Call for supplies as Burns standoff enters second week

The occupation of a wildlife refuge by armed protesters in OR reflects a decades-old dispute over land rights in the United States, where local communities have increasingly sought to take back federal land.

The leader of an armed group occupying a national wildlife refuge in southeastern OR says he and his followers are going through documents stored at the refuge to expose how the government has mistreated local ranchers who use federal land in the area.

Bundy said his group is not accessing computers used by refuge employees, but do have access to government files and are looking through them, as well as using government vehicles on the site and posting a new sign over the wildlife refuge’s sign, proclaiming it the “Harney County Resource Center”.

While the media has referred to the situation as an armed standoff, more specifically, the “Oregon Standoff”, the federal authorities have kept their distance, and the local authorities, led by Harney County Sheriff David Ward, are also treading lightly.

Rep. Dallas Heard, a Republican from Roseburg, talked with the group, The Oregonian reported (http://bit.ly/1kYvDYV). Grasty said Bentz and five other out-of-state elected officials from Washington, Idaho and Nevada accompanied Heard. On Saturday, the Pacific Patriot Network arrived fully armed for security purposes, but left several hours later after occupation leaders told them they weren’t needed.

The Pacific Patriot Network showed up Saturday in a convoy of about 18 vehicles, carrying rifles and handguns and dressed in military attire and bulletproof vests.

“So this time, they need to enforce the law”, DeFazio said.

“We want the long guns put away, we want those put up”.

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