The History of the Federal Government Land Grab (part 1)

The Public Lands Monster has reared its ugly head again, as parts of Southern Utah and Northern Arizona look at another illegal land grab by the Feds to push Americans off their lands in their respective states. For additional information, please read the following articles for what is transpiring in 2023 (The Public Lands Rule and the Grand Canyon Monument, Counties tell Feds to Stick It, and Arizona Federal Land Grab in Progress!)

This article (part 1) will go more into the history of how the Federal Government has not lived up to the original purpose of the Constitution.

“To this I am opposed, because when all government, domestic and foreign, in little as in great things, shall be drawn to Washington as the center of power, it will render the powerless the checks provided of one government on another, and will become as venal and oppressive as the government from which we separated.” — Thomas Jefferson

The Constitution is a document to prevent all of government’s function to be placed in the hands of one or more accurately, a consolidation of every thing into a monopoly (Series 1a, 1b, 2, 3 & 4) controlled by the oligarchs.

In Article 1 Section 8:17

“The people of the states empower Congress to exercise complete jurisdiction and authority over all lands or facilities purchased within a state, providing it shall be with the consent of the legislature of that state. Such lands shall be used for the “erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful buildings.”

When the Constitution was written, this applied to the 13 original states. It wasn’t until later, a consensus and an accord was agreed upon to bring new states into the Union.

“This provision gives the Congress the RIGHT to exercise complete jurisdiction over lands or facilities which it has purchased with the consent of the state legislature for the purposes specified.” (1)

Every state assumed the title to all lands in their land boundaries, as long as the federal government did not need them for the clear-cut, defined and exact needs prescribed in the charter.

“It would also appear that this provision gives each state the RIGHT to assume title to all lands within its boundaries which the federal government is not using for the purposes specified in this section.” (1)

The Northwest Ordinance, clarified the new rules for new states to come in with “equal footing with the original thirteen states”, but we will soon learn, gradually, and by installments, this was not the case in the Western states.

“. . . new states coming into the Union where most of the territory consists of federal public lands? The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 declared that all new states would come into the Union on a basis of complete equality or equal footing with the original thirteen states. . . .” (1)

The land mass was to be absorbed by the new state, minus the prescribed “needful buildings.”

“. . . it was assumed that as soon as a new territory was granted statehood, the people of that state would acquire title to every acre of land other than a very small percentage granted to the federal government for the “erection of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful buildings.” (1)

By 1803, the federal government changed direction and was backsliding and regressing on the terms and agreements by not adhering to the rules and regulations of the original intent of the Constitution. The document was being subverted, overturned and undermined. The “equal footing” was being gradually destroyed, picking and favoring the old states and oligarchs in their industries, over new states coming into the Union. This gave more power and influence to the old guard.

“But Congress did not allow this to happen. When Ohio was admitted into the Union in 1803, the government retained title to all of the public lands but assured the people that Ohio would acquire jurisdiction as soon as these lands could be sold to help pay off the national debt. This, then, became the established policy for new states:” (1)

1 – “The federal government would retain all ungranted public lands.” (1)

2 – “The government guaranteed that it would dispose of these lands as soon as possible.” (1)

3 – “The new state would acquire jurisdiction over these lands as fast as they were sold to private individuals.” (1)

When additional land mass was acquired from Mexico, we see the federal government “radically” changed course by violating the Constitution even further by straying away from the initial contract between the people, state and federal government.

“. . . when the territory of the western states was acquired from Mexico, Congress radically digressed from the Constitution by virtually eliminating the sale or disposal of federal lands. The general policy was to permanently retain major portions of each of the western states for purposes not listed in the Constitution. . . .” (1)

The new rule-sets shows how the federal government permanently owns and manages “over 35 percent of the American landmass.” The land has been designated from the original intent “of forts, magazines, arsenals, dock yards, and other needful buildings” to locking the area up as “wilderness areas.” This hindered Laissez-faire, which tipped the scale from being self-reliant from being able to own and control our own states property and resources and shift the power and influence to increase dependency on the federal government by not allowing the “equal footing” doctrine to be adhered too. Its been gradual over the years but has reached exponential growth.

It destroys competition, and consolidates the power into a fewer and fewer hands by way of monopolies. If the states have less property and federal government has more, then it destroys consistency and fairness by way of injustice. The allocation of the land and property was mandated by the Founders and Framers of the Constitution to be impartial but has been subverted.

The States and the people need the “natural resources” to “convert them into products, and use them” as it is “necessary in order that life may run its appointed course.”

“But life cannot maintain itself alone. The Creator of life has entrusted us with the responsibility of preserving, developing, and perfecting it. In order that we may accomplish this, He has provided us with a collection of marvelous faculties. And He has put us in the midst of a variety of natural resources. By the application of our faculties to these natural resources we convert them into products, and use them. This process is necessary in order that life may run its appointed course.

Life, faculties, production—in other words, individuality, liberty, property—this is man. And in spite of the cunning of artful political leaders, these three gifts from God precede all human legislation, and are superior to it.” (2)

Once the law, in essence the Constitution has been perverted; greed and crime are protected rather than prosecuted.

“The law perverted! And the police powers of the state perverted along with it! The law, I say, not only turned from its proper purpose but made to follow an entirely contrary purpose! The law become the weapon of every kind of greed! Instead of checking crime, the law itself guilty of the evils it is supposed to punish!” (2)

People will either join in the perversion of the law and be part of the plunder or try and stop it.

“According to their degree of enlightenment, these plundered classes may propose one of two entirely different purposes when they attempt to attain political power: Either they may wish to stop lawful plunder, or they may wish to share in it.” (2)

We see 35 percent of the land mass in total in the United States was taken out of the equation, but looking at the West, the percentage is doubled in states west of the Mississippi River, not allowing the making a living for the people residing in these states.

“This policy resulted in the government becoming the permanent owner and manager of over 35 percent of the American landmass . . . permanently designated as part of the federal domain for national forests, national parks, national monuments, coal and oil reserves, lands leased for profit to ranchers or farmers, and huge tract of land with valuable resources completely locked up as “wilderness areas.”” (1)

Land mass held by the federal government:

• Nevada 84.94%
• Utah 64.9%
• Idaho 61.63%
• Alaska 61.24%
• Oregon 52.95%
• Wyoming 48.14%
• California 45.77%
• Arizona 38.61%
• Colorado 35.9%
• New Mexico 34.7%
• Montana 28.95%
• Washington 28.52%

“You can’t pick and choose which types of freedom you want to defend. You must defend all of it or be against all of it.” — Scott Howard Phillips

It’s the same with the Constitution, one must defend all of it or be against all of it. We can’t pick and choose as in a buffet.

By not holding to the contractual promises of the Constitution, the new policy enriched a few at the cost of the many, by creating monopolies and oligarchs to plunder by not allowing the new states to incorporate and not allowing the complete transfer of their land to compete, develop and flourish in the marketplace.

“But, generally, the law is made by one man or one class of men.” (2)

“This fact, combined with the fatal tendency that exists in the heart of man to satisfy his wants with the least possible effort, explains the almost universal perversion of the law. Thus it is easy to understand how law, instead of checking injustice, becomes the invincible weapon of injustice. It is easy to understand why the law is used by the legislator to destroy in varying degrees among the rest of the people, their personal independence by slavery, their liberty by oppression, and their property by plunder. This is done for the benefit of the person who makes the law, and in proportion to the power that he holds.” (2)

“Man can live and satisfy his wants only by ceaseless labor; by the ceaseless application of his faculties to natural resources. This process is the origin of property. But it is also true that a man may live and satisfy his wants by seizing and consuming the products of the labor of others. This process is the origin of plunder.” (2)

How Does This Effect Utah:

The actual amount of Federally controlled lands in Utah varies on sources, but regardless it is a large chunk of property. Here, we find the land mass is 66.48 percent, this is 2/3 of the state. Utahns only have 1/3, or 33.62 percent for the people to prosper in the “midst of a variety of natural resources. By the application of our faculties to these natural resources we convert them into products, and use them. This process is necessary in order that life may run its appointed course.” (2)

The people and the State of Utah should be the owners and managers of the lands, not the usurpers called the Federal government. It says so in our countries guiding principles in the rule manual. If we are being short changed, deceived, defrauded and ripped off on our lands, then it effects Utahns subsistence, support, means and resources for our present and future generations from our children to our grandchildren. This shows how over time, and through the legislative body of corrupt individuals, the Constitution has been corrupted, subverted, and undermined to pick winners and losers, by creating unhealthy precedence in injustice with layers of time, semantics, encroachment and dishonesty from multiple sources.

By not being able to have access to all of our land, it hinders, cripples and obstructs States and Counties responsibilities for the people for their “pursuit in happiness” by gradually destroying life, liberty and property (series 1 & 2).

“No, my friend, the way to have good and safe government is not to trust it all to one, but to divide it among the many, distributing to every one exactly the function he is competent to.

Let the National Government be entrusted with the defence of the nation and it’s foreign and federal relations; the State governments with the civil rights, laws, police and administration of what concerns the State generally; the counties with the local concerns of the counties, and each ward direct the interests within itself.

It is by dividing and subdividing these republics from the great national one down through all its subordinations, until it ends in the administration of every man’s farm by himself; by placing under every one what his own eye may superintend, that all will be done for the best.” — Thomas Jefferson

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(1) The Making of America by W. Cleon Skousen

(2) The Law by Frederic Bastiat and Property Rights: How laws affect Life, Liberty and Property (part 2)