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RANGE magazine
Like This Page · March 19 ·
NEWS FROM THE HAGE FAMILY
It’s been nearly 40 years, spanning two generations, and the Hage family still has not received justice in their legal battle with the BLM and USFS, but they refuse to give up. NEXT STEP: Appealing the Forage Rights Case to the U.S. Supreme Court.
The current generation, Wayne N. and his sister, Ramona, realize the stakes involved affect all the good producers because western water law hangs in the balance.
They are fighting the fight, but could use your help funding the legal battle.
In short, the Hage family has repeatedly established, through costly and endless litigation brought by the United States, that they were not in violation of any state or federal laws governing irrigation and livestock watering or grazing on federally administered land. (Analysis of U.S. v. Hage and Court Decisions available upon request.)
Donations to help fund the Supreme Court appeal would be greatly appreciated. Tax-deductible donations are being accepted and earmarked for U.S. v. Hage by Protect the Harvest, 480 Southpoint Circle, Brownsburg, IN 46112. Phone: (844) 360-8300, Email: info@protecttheharvest.com.
(Please identify as being for “U.S. v. Hage”)
Direct contributions can also be sent directly to: Wayne N. Hage, P.O. Box 513, Tonopah, NV 89049.
Analysis of U.S. v. Hage and Court Decisions available upon request. For those interested in filing Amicus or Friend of the Court Briefs, contact:
Ramona Hage Morrison, 775.722.2517, rhmorrison@sbcglobal.net. or
Mark Pollot, Esq., 208.867.8389, ConResCtr@cableone.net..
Here is a press release that spells out more details on their situation:
Hage Set to Appeal Ninth Circuit Ruling in Forage Right
Case to U.S. Supreme Court; Western Water Law Hangs in the Balance
In January, a three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals handed down a decision reversing all of the findings of Nevada Federal District Court Chief Judge Robert C. Jones in his 103-page decision in U.S. v. Hage (2007). Judge Jones had found among other things that government officials had “entered into a literal, intentional conspiracy to deprive the Hage family not only of their (grazing) permits but also of their vested water rights.” The Court added, “This behavior shocks the conscience of the Court and provides a sufficient basis for a finding of irreparable harm…”
The Ninth Circuit panel issued a scathing ruling reversing all of the trial court’s decisions, excoriating Judge Jones for supposed bias against the government Defendants. Wayne N. Hage and the Estate of E. Wayne Hage are appealing the decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.The Hage family was warned the Ninth Circuit would rule in favor of the BLM and USFS by the lead Justice Department attorney. He informed Hage during settlement discussions the Justice Department was not concerned how Judge Jones would rule because the DOJ could get any decision they wanted out of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
The ruling from the Ninth Circuit completely overturns 150 years of western water law and precedent as well as the laws governing the infrastructure across federally administered lands in the West. The Ninth Circuit decision, as handed down by the three-judge panel, is also in direct conflict with the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision in the related case, Hage v. U.S., (1991), (between the same parties regarding same property). There the Court recognized access as an essential component of a water right. In addition to a conflict between rulings in two different federal courts, due to the appellate panel’s brazen violations of the appellate rules of procedure regarding findings of fact and other procedural errors, analysts believe there is an increased likelihood that the U.S. Supreme Court will review the Ninth Circuit Court’s ruling. (Analysis of U.S. v. Hage and Court Decisions available upon request.)
Under the rules of appellate procedure the Ninth Circuit was bound by Judge Jones’ findings of fact, unless the justices went to the extreme measure of finding Judge Jones had bias and had abused his discretion, which they did. Interestingly, Judge Jones was not the only trier of fact to make such findings. Chief Judge Loren Smith, from the U.S. Court of Federal Claims in Washington D.C., after hearing similar testimony during two separate trials in the related case of Hage v. U.S. (1991), made virtually identical findings of fact. Two well respected, experienced jurists, both Chief Judges of their respective courts, separated by the width of the country, separated by decades of hearings, having nothing in common but considering the conduct of the U.S. Forest Service and BLM employees against the Hage family, both reached virtually identical conclusions.
Two generations of the Hage family, beginning during the presidency of Jimmy Carter, have spent nearly 40 years in courts defending their Constitutionally protected property interests in federally administered land and their right to be allowed to graze their livestock around their vested waters as Congress clearly sanctioned. They have prevailed in three administrative appeals. They have successfully litigated three substantial federal court cases at the trial level in two separate federal courts. They have successfully defended their vested water rights against competing claims by the United States in a state water adjudication. The courts in multiple published decisions have repeatedly recognized their vested water rights, easements, rights-of-ways, forage, and improvements on federally administered land. Those rights stand on appeal in the Federal Circuit Court of Appeals.
For a Summary of Hage saga:
FOX NEWS SPECIAL, “Enemies of the State,” https://youtu.be/67yR-Gj5u70;
“Enemies of the State” (shorter version), https://youtu.be/wJpapKqv2mE.
RANGE magazine (article and winner ) of the Freedom of the Press Award. Click on article in red titled, “Eye of the Storm” at http://www.rangemagazine.com/features/winter-13/range-wi13-contents.htm.
Photo of Wayne, left, Wayne N., and niece Kristin. Taken in 1999 during branding at Pine Creek Ranch near Tonopah, Nev. Photo taken by Ramona Hage Morrisson.