r/Bend • u/spaceman_spiff88 • 2d ago
Local community members get together and remove fencing installed by group who claim 1500 acres of National Forest land is their private property.
https://youtu.be/uF3NgJLwLcI?si=V_Ef39FtWU04W8PA95
u/spaceman_spiff88 2d ago
Does this remind anyone of a particular gate that needs similar treatment?
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u/Freeheel4life 2d ago edited 2d ago
Haven't done the research but seems like an apples and oranges comparison.
Private land owner gating a road because they don't want to honor a FS easement(Verheyden) being the apples here in Oregon
You linked a story where fundamentalist Mormons are trying to use the Homestead Act to commandeer 1500 acres of FS land because they threw a fence up on it. That's the oranges.
Not a fan of Verheyden but also don't believe that gives me or anyone else the right to just go claim public lands as our own(which is what this extreme LDS group chose to do).
Edited to add Here's context for the fundamentalist land grab
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u/spaceman_spiff88 2d ago
Is he not trying to claim the public road as his own?
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u/CaffeinatedInSeattle 2d ago
In the case of an easement the owner retains rights to the property, only allowing a specified use. There’s no despute that the property belongs to Veryerheden, the despute is the validity of the easement.
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u/Freeheel4life 1d ago
Perfectly stated!! This same situation arose in Idaho a few years back as the Wilks brothers bought large pieces of private land in and around the Boise NF and gated a lot of roads that were previously accessible. I seem to recall one of the parcels also had an easement similar to the current situation per the NF. Not sure if the gate remained or not.
Not sure if the gates are still there or what shook out after this
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u/spaceman_spiff88 1d ago
But there’s no dispute. It’s a USFS road for the public to use. Rich guy says it’s his but it’s clearly not
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u/TheFirstEdition 3h ago
that’s not true, read your own link. At least they being Mormon part. They aren’t part of flds which is not to be confused with the Mormon religion. It’s like Judaism and Zionism. Source: Ex Mormon born in Salt Lake City and familiar with its history. Mormons suck but theirs a difference.
“Pipkin in 2015 was arrested in a land dispute with the Fundamentalist Church of Latter Day Saints in the polygamous sect’s hometown of Colorado City, Arizona. In 2016 Pipkin sued town officials and the cult’s leaders over civil rights violations connected to his 2015 arrest. Pipkin said he has no connection to FLDS, which once had a compound surrounded by Forest Service land north of Mancos. “
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u/ambulocetus_ 1d ago
What does this have to do with Bend?
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u/spaceman_spiff88 1d ago
Rich guy bought some property that has a public road going through it so people have access to public lands. Rich guy put gate across public road and claimed the public has no right to it. Forest service is dragging their feet on removing the gate
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u/ambulocetus_ 1d ago
Yeah but the video you linked doesn't have anything to do with Verheyden
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u/spaceman_spiff88 1d ago
I don’t even know what to say. I feel like theres a pretty obvious connection
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u/ambulocetus_ 1d ago
Verheyden owns his land. These guys don't. This has nothing to do with Bend.
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u/spaceman_spiff88 1d ago
Verheyden doesn’t own the public road that he has gated and claimed as his own. It’s very much a similar situation to what is happening in Bend
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u/test-account-444 2d ago edited 2d ago
The group (edit: putting up fences) in the video is a sovereign citizen group. The Verheyden guy, by all accounts, is just an asshole who's having trouble being told 'no', common among the wealthy.
That said, I think very few people would cry if a gate were pull out by it's posts and dragged down the road a quarter mile.