Only 1 Rancher Renounces Federal Grazing Contract At Bundy Event

Ammon Bundy, who has led the armed occupiers in OR since they took control of the wildlife refuge on January 2, was quoted by the AP as saying he wasn’t disappointed that only Sewell tore up his grazing contract.

About 40 people gathered Saturday near a national wildlife refuge in OR to protest against a group occupying the land. They have chosen Joaquin Mariano DeMoreta-Folch, St. Augustine Tea Party government accountability chairman and a longtime proponent of convening secret citizens’ panels to indict government officials to be their common law judge and at a recent event held at the refuge a New Mexico rancher, Adrian Sewell of Grant County, New Mexico, renounced his federal grazing contract from the U.S. Forest Service.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday that she was angry because federal authorities have not taken action against Bundy’s group.

Ammon Bundy, left, speaks with Federal Bureau of Investigation agents Friday at the Burns, Ore., airport.

The small group took over buildings at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge more than three weeks ago that store over 4,000 archaeological artifacts and maps detailing where more items can be found. Members of the group, who are occupying the site to oppose federal land use policies, recently posted videos to social media that show them looking at some of the relics and criticizing the way the federal government has stored them.

According to Bundy, the federal government has no authority to enforce federal grazing contracts with ranchers.

“If they wanted to come get us they would have come got us already”, Bundy said.

Law enforcement continues to allow the armed militants to come and go from the Refuge as they please.

In Chair Rodrique’s letter to Attorney General Loretta Lynch and FBI Director James Comey, ” the Tribe requests that the United States bring criminal charges under the Archaeological Resources Protection Act of 1979 and “undertake a swift resolution of the occupation and that you take additional steps to protect our cultural patrimony”.

Critics of Bundy’s group also attended the event.

Law-enforcement authorities are still trying to talk Bundy down. Local residents have been vocal in their desire for the protesters to leave.

Bundy has said he believes his group’s work is appreciated by locals. He said the armed men have been “helping ranchers”, doing maintenance on the refuge because “it’s in a bad shape”, and taking care of fire hazards in the refuge’s firehouse.

For the BLM and Forest Service, grazing fees are based on something called an animal unit month, or AUM. Currently, the cost is $1.69 per AUM. The group plans to open the 300-square-mile refuge for cattle this spring.