Stealing Our National Heritage: Oregon Militia vs. The American Public
This is one of the more thoughtful & informative pieces I've seen on the Bundy Gang's
felonious and seditious take-over of Federal land in Oregon. Worth a read if you've
been following this, or are interested in some of the more obscure legal issues.
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Stealing Our National Heritage: Oregon Militia vs. The American Public
By Tom Ribe * Wednesday Jan 13, 2016 * Daily Kos
Making Sense of the Oregon Militia Showdown
The standoff between law enforcement and the Bundy militia at a national wildlife refuge near Burns, Oregon raises many important questions about public lands in the wild west. The problem at the wildlife refuge is really important to every American no matter where you live, since the Bundy militia is part of larger movement that is trying to take away millions of acres of land that we all own together (public land) and transfer it to states and private commercial interests.
Q: What’s going on out in Eastern Oregon?
A: A group of right-wing gun owners has broken into federal buildings at a 187,000 acre national wildlife refuge and is demanding that the US Government give the refuge to local ranchers or they might get violent with military style firearms.
Q: Isn’t it against the law to break into federal buildings while armed?
A: Yes, breaking and entering federal facilities while armed is a felony. These men have also been driving federal trucks, rummaging files, using federal supplies, and perhaps other federal property and they have vandalized fencing and signs.
Q: Who owns this land?
A: A quick history: the Malheur National Wildlife refuge, like the rest of the United States, was inhabited by native people until the middle 1800s when they were pushed out by European settlers and the US Army. After this the land was “public domain” owned by the US Government. In 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt designated this parcel of land (and many others) “public land.” This particular piece of land was established as a “national wildlife refuge” because it is critical habitat for tens of millions of migratory birds who need the marshes there to survive. Thus, the refuge became permanently federal public land, owned by all Americans, and managed for us by the US Fish & Wildlife Service.
Q: Why haven’t police moved in to arrest the people who broke in to the buildings? A: The FBI has a command post nearby and state and county police are amassed nearby, but so far no police have moved to stop the criminal behavior. This may be because the federal government is trying to avoid violence that could endanger officers and could give the far right a political football to play with in this election year.
MUCH MRE HERE: http://www.dailykos.com/stories/2016/1/13/1468807/-Stealing-Our-National-Heritage-Oregon-Militia-vs-The-American-Public