the western range lands, vast, scenic and a battleground for what became known as the sage brush rebellion, a fight that began decades ago between locals and the federal government over land use. the sage brush rebellion got its name from the type of vegetation on a lot of the federal land in the west. ranchers are complaining that the bureau of land management, blm, doesn t identify with ranching problems. wayne hage sr. didn t plan to become the face of that rebellion, but that s just what happened. he was just 2 when his parents sold their california ranch and bought pine creek ranch in central nevada. in other words, he can t remember a time when his family hasn t had to fight the government. they bought it for a place they could raise family on the ranch and continue livestock business. the ranch itself is more than
the western range lands, vast scenic and a battleground for what became known as the sage brush rebellion a fight that began decades ago between locals and the federal government over land use. the sage brush rebellion got its name from the type of vegetation on a lot of the federal land in the west. ranchers are complaining that the bureau of land management, blm, doesn t identify with ranching problems. wayne hage sr. didn t plan to become the face of that we rebellion, but that s just what happened. he was just 2 when his parents sold their california ranch and bought pine creek ranch in central nevada. in other words, he can t remember a time when his family hasn t had to fight the government. they bought it for a place they could raise family on the
the western range lands, vast scenic and a battleground for what became known as the sage brush rebellion a fight that began decades ago between locals and the federal government over land use. the sage brush rebellion got its name from the type of vegetation on a lot of the federal land in the west. ranchers are complaining that the bureau of land management, blm, doesn t identify with ranching problems. wayne hage sr. didn t plan to become the face of that we rebellion, but that s just what happened. he was just 2 when his parents sold their california ranch and bought pine creek ranch in central nevada. in other words, he can t remember a time when his family hasn t had to fight the government. they bought it for a place they could raise family on the
maybe it s worth remembering that there s a real history of these kinds of very hot and at times very scary confrontations. this happened in nye county, nevada back in 1991. a very, very tense confrontation between county officials who wanted to bulldoze a road, in fact did bulldoze a road into national forest lands, happened in new mexico, this is all an outgrowth, really, the sage brush rebellion and the idea, the theory that the states should have control of these lands that, in fact, were first ceded by treaties with foreign governments mostly to the united states federal government. what do you predict to happen next here? well, you know, my guess is, and it s merely a guess, is that the federal government will wait some months, and hopefully will go in in a much better and more rapid way than they did this time. the way they went in this time there was so much time involved, so much time for these pictures of helicopters and police dogs and all the rest to get out that
in the federal west, it s an all-out brawl called the sage brush rebellion. on one side, the federal government. on the other, some land owners and some local governments and the battle is threatening to turn very ugly. nbc s roger o neil tonight has the first part of our in-depth report. in the land of wide open spaces, there s a new land war. the federal government owns almost half the property in the west, and the fight is over who should control it. the first shot was fired in nevada, captured on home video, dick carver, a county supervisor, reopened a road in the national forest. two federal rangers said they were threatened. it was the fourth of july, and it became a declaration of independence for a new rebellion. this time, from the feds.