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I guess the BLM is one government endity that actually makes money

John J. Cardillo is former New York City Police Officer, and the Founder and CEO of PsyID, the leading provider of actionable social media intelligence and analytics. John is a frequent guest on The Glenn Beck Program on The Blaze TV discussing reaction on social media to political and social issues. He is a board member of both nPlay Foundation and iMarshals, and a regular guest lecturer to criminology students at Florida Atlantic University. John is the recipient of a tribute from the Florida House of Representatives for his work protecting internet end users, and has testified as an expert witness and/or subject matter expert on same to the United States Congress and multiple state legislatures. He lives in Miami, FL.

Yesterday, April 24, I wrote this column here on The Blaze explaining why I no longer support rancher Cliven Bundy.

It seems that people were confused, taking my opinion of Bundy to mean that I was on the side of the Bureau of Land Management and big government. They are mistaken. I do not need to support the man to support the cause. One can be flawed while the other is sound. They are not mutually inclusive.

As a former police officer, I can tell you that there were more effective ways for the BLM to handle the enforcment of Bundy’s delinquent grazing fees. The cleanest and simplest would have been a court order to lean Bundy’s property, cattle, and bank accounts. At no time were armed agents, or an on site confrontation required or warranted. But that is a different debate.

My evolution from Bundy supporter to critic came after much research. That same research also shed a very bright light on the BLM, and only reinforced my initial perception of them as an unchecked out of control agency with far too much power and control of lands in the western United States.

Armed agents for the Bureau of Land Management outside the Cliven Bundy Ranch in Nevada.

In fact, the BLM appears to be little more than hugely successful for-profit business wing of the Department of the Interior, masquerading as a conservation agency. Even worse, they employ nearly 300 armed agents to enforce their receivables and collections.

And you thought the Internal Revenue Service was scary. At least we see the IRS coming. Enter the BLM, an agency most Americans know nothing about.

Volumes of solid data exists on the BLM’s money making enterprises. At the same time there has been one conspiracy theory after the next spreading false information far and wide.

Ironically, the truth is far more damning to the BLM than any half baked conspiracy theory could ever be.

We have all been made well aware of the massive amounts of land owned or controlled by the BLM, but little has been written about their specific business interests or just how profitable of a business the BLM is.

An excerpt from the Interior’s semi-annual report to Congress for the period Oct. 1, 20... reads:

“The Federal Government has effectively controlled the market for helium for almost a century through its position as a predominant supplier—BLM provides about 40 percent of the Nation’s helium and 30 percent of helium to the world market.”

So basically, you can thank the BLM for four out of 10 of the balloons floating at your next birthday party. If that isn’t government reaching into your every day life in the sneakiest ways imaginable, I don’t know what is.

Shutterstock.

The report continues:

“BLM’s current helium inventory is valued at approximately $1 billion. For each percentage point increase in value, BLM would collect approximately $10 million in additional revenues. To capitalize on the opportunity to collect additional revenues, BLM needs to identify and charge market value for all helium sales to nongovernmental purchasers.”

I really like the spin here. When you control 30 percent of the world’s supply of anything, you are a market maker. You help determine market value. Yet the Department of Interior sees itself as a victim warehousing an under valued commodity.

Let’s move on from helium and into mineral sales, shall we?

In this Department of Interior Inspector General’s report from March, 2014, we learn about the BLM’s $17 million dollar a year mineral business. A business the department feels is mismanaged because contract adjustments overlooked by the BLM cost the government $846,117. Interestingly, $118,600 of that loss is in Nevada alone.

Was BLM middle management looking to quickly supplement some of that lost Nevada revenue from other sources when they sent SWAT teams and snipers to the Bundy property? I don’t know, but it sure does beg some questions.

Coal, Bad for Private Industry, Great for Government

Helium and minerals are small potatoes compared to the BLM’s real cash cow (no Bundy pun intended).

Coal. If one is to listen to the Obama administration and the Environmental Protection Agency, coal is the root of all environmental evil. Putting private coal producers out of business is at the top of the administration’s agenda.

But is the agenda environmental, or about control of the nation’s access to electricity?

In this April 4, 2013 file photo, a mechanized shovel loads coal onto a haul truck at the Cloud Peak Energy’s Spring Creek mine near Decker, Mont. (AP Photo/Matthew Brown,file)

The Department of Interior and BLM control about 40 percent of the nation’s coal leases and realize billions of dollars in revenue. Coal fueled power plants are responsible for nearly 50 percent of our nation’s electricity.

A department report from June 2013 details just how profitable the coal business is for the department and BLM:

“The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in the U.S. Department of the Interior (Department) oversees coal mining activities on Federal (public) and Indian lands.

The Department collects more than $1 billion in bonus and royalty revenues from coal mining companies each year, a figure that has been steadily rising. In fiscal year 2012, bonuses and royalties exceeded $2.4 billion, the highest amount recorded in the last decade.”

That’s $2.4 billion dollars in coal revenue for the federal government. The Obama administration’s hypocrisy here is mind blowing.

Massive Profit Margins

What I find most interesting is that no conspiracy theories about the BLM were ever needed. The BLM acknowledges that it is a business, and a very profitable one on their own website:

“The BLM does its complex and challenging work with an annual budget of more than $1 billion and a workforce of about 10,000 full-time employees. The BLM is one of a handful of Federal agencies that generates more revenue for the United States than it spends. For example, in Fiscal Year 2012, nearly $5 billion will be generated by activities on BLM-managed lands, including an estimated $4.3 billion from onshore oil and gas development, with about half of those revenues going to the states where the mineral leasing occurred.”

Let’s think about that for a moment: $5 billion dollars in revenue, nearly half of that from coal, on $1 billion dollars in operating costs. A profit margin that far exceeds those of many of the most successful companies in history. And what about the half that doesn’t go back to the states?

Bureau of Land Management logo.

Just where is the department and BLM spending that $1.5 billion in net profit?

Why is President Obama requesting a $1.1 billion dollar taxpayer funded 20... for an agency where revenues are five times operating costs?

These are questions every member of Congress should be asking, and to which every American should be demanding answers.

Should any United States government agency be in the business of controlling 245 million acres of public lands and 700 million acres of subsurface mineral estate, generating a $4 billion dollar gross annual profit, with 270 armed federal rangers and special agents making sure it all runs smoothly?

I do not think this is what Gouverneur Morris envisioned when he wrote the Preamble to our Constitution, nor Jefferson, Franklin and others when crafting the Declaration of Independence.

No, this is the stuff of sci-fi movies set in a future where government controls all at the barrel of a gun. Where people are jailed for their debts, and dissenters disappear into the night. This is not the America the Founding Fathers created, fought, and died for.

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Permalink Reply by Willy on April 25, 2014 at 10:21pm

Amazing stuff. Good find easy.

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Permalink Reply by easymoney on April 30, 2014 at 1:56pm

ral Land Grab Comes to California at Vail Lake

by Kristin Tate 30 Apr 2014, 5:18 AM PDT 95 post a comment

Americans have become increasingly concerned about the federal government's seizure of privately-held lands and property, especially after the Cliven Bundy incident in Nevada. Now another land owner, Bill Johnson of Temecula, California, claims his property at Vail Lake, the largest privately-owned lake in California, is being threatened by the county, state, and federal governments.

Johnson purchased 11,000 acres of land in Riverside County over 17 years ago, including Vail Lake, encompassing over 1,000 square surface acres of water. Now Johnson claims various levels of government are trying to seize the property, using intimidation under the guise of environmental concerns.

Johnson told Breitbart News: "The habitat is free of any endangered species. The government just wants it because it’s part of their 'core area' due to the properties of water and enormous size."

He mentioned that the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) currently manages land parcels on either side of Vail Lake.

"The EPA needed to come up with 42,000 acres in the area to 'protect' the kangaroo rats," Johnson said. "They intimated property owners into giving up their land."

Duncan Hunter, a Republican Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from California from 1981 to 2009, has known Johnson since the 1970's.

"There's a common thread between Johnson's situation and the Bundys' situation," Hunter told Breitbart News. "The heavy hand of government has played in both of those cases."

The land of over 15,000 property owners in Johnson's county was ultimately bought off by the Multi-Species Habitat Conservation Plan (MSHCP), an entity comprised of state and federal government agencies. The MSHCP told land owners that for environmental reasons, their property could not be developed, split, or farmed.

"They devalued properties," Johnson said. "The government told property owners that selling to the state would be voluntary. They said, 'If you don't sell to us, you won’t be able to sell it to anyone.' The land became worthless and devalued since you can’t farm it or build on it."

Hunter argued that the federal Endangered Species Act allows counties to bully residents into giving up their properties.

"If the government says you can’t use your property for anything, they've essentially taken your property from you," he said. "Essentially, you're not a real property owner. Then the government has the best of all worlds--they paralyze your use of the property but they still demand property tax from you."

The former congressman said that the state and local government has leverage over citizens using the federal government as an arm. The Endangered Species Act is used "as a way for local governments to build empires, employ people, and make money," Hunter said. "The federal government passed the Act, which said that an array of plants and animals are to be protected and cannot be disturbed. Some plant and animal exists almost everywhere."

He said the counties and the cities have understood the value of the Act and used it to exert power over land owners.

Jeff Stone, the Riverside County Supervisor, has also known Johnson for many years.

"Johnson is certainly not happy and I can understand that," Stone told Breitbart News. "The pendulum has swung way too far to the left with regards to the Endangered Species Act. It has impeded on some property rights, there's no question about that."

Stone mentioned, however, that the county is only enforcing federal law through the MSHCP.

He said, "Could Bill Johnson build whatever he wants without our plan? The answer is no. He would have to go to the federal government."

Stone said that the enforcement of the Endangered Species Act is particularly unfair to citizens who purchased their land before the MSHCP was put into place, such as Johnson. Buyers who purchased their land after the plan was put into place, however, purchased their land knowing it might be protected for endangered species.

"If the federal government wants to preserve the land that Johnson has had for 17 years, they should step up and buy it for market value," Stone said. "There has been an assault on property rights by the federal government. The plan was adopted prior to me being on the board. It's a plan that I have to live with, but I still have my concerns about property rights."

Currently, the BLM has control over about two-thirds of Riverside County, according to Johnson. "The county claims they need the land to protect lots of rare species," Johnson said. "But there have been studies done that that just isn't true."

The MSHCP further claims the land should be under government control, since Johnson owes $4.75 million in property taxes, penalties and interest on overdue fees. Johnson has largely refused to compensate the agencies trying to seize his property. He believes that the tax assessments would be fair if he were able to develop or farm his own land--but because the MSHCP will not allow this, his property value is substantially less.

Johnson said, "How can you pay taxes on property you can do nothing with? The government will sneer at you and say, 'It's our property. You need to pay taxes, but the property is ours in the end.' During the 17 years that I've owned Vail Lake, I have not built one single thing on the property. The minute I bought my land, they started taking all my rights away. They stripped the zoning, general plan, and specific plan for the property and open space designation, depriving it of its value."

Stone added, "Johnson could make the argument: I am paying property taxes on land that I cannot maximize for my own benefit--why should I pay taxes on land that I cannot develop? I think he makes a valid argument there, but the laws are the laws."

A California-based spokesman from the BLM told Breitbart Texas that the agency has a thorough process for determining which lands it ultimately chooses to manage.

"We start with a public scoping period," the spokesman told Breitbart Texas. "We engage the public in telling us the issues they want us to address--we also address stakeholder groups like environmental groups. Those people are all engaged in the process. We then develop draft plans and environmental impact statements, which go out for public review and comment."

He mentioned that the BLM is only able to seize privately-owned land from a third party. The spokesman said, "Sometimes a third party will purchase that land from willing sellers, then they transfer that land to BLM to become [federal] public land."

In many cases, state or local authorities like the MSHCP act as the "third party," and leave home owners very little choice but to sell by barring their land from being developed. MSHCP then hands the land over to the BLM, which currently controls both plots of land bordering Vail Lake.

Breitbart News made multiple attempts to reach out to the MSHCP. Although a representative did not return phone calls, explanatory information is accessible on the entity's website. 500,000 acres of land in Riverside County was "designated for preservation" to protect certain species.

"About 69% or 347,000 acres was already public or quasi-public land when RCA was formed in 2004," the MSHCP website states. "This land forms the core of the habitat conservation plan. RCA’s work focuses on the remaining 153,000 acres needed to fulfill the plan’s requirements and is expected to take at least 25 years. To date, 27% of the remaining goal of 153,000 acres has been acquired."

That remaining land will likely be taken from private citizens in the county, like Johnson.

Johnson is no stranger to government land grabs. In 1995, the County, along with help from federal agents, seized his 2,000 acre ranch on the Santa Rosa Plateau. Johnson said he lost over $18 million on the property, which the county claims to have seized to protect the endangered kangaroo rat.

Johnson said people in his county, and indeed across the U.S., are becoming concerned about the growing government power over land rights. "There is a growing understanding that this is wrong," Johnson said. "Everyone understands, even some of the environmental advocates, that this has spun out-of-control."

Hunter added that Johnson's case is "a real point of principle. When property rights are discretionary, and a government entity has the power to take it from you, then the danger of political corruption and manipulation of property rights becomes very real."

I guess the BLM is one government endity that actually makes money

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