Ammon Bundy, who has led the revolt, said that the protesters acted at the request of a rancher who wanted to graze his 600 cattle on the federal property, but was prevented from doing so when the US Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) installed the fence previous year. A small, armed group has been occupying the remote national wildlife refuge in OR for a week to protest federal land use policies.
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In southeast Oregon Monday, about a half-dozen armed men cut fences between government land and a private ranch near the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
A Dont Tread On Me flag flies at the entrance of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Sunday, Jan. 10, 2016, near Burns, Ore.
The armed men represented the Pacific Patriot Network, a consortium of groups from Oregon, Washington and Idaho, The Oregonian reports.
The anti-government group that took over an OR wildlife refuge is asking supporters to send supplies. They say their intent is to provide protection and bring a peaceful end to the occupation. And while they have drawn supporters to the site, more opponents and critics also have shown up, one Monday with a cardboard sign that said “Get the flock out of my wildlife refuge”. AP notes, that also on Saturday, occupation leaders turned several armed men, who were looking to join the group, away.
Earlier, at a news conference at the refuge headquarters, Bundy said his group had begun going through federal files to learn more about property issues in the region. Heard’s legislative district is in western OR, outside the area where the standoff is occurring.
“He had called me and indicated he was heading that direction, and I indicated that was inappropriate”, Bentz said of Heard. They said they were there to help with security.
Many local residents support rancher’s rights and getting the federal government out of land management in the West, but they’ve condemned Bundy’s actions as ill timed and wrong footed, cattle rancher Tom Davis told CBS News.
About 50 percent of the land west of the Rocky Mountains is federally owned, versus about 5 percent of the land east of that. “I think it’s fair to say I was not enthusiastic about the idea”.
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