Open Range Laws

December 2006 -- "Idaho Farm Bureau supports Open Range Laws and will actively opose any attempts to change them." So, you thought government agencies work for the public and do not take political sides?? Guess again. The Farm Bureau is bought and paid for by the Cattlemnan's Association.

What a crock. Why isn't this illegal. Why isn't hear of farm bureau doing hard time?

Open Range vs Horses

People usually think of cattle when they think of open range abuses. But horses can also be a huge menace. We used to own a cabin  in the front range Rocky Mountains, open range law affecting 200 property owners including ourselves.

People would bring their horses up and let them run rough shod (good term!) over the area.  The horses would hang out right next to the cabins, for shade in the summer and shelter in the winter. What a mess! We came up one spring to see a dead horse on the deck of a neighbor’s cabin. It has gotten onto the desk and fallen through. The cabin probably stinks to this day.

The people responsible for this were perfectly legal, thanks to Colorado’s wonderful open range law. Of course they didn’t give a damn about either their horses or their neighbors. But no one could do anything about it.

This really happened a couple of years ago

A guy came home and found a herd of cattle trashing out his property. Apparently he'd left a gate open. The cattle had gotten in several times before, and he was fed up.

So, he got out his trusty rifle and started shooting. Wow! Something more than a few of us dream of doing!

Result: a gigantic fine, plus reimbursement to the rancher for his dead cattle. Plus, I think, jail time.

This is why we only dream of of doing it.

What are the Open Range Laws?

The Open Range Laws are laws that make it legal for a rancher to graze his cattle on your property, at your expense. If you do not want his cattle on your property, you can fence it at your own expense, and it is VERY expensive. If there is a hole in your fence, tough luck, your property becomes open range.

Since his cattle are on your property destroying your vegetation and water supply, the rancher of course has the right to trespass onto your property in order to maximize the amount of damage his cattle do by herding them to the juiciest places.

Open Range does not just apply to cattle. It also applies to sheep and horses. For some reason pigs are excluded.

An Example of how Open Range Laws work

You are driving down a country road and a cow jumps out. You hit it, total your truck, break your leg, get a concussion. You also kill the cow.

But, you are in an open range state, and the cow is the private property of the rancher who owns it. You have destroyed his private property so you are legally required to pay for the cow.

The fact that you weren't on his property makes no difference at all. You could even be on your OWN property and still have to pay for the stupid cow.

The open range laws are a straight up rip-off and everyone familiar with these laws knows it!

The Purpose of Open Range Laws

The purpose of the open range laws is simple: to allow the rich to legally steal from the poor. They were enacted back in the days when the cattleman was king, to force poor farmers to eirther fence their land or see it overridden with cattle.

Purpose of this blog

This blog is to see if we can get enough people involved to vote out the open range laws. This can't be done through normal legislative action -- the Cattleman's Association is one of the most powerful lobbies in the state of Colorado, and almost certainly other open range states as well.