defects in animals who either live or are confined near these operations.

Some environmentalists are now seeing the light that "green" energy is not nearly as "green" as they would like.  But, their silence all these years has now resulted in massive wind and solar projects on  once-protected lands.  This is thanks to Obama trying to cement a legacy with the climate change people.  The fact is, that drilling for oil and gas has far fewer deadly affects on wildlife than wind and solar.  I suppose we'll just have to chalk up the lives of the wildlife being killed by these technologies as a small (?) price to pay for saving the planet.  Anyway, those dead creatures can't vote, so what the hell!  Let's just do it and save the planet anyway!

Lastly, here are the Federal regulations for killing a Bald Eagle:

The 1972 amendments increased civil penalties for violating provisions of the Act to a maximum fine of $5,000 or one year imprisonment with $10,000 or not more than two years in prison for a second conviction. Felony convictions carry a maximum fine of $250,000 or two years of imprisonment.

Maybe this should be applied to Barack Obama for being "repeatedly" complicit in the killing of these majestic birds!

References:

Arctic Refuge drilling controversy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_Refuge_drilling_controversy

Obama finalizes plans to ban oil and gas drilling in ‘undisturbed’ Alaskan refuge: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2015/apr/4/obama-finalizes-plans-ban-oil-and-gas-drilling-bea/

BLM sprints to cement Obama's green legacy: http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060044896

Windfarms and birth defects: https://wcfn.org/2014/03/31/windfarms-vertebrates-and-reproduction/

Bird deaths at Calif. power plant a PR nightmare for industry: http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060011853

License to Kill: Wind and Solar Decimate Birds and Bats: http://instituteforenergyresearch.org/analysis/license-to-kill-wind-and-solar-decimate-birds-and-bats/

Save the Eagles International: US wind farms kill 10-20 times more than previously thought: Contrary to what we are being told, wind farms will cause the extinction of many bird and bat species: http://savetheeaglesinternational.org/new/us-windfarms-kill-10-20-times-more-than-previously-thought.html

Greens Concerned Vast Federal Land Clearances for Renewable Energy Projects Might Harm Nature: https://wattsupwiththat.com/2016/10/29/greens-concerned-vast-federal-land-clearances-for-renewable-projects-might-harm-nature/

Federal-lands rule pits green groups against wind, solar firms: Renewable energy firms have been flocking to sites on federal lands. Now pricing by the Bureau of Land Management is about to change toward competitive bidding similar to the system for oil and gas companies: http://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/Inhabit/2016/1027/Federal-lands-rule-pits-green-groups-against-wind-solar-firms

Federal Laws to Protect Bald Eagles - U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service: https://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/protect/laws.html
 
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The Real Reason Behind the Oregon Standoff

Based on media coverage, most people think that the standoff in Oregon and the prior one in Nevada were all about some right-wing, anti-government, wacko ranchers in the West refusing to pay grazing fees for allowing their animals to graze on Federal land. But, there's a bigger issue that is driving these events and here's the graphic that explains it:

Source: BigThink: See Link Below

For decades, every President has burnished their legacy by creating new federal lands by executive order.  Congress unfortunately afforded each president this ability with the passage of the Antiquities Act of 1906. The West has been the biggest target with now, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) controlling 58% of the land in the 10 farthest western states; and, an astounding 85% of Nevada.

In recent years, the target of these land grabs have been more about blocking human activities such as drilling for oil and mining, than preserving lands as national treasures.  The bottom line is that the Federal government is controlling massive tracts of land and is collecting all kinds of fees that should rightly belong to the states. Also, it is believed that $2 billion annually is lost to mismanagement of these lands by the BLM and other federal agencies.

By comparison, the East, the South, and the Midwest have been unfairly left alone in the efforts to nationalize lands as noted by the red areas on this map:

This is why we may see many more Oregon and Nevada standoffs in the future; and I don't think it will just be by ranchers.  In 2015 alone, there were 50 bills submitted in western state legislatures to reclaim land taken from the states by various Presidents.  By all accounts, the Obama Administration has made it much more difficult to do anything on Federal lands; especially for ranchers.

Lastly, President Obama's latest edict to place a moratorium on new leases for coal mining on Federal land primarily hurts 5 western states: Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico.  Again, because of the decades long Federal land grab, it is the states in the West that will see potential losses of jobs, and certainly, losses in revenues.

References:

I’m an Oregon rancher. Here’s what you don’t understand about the Bundy standoff: https://www.washingtonpost.com/posteverything/wp/2016/01/08/im-an-oregon-rancher-heres-what-you-dont-understand-about-the-bundy-standoff/

Imbalance of Federal Land Ownership Sheds Light on Oregon Militia: http://bigthink.com/strange-maps/291-federal-lands-in-the-us

Western States Fighting for Control of Federal Lands: http://news.heartland.org/newspaper-article/2015/10/06/western-states-fighting-control-federal-lands

Antiquities Act of 1906: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antiquities_Act

Mining moratorium a blow to Wyoming's coal industry: The vast majority of that mining on government land takes place in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/01/16/mining-moratorium-blow-to-wyomings-coal-industry.html?intcmp=hplnws