L'origine de ces conflits était le contrôle des pâturages (open range) librement utilisés pour le bétail et qui ont donné leur nom à ce type de conflit. Habituellement, il s’agissait de différends concernant les droits d’accès à l'eau, ou les droits de pâture, et aussi la propriété du bétail[1].
Ces guerres ont eu lieu avant laTaylor Grazing Act de 1934 qui réglementait les parcelles de pâturage sur les terres publiques. Laguerre du comté de Johnson est un exemple derange war, mais il y en a eu beaucoup d'autres.
Alors qu’au cours des siècles précédents la violence était souvent d'usage[2], le terme s’applique de nos jours à la concurrence pour des ressources rares, comme entre les éleveurs et les environnementalistes[3],[4], ou entre les éleveurs et les amateurs de chevaux sauvages[5].
Range war est aussi un terme d’argot pour désigner une guerre de territoire ou un désaccord sur une relation hiérarchique. Il est souvent utilisé en politique ou dans les affaires[6],[7].
Range wars dans la littérature et la culture populaire
↑Johnson, Marilynn S.,Violence in the West: The Johnson County Range War and Ludlow Massacre: A Brief History with Documents. Bedford Series in History & Culture : First edition (September 18, 2008. p. 12.(ISBN978-0312445799)
↑Cecilia Rasmussen, « Castaic Range War Left Up to 21 Dead », Santa Clarita Valley Historical Society(consulté le) (sourced from the Los Angeles Times):"The violent, long-running Jenkins-Chormicle feud, which started in 1890 over a boundary dispute, is a colorful and cruel saga – part fact, part myth – of barn burnings, ambushes and gun battles on horseback. It lasted more than two decades." describes a Southern California range war that started in 1890.
↑U of Idaho Range Management site telling of conflict in Idaho:" Range wars continue, just as they did a century ago, between those who have grazing rights and those who do not. Today these range wars pit ranchers, with state grazing leases, against the environmental groups that are trying to restore the grazing lease areas to a healthy and pristine land. The weapons have changed from the cold steel of a gun to the amount of cold hard cash a rancher or an environmental group will pay for a piece of land."
↑MSNBC site, telling of Bureau of Land Management policy changes and impacts:"The mustangs' current troubles come thanks in part to another Western icon: cattle ranchers. There are currently 37,000 mustangs sharing public rangelands with several million head of cattle. The result has been overgrazing, exacerbated by six years of drought. To restore the land, the BLM has cut the number of cattle allowed, and ranchers say the horses and burros have to be pared substantially. "If we don't receive relief, and soon, we'll be out of business," Lemoille, Nev., rancher Kenneth Jones"
↑Irregular Times site describes a disagreement amongDemocratic Party regulars in upstate New York as a "range war". In this case the "unfenced territory" is an election district, and the hearts and minds of Democratic party regulars
↑For example, theMac Observer site characterises the conflict betweenIBM and theSCO Group as a "range war". In this case, the "unfenced territory" is theUnix/Linux marketplace, and the hearts and minds of technical, purchase influencing, IT people.
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