Where I Stand — Mike O’Callaghan: Protecting our heritage

Friday, March 22, 2002 | 9:36 a.m.

Mike O'Callaghan is the Las Vegas Sun executive editor.

This land is your land, this land is my land, from California to the New York island: From the redwood forest to the Gulf Stream waters. This land was made for you and me.

-- Chorus of Woody Guthrie's "This Land Is Your Land."

RANCHER CLIFF GARDNER from Ruby Valley wants us to believe that the grazing rights on our land belong to him. Recently convicted for refusing to remove his cattle from land protected by the U.S. Forest Service, he vows to appeal the decision to a higher federal court. He believes that no federal agency has the authority to prohibit or control grazing on land his family had used even before the Humboldt Forest was created.

Evidently the $5,000 fine and a scheduled month in a halfway house hasn't convinced him he is wrong. He doesn't believe that his cattle are doing any damage to the land. Associated Press writer Scott Sonner reports that Christie Kalkowski of the Forest Service has a different view of Gardner. "Most ranchers are law abiding. They pay their grazing fees, and follow the terms and conditions of their permits," she said.

My view of Gardner and his so-called Sagebrush Rebellion friends has been expressed several times in past years. They don't even believe in states' rights but only their own "rights." Their problem stems from a refusal to realize that they don't own the land protected by federal agencies. Let me remind them that that land belongs to you and me. Yes, it also belongs to people who live in New York and Mississippi. For example, Lake Tahoe doesn't belong to California and Nevada. Residents of these states have the privilege of being the guardians of that sparkling gem in the mountains.

Our public lands, both state and federal, have government agencies to protect them for all of us. Can you imagine the shape our parks, forests and wildlife areas would be in if they weren't protected? The damage that overgrazing can do to our land and water resources is well documented.

As I have written before, the term Sagebrush Rebellion is the epitome of jingoism. It sounds Western, horsy, outdoorsy and something any red-blooded, Levi-wearing Westerner can identify with in good conscience. However, it is really the opposite of those things and, if successful, would in a matter of 20 years have Westerners again singing, "Don't fence me in." As a matter of fact, we have had a few cases where ranchers with only grazing rights have fenced off our land and kept hunters and fishermen from crossing it. Even worse, some were guilty of charging fees for the sportsmen to cross the land to reach hunting grounds and fishing streams.

And as Woody Guthrie went on to sing: As I went walking, I saw a sign there. And on the sign it said "No Trespassing." But on the other side it didn't say nothing. That side was made for you and me.

People who love their land should hope that Gardner loses again when appealing the decision of a U.S. District Court in Nevada. It's time for him to follow the rules like other good citizens. You and I must remember that's our land and we had better keep our eyes on it so our children and grandchildren can also enjoy it. To do less would be unforgivable and an irretrievable loss recorded in the pages of future U. S. history books.