Officials avoiding Oregon preserve
Armed activists seized a remote, high-desert national wildlife refuge over the weekend.
BURNS, Ore. — Fatherand-son ranchers convicted of setting fire to federal grazing land reported to prison Monday as the armed anti-government activists who have taken up their cause maintained their occupation of a remote Oregon wildlife preserve.
Federal authorities made no immediate attempt to retake the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the remote high desert of eastern Oregon, which about two dozen activists seized over the weekend as part of a decades-long fight over public lands in the West.
The takeover prompted an outcry far beyond Oregon from both those who want to see federal lands opened to more ranching and logging and others who were astounded that private citizens with guns could seize government property without any law-enforcement intervention.
Some have complained that the government’s response to the situation in Oregon would have been more severe had the occupants been Muslim or other minorities.
Others said that from a tactical standpoint, the government’s cautious response would make sense no matter who was holed up in the government building in the reserve.
The tactics of the group were condemned by Democrats and Republicans alike.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., said the group could not continue breaking the law but that everyone should remain patient.
“These people say we want to return (the land) to the people,” Reid said. “The people have it right now.”
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said he hoped the group would “stand down peaceably” with no violent confrontation “sooner rather than later.”
There appeared to be no urgent reason for federal officials to move in. No one has been hurt, and no one is being held hostage. And because the refuge is a bleak and forbidding stretch of wilderness about 300 miles from Portland, the standoff is causing few, if any, disruptions.
The armed group said it wants an inquiry into whether the government is forcing ranchers off their land after the father and son were ordered back to prison for arson on federal grazing lands. The group calling itself Citizens for Constitutional Freedom demanded a government response within five days related to the ranchers’ extended sentences.
Ammon Bundy — one of the sons of rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a 2014 Nevada standoff with the government over grazing rights — told reporters that Dwight Hammond and his son, Steven Hammond, were treated unfairly.
The Hammonds were convicted of arson three years ago for fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006, one of which was set to cover up deer poaching, according to prosecutors. They said they lit the fires to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.
The men served their original sentences — three months for Dwight and one year for Steven. But an appeals court judge ruled the terms fell short of minimum sentences that require them to serve about four more years.
Their sentences have been a rallying cry for the group, whose mostly male members said they want federal lands turned over to local authorities so people can use them free of U.S. oversight.
The father and son reported to a federal prison Monday in California, said David Ward, sheriff of Oregon’s Harney County. The Hammonds have distanced themselves from the protest group as have many locals, including people who want to see federal lands made more accessible.
Schools in the small town of Burns, about 30 miles from the refuge, were closed for the week out of concern for student safety.
For the moment, the federal government was doing nothing to remove the occupiers, but the FBI said it was monitoring the situation. The White House said President Barack Obama was aware of the situation and hopes it can be resolved peacefully.
The refuge was established in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt to protect bird populations decimated by plume hunters selling feathers for the hat industry.
The preserve has grown over the years to about 300 square miles and surrounds the ranch the Hammonds bought in 1964.
The refuge contains about 10 small buildings, some of which the occupying group entered. Other members of the group blocked the entrance to the headquarters.
The tactics of the group were condemned by Democrats and Republicans alike.
Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a Nevada Democrat who is familiar with the Bundys from their standoff in his state, said the group could not continue breaking the law, but that everyone should remain patient.
“These people say we want to return (the land) to the people,” Reid said. “The people have it right now.”
Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas said he hoped the group would “stand down peaceably” with no violent confrontation “sooner rather than later.”
Ammon Bundy said his group had sent a demand for “redress for grievances” to local, state and federal officials. The group, which included a couple of women and some boys and girls Monday, did not release a copy of its demands. Bundy would not say what the group would do if it got no response.
“We have exhausted all prudent measures and have been ignored,” he said.