PRESS RELEASE

            ARIZONA OPEN RANGE LAWS & LAND THEFT?

    Back in the old west and the Arizona Territory, the lands in the area were wide open for Cattlemen and Ranchers to be able to roam their cattle or other livestock freely. That was known as Open Range, and the laws are still on the books in Arizona and many other western states. This law was great for the cattlemen back then, but as rural areas began to show signs of growth, the laws need to be changed to protect the small private land owners from abusive actions that the cattlemen can attempt to use against them, and in most cases, have the law on their side.

    In most areas of Pinal County, there are a lot of open lands that are classified by each District as Open Range. Areas. That classified as such, for you to keep livestock off your property, you have to go to the expense of fencing the cattle out otherwise the livestock can tromp all over your land, trees and landscaping and are exempt from prosecution, because you did not fence them out at YOUR expense. Attempting to change this law, whereas the cattlemen are forced to fence their cattle out, is near impossible.

    But a new twist to this part of the law of Open Range is, if Cattleman has property leased from the State of Arizona for grazing and YOUR PRIVATE PROPERTY is not fenced and the cattle roam and graze on YOUR LAND, by which state laws give him that right without a fence and you cannot stop him otherwise, does that give him the right to attempt to STEAL your property under another Arizona Law known as Adverse Possession ?

Really don’t think the laws of Open Range was intended for that, but one such case is going to Superior Court in Pinal County soon.

 What now is public record of the civil action filed April 26^th, 2004 by Fitzgibbons Law Firm for  Joe and Carmen Auza and Joe Auza Sheep Company located in Casa Grande against eleven individuals and more, is to attempt to gain title to twenty acres of land and void out an easement that they consider groundless and invalid. Further records reflect that has not been their first attempt to steal someone else’s land thru the justice system or by the way of invalid recorded documents.

    Back in 1925, Roland Curry received a land patent on a large parcel of land below Arizona City. He began ranching and all was well until his death. In 1958, the property was surveyed out to beginning selling it off in smaller parcels by a land developer. People from all over the United States purchased 20, 40 and 80 acre parcels.

Their plans were in the future of possibly retiring and relocating to Arizona & some bought for investment purposes. There was no need at the time to go to the expense of fencing their properties for they felt that the cattle would do no harm to their lands and a sense basically would keep the old west alive. They paid their money for the property & each year since the 60’s, paid their real estate taxes on it also. So, some cattle roaming and grazing their private property…..what harm could that do? Yep, you got it, the Auza’s decided that they been using it under the laws of Arizona Open Range for years…..now they figure they are entitled to it by the laws of adverse possession, a law in every state that in MOST cases, gives the trespassers the right to steal it from you legally. Something is really wrong here! The Auza’s use someone else’s land for free, let their cattle fatten up from the grazing at no cost to them, over the years pay no taxes on the land use of others and when they go to sell them, their profits are not shared with the ones that help feed and fatten them up and gave them space to graze, drop their cow dung and to give them a place to lay down and sleep. To top that, the state and federal government gives them incentives to help them out at the taxpayers expense, as well as tax breaks and writeoffs.

    When this civil action appears before the Judge, it will be interesting to see at the time the the law was written for Open Range, of how the law was really meant to be. I don’t think it was written and intended to allow this sort of rights to be taken advantage of and let cattlemen, such as the Auza’s, across the country to benefit in that way.

    Efforts are underway in different parts of the county to close the open range laws or change them drastically.

It’s time Arizona made some changes also. The mere thought of Cattlemen, Cowboys and the wide open spaces still amuse a lot folks, but those folks have not had to deal with people such as Joe and Carmen Auza, yet.

    Phone calls to State and Federal Agencies, press releases and news coverage will hopefully bring some attention to this dangerous flaw in the law books and attempts to abuse the law by people like them.

If you have any other news source, client or investor you feel should be aware of this situation, contact them and pass this along. Contact your local County Board of Supervisors and tell them how you feel about this.

If you would like to have a personal interview to write a story and document the file that I have on hand call me.

     This is very real and important. If you want to keep your eye on this case and the outcome, the case number filed in Pinal County is CV-200400465. If you have had any bad dealings with the Auza’s in the past that can be documented and used, please contact James Davis at 602-882-0482.

    Although we have had some positive feedback already about this, we feel that it is important to let concerned people be aware of what the law is. We like the idea of open range, cowboys and open spaces also, but not when it is abused and attempts to take someone’s private land away from them because of adverse possession.

                                                                             WRITTEN BY

JAMES DAVIS FOR PRESS RELEASES TO THE NEWS MEDIA’S ATTENTION, REAL ESTATE PUBLICATIONS, STATE AND FEDERAL AGENCIES AND OTHERS.

CONTACT:            602-882-0482                                                                                 DATED 5/2/04