4000 artifacts stored at OR refuge held by armed group

Authorities say they have arrested an OR man who was driving a government vehicle stolen from a wildlife refuge that an armed group has occupied for almost two weeks.

A 62-year-old Oregon man was arrested Friday in Burns, Oregon, in connection with stolen Malheur National Wildlife Refuge vehicles, the Harney County Sheriff’s Office reports.

A second government vehicle, which like the first was reported stolen by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, was found next to Medenbach’s in the Safeway parking lot, though no arrests of a second driver have been reported.

Officers recovered two vehicles stolen from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Harney County Sheriff’s Office would not provide information about where Medenbach was being held on Friday night. “The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is grateful for the quick actions from law enforcement”, Nagel said. That’s the name the occupiers have given the wildlife refuge.

That dispute also drew members of the Bundy-affiliated group the Oath Keepers, who posted an armed guard at the mine. He used arguments similar to those advanced by the occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to claim the federal government did not have the right to own the land. The statement goes on to say that the county can’t block use of public facilities “as long as we follow the normal process”.

The armed group, led by Ammon Bundy, occupied the headquarters of the refuge near Burns following a protest in that town over the fate of two local ranchers ordered back to prison following their arson convictions for burning public land.

Arizona rancher Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, a spokesman for the group, told reporters Friday that protesters were still hopeful the meeting might occur next week, perhaps Monday, if they can find a location.

The group has previously said they would not leave until a plan was in place to turn over federal lands to local authorities.

Local residents express a mix of feelings about the standoff.

The issue of land management is one discussed throughout the West. A group of mostly Republican congressmen is holding meetings in southern Utah next week to hear concerns from local officials who worry a Bureau of Land Management proposal unfairly restricts livestock grazing, motorized recreation.

Ryan Bundy has said the group isn’t interested in the artifacts, but it wants the refuge land opened to ranchers and loggers.