Militants presiding over an armed occupation of a federal bird sanctuary destroyed a portion of a fence Monday afternoon that they said was installed by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service using the agency's own equipment.
The stunt was perhaps the militants' boldest yet since overtaking the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge earlier this month. Arizona businessman Ammon Bundy and his band of protesters traveled about five miles south of refuge headquarters to a property where they said a local ranching family grazes cattle.
Bundy, son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, said the Fish and Wildlife Service used a $100,000 grant to install the fence last year, preventing the family's 600 cattle from grazing on nearby public land.
"This will help them out, being able to run their ranch like they have in the past," Bundy said. The militants had permission from the family to destroy the fence, he added. "They actually showed us where they wanted it," Bundy said.
The militants removed barbed wire Bundy with only his bare hands and then used an excavator adorned with the Fish and Wildlife Service's logo to pluck stakes out of the ground. The group included Bundy's brother Ryan, Jon Ritzheimer, Ryan Payne, Blaine Cooper, Jason Patrick and Robert "LaVoy" Finicum.
"That's all that's needed for cows to go through," Finicum announced after the work was done. The militants removed about 25 or 30 yards of fence.
The Fish and Wildlife Service condemned the militants' actions in a written statement.
"In the century of [the] Malheur National Wildlife Refuge's existence, enormous effort has been displayed by partners, surrounding communities, ranchers and landowners to restore a devastated landscape," the statement reads. "Removing fences, damaging any refuge property, or unauthorized use of equipment would be additional unlawful actions by the illegal occupiers. Any movement of cattle onto the refuge or other activities that are not specifically authorized by [the Fish and Wildlife Service] constitutes trespassing.
"If they take down the fences, it hurts the refuge, but it also destroys the positive conservation impacts reaped from decades of direct collaboration and sweat equity paid by the Harney County (and surrounding) communities, ranchers, landowners, partners and friends."
The militants have advocated for the federal government to hand over public land in Harney County to local ranchers. The protesters destroyed the fence after Bundy announced in a morning press conference that they plan to continue the occupation until Harney County ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven, are free from federal prison.
The Hammonds were imprisoned last week after a judge ruled that they hadn't served long enough sentences for setting fires that spread to public land.
The Hammonds do not own the property where the militants destroyed the fence, Bundy said. It is not the same fence, Bundy said, that sparked a dispute between the Hammonds and the federal government in 1994.
Bundy seemed confident that the group's actions wouldn't result in any immediate response from law enforcement officials, who have remained low-profile and have adopted a "wait-them-out" approach to the situation.
"I don't think they want to do anything," Bundy said. "I think there's a lot of good people in the federal government who feel the same way as us."
Payne said the militants plan similar actions in the future.
