patrick.net

http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2016/01/25/bundynomics

Furthermore, Bundy’s beloved ranching, mining, and logging industries have been some of the biggest beneficiaries of government largesse. The grazing fees that the government charges ranchers have barely budged in forty years, thanks to the political power of the Western lobby. The Obama Administration did manage a rate hike last year, but, adjusted for inflation, the current price is still dramatically lower than it was in 1978. And the government is lenient about collecting fees. Bundy’s father, Cliven, was more than a million dollars in arrears before action was taken against him, last year, resulting in the first Bundy standoff.

Another irony is that it’s far from clear that local control would be an economic panacea for ranchers and loggers. Fees on state-owned land tend to be considerably higher than on federal land, in part because most state governments are legally required to maximize the value of their public land, and the federal government isn’t. And states would have to pay for all the upkeep the feds now handle, which is why a number of studies have concluded that reclamation would increase costs, rather than shrink them. A 2012 study, for instance, found that taking back federal land would cost Utah two hundred and seventy-five million dollars a year.

#landgrab
#oregon
#ammon
#bundy