Page 8 The Skanner January 6, 2016
News
Oregon Tribe: Armed Group ‘Desecrating’ Their Ancestral Land
By Rebecca Boone
Associated Press
BURNS, Ore. — A lead-
er of the Oregon Indian
tribe whose ancestral
property is being occu-
pied by an armed group
opposed to federal land
policy said Wednesday
that the group is not wel-
“
ple.
Rodrique said the area
was a wintering ground
for the Paiute people
prior to the coming of
settlers, ranchers and
trappers.
She said the tribe
signed a treaty in 1868
with the federal govern-
ment, and though the
The protesters have no right
to this land. It belongs to the
native people who live here
come and needs to leave.
“The protesters have
no right to this land. It
belongs to the native
people who live here,”
Charlotte Rodrique told
reporters at the tribe’s
cultural center.
Rodrique, who is tribal
chair for the Burns Pai-
ute, said the tribe is con-
cerned cultural artifacts
could be damaged and ac-
cused the group of “dese-
crating one of our sacred
sites.”
“Armed
protesters
don’t belong here,” she
said.
The group seized build-
ings at the Malheur Na-
tional Wildlife Refuge
in eastern Oregon’s high
desert country on Satur-
day. Authorities had not
yet moved to remove the
group of roughly 20 peo-
U.S. Senate never ap-
proved it, she expected
the government to honor
the agreement to protect
their interests.
The group occupying a
remote national wildlife
preserve in Oregon has
said repeatedly that lo-
cal people should control
federal lands.
Leader Ammon Bundy
told reporters Tuesday
that the group would
leave when there was a
plan in place to turn over
federal lands to locals —
a common refrain in a
decades-long fight over
public lands in the West.
“It is our goal to get
the logger back to log-
ging, the rancher back to
ranching,” said the son of
Nevada rancher Cliven
Bundy, who was involved
in a high-profile 2014
standoff with the gov-
ernment over grazing
rights.
Rodrique said she “had
to laugh” at that state-
ment, because she knew
Bundy wasn’t talking
about giving the land
back to the tribe.
“We have no sympathy
for those who are trying
to take the land from its
rightful owners,” she
said.
Arizona rancher La-
Voy Finicum, one of the
group members, said
Tuesday evening that he
believes federal officials
have issued warrants for
the arrest of five group
members — including
himself and Ammon
Bundy — but Finicum of-
fered no details.
The FBI in Portland
referred calls to the Har-
ney County Joint Infor-
mation Center, which
said in a statement that
it had no information
on arrests or arrest war-
rants and that authori-
ties were “still working
on a peaceful resolution.”
Bundy said group
members would take a
defensive position an-
ticipating a possible
raid. Late Tuesday, they
moved a large plow vehi-
cle to block the refuge’s
driveway.
The younger Bundy’s
anti-government group
AP PHOTO/RICK BOWMER
BLM says group’s request for ownership transfer doesn’t make sense, since land is already public
A member of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters warms himself by a
fire Wednesday, Jan. 6, 2016, near Burns, Ore. The small, armed group occupying a remote national wildlife
preserve has said repeatedly that local people should control federal lands — a sentiment that frustrates
critics who say the lands are already managed to help everyone from ranchers to recreationalists.
is critical of federal land
stewardship. But envi-
ronmentalists and others
say U.S. officials should
keep control for the
“
ment controls about half
of all land in the West,
which would make the
wholesale transfer of
ownership extremely dif-
tutional Freedom said
it wants an inquiry into
whether the government
is forcing ranchers off
their land after Dwight
Everybody in the United States owns that land.
...We manage it the best we can for its owners
broadest possible benefit
to business, recreation
and the environment.
Randy Eardley, a Bu-
reau of Land Manage-
ment spokesman, said
the group’s call for land
ownership
transfer
didn’t make sense.
“It is frustrating when
I hear the demand that
we return the land to the
people, because it is in
the people’s hand — the
people own it,” Eardley
said. “Everybody in the
United States owns that
land. ... We manage it
the best we can for its
owners, the people, and
whether it’s for recreat-
ing, for grazing, for en-
ergy and mineral devel-
opment.”
The federal govern-
ficult and expensive.
For example, it owns
53 percent of Oregon, 85
percent of Nevada and 66
percent of Utah, accord-
ing to the Congressional
Research Service. Taking
over federal public lands
in Idaho could cost the
state $111 million a year,
according to a University
of Idaho study.
Bundy said the group
felt it had the support
of the local community.
But the county sheriff
has told the group to go
home, and many locals
don’t want them around,
fearing they may bring
trouble. A community
meeting was scheduled
for later Wednesday.
The group calling it-
self Citizens for Consti-
Hammond and his son,
Steven, reported back to
prison Monday.
The Hammonds, who
have distanced them-
selves from the group,
were convicted of ar-
son three years ago and
served no more than a
year.
A judge later ruled
that the terms fell short
of minimum sentences
requiring them to serve
about four more years.
Such land disputes date
back decades in the West.
In the 1970s, Nevada and
other states pushed for
local control in what was
known as the Sagebrush
Rebellion.
Supporters
wanted more land for
cattle grazing, mining
and timber harvesting.