So What’s All the Fuss at Malheur?
Okay. So here’s a recap on the situation at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge:
I’ve been following this since it broke yesterday. Here are my thoughts in brief, as someone who’s been to the refuge multiple times and is pretty darn attached to it:
–The men at the heart of this, Dwight and Steve Hammond, have a long history of flouting the law. They’re ranchers in the Frenchglen, OR area, south of Malheur. They don’t like the idea of public lands being multi-use, to include setting some aside for crucial wildlife habitat. The first fire Steve Hammond set was to cover up evidence of poaching. The second, in 2006, was set after a burn ban in place, AND was set at the bottom of a butte where young firefighters were camping for the night, AND Hammond called to ask if he could set a burn AFTER the fire was started. As to the Bundys, you only need to Google “Cliven Bundy” to get an idea of the anti-government craziness that fuels his entire family.
–The Hammonds were sentenced to relatively short amounts of time in federal prison a few years ago, and served their sentences. A newer employee of BLM went after them later and used anti-terrorism laws to get them nailed with a longer mandatory minimum sentence of five years each. The Hammonds are *wllingly* going back to prison tomorrow, even though the elder is 73 years old. They did NOT call for this “action” on the part of the Bundys and others, and they do not support it.
–Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is not so crazy a choice to make a crazy stand as you might think. Something people who have never been to Malheur may not realize is that this is not just a gift shop and some offices. There are also a few bunk houses for rangers and other on site officials, a helicopter pad, bathrooms, and the hill behind the gift shop has an observation tower on it. There are also telescopes on the deck of the main building used to observe birds. So it’s not entirely devoid of resources; I can see where they might think it was a good strategy to take this over.
–My big concern, other than potential loss of human life, is impact on the refuge. The facilities they’re in overlook a small pond that’s just part of a greater wetlands system that is absolutely crucial to many migrating waterfowl, as well as many species of bird that come there to breed in spring. It’s in a desert, which is a sensitive ecosystem to begin with, and still in heavy drought. And it is pretty remote; it’s an hour drive from the nearest small-ish town, Burns, and at least five hours and change from the I-5 corridor.
–The locals, like residents of Burns, are not supportive of this occupation. Bundy and his buddies had a big peaceful protest in Burns yesterday afternoon with about 300 people, and then tried to recruit locals to go take over the refuge, No one went with them. They claim there are 150 people there, but eyewitnesses say there’s maybe a dozen. (I haven’t been able to find any news stories today that say more have arrived.)
Personally, I do think there’s reason to debate the additional time under terrorism laws; what the Hammonds did was stupid, and harmful, and likely more intentional than they claim, but it wasn’t *terrorism*. However, the men who are currently occupying the refuge are a bunch of wannabe comic book characters and would-be martyrs full of paranoia and hate; Ammon Bundy got a lot of well-deserved heat a couple of years ago for insinuating that black people were better off being slaves to white people than being “slaves” to welfare and other social services.
As far as I know, there is still no law enforcement on the ground at Malheur just yet, though everyone from local law to the FBI are well aware of what’s going on. Harney county schools are closed for the week. Supposedly no damage has been done to the facility–yet–and supposedly this is more of a sit-in than an armed takeover, but some of the people there are armed.
This is a very special place to me, and so I’m keeping a close eye on what’s happening. I just woke up around 11:30 so I’m still getting a sense of what’s happened since last night, but that’s a pretty good overview so far (albeit with my personal biases thrown in here and there.).
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/01/drama_in_burns_ends_with_quiet.html#incart_big-photo
http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2016/01/02/3735576/150-armed-militia-members-take-over-federal-building/
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2015/12/ranchers_fight_with_feds_spark.html
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/01/oregon_militants_in_high_spiri.html
http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2016/01/03/left-over-cliven-bundy-militants-appear-in-burns-or-occupy-malheur-wildlife-refuge-headquarters/
http://audubonportland.org/news/audubon-society-of-portland-statement-on-the-occupation-of-malheur-national-wildlife-refuge
https://twitter.com/IanKullgren
https://twitter.com/LesZaitz
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2016/01/double-standards-cited-armed-protest-oregon-160103081113265.html
Here’s the actual indictment of the Hammonds: http://landrights.org/or/Hammond/Hammond_superseding-indictment%20May%2017%202012.pdf
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