Federal Government Foes Rally At Idaho Statehouse

About 150 people attended a Statehouse rally Saturday afternoon with most of the time spent bashing the federal government.

Members of the Idaho Sovereignty Association marched to the Statehouse from a nearby park, then listened to speakers urging them to fight what they called the improper extension of the federal government.

Dick Clark, Nye County commissioner from Nevada, who carries a copy of the Constitution around in his pocket, said the document clearly gives states control over their lands. He said the federal government was never intended to have so much influence over people’s lives.

Clark claimed there is no authority in the Constitution for agencies such as the U.S. Forest Service to operate.

Clark’s county has laid claim to federal lands within its borders. Clark said the only place in his county where the federal government has authority is the U.S. Post Office at Tonopah.

“They are not going to govern here on the people’s lands,” he said.

People in the audience wore T-shirts or carried anti-government signs. Many urged support for the 10th Amendment to the Constitution.

Joe Nelson, Caldwell, a member of the Idaho 10th Amendment Committee, urged people “to take back the power that belongs to them.”

Speakers urged those attending to sign petitions attempting to assert state jurisdiction over federal land in the state. About two-thirds of the state is federal land. The petitions urge immediate transfer of all federal land from federal agencies to the state.

The idea was supported by Secretary of State Pete Cenarrusa. He acknowledged that some claim Idaho couldn’t afford to manage the millions of acres of federal land in the state. “Land is limited. Land equates to wealth,” he said.

Cenarrusa said he has “squatters rights” in the Idaho Statehouse because he has served 45 years there, 17 years in the Legislature and 28 years as secretary of state.

“We feel that the executive branch of government has overextended itself,” Cenarrusa said. “It’s up to the Legislature and the people and the judiciary to rein in government.”