Leases

Talk about something to set agriculture on its ear in Montana.<br />n<br />n<a href="http://www.billingsgazette.com//index.php?tl=1&display=rednews/2004/07/21/build/state/20-grazingrights.inc">Ruling ends preference for those leasing state land</a><br />n<br />nThis doesn't affect me directly since I don't lease any state lands but it is quite a blow to a lot of farmers and ranchers. A lot of ranches that have state lands are valued assuming that the state land will always be with the ranch and this ruling will cause the value of the ranch at the bank to decline affecting the bank loans. Scary stuff.<br />n<br />nWhat I don't quite understand is how the <b>law</b>, passed by the legislature, that authorizes this action is unconstitutional. I thought the idea of the constitution was to get the most for the leases, not what "would be the most beneficial to the land." Judges and lawyers, who can figure these crazy breeds out. They have some really weird ideas about right and wrong.<br />n<br />n<b>Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.<br />nEleanor Roosevelt</b><br />n<!–more–><br />nUPDATE: I just recieved the following in an e-mail from the State of Montana<br />n<br />nSecretary of State Bob Brown's Statement on the Constitutionality of<br />nPreference Rights for Leases<br />n&acirc;