Center for Biological Diversity

For Immediate Release, November 8, 2018

Contact: Kierán Suckling, (520) 275-5960, ksuckling@biologicaldiversity.org

Court Asked to Dismiss Incoherent Bundy Lawsuit to Seize 58 Million Acres of Public Land

LAS VEGAS— The Center for Biological Diversity today filed a legal motion in Nevada state court to dismiss Cliven Bundy’s latest lawsuit to seize more than 58 million acres of publicly owned federal lands, including national parks and monuments. His suit seeks to have the lands transferred to the state of Nevada, which never owned them.

“Bundy has illegally grazed cattle on 800,000 acres of public lands for two decades, racking up over a million dollars in fees and fines and trashing critical wildlife habitat. It’s absurd that he thinks a court will endorse that,” said Kierán Suckling, the Center’s executive director. “This case would be laughable if Bundy and his followers weren’t armed extremists with a violent history.”

When federal authorities attempted to remove his trespass cows in 2014, Bundy and his sons organized a dangerous armed standoff and intimidated the government into halting the operation. Much of the land Bundy illegally grazes is now protected within Gold Butte National Monument.

Bundy claims the U.S. Constitution forbids the federal government from owning large swaths of land for public use. His assertion has been rejected by the Supreme Court and numerous federal courts, including two rulings issued in response to filings by Bundy himself. His current state court case is a futile, rambling effort to reverse the federal courts.

“Bundy and his fanatical followers are willing to use force to seize public lands that belong to everyone,” said Suckling. “This is a movement with violent, racist roots that aims to take us back a hundred years. It’s got no business in the 21st century.”

The Center’s dismissal request was filed along with a motion to intervene in Bundy’s case (Case No. A-18-779718-C), which was filed in the 8th Judicial District Court in Clark County.

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

www.biologicaldiversity.org

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