Armed Group Occupying Oregon Refuge Clashes With Environmentalists

The Burns Paiute Tribe’s ancestral territory includes the area now managed as the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, as well as other federal lands in southeast Oregon.

A shouting match erupted as members of the Center for Biological Diversity, a national nonprofit conservation group, tried to speak, The Oregonian reported.

The center’s executive director Kieran Suckling tried to speak but the activists screamed and booed him.

“We went fast, and came back fast”, said Finicum.

Problems like these can become exponentially worse for people in one of the twelve western states where the federal government controls 30% (Montana), 49% (Oregon) or even 85% (Nevada and Alaska) of all the land.

Oregon State Police arrested a 62-year-old man who was driving a stolen Malheur National Wildlife Refuge vehicle in Burns Friday afternoon.

The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge contains the historic home of the tribe, including more than 300 burial grounds and ancient villages, as well as 4,000 tribal artifacts.

“This in my opinion is unreasonable search”, said LaVoyce Sinicum, referencing the Fourth Amendment. He invited the Federal Bureau of Investigation to pick up the cameras, which he claimed it had installed.

Residents have expressed a mixture of sympathy for the Hammond family, suspicion of the federal government’s motives and frustration with the occupation.

It’s not known if he’s part of the occupying group. He says it was important to be present and to not criticize the occupation from the sidelines.

The occupiers declared their move a show of support for two local ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son Steven, who were returned to prison earlier this month for setting fires that spread to federal land.

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

The Bundys had planned a meeting with community members Friday night, but it was in limbo after county officials said they couldn’t use the fairgrounds. The self-styled militia wanted to hold a public meeting to explain why they’re occupying a federal building.

The group took down at least five of the so-called surveillance cameras.