Susan G. Braden, chief judge of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, ruled the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) took property from the ranchers by restricting access to water for their cattle, a right to access they held before 1905 and which the USFS had allowed to continue from 1910 to 1989. Braden filed her decision in Sacramento Grazing Association, Inc., et al., Plaintiffs, v. The United States, Defendant on November 3, 2017.

The 16 federal claims judges have nationwide jurisdiction over a variety of cases involving monetary claims against the federal government, including cases about "takings." Taking private property for public use without just compensation is forbidden by the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

Reprinted with permission of The Heartland Institute.

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