OK Corral Redo? Tombstone v Feds 2012.

As a property right activist for most of my adult life. all I can say is thank GOD for the people of Arizona! CNN has run this article HERE on Tombstone's battle with a Forest Service out of control. In a nutshell, a catastrophic forest fire (probably enhanced by lousy Forest Service management too boot) denuded the forests above Tombstone and subsequent torrential rains washed away their water lines.  Tombstone went to repair the water lines and the FS said they could not use mechanical equipment since the area was a "Wilderness" area.  From the article,

"Tombstone now asserts that it owns 25 springs in the Huachuca Mountains and shouldn't have to ask anyone for permission to maintain its own water line. The Forest Service says Tombstone holds permits for just five springs, and it argues the city is trying to exploit a natural disaster to expand its water system."

This is deja vu all over again for many people here in Northern California and the northwest.  We fought the battle of the FS and eco groups lies about the Northern Spotted Owl and we lost.  Thousands of people were forced out of the forests and onto the unemployment lines.  Many small towns were turned into ghost towns and/or destinations for some elites from the city. Tombstone is fighting back and hopefully they will be winners on the Fed overreach.  From the article.

" With the conservative Goldwater Institute taking on Tombstone's legal work, the court battle has blossomed into a full-blown states rights dispute. Tombstone is getting the attention of activists from Utah, New Mexico and other Western states who say the federal government has gone too far. It has become ground zero in a rekindled Sagebrush Rebellion."

The Sagebrush Rebellion was caused by the same kind of Fed intrusion into the lives and practices of people in the drier areas of the west.  Grazing, mining and timber cutting have been under federal attack since the erly 80's.  The Endangered Species Act has been utilized as the sledgehammer of destruction of the way of life here in the west.  The courts have upheld the destruction of that way of life and it seems most of the west will simply be off limits to any uses other than to look at a few tree huggers camping and hiking here.


The Spotted Owl, the Mexican version, a genetic cousin of the Northern, is now being used by the FS to disallow the Tombstone water repair.  Just like the Northern Owl, we in the "know" found out later the FS and their buddies from the Sierra Club etal simply lied about the little bird and they convinced a judge and even the Clinton White House to go along with the lie.  Sort of like "global warming".  Well, the people of Tombstone are fighting back and hopefully they will win but as we know the FS has a bottomless pit of our tax dollars to keep legal action going.  Tombstone is a metaphor of the whole issue of state's rights under our Constitution.  How the Feds should even "own" land outside of the enumerated rights of owning only military bases and a couple of other categories has been debated many times.

Even California, once a "Republic" has questioned how it is the Feds own any land here since no one seems to be able to produce a document saying it does.  So, Representative Flake from Arizona has introduced a bill to allow jurisdictions to repair and replace water lines crossing over these Federal lands so a problem like the Tombstone issue is not repeated.  I say the states should boot the Federal government out of their state's landowning positions all together.  The states should determine what is best for their state's, not some econut Washington C bureaucrats!  Just read the first couple of paragraphs of the CNN article to better understand the tactics forced on Americans by their own government in the guise of protecting a bird or a place.  (they tried using a relocated Wolverine here in Nevada County) .  Amazing that we have come to this.


So the FS allows millions of acres to burn every year through the lack of decent forest management" and millions of critters get toasted and die as well, yet humans can't drive a tractor into the burned area to hookup and repair a water line.  This is the insanity of a million rules and bad laws and maybe this will finally come to an end by the courage of the State of Arizona and the new "Sagebrush Rebellion".