Armed group keeps pressing for US land transfer

Harney County Sheriff David Ward said the Hammonds “turned themselves in at 1:37 p.m. (Monday) in accordance with the law” at a California prison.

“We are implementing this plan”, Bundy said. A group calling itself…

Carson said more federal lands should be turned over to states for transfer to average citizens.

The younger Bundy, who spoke by phone to CNN on Sunday, called on the government to restore the “people’s constitutional rights”.

The FBI said it was working with state and local law enforcement for a peaceful resolution and federal law enforcement officials have kept their distance from the wildlife refuge, which is closed to visitors.

(AP Photo/Rick Bowmer). LaVoy Finicum, a rancher from Arizona, receives a hug from a member of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, Monday, Jan. 4, 2016, near Burns, Ore.

A group of self-styled militia men and anti-government protesters holed up in a federal wildlife refuge headquarters in southeastern OR have a lofty goal: Returning economic prosperity to the region by uprooting how the federal government manages public land in the West.

“That’s what is concerning to a lot of retired federal land managers I’ve talked to who think the BLM’s reluctance to go after Bundy has bolstered this land takeover movement and even helped legitimize it, which might help explain the latest drama right now in Oregon”, Kirk reports. “There’s no hurry. If there’s not an immediate threat to anyone’s life, why create a situation where there would be?”

The federal government’s land ownership has always been a contentious issue, particularly in the western part of the United States.

The charges against the father and son relate to fires which federal prosecutors say the Hammonds illegally set on public lands, endangering firefighters and in one instance, covering up their poaching activities. A judge ruled in October that their prior terms for the arson – three months for the father and one year for the son – were too short under federal law.

They say they want the government to turn over federally held land to local ranchers, loggers and miners.

Protest leader Ammon Bundy is the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, whose ranch was the scene of an armed demonstration against federal Bureau of Land Management officials in 2014.

Bundy said the group felt it had the support of the local community.

On Monday, Ryan Bundy told OPB that his group would consider leaving peacefully if the people of Harney County asked them to.

Ward warned the militiamen, whose actions have caused the shutdown of the town’s schools, courthouse, local businesses, and neighboring federal buildings, that the longer their occupation continues, the worse it will be for them.

Some observers have complained, suggesting the government’s response would have been swifter and more severe had the occupants been Muslim or other minorities.

The success of the 2014 standoff at the Bundy ranch, likely emboldened the occupiers of the refuge, observers said. Following the rally, a section of the members broke off from the larger group. As a fellow rancher, the Harney County man shares their point-of-view about the government.

These terrorist thugs should reconsider whether or not they want government “interference” after all.

Ammon Bundy, 40, is leading the group of protestors in OR that took over a federal refuge center. He said Dwight and Steve Hammond shouldn’t be going to prison.

The Hammonds said they lit the fires to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.

The Southern Poverty Law Centre, which tracks extremist groups, says that victory strengthened Bundy, his sons and their supporters.