Bundy And BLM Case Study

The BLM an agency that most people tend to not have a clue about. Most people may ask what it does and what are its effects on people and policies? Well the BLM stands for Bureau of Land Management and it controls more than 250 million acres of land in the United States today. To put that in perspective that amount of land is more than more notable agencies such as the National Park Service and Wildlife Service. This agency has been at the forefront of many disputes over the course of our history. However, none spark the attention of the nation compared to the 2014 dispute between Bundy and the BLM. This dispute goes back more than 20 years ago when Bundy stopped paying the BLM’s grazing fees. Since then, Bundy has stated that he will not pay the amount which comparatively speaking is between $300,000 and $1 million dollars. Bundy has since stated that he will not pay these fees, claiming that the BLM is out to take his land not allowing Bundy the opportunity to pass the land down to his sons. So when thinking about this current …show more content…
The birth of this agency was not a pleasant one consistently dealing with issues of decision making following its inception in July of 1946. As Skillen writes in his book The Nation’s Largest Landlord, “although the BLM’s inception grew little attention due to its little impact on current policies at the time it still forced Congress and the nation to deal with the public lands in a single political arena rather than separating grazing districts from other public lands.” Skillen also goes on to state that, “the formation of the BLM illustrates many problems of purpose and decision-making process that still haunt the agency today.” One of the many issues with the BLM is its lack of procedures and guidelines that involve enforcing laws and charges that holds true with 2014’s Bundy