'Mr. Sagebrush Rebellion' bankrolls push to seize federal land

When Western county commissioners wanted to start a nonprofit dedicated to taking over federal lands, they turned to a well-heeled 92-year-old businessman.

Bert Smith and his wife, Kathy, cut a $35,000 check. The American Lands Council was born in 2012.

"I don't know how much money they've put into it over the years, but a lot," said Demar Dahl, an Elko County, Nev., commissioner and the organization's co-founder and current board member.

Bert Smith, now 95, styles himself "Mr. Sagebrush Rebellion" and calls jailed Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy a "hero." The Ogden, Utah, resident has quietly bankrolled a bevy of groups challenging the federal government's ownership of roughly 640 million acres of Western lands.

http://www.eenews.net/stories/1060034277

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