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posted by cmn32480 on Monday January 04 2016, @04:21PM   Printer-friendly
from the seeds-of-revolution dept.

NPR is reporting on this tale of direct action:

A self-styled militia in eastern Oregon grabbed national headlines Saturday when they broke into the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. There the armed group remains Sunday, occupying the federal building in protest of what it sees as government overreach on rangelands throughout the western United States.

"We stand in defense," Ammon Bundy, the group's apparent leader and spokesperson, told Oregon Public Broadcasting. "And when the time is right we will begin to defend the people of Harney County, [Ore.,] in using the land and the resources."

Ammon's brother, Ryan, has reportedly used harsher rhetoric, saying members of the militia are willing to kill or be killed.

Their last name may ring a bell. Ammon and Ryan Bundy are sons of rancher Cliven Bundy, who notably took part in an armed standoff with the federal Bureau of Land Management, or BLM, in Nevada in 2014.

Ammon Bundy now is part of a group of 15 to 150 people — depending on which source you believe — who are protesting the arson convictions of two Oregon ranchers, Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven.

Also at Oregon Live, NYT, and the Associated Press.


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by Non Sequor on Monday January 04 2016, @06:53PM

    by Non Sequor (1005) on Monday January 04 2016, @06:53PM (#284647) Journal

    Well it may be more complex than that. In the 19th century, basically the Federal government encouraged western development by granting land to private interests. It seems slightly curious to me that the Federal government was always treated as the originator of all land titles rather than making that a State role. I'm guessing that the model for new state founding during the westward expansion was that the territory came under Federal control first and statehood was recognized for settlements within those territories with the Federal government retaining title on undeveloped land.

    Around the late 19th and early 20th century, the focus of policy shifted to give public interests other than economic development consideration in use of Federal land. The establishment of national parks is one of the early examples. This was starting to happen at the same time as the states with high percentages of Federal land entered the union. In some cases, lack of land viable for agriculture may have also been a factor. Urbanization may have reduced the emphasis on developing large tracts of land.

    Basically the model for Federal land use changed between the settlement of the eastern states and the settlement of the western states with the effect that land use disputes may have a different character between the two. In the east, most land is held by private individuals or state and municipal governments and basically any disagreements are going to be settled at the local and state level. In the west, Federal land holdings are significant and land use based on Federal policy may be in conflict with the views of private individuals and local and state governments.

    It's kind of interesting that any policy at the Federal level to earmark land for particular purposes is going to disproportionately affect the Western states. This is actually a clear example of the basis for giving every state two senators rather than representation proportional to population. The states themselves have distinct issues tied to their geography and history.

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