Letter to the Editor - Montanans: Thieves want to steal our legacy.

Cliven Bundy came to Paradise, Montana, to speak about his problems with the federal government. Bundy said he is being persecuted for not paying for use of public lands. A brief list of his “problems” is enlightening to say the least. He does not recognize powers of the federal government, stating that he has no contract with the federal government.

“My 15-second defense is I only graze my cattle on Clark County, Nevada, land and I have no contract with the federal government,” he said. “I haven’t had a contract with the federal government in 25 years.”

This fellow thinks that public land is state land. This thinking is in line with those who want to turn public land over to the states. By his own admission, Cliven Bundy has been stealing public land use for 25 years.

Federal lands do not belong to the government. They belong to the public. The “public” is you and me. The government, in the Bundy case, is the Bureau of Land Management, charged with taking care of that land for the public. Again, “public” is you and me. The problem is that Bundy claims that the BLM does not have the right to charge him for use of public lands to run his cattle on. This inane argument is very hard to believe.

The Los Angeles Times reports Bundy owes us over $1 million for grazing cattle on BLM land. Anyone who grazes cattle on private land will have to pay grazing fees to the landowner. So why does Cliven Bundy think that he can stiff you and me for use of our land? Because we have let him get away with it.

Cliven Bundy has been living off of the public. Bundy and his ilk are just plain moochers. They think that they deserve charity because they are above the laws of this country. This is the same philosophy that fueled the Sagebrush Rebellion during the ’70s and ’80s and is fueling the effort, by the greedy, to transfer public lands to the states. They know Montana cannot afford to own those lands, Montana would have to sell those lands; the vultures will be waiting.

It is sad Bundy was invited to Montana to spread this kind of anti-Montanan drivel by the Coalition of Western Property Owners, with support by Jennifer Fielder, a Montana legislator from Sanders County.

Harold Johns

Butte