Nevada Cattlemen Pan
Agreement With Feds

AUSTIN, Nev. — The Nevada Live Stock Association board of directors is criticizing Paul Iverson, director of the Nevada Department of Agriculture, for signing a cooperative agreement with the federal government that allows Nevada brand inspectors to issue transport permits for impounded cattle.

Under the agreement, brand inspectors can write change of ownership certifications when the U.S. Bureau of Land Management or U.S. Forest Service impound cattle from grazing allotments.

The memorandum of understanding uses a system similar to the one used in selling wild horses to individuals, except that in this case the cattle are going from private ownership to ownership by a government agency.

The memorandum is apparently the result of a case last year in which cattle belonging to Ben Colvin, a Nevada rancher with a BLM grazing permit, were impounded by federal officers for non-payment of fees and auctioned off to a 19 year-old boy in California, who used his grandmother's credit card to buy them. At the time, there was some question as to who had title to the cattle.

Nevada Live Stock Association officials say they oppose the BLM or Forest Service impounding cattle in Nevada.

The association is organizing political and legal opposition and peaceful confrontations with state and federal agents in what they call cattle "rustling" attempts.