Homemade Sovereignty · Episode 4 of 7 · 20 min
The Sagebrush Rebellion: How a 1976 Land Law Sparked 50 Years of Armed Standoffs
In 1976 Congress ended homesteading and declared Western public lands would stay federal, turning would-be owners into permanent tenants. Disputes over grazing fees and water rights, combined with thin federal enforcement, grew into the Sagebrush Rebellion and the county-supremacy theory. The episode follows that path to the Bundy standoffs.
Who's who
- Cliven Bundy+2 more episodesNevada rancher who stopped paying BLM grazing fees in 1993
- Ammon Bundy+2 more episodesBundy son who took part in the 2016 Malheur occupation
- Ryan Bundy+2 more episodesBundy son who took part in the 2016 Malheur occupation
- Randy BarnettOriginalist scholar cited as arguing federal discretion over Western lands is narrower
Where it happens
- Bunkerville, Nevada+2 more episodesSite of the 2014 armed standoff over Bundy cattle
- Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, Oregon+2 more episodesOccupied for 41 days in 2016
- American WestRegion where the BLM manages about 245 million acres
Timeline
- 1862Homestead Act begins a century of federal land disposal
- October 1976Congress passes the Federal Land Policy and Management Act, ending homesteading
- 1993Cliven Bundy stops paying BLM grazing fees
- April 2014BLM seizure of Bundy cattle ends with agents backing down at Bunkerville
- January-February 2016Malheur National Wildlife Refuge occupation lasts 41 days
Still debated
Federal courts have consistently upheld permanent federal retention of public land, though some originalist scholars read Congress's power over Western lands more narrowly. The reach of state water rights against federal management, and how far environmental restrictions are scientifically justified, also remain disputed.
← PreviousPrintz v. United States: How a Narrow Constitutional Ruling Became a Blank Check for StatesNext →How Two Sheriffs Decided the Bundy Standoff and Malheur Occupation
