BLM Grazing Lease Holders, Harassment, Misrepresentation

[TylerTheTerrible]

I'm fed up with lease holders misrepresenting their ownership of the land, being aggressive, and just plain shitheads taking pictures of my license plate and riding their 4wheeler into my camp and almost hitting my dog on purpose. I've had 3 run ins with lease holders in the past year.

Some fun quotes for your entertainment include:
-"You're on my land" "This is public" "I graze here"
-"This is my land" when challenged, admits it a "Small sliver of public". I was on a 1200 acre piece of BLM.
-"What seems to be the problem, isn't this public? "Just barely!!!" when we were 1/2 mile from the nearest private.

In the most recent run-in, we called the undersheriff and he knew exactly who we were talking about. What can be done about these liars? Are there repercussions and the possibility of them losing their lease?

 

[COelk89]

My guess is they only do it because they know they will get away with it. Local BLM field office law enforcement would be who I would call. Whether they will actually follow up just depends on who it is. You can go up the ladder complain to field office manager etc., if you are a pain in someone's neck they might do something or they might ignore you...

 

[TylerTheTerrible]

My guess is they only do it because they know they will get away with it. Local BLM field office law enforcement would be who I would call. Whether they will actually follow up just depends on who it is. You can go up the ladder complain to field office manager etc., if you are a pain in someone's neck they might do something or they might ignore you...

The Undersheriff passed our incident on to the BLM ranger for that area. I haven't been contacted by them yet but I imagine I will be in contact with them this fall. We expect to have pronghorn and elk tags in this area. This family is known to be complete asshats based on the commission meeting for the neighboring county.. the type to grade out the drainage ditches for a public road and seed the whole thing and then petition for the county to abandon the road due to issues... unfortunately some commissioners seem to like them. Hoping the BLM is different. If there ever were away to get me onboard with conservation use leases, I could certainly support them in targeted areas.

 

[Gutshotem]

The Undersheriff passed our incident on to the BLM ranger for that area. I haven't been contacted by them yet but I imagine I will be in contact with them this fall.

I'd touch base with him now and have a chat. I'd also buy a dash cam if you think issues will arise at camp.

 

[Swamp Fox]

You need to quit dealing with the undersheriff and go straight to the Ubersheriff ... [insert your own umlaut]

 

[TSAMP]

I was listening to the Cals week in review podcast a few days ago and he had the BLM Director on. They were talking about conservation easements on public land. She mentioned how the prerequisites for this is funding, location, and leasee/rancher cooperation. In fact. Step 1 was checking with the rancher, If they aren't interested they move on. It probably shouldn't suprise me that they give those folks that level of control. I'd imagine it's hard to improve habitat with cattle actively on the Landscape.

 

[Djacker]

Keep contacting the BLM ranger. Be polite about it, and ask for a case update. Enough calls and you'll get an answer. A dash cam or similar will assist in getting some type of harassment charge on the people.

 

[WeiserBucks]

Just don't forget that BLM stands for Bureau of Livestock and Mining.

 

[5MilesBack]

I love it when I see a property for sale, and the listing starts off with something like this: "600 deeded acres, and 12,000 leased BLM acres for only $20 million". Do people really think that they own that public land that they run cattle on.......or think they will own it if they buy it? $20 million.......SMH.

 

[BBob]

Sometimes they get the boot but not often. Depends on how bad they start acting up.

Look up the Klump’s in S Arizona. In their feud with the gov they started locking up public access. One incident resulted in some ranch hands being arrested over a confrontation with some hunters attempting to access the public. Ultimately the Klump’s lost several of their leases.

 

[mtnrunner260]

Most blm offices are understaffed.
They pay attention to the squeaky wheel.
To have any hope of affecting change you need to be the squeaky wheel.
Get in touch with the field office manager.
Ask questions like when the lease renewal is? What public comment will be heard. Show your not going away.
Sounds like others have similar issues. Start a group.
Good luck

 

[S.Clancy]

Call the actual sheriff. I don't who you go above if the sheriff won't act, DA maybe? If the area is podunk enough, it may be trash all the way to the top

 

[cnelk]

Doesn’t anyone stand up to bullies anymore?

Get up in their face.
They aren’t used to that.

 

[Bubblehide]

These types of issues often require proof for any law enforcement agency to act upon. So in short, film it, with sound if possible (covertly works best). Law enforcement needs to see it for themselves to take action. Showing law enforcement a video allows them to take action.

 

[Mt Al]

Do people really think that they own that public land that they run cattle on.......or think they will own it if they buy it?

Some do, along with state land in MT, Forest Service, etc.. Just amazing, but true.

I've had several run ins several years ago and they are no fun at all. I think there's a hunter harassment law in Montana.

Strongly recommend a hidden game camera near your vehicles and camp and non-stop calling sheriff, Fish and Game, BLM and state and fed government. Nothing will happen, at all, otherwise.

A few of mine:
I reported an incident to a Fish and Game warden about a lease holder harassment and got a lecture that the lease holder has a right to access the land blah blah. Told him I was taking notes, I was serious about a response, please address my question and I'll ask it slowly, did he understand, etc.? Reported the whole thing to a sheriff and he contacted the lease holder that he's going to be watched. Reported the warden to his superior and asked for feedback on what I can expect next time I call the warden. Guy actually called me back and thanked me, amazing.

I took to calling one lease holder, telling him when I was coming, that i'd be watching my vehicles and camp, would have game cameras recording his comings and goings from public land (prior to outlawing game cameras on public land), told him when he approaches on his 4 wheeler he'll be recorded, does he understand that it's public land, etc.. Asked if I should expect any harassment, etc..

Finally, had one ass hat lease holder tell me I owned him a trophy fee for a buck I killed on state land!! Told him to call the sheriff, state land lacky and come and arrest me for trespassing and poaching, pulled out my camera and took pics of him, the buck, etc.., called a friend on my cell, put it on speaker and told him what was happening,

I f-ing hate incidents like that!

 

[SOIHUNT]

Couple of years ago had this happen to me on a elk hunt and I’v hunted here a lot. Anyways had this guy pull up on me my buddy yelling know what land you’re on and I replied why are you lost well he got out of his truck ran towards me and I jumped out yelled don’t let space get between us, because he kept saying he was going kick my butt.
Well he stopped right and looked at me like what did he just say and his helper just got back in the truck and looked at us like he didn’t want anything to do with me. lol
by rights we were on public land and about 1/8 of a mile turns into blm land that was locked up.
I called the local game warden and the sheriff department when I got signal to let them know what happened.. They both told me to enjoy my hunt…

 

[Gutshot007]

Pay a few ex-cons in ski masks a couple bucks to take him to the "train station" lol . Unfortunately most of the time nothing ever happens in these situations . People know what they can get away with . In my experience you have to prove everything and LE/Co's dont have they time or enthusiasm to deal with it . Good luck

 

[OKHunter84]

I was on a guided hunt in New Mexico several years ago. We had a run in with a unfriendly rancher on BLM. He tried to run us off saying we were on private, this was right around the time Garmin and onX became available, so we were able to show him otherwise.

I killed a nice buck and the next morning we bedded another dandy for my dad. We're game planning the stalk and next thing you know here comes a side by side driving through the BLM. His hunter that was with him started busting off and spooked the buck without hitting him.

We called the game Warden and were able to show pictures through the spotter and show the tracks off his ATV on public. Come to find out, his hunter was using a private land voucher so they both got in trouble.

Watch these guys and get proof, then nail them.

 

[BBob]

^^^ absolutely par for the course in NM. They’ve been notoriously pulling all of that bs and more forever.

 

[mtwarden]

In Montana we have a pretty good hunter harassment law, not sure what state you're having the run ins; if not Montana check and see if that state has a similar law.

Having video would definitely be a plus.

Obviously you'd want to call the game warden for a hunter harassment case, not sure what a deputy could do.