The Battle for the American West: Rancher Persecution and Bureaucratic Tyranny
The Hage family's decades-long struggle began in 1978 when they moved to the Pine Creek Ranch in Central Nevada.
This is the true story of "How the West Was Run"—or, more accurately, run over—by government overreach and the actions of what rancher Wayne Hage Sr. called "Jack-Booted Thugs."
The Hage family's decades-long struggle began in 1978 when they moved to the Pine Creek Ranch in Central Nevada.
Unbeknownst to them, their newly purchased land was immediately entangled in federal designs, initially considered for a National Park designation (which was ultimately given to the Great Basin).
Despite that decision, the perceived threat of federal control persisted, with the US Forest Service (USFS) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) allegedly orchestrating a "conspiracy" to strip the family of their land and rights.
The conflict dramatically escalated in 1991. Federal agents descended upon the ranch and seized 100 head of cattle in Meadow Canyon near Tonopah—an aggressive act some referred to as a "Cattle Rustle Cover-up."
The seizure was a flashpoint in the ranching community's fight for property rights.
The Courtroom Confrontation
The resulting 2007 US Court of Federal Claims Trespass Action over grazing permits became a major legal showdown.
Wayne Hage, acting pro se, challenged the government's claims of trespass, asserting an "Honest Assertion" of right during 21 days of court proceedings.
In a stunning ruling, the Judge found that some government personnel were in Contempt and had engaged in Intentional Conspiracy to illegally take the Hage family’s water and grazing rights.
However, the legal battle did not end there. The Prosecution contested the ruling by claiming "Bias," arguing that because the government always wins, the Judge must have been prejudiced against them.
The 9th Circuit Federal Court of Appeals subsequently agreed to toss the prior decisions and transferred the case to (guess who) Judge Gloria Navarro.
The struggle he chronicled continues to be a landmark case in the fight over property and grazing rights in the American West.
This account provides the background to the speech Wayne Hage gave at the We the People Unity event in Napa, Idaho, on October 6, 2018.
Listen to Wayne Hage tell his story:
https://youtu.be/v42XLuZI7qw?si=BTrNfcojJ9ubN3Z9
(Video made available by and uploaded with permission from Andrea Parker.)
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