3A
THE DAILY ASTORIAN • MONDAY, JANUARY 4, 2016
Feds monitor armed protesters but keep distance
Protesters occupy
site to support
local ranchers
By REBECCA BOONE
Associated Press
BURNS — Armed an-
ti-government protesters took
over a remote national wild-
life refuge in Oregon as part
of a decades-long ¿ght over
public lands in the West while
federal authorities are keep-
ing watch but keeping their
distance.
Demonstrators came to the
frozen high desert of eastern
Oregon to contest the pris-
on sentences of two ranchers
who set ¿re to federal land
but their ultimate goal is turn
over the property to local au-
thorities so people can use it
free of U.S. oversight.
While the move isn’t new
to Westerners people across
the globe have marveled that
federal authorities didn’t
move to take back the Mal-
heur National Wildlife Ref-
uge. Residents say they hav-
en’t seen a large presence of
of¿cers and the government’s
tactic generally is to monitor
protesters from afar but leave
them be as long as they don’t
show signs of violence.
7hat’s how federal of¿-
cials defused a high-pro¿le
standoff last year with Neva-
da rancher Cliven Bundy over
grazing rights. Now Bundy’s
two sons are leading the push
in Oregon.
Hopes takeover will
prompt others
Ryan Bundy told The Asso-
ciated Press on Sunday that he
hopes the takeover will prompt
others to take action across the
country to seize control of fed-
erally managed land.
“The end goal here is that
we are here to restore the
rights to the people here so
that they can use the land and
resources. All of them´ Bun-
dy said.
That means ranchers can
graze their cattle on the land
miners can use their mineral
rights loggers can cut trees
and hunters and ¿shers can
shoot and cast he said.
Residents of the tiny town
of Burns miles south of
the wildlife refuge are con-
cerned about the potential for
violence.
.eith /andon a longtime
resident and employee at the
Reid Country Store said he
knows local law enforcement
of¿cials who fear their kids
will be targeted by angry
demonstrators.
“I’m hoping most of it’s
Must muscle trying to push´ he
said. “But it’s a scary thing.´
If the situation turns vio-
lent Bundy contends that it
will be because of the federal
government’s actions.
“I mean we’re here to
restore order we’re here to
restore rights and that can
go peacefully and easily´ he
said.
Ranchers plan to
turn themselves in
The ranchers whose cause
has been the rallying cry also
reject the protesters’ support.
Dwight and son Steven Ham-
mond were convicted of ar-
son three years ago for ¿res
on federal land in and
. They served their orig-
inal sentences — Dwight
three months and Steven one
year — but a judge ruled that
the terms were too short under
federal minimum sentencing
laws.
Both men were ordered
back to prison for four years
each. They have said they
plan to turn themselves in
Monday.
The Bundy brothers say
the group plans to stay at the
refuge as long as it takes.
They declined to say how
many people were at the prop-
erty where several pickup
trucks blocked the entrance
and armed men wore camou-
Àage and winter gear.
“We’re planning on stay-
ing here for years absolutely´
Ammon Bundy told reporters
over the weekend. “This is not
a decision we’ve made at the
last minute.´
The FBI is working with
local and state authorities to
“bring a peaceful resolution to
the situation´ the bureau said
in a statement late Sunday. It
said it is the lead investigative
agency and would not release
details about the law enforce-
ment response to ensure the
safety of of¿cers and those at
the refuge.
Les Zaitz/The Oregonian
Protesters march on Court Avenue in support of an Oregon ranching family facing jail time for arson in Burns on Satur-
day. Family members were convicted of the arsons three years ago and served time. But a judge ruled their terms were
too short under federal law and ordered them back to prison for about four years each.
Rebecca Boone/AP Photo
Ryan Bundy talks on the phone at the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge near Burns on Sunday. Bundy is one of
the protesters occupying the refuge to object to a prison
sentence for local ranchers for burning on federal land.
Some are criticizing the
lack of action saying it is be-
cause those occupying the
property are white.
/andon the longtime Burns
resident said he sympathizes
with the Bundys’ frustrations.
Landon was a logger until the
federal government declared
the spotted owl a protected
species in the s damaging
the local logging industry.
“It’s hard to discredit what
they’re trying to do out there.
Les Zaitz/The Oregonian
Ammon Bundy chats with a protester on Saturday during
a march on behalf of a Harney County ranching family in
Burns.
But I don’t want anybody
hurt´ he said.
Landon said that on the sur-
face it doesn’t look like much
has changed in Burns a high
desert town of about
people.
“It’s weird — I woke up
this morning expecting the
town to be crawling with this
and that agency. But you don’t
see any of it. They’re keeping
a low presence´ Landon said
Sunday.
Better weather boosts views of gray whales at Oregon Coast
Yearly sojourn
from icy waters
of Alaska
By JUNNELLE HOGEN
The Register-Guard
DEPOE BAY — Captain
Ahab may not be the one
looking through the binocu-
lars but from the excitement
evinced the coastal travelers
in Depoe Bay are searching
for a Moby-Dick sighting of
their own.
In this case the Mo-
by-Dick in Tuestion is a gray
crustacean-consuming hulk of
a whale and he’s followed by
upwards of lookalikes.
Early Wednesday after-
noon experienced locals
coastal tourists and Ishmaels
of the Paci¿c Northwest
peered through several pairs
of binoculars provided by the
Depoe Bay Whale Watch-
ing Center. They were out to
catch a glimpse of the not-so-
elusive gray whales making
their way down the Oregon
Coast on a yearly sojourn
from the icy waters of Alaska
to the milder climate of Baja
Mexico.
The sightings coincided
with the Paci¿c Northwest
Whale Watching Week which
runs through Thursday.
Throughout the week sev-
eral hundred volunteers have
been helping at sites on the
Oregon Coast providing visi-
tors with informational tidbits
and guidance to spotting the
whales.
Oregon State Parks has
more than volunteers
trained for the task. Each day
of the week an estimated
volunteers have been staffed
along the coast. The sites in-
clude Ecola State Park near
Cannon Beach Cape .iwan-
da YaTuina Head Lighthouse
the Sea Lions Caves UmpTua
Lighthouse State Park and
Battle Rock Park in Port Or-
ford.
Frequent sightings
The center in Depoe Bay
opened at a.m. Wednes-
day and by a.m. there
were already sightings of
the whales. That development
was encouraging to Scott Nel-
son a longtime state parks
coastal volunteer.
Nelson who volunteered
at the Depoe Bay for this
year’s return migration in the
spring was helping to staff the
site again during the whales’
southward journey.
“Yesterday one of our
sites had whale sightings´
Nelson said.
According to Nelson
most of the barnacled baleen
whales spotted have been
males as most of the females
already have made their way
to the warm waters of Baja.
The weather on the coast
Wednesday was sunny mild
and noticeably absent of fog
in the morning and early af-
ternoon which made it prime
whale-viewing conditions.
That combined with the
ideal location of Depoe Bay
made the area a hotbed for
tourists throughout the day.
Hundreds of visitors parked
at coastal view areas and
took out pairs of binoculars
to search high and low for the
elusive beasts of the sea.
Rich history of
Depoe Bay
Information in the Whale
Watching Center traced back
the rich history of Depoe Bay
named after Joshua tribal
leader Charlie DePoe.
Depoe Bay nicknamed by
the Whale Watching Center
as “The Little Harbor That
Could´ is known for having
the “smallest natural naviga-
ble harbor in the world.´
The refuge was enlarged
with the help of dredges
eventually growing to its cur-
rent size. The town and U.S.
Highway skirt border a
sea wall with a view of the
ocean.
Within the Whale Watch-
ing Center staff members set
up a live video feed showing
views of the sea just outside
of the harbor. Visitors had
some of the best viewing suc-
cesses there.
In the space of half an hour
some of the views picked up
outside the harbor showed
one whale “spyhopping´
or lifting its head above the
surface of the water as well
as a whale Àuking — which
happens when one of the gray
whales Àips its tail high out of
the water.
But the sighting that drew
the most attention was one
that has been commonly mis-
represented — a gray whale
blowing.
After gray whales dive
underwater for up to ¿ve
minutes they breathe three to
¿ve times at the surface to re-
plenish oxygen. But while the
blow is well-known its cause
is less so — it’s a high-pres-
sure gust of air not water
which creates a spout when
met with cold air.
Novice explorer
One of the sightseers most
eager to view the gray whales
was visitor Janet Purcell a
proud “novice explorer of Or-
egon.´
Although Purcell a native
of Idaho said she’s made trips
to the coast several times
including Newport and Can-
non Beach this was her ¿rst
experience looking at a gray
whale.
“I’ve only seen pictures up
to today´ Purcell said. “This
has been beyond exciting.´
Purcell was ready for the
sightings parking her car with
a full view of the coast as she
looked out at the harbor.
Inside at the Whale Watch-
ing Center the sightings elic-
ited mini cheers and moments
of attentive silence.
Coastal whale watching
companies also were able to
capitalize on the excitement.
Depoe Bay home to Eco-
Excursions and Tradewinds
Charters had several boats
taking trips out to view the
whales within the course of
the early afternoon some
with at least a dozen tourists
on board.
“It’s worth getting up
close´ Nelson said. “It’s like
being next to a semi truck.´
Stormy weather
The beginning of the
whale watching season wasn’t
as successful.
Ongoing rain stormy
weather and a restless ocean
might have provided a good
backdrop for Herman Mel-
ville but it didn’t help State
Parks Ranger Luke Parsons
who staffs the Whale Watch-
ing Center and has helped
oversee volunteers.
“It was hard to sight the
whales because of the stormy
weather´ Parsons said add-
ing that they told volunteers
that “if it’s just miserable go
home early.´
The weather had a more
noticeable impact at the cen-
ter which has reported sight-
ings of as many as whales
per day during previous win-
ter coastal migrations and
was struggling to get a doz-
en viewings per day Sunday
through Monday.
However with the im-
proving weather Parsons was
con¿dent that the deluge of
visitors to the coast in the lat-
ter half of the week would be
satis¿ed with their sojourn.
“There will be thousands
of people out´ Parsons said.
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