“We’re here to speak up for public land, which belongs to the public”, Suckling said over the yelling.
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Joe Raedle/Getty Images Lavoy Finicum climbs a ladder to remove cameras from an electric pole that he said was placed there by the Federal Bureau of Investigation to spy on his group as they occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore.
A member of the armed militia occupying a federal wildlife refuge in OR was arrested Friday after driving a government vehicle to a local supermarket, officials said.
If you have never visited this part of OR, you should definitely put the trip on your list and I recommend you go when birds of every description are migrating.
Though they are often, incorrectly called “public” lands, the “public” has no fundamental right to enter them or utilize their water and other resources.
Despite the offer to return artifacts if the Paiute tribe reaches out to occupiers, the group has a very different view of the refuge’s “owners” and history. Recipients of the donations include a gun control campaign, a group that supports the wildlife refuge the occupiers want to privatize, an organization that has labeled Bundy and company as extremists, and the Native American tribe whose members claim the refuge as their ancestral land.
But McCanna, 54, also said the ranchers’ return to prison was wrong, and that he was irked that the U.S. Forest Service closed off access to one of his favorite camping spots in nearby Malheur National Forest.
Looting has always been a problem at the refuge, with the first documented instance recorded in 1979, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service’s comprehensive conservation plan. Bundy told The Associated Press that he’s seen the artifacts and lots of maps, but he didn’t know what the maps illustrated.
The Malheur refuge contains about 300 prehistoric sites, including ancient villages and burial sites.
Ammon’s brother Ryan Bundy reportedly said their group does recognize the Burns Paiute Tribe had a claim to the land, once.
According to OregonLive, Eugene natives Zach and Jake Klonoski launched an online campaign Sunday morning that they will maintain until the the occupiers abandon their illegal seizure of the refuge.
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The tribe works extensively with federal officials on the archeology projects. Her view of the current conflict is that the people with the most common sense are the least likely to make themselves heard.
