Thursday, January 21, 2016

GRASTY & THE GROUSE - Burns Sage-Grouse Local Implementation Team

Earlier this week we reported that Harney County Judge Steven Grasty's brother is a BLM employee.

 
Since then, we've seen so much in the news of Mr. Grasty throwing his weight about and strutting around like a proud pompous peacock, arrogance oozing from his every pore, we decided to look into just what, exactly, being a 'County Judge' really means in Harney County.

Our conclusion – not much!

It would seem to us that 'Judge' Grasty is no more than a glorified Chair of the Harney County Board of Commissioners, with the title of 'judge' being little more than a vanity epithet. As you can see in the cited text and link below, in Harney County a County Judge only has authority over legal matters pertaining to probate cases, dealing with the estates, wills, etc of deceased persons. He doesn't even have authority over juvenile matters like three other counties.  His other authority comes only from being the Chair of the Commissioners.

The Oregon State Constitution website states

At one time, county courts existed in all 36 Oregon counties. The title “county judge” is retained in some counties as the title of the chair of the board of county commissioners. There is no requirement that county judges be members of the bar.

Where a county judge’s judicial function still exists, it is limited to juvenile and probate matters and occupies only a portion of the judge’s time, which is primarily devoted to nonjudicial administrative responsibilities as a member of the county board.

Now only seven counties, all east of the Cascades, have county judges who retain any judicial authority: Gilliam, Sherman and Wheeler (both juvenile and probate jurisdiction); Grant, Harney, and Malheur (probate only); and Morrow (juvenile only).


But Judge Grasty makes rulings on all sorts of cases in his county. Does he really have the authority to rule on the myriad issues he rules on? If the Oregon State Constitution is correct – which we would assume it is – then the answer is a resounding no.

According to the Oregon State Constitution website, Judge Grasty's threat to fine the Malheur Refuge occupiers $70,000 a day for the extra security in Bend and the county at large, is actually unlawful. It is a gross over-stepping of his authority. This is an ethics violation, a violation of his Oath of Office, and a an offense for which he could be recalled.

Article VII, Section 12 of the Oregon State Constitution states -


Jurisdiction of county courts; county commissioners. The County Court shall have the jurisdiction pertaining to Probate Courts, and boards of County Commissioners, and such other powers, and duties, and such civil Jurisdiction, not exceeding the amount or value of five hundred dollars, and such criminal jurisdiction not extending to death or imprisonment in the penitentiary, as may be prescribed by law.—But the Legislative Assembly may provide for the election of Two Commissioners to sit with the County Judge whilst transacting County business, in any, or all of the Counties, or may provide a seperate [sic] board for transacting such business.


During our research we've come across some interesting information regarding Judge Grasty.


In 2011 Judge Grasty received a grant for all 7 sage-grouse counties to update Goal 5 resource planning.  (We're currently trying to find out where the grant came from and how much it was for.)

 
Grasty's 7-County Grant for Implementation of Sage-Grouse Goal 5


 
 
So, that little nugget of information makes it sound like Steve Grasty is some sort of regional coordinator for the BLM and ODFW's massive land grab in order to protect sage-grouse habitat.

Is he? Is that what he is? Is he some sort of seven-county Head Honcho for the BLM and OSFW and their crazy conservation plans, is he in cahoots with the BLM, the agency stealing the land of his very own constituents, throwing them in jail when they refuse to sell their property for conservation projects, deliberately setting private homes on fire and burning cattle alive?

Are the people of the county aware that Judge Grasty received this grant? How much was it for?  What exactly is the definition of Goal 5?  Do the people of Harney County know that he is a member of the Burns Sage-Grouse Local Implementation Team? These are genuine, legitimate questions and Judge Grasty needs to answer them. We'd love it if somebody in Harney County would stand up and ask them, look him in the eye when he answers.

In his own weekly County Court sessions, Judge Grasty has aired his reservations regarding the sage-grouse conservation projects, making all the right noises – he's concerned about the economic consequences it may have on local business, he's worried what it will mean for people's property, etc. Yet, outside the confines of local meetings, in closed-door tete a tetes with ODFW and BLM et al, he is a member of the Burns Sage-Grouse LIT - the Local Implementation Team.

In addition, we've found that Judge Grasty's BLM employee brother is a member of the Vale Sage-Grouse LIT, as you can see in the document and link below.


  
 
 
What does all this mean? We're not sure. But question after question is arising the more we learn about Harney County Judge Steven Grasty. And we have the feeling we've only just scratched the surface.






SOURCES :
Oregon State Blue Book -
http://bluebook.state.or.us

ODFW - Oregon Department of Fish & Wildlife
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/

40 comments:

  1. So in other words Boss Hog is alive and well in Harney County.

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    1. It's beginning to look that way, JW. I wrote that article with a very heavy heart. I really don't think the people of Harney County know what's going on under their own noses - you just need to look at the Sheriff's Office page on Facebook to see that. These are such sad times.

      - End the BLM.

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    2. This entire incident/charade has exhausted my heart. Will America get lost in subterfuge? Lots of pumping the brakes for me these days lest I get burnt in the flame

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  2. This is an excellent article, however we need to get this out to liberal people and remind them that we are not trying to take public land and make it private. What we want is Federal land reverted to State land, this means it is still public owned but controlled by State and Counties.

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    1. Thank you, Unknown. I agree, but in my experience people rarely change their mind - even when faced with overwhelming evidence to the contrary. But we can always try!

      - End the BLM.

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  3. What do you mean “reverted to State land”? When did it belong to Oregon?

    And if the “reversion” is as Bundy seems to describe, granting almost exclusive use to ranchers and loggers, then how is that different, as a practical matter, from privatizing it?

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    1. Jason, you're absolutely right - it never did belong to the state either. And most people don't understand what 'Public Land' means - we're working on an article about that currently. That was actually what we were doing when the whole Grasty mess reared it's head. Unfortunately, it could not be ignored.

      While we don't support or condone the occupation at Malheur Wildlife Refuge, we know why Ammon Bundy did it. We are not inexperienced in BLM crimes, and we have first-hand experience of being abused by BLM.

      Fortunately, most people don't know about the BLM and their crimes. I'm glad they don't. But there are an awful lot of us who have been abused by them and if we don't do something about it, their malignancy will spread even further. More people need to know. That's what this blog is about.

      - End the BLM.

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    2. GRASTY ASSUREDLY IS THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM! Working on figuring out his auxiliary influences.

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  4. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. I've not heard that one! LOL We'll check it out, but we don't publish anything we can't back up with documentation. We may theorize a little, based on other factors. But we wouldn't be surprised though.

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    2. Thanks, Thomas. We figured it was disinfo being passed around to muddy the waters a little. There's a lot of it around! (We're NOT saying you're doing that, W Shelton! - We appreciate your input!)

      - End the BLM

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  5. Obviously the Hammonds real problems began soon after Grasty was elected county judge but I wanna know the answer to the 2 million dollar question?

    That bequest that Luce left the library when she died? It was in the form of Time Incorporated and another company’s stock. By 1973, Harney County was the owner of $30,000 in stock shares.

    “And so the county held it,” said Steve Grasty, Harney County Judge. Grasty took county office in 1999 and says the county never touched the stock in the nearly three decades before that. The stock’s value had grown and grown. By then, Time had became Time-Warner.

    “The short of that money is that when I came into office in January 1999 there was a little over $2 million in that pot,” Grasty said.

    So this small rural library in the middle of sagebrush country had $2 million in stock that had been essentially forgotten. Sounds like a good thing.

    But when Grasty came on as a county leader, he realized something: Oregon’s Constitution said county governments cannot invest in stocks and bonds. Oops.

    “I went to the court and said, ‘Guys, we’ve got to get legal,’” Grasty said.

    Eventually that $2 million ended up as a kind of endowment that now funds the library to the tune of about of about $65,000 a year.

    “Was it the right investment? It absolutely was the right investment,” said Grasty. “And I’ll fight anybody who says otherwise.”

    Grasty thinks Luce would have approved of the way her gift was managed.

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    1. That came from this link.

      http://www.opb.org/news/article/oregon-harney-county-oral-library-history/

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    2. Oh, dang! Harney County folks must be real trusting.

      Are people just taking one man's word on the this? Has anybody from Harney County called for an investigation?

      Thanks for the info, W Shelton! We had not heard this little nugget.

      - End the BLM

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    3. W Shelton, do you know if those stocks were cashed in, or if the library funding comes via some sort of dividend from the stock's profits? I'm curious.

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    4. Found there was a hushed up embezzlement scandal in 2010

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  6. Here is another link to cross reference
    https://jhaines6a.wordpress.com/2016/01/21/blmoregon-judge-grastys-brother-a-blm-agent-and-scandals-of-the-blm/

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    1. W Shelton, there's a few things wrong with the info in that article - and they have been shared all over the internet for a couple weeks now. (I've not read the whole thing yet, but I will, and I may come back and comment some more.)

      Firstly, we're interested ONLY in the truth here, so we feel obligated to tell everybody that there is no uranium near the Hammond ranch. This is just a simple fact. The map everybody is showing in their YouTube videos and websites which has a very small uranium deposit, is more than 50 miles south of the Hammond Ranch. If there is a uranium deposit under the Hammond's land, there is no report in existence on it, or at least not that is available to the public.

      The whole Uranium One thing is bothersome to me. I know they are a real company and I know about the Russian/Clinton connection and all that, but I do not believe that the Facebook page really belongs to them.

      I believe that the whole uranium/mining angle has been shoved in our faces in order to obscure what's really going on in Harney County - and that is, we believe, according to what we're finding in our research - a good old-fashioned land grab...and it's not just the feds who are the perpetrators.

      There are a lot of people working lots of angles with this situation. Some of them are just misinformed, or mistaken, and some of them are disinfo agents.

      We're working on something right now that might just be bombshell news. Stay tuned.

      And thank you for sharing these links, W. You never know when somebody might come across something important we might have missed. We're all in this together!

      - End the BLM

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  7. Thanks kind of informative. I live North of the Hammond Ranch and for some reason when Oh Billie Clinton and his friend Babbitt was running around chasing girls in the White House we started getting more press in the media about the Steens. National Geograpic was the first step or alarm set off that the Government was up to some thing. Then the Steens National Monument which would of took my 800 acres in. But people protested and they moved it back to what it is now with a future proposal of expansion. Why is the Government wanting our land and water so bad they will steal for it. I had companies contacting me from 2012 wanting to buy my mineral rights. Kind of odd if there was nothing there then why would some body want to buy it for. I had government geologocal people wanting to do studies on my place. So again I ask why no one ever answered in any way. There something up but who knows. One thing I do know is the Refuge isnt public lands it's posted Government lands. I do agree with the bundys doing this it finally got people talking. Before this nobody talked out loud but hide behind doors when they talked.

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    1. Hi there, Thomas. Thank you for your comment.

      There are most definitely minerals of many types in the Harney County area, not disputing that. We just believe that the whole Uranium One story is obscuring what's really going on with the Hammond Ranch and Harney County as a whole.

      We know that so-called National Monuments are pretty much always in areas of greatly abundant natural resources, and that most of what the agencies do has nothing to do with protecting some bird or frog - it's all about controlling resources - minerals, timber, water, etc.

      I sincerely hope that the media attention on this will embolden the people of Harney County to come forward and whistle-blow on the corruption we're pretty sure is going on there. To bring these things to light, we need to be informed. We can see that there are people up there who are terrified of 'The Judge.'

      Thanks again for your input, Thomas. We're glad you still have your land...instead of a monument.

      - End the BLM

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    2. You suggest “the Refuge isn’t public lands it’s posted Government lands.” Since this seems to be one of the fundamental differences of perspective, I wonder if you’d elaborate.

      I live just east of Malheur county. I’m often in the Owyhees. I pass through a lot of stretch wire gates. The only ones I’ve found locked or posted are those around private property (understandably). I did find a lock once on what my map said was public land so I called the BLM. They were keen to know exactly where it was. One of their chief missions, I was told, is to ensure public access. They were ready to send someone to open that gate.

      (It turned out the locked gate was within a hundred yards of private dirt between me and the public road. Frustrating but certainly the owner’s right.)

      In my experience, the only thing ensuring public access is that the land is federally owned. Not the other way around.

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    3. Jason, I'll let Thomas respond to that - I don't know about the refuge lands or your county roads specifically.

      I can say, however, that my experience of agencies in this area (Josephine County) is the opposite of yours. We are in the jurisdiction of the largest and most aggressive BLM in the country. There are locked BLM (and USFS) gates in Jo Co. It is not my experience that the BLM want to aid in anybody's travels.

      Just as an aside - the Federal government don't own any land. They can manage it until it is disposed of to the public, or they can enumerate it for a public benefit or government purpose. And Public Land does not mean it belongs to the public. We're working on an article about this subject. So many people we come across have their own unique interpretation of what Public Land means.

      Again, I don't know awfully much about the refuge land in particular and hopefully Thomas will respond to your query. I'm not going to argue about the legalities of it. I'm not a land use expert, by any means!

      We love cordial, open debate on this blog, so thank you for participating, Jason. It's good to know there are some people left with different experiences or opinions who can debate without flaming. So, thanks!

      - End the BLM

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  8. I suppose the idea that “the Federal government don’t own any land” is a second fundamental difference of perspective. Questioning the value of a particular federal agency isn’t unreasonable. Flatly denying the Constitution is not so understandable.

    James Madison in Federalist No. 43 explains Article I, section 8 of the Constitution would have states (irrevocably) cede some land for the “indispensable necessity of complete authority at the seat of” federal government, a place free from the kind of state coercion that plagued the Continental Congress. Contrary to that recent history, the new Congress would have an area of “complete authority.”¹

    The notion of property ownership generally is dealt with plainly in Article IV, section 3 which says “Congress shall have Power to dispose of and make all needful Rules and Regulations respecting the Territory or other Property belonging to the United States.” The Supreme Court (and common sense, I submit) has repeatedly ruled that the words here, such as property and belonging, mean to the federal government just what they mean for you or I.

    We can step beyond common sense if needed and consider that in the same year as the Constitutional Convention, the same Framers were developing and ratifying the Northwest Ordinance which says “new States shall never interfere with the primary disposal of the soil by the United States in Congress assembled.”² Again, the Framers’ intent is clear, an emphasis on federal authority.

    It is also helpful to read the Framers’ conversations about these articles. They speak clearly.³
    ___
    ¹ James Madison, Federalist No. 43 (Jan 1788)
    ² Northwest Ordinance (Jul 1787)
    ³ Journal of the Constitutional Convention (Aug 30, 1787)

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  9. I guess everything is open to interpretation and if constitutional scholars are still arguing semantics nearly 250 years later, I don't feel too bad about having a differing opinion from somebody else. Horses for courses, and all that.

    You know though, whatever the constitution says, whatever it means, whatever the legal actuality of it is, there is NO excuse in the world for the behavior of BLM and other so-called land management agencies. There is no excuse for the way they treat people. Period.

    I have first hand experience of the crimes they commit. I'm not going to go into details because we have law suits in the works for their myriad lawlessness. Suffice to say, BLM are criminals.

    Regardless of the ins and outs of who can own what according to the constitution, Jason, the BLM were set up to dispose of land to the people, and manage it until such a time. Then congress had the bright idea to give them unregulated, unfettered, sweeping powers to make their own regulations, bypassing any checks and balances for such. Any nobody thought they were going to abuse that?! The mixture of sociopaths and Brown Shirts that work for BLM is a potent recipe for disaster. And frankly, there is no way to administratively fix what they've done across this country. It's too big. They don't even follow their own protocols, and they don't even follow federal regulations a lot of the time either. They're utterly lawless. They're gangsters. I wish I could go into great detail for you of their criminality, but I cannot right now. Suffice to say, as soon as is possible, I will.

    Believe me, I'm so glad that you have no experience of their malicious, criminal behavior. Rejoice in that, Jason. I hope it stays that way.

    - End the BLM

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  10. Public land access is a major element in quality of life for myself and most people I know. We wouldn’t want it to change.

    At the same time, we’ve all seen accounts of federal agents apparently bulldozing land and electronic communication liberties with the (often unintended) letter of the law. I won’t dispute your experience or objectives.

    But as you observed of wild uranium speculation, objectives must have both feet on the ground if they’re ever to march forward. I submit Constitutional words like “property” and “belonging” only become matters of “interpretation” when you don’t like the obvious meaning.

    You write as if these are matters of opinion but there’s never been a legal opinion (or even argument) that “property” and “belonging” in Art. IV Sec. 3 somehow mean not-belonging or not-property. The Founders explained what they meant. Trust that they knew their own words.

    Recent self-interested ideas to the contrary are whole-cloth fabrications that grossly misquote the Constitution (shocking that nobody checks) with shrill claims of conspiracy.

    That being said … best wishes for your pursuit of liberty and justice. Truly.

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    1. Jason, I can see where you're going and what you're doing. And you're so right about the self-interested ideas to the contrary." And for the record, my understanding of what the constitution says are not from my own self-serving interpretation - it is from research, and the opinion of constitutional scholars, in particular one who has been cited many times by the Supreme Court. I think he's a little more qualified than I.

      All those words, and you have not commented on the contents of the actual article.

      And in any case, I'm not one to really argue the intricacies of the US constitution - I don't feel qualified to do so and most of the people who run around quoting it are not educated enough in it to interpret what it says either. My problem is I just want BLM and the other agencies to FOLLOW THE DAMN LAW! They do not. They don't even follow their own protocols. The lawlessness of the agencies and the corruption at the local level is the real issue here.

      So, I will say just this in parting, - good luck! God speed!

      This is the start of my second year fighting these lawless insurgents we call the BLM. I would like my life back someday.

      I hope you continue to be blissfully unaware of what is happening in this county, like the majority of the general public. Must be nice.

      - End the BLM

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    2. Thank you for the measured conversation. I’ll continue to follow your posts to learn more.

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  11. http://www.co.harney.or.us/PDF_Files/Audits/Audit%20FS%20YE%206-30-2014.pdf

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  12. Does Jason Abbott work for a federal agency involved? Sorry all of his needling begs the question.

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    1. Nah. ☺ My employment history is easy to find (start here if it helps). I don’t know about readers here but I’ve heard often from those with similar ideas elsewhere that we just need to follow the Constitution. So quoting it and its authors isn’t mere needling. It seems important and fair.

      P.S. http://begthequestion.info/

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    2. I'm in absolute agreement. I just have a background in digital warfare (military). Was trying to discern if you were just trying to tie up the time of the researchers. It's pretty exhausting to chase down a million leads and only come up with one or two solid ones. You know because of debugging. I could apologize for suspicion but now more than ever if we don't think critically we are not going to make it.

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  13. As for Grasty here is the info dump. http://radaris.com/~Steven-Grasty/281010864

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  14. Here's an article that doesn't mention their relationship. Omitted oops ha ha. http://www.worldharmonyrun.org/usa/news/2005/week905/june1605.html

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  15. I see Jason is a software guy, apologies. Glad he's interested and learning as we all are.

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  16. Messed up events tonight. Oregon Senator Merkley - I am pleased that the FBI has listened to the concerns of the local community and responded to the illegal activity occurring in Harney County by outside extremists. The leaders of this group are now in custody and I hope that the remaining individuals occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge will peacefully surrender so this community can begin to heal the deep wounds that this illegal activity has created over the last month.

    The locally elected leaders and state, local, and federal law enforcement are to be commended for their close coordination in working to address this crisis.

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  17. Word is they killed an unarmed man who had surrendered. Merkley is a stain on the state of Oregon just joining all the other dirtbag politicians involved.

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  18. Flynn - we heard Merkley's comment on the local news tonight. I hope he is thoroughly ashamed of himself. He'll probably back-pedal and say he wasn't aware of the cold-blooded execution that took place, allegedly.

    He's an absolute disgrace. For shame.

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