Don’t glorify actions of trespassing rancher

Keith Rogers’ Wednesday story, “Range standoff smoldering,” failed to incorporate the basic balance I have come to expect from the Review-Journal when reporting on these matters.

The Bundy trespass has been ongoing for more than 12 years and remains the last and largest illegal grazing activity in the state of Nevada — and the West, for that matter. The Bureau of Land Management has worked closely with state and local officials under the direction of the U.S. attorney and in coordination with the governor for several months, yet threats and repeated nonsense from Cliven Bundy rule the day.

More importantly, your story makes him and his misguided cause appear to have some merit. Sadly, the uninformed will now be sympathetic to his willful and deliberate actions that continue to cause significant damage to the public land, adjacent private land and many of his neighbors.

Mr. Bundy is not a hero, but the rhetoric will now escalate. Mr. Bundy is delusional and a bully, and his actions should be condemned, not glorified. You owe it to your readers to provide the facts and report on the true situation and not allow this to turn into another government-bashing exercise.

I guess if everyone were to use Mr. Bundy’s logic we should all turn cows loose in Red Rock, Sloan Canyon, Lake Mead and the Desert National Wildlife Refuge with little regard for the law and responsible management of our public lands or our neighbors.

Mike Ford

Las Vegas

The writer is a former BLM official who now serves as Nevada and southwest director of The Conservation Fund, an environmental nonprofit that pursues environmental preservation and economic development.