Tornado Alley (PROG)

[ergo sum]

The wing nuts in their constant hatred of government complain about public lands but what happens when the wing nuts buy huge tracks of land?
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/06/22/us/wilks-brothers-fracking-business.
Who Gets to Own the West?
A new group of billionaires is shaking up the landscape.



n Idaho, the Wilks brothers did more than gate a few roads. They also revoked road-use contracts that propped up the region’s multimillion-dollar snowmobile industry, shut down hunting on their land and told timber companies to pull crews from the area. About 100 people lost their jobs.



No one claimed that those actions were illegal, but they heightened fears that local residents were losing control of the region. A 2017 video of a roadside argument between an armed Wilks guard and a local ATV rider traveled quickly around the state.
Afterward, the Wilks family hired a lobbyist to push for a law that would stiffen penalties for trespass. The bill passed.



Amid the dispute, some residents emailed the Wilks, asking permission to cross their property. They were surprised to receive a response suggesting they first visit a popular right-wing website and share their opinions of its content.
The site, PragerU, features videos supporting the hard-lined conservative views of personalities like Ben Shapiro and Dinesh D’Souza. The portal has been heavily financed by the Wilks.
Mr. Horting, a lifelong conservative, was “insulted,” he said. “I’m not going to give my political views to use your land.”
Soon, the brothers were the subject of articles in The Idaho Statesman. County prosecutors began investigating the road closings and explored litigation.