15, 2015, the Harney County Sheriff’s Office seized two vehicles reported stolen from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
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Police recovered two stolen refuge vehicles from a grocery store in Burns, Oregon.
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.
Cement barriers block off streets around the county courthouse in the small eastern OR town of Burns where police from around the state have set up a command center in response to a standoff at a nearby wildlife refuge.
The shouting match happened just after occupiers arrived for the briefing carrying security cameras they said they had removed at the request of residents, the newspaper reported. This little group thinks federal land should be exclusively for their use simply because they live next to it. Truth is, the Bundy family has been illegally grazing on federal land for years by not paying minimal grazing fees – fees that are far less than they had pay on private land.
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. The owners refused, and a standoff began between BLM officials and armed men from Oregon Oath Keepers chapters, much like the situation at the wildlife refuge.
The incident comes amid rising tension between the protests, led by Ammon Bundy, and a local community increasing frustrated with the disruption to their local routine.
Occupiers said they are looking for another venue and hoped to hold the meeting on Monday.
Tribe Chairwoman Charlotte Rodrique says she feels helpless knowing that her ancestors’ possessions and remains are now in the hands of the armed group angry about federal land policy. Officials in southern Utah’s Washington County said the plan violates terms negotiated under a 2009 law that established two conservation areas.
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