From time to time I've griped about our federal system, which makes it difficult for us all-wise bureaucrats to make things go systematically and wastes loads of taxpayer money.
Here's another example, which I never knew until today. While the US government holds title to all the land in the country which has not been deeded to individuals, corporations, etc., it doesn't own the water in the West. According to this article, because water was so critical, the settlers saw to it that the territorial and then state governments established systems of water rights. So while the government owns a lot of rangeland, which it leases, it doesn't own the water rights. And a judge has decided that if a rancher has his cows within a half-mile of his water, he has a right to graze the land, regardless of whether BLM has given him a lease or not. See the story at the link for details.
Seems completely crazy to me, but then I'm not only an Easterner but a retired bureaucrat.
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