Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Militia takes over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters

I don't know anything about this situation in OR, but I do interface with some BLM people and, for the most part, think that those who I've met are trying to do the jobs they were hired to do to the best of their ability. If I could and the price was fair, I'd buy the 680 acres of land-locked BLM ground that we currently lease so that I could improve it. The BLM guys who I've spoken with say that their biggest problem is with ranchers who exceed their AUM allocations, often by a lot, with no regard for the damage over-grazing does to the range. Not all ranchers are good stewards of the land, particularly when they don't own the land.

Nobody around here who poached a deer would bother with lighting a damned fire to destroy the evidence. People poach. Sometimes somebody gets caught. NGAF enough to light a fire to cover it up. So a deer died. There are lots of them. Who is to say who poached it even if by the time it is seen, IF it is seen, somebody goes to the trouble to determine it was shot? I have to believe they were managing grassland when it was lit. The idea of it being terrorism is pure horse [bleep].

Whatever the case, the Bundy Bunch needs to stand down and STFU. There's an election coming up. A big blowup in Oregon would be the biggest gift ever to Clinton -- kinda like another big blowup in another state was a he11 of a gift for ANOTHER Clinton.
Go Home, Ammon. Just STFU. Let the adults deal with this one and get the Hammonds out of the slammer.

Good thing the Bundy family hasn't been sucking the government tit for YEARS.

I'm a long way off, so help me out here. The people who love the Government for owning and managing all the land are mad because they are?

That would solve the problems, now wouldn't it?

The timing of this thing is suspect

Nothing happens by chance with the .gov fiends and the entity that rules over them !
Everything is carefully engineered and well rehearsed actors are placed in key positions and locations for the coming show .....

there is an agenda here and the land squabble is nothing more than a cover and an excuse.......

something much bigger is happening here ..... the timing is suspect

As near as I can tell, it's pretty much a Non-Event right now.

Media is classifying this as a "standoff"...

But, there's no sign of law enforcement around.

Kinda hard to have a "standoff" if nobody is surrounding you.

I bet there's WAY more media on the scene than anyone else. And they will run the mom and pop convenience store out of Beer Nuts and peanut butter crackers in a couple of days.

Folks that support a poacher that burns acreage to cover up his crime are as low as a rattlesnake.

People who want the government to do something and expect everybody to be happy about it are as dumb as a rattlesnake.

X2

Very reminiscent of what Tories said of Thomas Payne, Sam Adams, Patrick Henry and Thomas Jefferson in '75. Wonder how it would have turned out for us during the first 200 years as a nation, had the firebrand Founders listened to their reasonable neighbors' advice?

Just saying that different folks have differing need for freedom and different tolerance for the lack thereof.

We know that what happened in Boston in March, 1770 would not have led to Yorktown, had the patirots waited for meek to lead the way. YMMV

I kinda wonder about the poaching case. Like what happened, when.

Or is it another label? Like "terrorist"?

Occupy Oregon
___


Armed protesters at Oregon federal building unclear on demands
POSTED 7:11 AM, JANUARY 4, 2016,

BURNS, Ore.– Two days after taking over a federal building, armed protesters in Oregon are refusing to budge until they get what they want.

The problem is, they haven’t specified what it would take to get them to leave.

What started Saturday as a rally supporting two local ranchers led to a broader anti-government protest and now the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge building near Burns.

“We will be here as long as it takes,” protest spokesman Ammon Bundy told CNN by phone from inside the refuge.

“We have no intentions of using force upon anyone, (but) if force is used against us, we would defend ourselves.”

Bundy is the 40-year-old son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who drew national attention last year after staging a standoff with federal authorities.

And like his father, Bundy said he is standing up to the federal government over land rights.

“This is about taking the correct stand without harming anybody to restore the land and resources to the people so people across the country can begin thriving again,” he said.

Here’s what led up to occupation, and what may happen next:

Armed anti-government protesters have taken over a building in a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, accusing officials of unfairly punishing ranchers who refused to sell their land.

Armed anti-government protesters have taken over a building in a federal wildlife refuge in Oregon, accusing officials of unfairly punishing ranchers who refused to sell their land.

It started with a march for ranchers

Protesters gathered in Burns on Saturday to denounce the five-year sentencing of Dwight and Steven Hammond — father-and-son ranchers who were convicted of arson.

The Hammonds have said they started a fire in 2001 to reduce the growth of invasive plants and to protect their property from wildfires, CNN affiliate KTVZ reported, but that the fire got out of hand.

The father and son are scheduled to turn themselves in to prison Monday afternoon to serve their sentences.

Bundy said officials are unfairly punishing the Hammonds for refusing to sell their land. He said it’s an example of the government’s overreach, especially when it comes to land rights.

But according to Billy J. Williams, the acting U.S. attorney in Oregon, the Hammonds were rightfully convicted after setting fire to about 130 acres of public land in an attempt to cover up poaching.

In an opinion piece for the Burns Times Herald, Williams wrote that the five-year sentences are actually the minimum for the crimes the Hammonds committed.

Then came the occupation

After the rally supporting Hammonds, some of the protesters broke into the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge building near Burns.

“This refuge — it has been destructive to the people of the county and to the people of the area,” Bundy said.

He said the refuge has taken over the space of 100 ranches since the early 1900s.

“They are continuing to expand the refuge at the expense of the ranchers and miners,” Bundy said.

He also said Harney County, in southeastern Oregon, went from one of the state’s wealthiest counties to one of the poorest.

CNN has not independently corroborated Bundy’s claims.

No employees were inside the building when protesters broke in, officials said.

Bundy said his group is armed, but said he would not describe it as a militia. He declined to say how many people were with him, saying that information might jeopardize “operational security.”

What the protesters want

When asked what it would take for the protesters to leave, Bundy did not offer specifics.

“The people will need to be able to use the land and resources without fear as free men and women. We know it will take some time,” he said.

“I would tell any federal agent that the people are enforcing their rights and expressing their rights to restore their land and resources back to the people.”

Bundy did not explicitly call on authorities to commute the prison sentences for the Hammonds. But he said their case illustrates officials’ “abuse” of power.

“We are not terrorists,” Ammon Bundy said. “We are concerned citizens and realize we have to act if we want to pass along anything to our children.”

The Hammonds keep their distance

But the Hammonds say they don’t want help from Bundy’s group.

“Neither Ammon Bundy nor anyone within his group/organization speak for the Hammond family,” the Hammonds’ attorney, W. Alan Schroeder, wrote to Harney County Sheriff David Ward.

What authorities are doing

As of early Monday morning, there was no police presence at the building. But the FBI said it is taking the lead on investigating the situation.

“The FBI is working with the Harney County Sheriff’s Office, Oregon State Police and other local and state law enforcement agencies to bring a peaceful resolution to the situation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge,” the agency’s Portland office said in a statement.

“Due to safety considerations for both those inside the refuge as well as the law enforcement officers involved, we will not be releasing any specifics with regards to the law enforcement response.”

How the community is reacting

The protest has prompted Harney County School District 3 to call off classes for the entire week, Superintendent Dr. Marilyn L. McBride said.

“Schools will open on January 11,” she said. “Ensuring staff and student safety is our greatest concern.”

The federal Bureau of Land Management office in Burns is also closed until further notice, the agency said.

And even though Bundy is not calling his group a militia, others in the community are.

“I don’t like the militia’s methods,” local resident Monica McCannon told KTVZ. “They had their rally. Now it’s time for them to go home. People are afraid of them.”

What might happen next

Bundy’s call for supporters to join him might “turn into a bad situation,” said CNN law enforcement analyst Art Roderick, a retired U.S. marshal who investigated anti-government militias.

“What’s going to happen hopefully (is) … we don’t go out there with a big force, because that’s what they’re looking for,” he said. “The last thing we need is some type of confrontation.”

He said that over the years, law enforcement has learned how to handle a situation like this — one in which a law may have been broken, but that hasn’t erupted in violence and has not yet threatened anyone’s life.

The best approach now, Roderick said, is to wait the group out and try to figure out how to bring a peaceful resolution.

Tryin' to get my head around the poaching cover up fire. Unless they left the dead deer on the ground, the only the gut pile would be left. My experience from hunting in those parts is that coyotes will devour a gut pile overnight. Doubt a fire would eliminate a gut pile. Setting a fire would just attract attention.

own watches warily as armed protesters take over refuge

Associated Press


BURNS, Ore. (AP) — People in this rural eastern Oregon town are used to worrying about friction between the federal government and locals, but the armed takeover of a nearby national wildlife refuge is raising concerns to a new high.

Keith Landon, a longtime resident of Burns and employee at the Reid Country Store, said he knows local law enforcement officials who fear their kids will be targeted by angry militia members. The mother of one of his kids is now involved with an officer, Landon said, and they decided to send their children to another town after they were allegedly threatened by an angry protester.

"I'm hoping most of it's just muscle, trying to push," Landon said. "But it's a scary thing."

Armed protesters took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge south of Burns on Saturday after participating in a peaceful rally over the prison sentences of local ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond.

The Hammonds were convicted of arson three years ago for fires that burned on federal land in 2001 and 2006. Though they served their original sentences for the conviction — Dwight serving three months, Steven serving one year — an appellate judge ruled in October that the terms were too short under federal minimum sentencing laws.

Both men were ordered back to prison for four years each. They have said they plan to turn themselves in Monday.

The decision to send the man back to prison generated controversy and is part of a decades-long dispute between some Westerners and the federal government over the use of public lands.

Brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy are among those occupying the refuge. Their father, Cliven Bundy, was involved in a 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights in Nevada.

Ryan Bundy told The Associated Press Sunday he hopes to turn the land over to local authorities so people can use it free of federal oversight. He said he hopes the takeover of the property will prompt others to take action across the country to seize local control of federally managed land. Ammon Bundy has previously called on members of militia groups to take a stand with those at the refuge.

On Sunday afternoon, several pickup trucks blocked the entrance to the refuge and armed men wearing camouflage and winter gear used radios to alert those at the refuge buildings when reporters were allowed onto the property.

A small flock of pheasants wandered across the refuge driveway, scattering as men driving utility vehicles traversed the property. Ryan Bundy declined to say how many people were at the site.

"The end goal here is that we are here to restore the rights to the people here so that they can use the land and resources. All of them," Bundy said. That means ranchers can graze their cattle on the land, miners can use their mineral rights, loggers can cut trees and hunters and fishers can recreate, he said.

He said they planned on staying at the refuge as long as it takes. If the situation turns violent, Bundy contends it will be because of the federal government's actions.

"I mean, we're here to restore order, we're here to restore rights and that can go peacefully and easily," Bundy said.

Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward said in a statement Sunday that the group of armed protesters came to town under false pretenses.

"These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives to attempt to over throw the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States," Ward said.

The sheriff says he is working with local and federal authorities to keep the citizens in his county safe and to resolve the situation as quickly and peacefully as possible.

At a restaurant near the refuge Sunday, a local man eating supper said he understood the sentiment but didn't necessarily support the methods of the group. He wouldn't give his name because he said he feared being caught between the federal government and the militia.

Landon, who was a logger until the federal government declared the spotted owl a protected species in the 1980s, damaging the local logging industry, said he also sympathizes with the frustrations expressed by the Bundys.

"The spotted owl started the downfall of our community, then (President) Clinton made the Steens Mountains a wilderness area or whatever. Five generations of ranchers that had been on the Steens, kicked them off. And then management of the wildfires, it totally changed the region," Landon said. "It's hard to discredit what they're trying to do out there. But I don't want anybody hurt."

He said on the surface, it doesn't look like much has changed in Burns, a high desert town of about 2,700 people.

Most of the hotels in the area are booked full, and he's noticed that law enforcement officers are now doing their patrols in pairs instead of singly. But the biggest difference since the takeover is the undercurrent of worry, he said.

"It's weird — I woke up this morning expecting the town to be crawling with this and that agency. But you don't see any of it. They're keeping a low presence," Landon said.

Landon was happy the protesters seized land outside of Burns.

"I'm glad they took the refuge because it's 30 miles away. I mean, they could have took the courthouse here in town."

It never ceases to amaze me when people think they should be able to do whatever they want on other peoples property.

Sounds like their demands are simple.

Media Attention.

It may need some attention by the media. But there's a definite separation between the Hammonds and the militia taking over the refuge.

Two separate things.

As often is the case, the original cause is hidden by the detractors in favor of their own agenda. And if the round peg doesn't fit the square hole....Get a bigger hammer.

Can someone explain where the "terrorism" statutes come into to play? The statement from the Justice Department does not say anything about it regarding the re-sentencing.

http://www.justice.gov/usao-or/pr/e...cted-arson-resentenced-five-years-prison

Obama's gonna use this incident to frame his argument for the gun control executive order. He's gonna paint the picture that gun owners are crazy people that make the country unsafe.