And this...They took away his Permit rights and handed it along his "Legal Water Rights" to a different Rancher.
"However, during the pendency of the trespass case, the agencies pursued remedies outside the jurisdiction of the Court, leading to a referral to the U.S. Attorney for obstruction of justice and findings of contempt of court. Specifically, the BLM invited others, including Mr. Gary Snow of Fallon, to apply for grazing permits on allotments where the Hages previously had permits; the BLM testified they knew Snow’s cattle would use Hage waters; the BLM and USFS both applied to the State of Nevada for stock watering rights over Hage waters, even though neither agency owns cattle, for the “purpose of obtaining rights for third parties other than Hage in order to interfere with Hage’s rights”; and they attempted to intimidate witnesses in the trespass case by issuing trespass notices and demands for payments against persons who had cattle pastured at Pine Creek Ranch, despite having been notified that Hage was responsible for these cattle.
Judge Jones reasoned the trespass notices and demands for payment were meant “to pressure other parties not to do business with the Hages, and even to discourage or punish testimony in the present case.” The Court noted such demands for payment were even issued to “witnesses soon after they testified in this case.”
Tonopah BLM Manager, Tom Seley and Forest Ranger, Steve Williams were both found to be in contempt of court, and were referred to the U.S. Attorney for possible prosecution for criminal obstruction of justice. Noting that Seley and Williams knew of ongoing litigation between the parties in this court and the CFC, they “took actions to interfere with the defense of the present trespass action by intimidating witnesses.” A written order is pending from the separate August 2012 contempt hearing.
The Court stated, “In summary, the government officials, and perhaps also Mr. Snow, entered into a literal, intentional conspiracy to deprive the Hages not only of their permits but also their vested water rights. This behavior shocks the conscience of the Court and provides a sufficient basis for a finding of irreparable harm” to support permanent injunctive relief."
http://citizenreviewonline.org/federal-court-finds/I have found this in my own experiences...there is always a personal and Private "Good ol Boy" connection behind these BLM actions.
