You may have not lived out west, but those folks regard federal lands as theirs, on loan to the federal government, and I'm not kidding you...
No, so said the jury which heard the case, a brave jury, I might add, knowing they were going against local sentiment, big time...
Very true. A lot of "easterners" probably don't realize how much land the federal government owns in western states as well.
You also do realize that the difference is that conservatives and right-wingers will loudly CONDEMN this even when it tends to be ideologically similar - just the opposite of those who think we have to coddle the striking protesters at Mizzou or 'understand' them.
Actually, no - and thank you for calling me out on that. Not referring to anyone here just what I've seen elsewhere.
Originally, it was all empty federal land, i.e., owned by all of us. Most of the people getting the bargain use of it, and I include both grazers and mineral extractors, have only been there since the latter part of the 19th century and most of them really only 2-3 generations. Despite this, they have a real "squatter's mentality." They don't want all the land in the world - just what's next to them, and they don't want to pay for it. If you can tell I don't have a lot of sympathy for them, it's because I've had to listen at length to their pap, up close and personal...
if i were criticizing the general protestors, you would have a point. the guys occupying the federal building and the strikers at mizzou are not even remotely comparable.
this report breaks down the percentage of federally owned lands by each state.It's pretty crazy how much land the FedGov claims:
It's not really "claims." It was in federal ownership and empty before the settlers started moving in. It's they who are the "claimants."It's pretty crazy how much land the FedGov claims:
When the Federal government purchased the land from Napoleon or received it from the Mexican government, there was not a lot of people out there except Sioux, Apache, Navajo, etc. and not many of them. There were 8,000 Californios in the entire Mexican territory now in the state of California.
