Water: The Final Jurisdictional Frontier?

The USFS and the BLM appear to be launching an all out "war" on water rights in the west, with the help of any number of so-called environmental groups.  Access is being denied all over the west to use, repair, or maintain water rights and systems that have been in private use for generations.  Grazers are being told across the west that their permits will not be renewed unless they sign over their water rights to the U.S. Government.  Recently, the USDA announced new regulations to:

• restore the flow of waters into natural channels and floodplains by removing, replacing or modifying water control structures;
• restore lands and habitat to pre-disturbance conditions by removing debris and sediment conditions following natural or human-caused events; and
• restore, rehabilitate or stabilize lands occupied by non-National Forest System roads and trails to a more natural condition.

Given the history and the language of this regulation, it appears to be another frontal assault on local control of land and water access, use and ownership.  The time to act to secure local jurisdiction over these matters is now.  This is why the American Lands Council was recently formed -- to coordinate offensive actions to secure and defend local control over land and water access, use and ownership, before its too late ...

See this from the Westerner Blog:


Let's see, Tombstone can't repair the city's waterlines, this dam can't be repaired in Montana, and a Lincoln County, NM Commissioner who had just experienced a fire that started in a wilderness says:

“If you had asked me 10 years ago what I thought of the White Mountain Wilderness I would have told you I was in favor of it. The White Mountain Wilderness terrain is beautiful and unique, which should absolutely be protected. However, after years of drought, massive bug tree kill, and blown down trees, this area has become excessively under managed and highly prone to fire damage. Even though the Forest Service has proposed thinning and restoration projects in these forests, lawsuits and appeals by the Wild Earth Guardians, Center for Biological Diversity and others have totally hampered the ability of the Forest Service to manage it. The restrictions on roads and motorized vehicles, chainsaws, and grazing by livestock have also hurt the ability to manage this area. In my opinion, forests in the Southwest, especially those near an urban interface, should never be designated as wilderness areas. As long as the wilderness designation stands, we will not be able to control the area appropriately. This leaves us incredibly vulnerable to disastrous fire damage. We need to consider removing the wilderness designation from the White Mountain Wilderness.”---Mark Doth, Lincoln County Commissioner