NATION/WORLD
Tuesday, January 26, 2016
Demands by standoff leaders
defy logic and law, authorities say
By LES ZAITZ
The Oregonian
East Oregonian
STANDOFF: Grant County
Sheriff endorsed releasing
the Hammonds from prison
Continued from 1A
BURNS – Occupiers of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge for three
weeks have made sweeping demands
that local and federal authorities say
are both brazen and unrealistic.
They want immediate freedom
for imprisoned local ranchers. They
want federal deeds voided and private
owners to take over the property. They
want the county to control the refuge.
They want federal grazing permits
vacated, leaving ranchers free to graze
as they choose. And they say they
won’t go until they get their way.
Interviews with lawyers, ranchers,
federal authorities and others make
clear: Little of what they want is likely
to happen for reasons that include
legal principle, basic property rights,
economic forces and cost. Federal
authorities also say the occupiers are
making demands that Ày in the face of
the U.S. Constitution.
Federal land control
A bedrock claim of the small group
led by Arizona businessman Ammon
Bundy is that the Constitution limits
federal ownership of land. As a result,
they say, the federal government is
violating Article 1, Section 8, Clause
17 by illegally holding about 76
percent of Harney County.
But scholars say Bundy and his
followers are misreading the Consti-
tution.
“You have to read the entire
document and not just the clauses and
provisions that you think support your
case,” said Elizabeth Wydra, chief
counsel of the nonpro¿t Constitu-
tional Accountability Center, which
monitors legal application of the
Constitution.
The provision cited by Bundy and
others is “mostly about the District
of Columbia and the idea that there
would be the neutral place for the
government to be located instead of in
an area belonging to a particular state.
It’s really hard for me to see how that
relates to their claims.”
The more important provision,
Wydra and others said, is Article IV,
Section 3, Clause 2 – known as the
“Property Clause”: “The Congress
shall have Power to dispose of and
make all needful Rules and Regula-
tions respecting the Territory or other
Property belonging to the United
States.”
In a 1976 ruling, the U.S. Supreme
Court confronted the point Bundy is
trying to assert. New Mexico state
of¿cials tried to keep wild burros that
they had seized from federal land. The
of¿cials claimed what the Oregon
occupiers claim – that the Consti-
tution strictly limits what property
the federal government can own or
control.
State of¿cials argued in .leppe vs.
New Mexico that Congress had no
power over public lands without state
consent. “This argument is without
merit,” the Supreme Court ruled.
State of¿cials confused a consti-
tutional provision focused more
narrowly on how the federal govern-
ment oversees land it acquires from
a state with the unlimited powers
granted to the federal government
under the Constitution’s Property
Clause, the court said.
That clause trumps all, the court
ruled.
AP Photo/Keith Ridler
Ammon Bundy sits at a desk he’s using at the Malheur National Wildlife
Refuge in Oregon on Friday.
“You have to read the entire [Constitution] and
not just the clauses and provisions that you
think support your case.”
— Elizabeth Wydra, chief counsel of Constitutional Accountability Center
Unwinding federal
ownership
Bundy and other leaders of the
refuge takeover nonetheless assert that
the federal government is out of bounds
in Harney County.
They plan to rectify ownership
by voiding all deeds in the county
that transferred land to the federal
government. This would affect lands
managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land
Management, the U.S. Forest Service
and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service.
One challenge they face is that much
of the federal ownership dates to terri-
torial days, so there’s no earlier owner.
Homesteaders subsequently claimed
some of the land, but the federal
government still retained millions of
acres in Harney County. Over time, the
government has bought or traded other
parcels.
The Burns Paiute Tribe would
perhaps have the most distinct claim to
much of the county -- by treaty, it never
gave up its interest in tribal lands across
the Great Basin. Tribal members did
cede what was once the Malheur Indian
Reservation, accepting compensation.
The federal government subsequently
sold that land to private interests, so it’s
not clear whether that land would be
part of Bundy’s calculation.
Bundy told an FBI negotiator
Thursday that his group already is
examining land records to identify
previous owners. But which records
they’re researching isn’t clear.
Of¿cials at the Harney County
Assessor’s Of¿ce, which tracks prop-
erty ownership, and the Clerk’s Of¿ce,
which keeps the record of deeds, say
no one in recent weeks has approached
them to examine the records.
Assessor Ted Tiller noted that U.S.
government deeds date back more than
100 years. Identifying all the transac-
tions that left property in the federal
government’s name is “not a project I
could devote resources to,” Tiller said.
“I don’t know how we’d do it.”
He said while the government
doesn’t pay property taxes, his of¿ce
still tracks what the federal govern-
ment owns, encompassing 1,134 tax
accounts.
At the recorder’s of¿ce, of¿cials
were equally Àummoxed over how to
identify every instance when land titles
passed to the federal government. Its
computer records list more than 2,000
documents related to federal property
holdings – but historic records are
still being transferred to the electronic
database, so an unknown number have
yet to be entered into the system.
The refuge occupiers have provided
few details on exactly how a land
transfer would work. Would a rancher
who sold land to the government simply
get the land back or would the rancher
have to refund what the government
paid for the land?
The Harney County Committee of
Safety, a group of six local residents
founded at the instigation of Bundy and
other occupiers, has been identi¿ed as
among those who would help with the
transfers.
“We do not have a concrete plan to
transfer the lands away from the feds,”
said Burns businessman Tim Smith, a
committee member. “Everything is still
on the table except the status quo of
leaving the vast majority of land within
the fed jurisdiction.”
Smith himself was given title to 10
acres of federal land in 2010, but didn’t
respond to written questions about
what would become of the land under
Bundy’s plans.
Gary Miller, a rancher whose family
has worked cattle more than 100 years
in an area 75 miles south of Burns,
exchanged land with the Bureau of
Land Management in 2009. His Rock
Creek Ranch acquired 1,100 acres to
add to his holdings and traded 233 acres
that the federal land agency wanted on
Steens Mountain, a high desert feature
now the centerpiece of a major pres-
ervation project. The property values
were about equal, according to land
bureau ¿ndings.
Miller said it’s “craziness” to
consider reversing the deal.
“There’d be no reason whatsoever to
do that,” he said this week, sitting on his
idling tractor while out feeding cattle.
Page 7A
FBI negotiator and local law
enforcement.
FBI spokeswoman Beth
Anne Steele said Monday that
she couldn’t comment because
of the ongoing investigation.
Members of the group have
been able to come and go from
the refuge, at times buying
supplies at a local grocery
store and occasionally meeting
with government of¿cials.
Authorities have stayed away
from the property, setting up
their operational headquarters
nearly a half-hour’s drive
away in Burns. Of¿cials there
didn’t immediately return
requests for comment.
“Allowing the militants
free passage to and from the
Refuge must stop,” Rodrique
wrote.
The activists also have
built a road through part of
the refuge and taken down a
fence, she noted.
“We fear that the demo-
lition
and
construction
activities of the militants
may have harmed our burial
grounds and disturbed Tribal
artifacts,” she wrote.
Ryan Bundy said about a
week ago that the group was
not interested in the artifacts
and would turn them over to
the tribe if asked. He also said
the protection of prehistoric
sites at the refuge should take
a backseat to grazing and
logging rights.
The federal government’s
approach to the activists has
increasingly frustrated some
residents. Counter protesters
have begun to gather on the
refuge with signs telling the
group to go home.
Divisions also are starting
to appear among law enforce-
ment entities. The refuge is in
Harney County, where local
of¿cials have been working
closely with state and federal
authorities.
Glenn Palmer, the sheriff
of neighboring Grant County,
recently endorsed some of the
group’s demands, including
releasing two local ranchers
imprisoned on arson charges
and sending home the FBI.
“The government is going
to have to concede some-
thing” to end the occupation,
Palmer told The Oregonian
newspaper.
Malheur County Sheriff
Brian Wolfe, who has been
helping Harney County and
federal of¿cials, said Palm-
er’s position is not helping.
“If anything, it hampers
the effort to end this,” Wolfe
told the newspaper.
At least one person
involved in the occupation
of the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge is expected
to speak Tuesday at a
community meeting in John
Day, according to the Blue
Mountain Eagle.
Tad Houpt, from Canyon
City, said he organized the
meeting to discuss people’s
constitutional power and
authority as well as federal
land mismanagement and
corruption. The meeting is
planned for 6 p.m. at the John
Day Senior Center, 142 NE
Dayton St.
Houpt said he plans to
speak, and he has also invited
Ryan Payne, who has partici-
pated in the occupation of the
refuge near Burns. He said
he was unsure if any other
members of the occupation
would be attending. He plans
to ask Grant County Sheriff
Glenn Palmer to speak as
well.
“What I’d like to get
across is how much power
and authority we have and
how we need to make some
changes in our government
here,” Houpt said Monday.
“... The corruption, that’s what
this meeting is about — the
blatant, unbelievable corrup-
tion we have in this county.
It’s from local government
clean up to federal govern-
ment. Our state government
is probably even worse.”
Houpt said he has 30 years
of forestry experience, but his
retirement — in the form of
timber on his private land —
burned in the Canyon Creek
Complex ¿re last summer.
He described the U.S. Forest
Service’s management poli-
cies as “voodoo forestry” and
said “gross mismanagement”
led to the ¿re. He said the
federal government has “zero
authority” to manage land,
and he hoped people would
begin to reform some of these
government agencies in Grant
County, which he described
as a cancer.
“I hope the people of
this county start standing
up for themselves,” he said.
“Everybody is scared of their
government. The government
should be scared of the
people, and that will keep
them scared straight, in other
words.”
Houpt said he was not
afraid to stand up to the
government. He said he
“absolutely” supports the
occupation of the refuge and
claimed two-thirds of Harney
County’s residents did as
well. He said he visited the
refuge since the occupation
began, and although he did
not meet leader Ammon
Bundy, he spoke to about 20
people who were there.
“I didn’t ¿nd one person
that was even remotely nutty,”
he said. “They all seemed like
good Average Joe people that
are just fed up with it all.”
After meeting some of
the occupiers, Houpt said he
invited Payne and two others
to a meeting Jan. 12 with a
group of Grant County resi-
dents in John Day. Houpt said
Palmer attended the meeting
but was not informed who
would be there beforehand.
———
Sean Hart contributed to
this story.
Grand jury indicts leader behind
Planned Parenthood videos
SORENSON: Died Jan. 18 of congenital heart failure
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — A
Houston grand jury investi-
gating undercover footage of
Planned Parenthood found no
wrongdoing Monday by the
abortion provider, and instead
indicted anti-abortion activists
involved in making the videos
that targeted the handling of fetal
tissue in clinics and provoked
outrage among Republican
leaders nationwide.
David Daleiden, founder of
the Center for Medical Progress,
was indicted on a felony charge of
tampering with a governmental
record and a misdemeanor count
related to purchasing human
organs. Another activist, Sandra
Merritt, was also indicted on
a charge of tampering with a
governmental record, which
carries a maximum penalty of 20
years in prison.
It’s the ¿rst time anyone in
the group has been charged
criminally since the release
of the videos, which began
surfacing last year and alleged
that Planned Parenthood sold
fetal tissue to researchers for a
pro¿t in violation of federal law.
Planned Parenthood of¿cials
have denied any wrongdoing
and have said the videos were
misleadingly edited.
The footage from the clinic
in Houston showed people
pretending to be from a company
called BioMax that procures
Danielson said; on the one hand, it
was a meeting between two friends.
On the other, it was a meeting
between two businesswomen.
It was a gut-wrenching discus-
sion, but one Danielson knew
was coming. Whether it was with
the chamber of commerce, city
council, Lions Club or Moose
Lodge, friends and colleagues knew
how committed Sorenson was to
improving life in Irrigon.
Sorenson died less than a week
later on Jan. 18 of congenital heart
failure. She was 72.
“She worked right up to her
dying day,” Danielson said. “She
was absolutely committed.”
Sorenson ¿rst came to Irrigon
with her husband, Andrew, in 1994.
They used to make yearly trips to
visit friends in town, and especially
enjoyed ¿shing on the Columbia
River.
For years, Sorenson owned a
storage company on Highway 730
and became active with the chamber,
where she and Danielson ¿rst
met. Danielson, who owns Stokes
Landing Bed & Breakfast, said she
was struck by Sorenson’s positivity
and dedication to the community.
“Christina was the one who
could be counted on to hold our feet
to the ¿re,” Danielson said. “She
never settled for less than the best.
You had to do it right, and you had
to do it well.”
When the chamber nearly folded
in 2013, Danielson and Sorenson
fetal tissue for research touring
the facility. Planned Parenthood
has previously said that the fake
company sent an agreement
offering to pay the “astronomical
amount” of $1,600 for organs
from a fetus. The clinic said it
never entered into the agreement
and ceased contact with BioMax
because it was “disturbed” by the
overtures.
In a statement announcing
the indictment, Harris County
District
Attorney
Devon
Anderson did not provide details
on the charges, including what
record or records were allegedly
tampered with and why Daleiden
faces a charge related to buying
human organs. Her of¿ce said it
could not disclose more informa-
tion and a court spokesman said
it was unclear whether copies of
the indictments, which typically
provide more insight, would be
made public Monday.
“We were called upon to
investigate allegations of crim-
inal conduct by Planned Parent-
hood Gulf Coast,” Anderson,
an elected Republican, said in
her statement. “As I stated at
the outset of this investigation,
we must go where the evidence
leads us.”
Daleiden issued a statement
saying that his group “uses the
same undercover techniques”
as investigative journalists and
follows all applicable laws.
Continued from 1A
were part of the effort to rally support
and reform the organization’s board
of directors. Along with Julie Dick
and Barb Huwe, the four women
helped get the group back on its feet,
erasing $1,500 in previous debt.
Sorenson was always proud of that
accomplishment, Danielson said.
“She was absolutely a key player
in that,” Danielson said.
Sorenson also served on the
Irrigon City Council and had been
appointed mayor pro tem before she
died. The council met on Tuesday,
Jan. 19 — one day after Sorenson’s
death — and held a moment of
silence before proceeding with their
agenda. Mayor Sam Heath said it
was a dif¿cult night for everyone.
“Everybody’s hearts were really
heavy,” she said. “There was a point
where I thought I would have to
excuse myself.”
Heath said the council will
appoint a new mayor pro tem at
February’s meeting. The city charter
states a vacant council seat will be
¿lled by appointment.
Sorenson was well-liked and a
pillar of the community, Heath said.
“Her vision was to see this town
move forward, and make it the best
little place for people to want to
come live,” she said. “She kept her
community ¿rst ... She was always
thinking about the people.”
The oldest daughter of a U.S.
Marines
lieutenant,
Sorenson
graduated magna cum laude with a
degree in education from Western
Connecticut
State
University.
She met and married her second
husband, Andrew, in 1990 while
living in Boise. They later came to
Irrigon to be closer to friends and
¿shing.
Andrew Sorenson said his wife’s
interests revolved around helping
people in town. Christine’s Storage
became a place for people to come
for support, whether they were
customers or not.
“I don’t know how to explain it.
She was basically the shoulder to
lean on if someone had a problem,”
he said. “She was always helping,
if she could. She was a go-to in this
town.”
Sorenson raised two sons, Robert
and Chris Westlake, from her ¿rst
marriage. Chris, her youngest,
works as a senior project superinten-
dent for a construction company in
Connecticut. But he said his mom’s
heart was always in the West.
“She really loved the outdoors,
and freedom associated with the
West,” Westlake said.
A celebration of life for Sorenson
was held on Saturday at Burns
Mortuary in Hermiston, followed by
a gathering at Stokes Landing Senior
Center in Irrigon. Westlake said it
was great to see the outpouring of
support from the community.
“She was the best. It’s really hard
to sum it up more than that,” he said.
“She wanted the best for us, and
wanted nothing less than our best. It
did us well in our lives.”
———
Contact George Plaven at
gplaven@eastoregonian.com
or
541-966-0825.