Thread: Armed militia group attempting to overthrow the government

Oregon sheriff says refuge occupiers trying to overthrow government


An entrance to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge about 30 miles southeast of Burns, Ore., on Jan. 3.
(Les Zaitz / Oregonian)

Nigel Duara Contact Reporter

A group of armed activists who have seized control of part of a federal wildlife refuge in southern Oregon appear to be aiming "to overthrow the county and federal government," a local law enforcement official said Sunday.

Harney County Sheriff David M. Ward said authorities from "several organizations" are working to peacefully resolve the standoff, which began Saturday when an unknown number of armed activists occupied an uninhabited building at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, about 30 miles outside the town of Burns, Ore.

"These men came to Harney County claiming to be part of militia groups supporting local ranchers, when in reality these men had alternative motives, to attempt to overthrow the county and federal government in hopes to spark a movement across the United States," Ward said in a statement Sunday.

There were no signs of confrontation Sunday at the small refuge headquarters building, seized in what activists said was a protest against the federal prosecution of two ranchers and a bid to reclaim local control of federally managed land.

One of the protesters just at the entrance to the refuge, Jon Ritzheimer of Phoenix, said the activists were not blocking access to the facility and were breaking no laws.

"There's Oregon county residents coming here, the refuge is open, there's zero no trespassing signs, we're breaking no laws. We're out here on public lands," Ritzheimer said in a video posted on Facebook.

He warned law enforcement officials against creating "another Ruby Ridge," a reference to a deadly 1992 siege in northern Idaho between the FBI and backwoods cabin dweller Randy Weaver.

"We will not fire unless fired upon, but we will stand and defend the Constitution," Ritzheimer said. "Yes, there are some people that are armed. We need to defend our rights. That's what the Second Amendment is there for, people."

Ward said police are asking residents to avoid the refuge for their safety.”

Burns, Ore.
(Los Angeles Times)

"At this time, we do not have any information that any other areas in Harney County are in immediate danger," he said.

County officials announced that schools would remain closed through the week pending a resolution.

U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) said the FBI was leading the law enforcement response, in coordination with the Oregon State Police and local law enforcement authorities. Wyden said he was himself heading to southern Oregon to meet with local residents.

"I understand why rural Oregonians are so frustrated about this economy," Wyden said a a press conference.

"But the next step from frustration is not to walk off a cliff, misled by some outsiders who seem willing to take the law into their own hands."

Those leading what amounts to an armed occupation at the small, remote building say they are the vanguard of a national movement to resist the government’s ownership of vast stretches of land in the West.

The move began Saturday after a peaceful rally near Burns, where more than 150 people gathered in support of the ranchers who are facing additional jail time for arson.

A small, armed breakaway faction then moved on the wildlife refuge, which was closed and empty.

Dozens of protesters who marched through the town of Burns called for the federal government to back down in its enforcement of public lands regulations.

"We're here to stand up for our brothers and sisters and show the world, show America: You mess with us, you mess with all of us," co-organizer Jeff Roberts told a gathering.

"This isn't an Oregon problem, this is a national problem, and it's happening everywhere," he said.

Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven Hammond, 46, said they set fires in 2001 and 2006 to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.

The two were convicted of the arsons three years ago and served time — Dwight three months, and Steven a year.

But a judge ruled their terms were too short under federal law and ordered them back to prison for about four years each.

Hammond has said he and his son plan to report to prison Monday in San Pedro as ordered by a judge, but the court decision has generated controversy across the West.

Protesters at the Burns rally came from as far away as Idaho, Nevada and Arizona.

"It's about this community being trampled on," one of the organizers, who did not identify himself, said as he stood on the bed of a pickup truck in the parking lot of a Safeway supermarket.

"This is the public saying we're not going to take it anymore, we've had it.... The people of the republic are tired, and it starts right here in this parking lot, guys."

The procession stopped briefly at the Hammonds' home, where supporters greeted the elder Hammond on the front porch and sang "Amazing Grace."

The group at the wildlife refuge is apparently led by sons of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who in 2014 led a standoff against federal agents who sought to collect Bundy’s cattle over his $1-million debt to the Bureau of Land Management for grazing fees.

Hundreds of self-styled militiamen flocked to Bundy’s ranch and, after pointing weapons at federal agents, ended the standoff without paying the grazing fees or losing their cattle.

At the time, BLM and law enforcement officials worried privately that the standoff would embolden the movement and cement Bundy’s status as a movement leader.

"We can enforce the Constitution in Harney County and that’s what we intend to do," Bundy's son Ammon told reporters at the rally. "We have a lot of plans."

His father told Oregon Public Broadcasting that he had spoken to his son and it appeared he and his cohorts were equipped with food and a generator.

"He told me that they were there for the long run. I guess they figured they're going to be there for whatever time it takes — and I don't know what that means," the elder Bundy said.

Another of Bundy's sons, Ryan, who also appears to be at the wildlife refuge, told the Oregonian that the protesters want to see local control of federal land.

"The best possible outcome is that the ranchers that have been kicked out of the area, then they will come back and reclaim their land, and the wildlife refuge will be shut down forever and the federal government will relinquish such control," he said.

"What we're doing is not rebellious. What we're doing is in accordance with the Constitution, which is the supreme law of the land."

The main body of protesters sought to distance themselves from the breakaway faction, which Ammon Bundy said does not consider itself a militia, and the father and son for whom the protest was held are similarly unaffiliated with the occupation.


In Western states, idea of reclaiming federal land still has a strong allure

A number of Western conservatives have called for the return of federal lands to state and local government. The movement has waxed and waned since the so-called Sagebrush Rebellion of the 1980s, which centered on ranchers’ rights and the money that could be made from timber harvesting, mining and ranching, if only the federal government didn‘t forbid such profitable endeavors.

The movement has picked up steam in recent years, led by Utah legislator Ken Ivory, who helms a national organization called the American Lands Council that tries to persuade county and state governments to pursue the ownership of federal lands. A watchdog group has accused him of fraud in three states for his use of taxpayer dollars.

The Southern Poverty Law Center, in a report on the Bundy standoff, said the militiamen and the federal land-return movement are part of the same spectrum.

“Antigovernment extremists have long pushed, most fiercely during Democratic administrations, rabid conspiracy theories about a nefarious New World Order, a socialist, gun-grabbing federal government and the evils of federal law enforcement,” the center said in the report.

The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, incorporated in 1908 by President Theodore Roosevelt, has grown since its inception and presents challenges to the ranching families in the area, who say they are increasingly hemmed in by the federal preserve.

Beginning about one month ago, Ammon Bundy and others arrived in Burns and agitated locals, who wondered what they were up to. By Saturday, the plan became clear, and the Bundys, via their ranch’s Facebook page, called for “all freedom-loving people” to help occupy the wildlife refuge.

“The people are finally getting some good use out of a federal facility,” read a post by the Bundy Ranch on its Facebook page.

The wildlife preserve is in a remote region of south-central Oregon, and the protest overwhelmed the already limited Harney County Sheriff’s Office, which asked the public to stop calling on Saturday because residents were having trouble reaching emergency dispatchers.

“A collective effort from multiple agencies is currently working on a solution,” Ward said in a statement Saturday night. “For the time being, please stay away from that area.”

http://www.latimes.com/nation/la-na-...103-story.html

Militia takes over Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters

One of the protesters just at the entrance to the refuge, Jon Ritzheimer of Phoenix, said the activists were not blocking access to the facility and were breaking no laws.

"There's Oregon county residents coming here, the refuge is open, there's zero no trespassing signs, we're breaking no laws. We're out here on public lands," Ritzheimer said in a video posted on Facebook.

So what's the problem?

Terrorists? Freedom fighters? Oregon standoff poses quandary for media.


Rancher Cliven Bundy speaks at an event Saturday, April 11, 2015, in Bunkerville, Nev. (John Locher/AP)

By Paul Farhi January 3 at 7:37 PM

Militiamen? Activists? Terrorists?

In the wake of the seizure of a federal wildlife management building in eastern Oregon by armed protesters on Saturday, the news media have struggled with how to refer to the people involved.

The descriptions have included “self-styled militiamen” (Reuters), “armed activists” (the New York Times) and “armed protesters” (The Washington Post), as well as a number of other variations on the theme.

The media’s attempts to find a neutral formulation were in stark contrast with the partisan fray on social media, where supporters and detractors of the protest group found their own adjectives.

The majority of those posting under the Twitter hashtag *#OregonUnderAttack seemed to prefer more loaded phrases, such as “domestic terrorists.”

The debate over what to call the 150 or so men involved in the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is reminiscent of other long-standing controversies involving labels that can be interpreted as biased.

Republicans, for example, have pressed President Obama and Democratic presidential candidates to use the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” to describe various terrorist acts — something the Democrats have rejected as unhelpful to combating terrorism as well as inaccurate.

News media wrestle frequently with such characterizations, hoping to steer as neutral a course as possible.

Almost all major news outlets surveyed on Sunday said they were avoiding the use of the words “terrorist” and “terrorism” in connection with the Oregon protest, saying it was unclear that the group’s action was designed to terrorize or harm anyone.

“We are mainly referring to them as ‘protesters’ or ‘armed men who are occupying the refuge headquarters,’ ” said Kim Murphy, the assistant managing editor for foreign and national news at the Los Angeles Times.

“This is a dispute that clearly goes to a fundamental public policy debate, and we don’t add any value by attempting to characterize it.”

Scott Wilson, The Washington Post’s national editor, said the paper is using the terms “occupiers” and “militia members” when those involved identify themselves that way.

“We believe these terms most precisely describe what is taking place, the tactics being used and those involved,” he said. “Further, terrorism is a tactic meant to instill fear in a population or group. In this case, the occupiers, though armed, are not terrorizing, but rather occupying a government building in protest or solidarity.”

The group’s apparent leader, Ammon Bundy, told CNN:

“We are not terrorists. We are concerned citizens and realize we have to act if we want to pass along anything to our children.”

The group’s leaders said they occupied the empty government building near Burns, Ore., to protest the federal government’s treatment of two local ranchers convicted of arson for burning federal land.

The ranchers, Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son Steven Hammond, 46, are scheduled to report to federal prison Monday.

Several news organizations, including Reuters, The Post and the New York Times, called the occupiers “militiamen.” But even that word was up for debate.

The New York Times’ editors wrestled with the best description when the story broke late Saturday, said Marc Lacey, the newspaper’s weekend editor.

“We are currently using ‘militiamen’ in a headline on the website that is in the process of being updated, and we believe the most accurate term in the article may be ‘armed anti-government activists,’ ” he said.

Bundy, on CNN on Sunday, said he wouldn’t describe his group as a militia. For what it’s worth, the Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “militia” as “a group of people who are not part of the armed forces of a country but are trained like soldiers” — a description that would not cover the loose assemblage that broke away from a larger protest in Oregon to occupy the building.

A further issue: How, if at all, to characterize the politics of the group involved? Many media accounts left that question untouched, but several noted that the protest had its roots in conservative resentment over the government’s efforts to enforce land-use restrictions on ranchers.

The Oregon protest appears to be an outgrowth of a 2014 standoff between Bureau of Land Management authorities and Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, the father of Ammon Bundy, after BLM agents had attempted to confiscate cattle Bundy had illegally grazed on federal land.

Fox News, on its website, noted that the protest was touched off by the sentencing of the Hammonds, which it said “touched a nerved with far right groups who repudiate federal authority.”

The New York Times also said that Cliven Bundy “previously galvanized conservative critics” with his stand against federal authorities.

The Post noted all this background but avoided using the terms “conservative” or “right wing” to describe the occupiers. Wilson, the national editor, said the paper will “likely try to avoid [such labels] unless we have evidence to support one of those characterizations.”

https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifes...1de_story.html

Armed militia occupies wildlife refuge in Oregon, say they will remain for 'years'

Leader is son of Cliven Bundy, who led armed stand-off with federal authorities in 2014

Members of an armed militia have occupied a remote US wildlife refuge, reportedly pledging that they are willing to “kill or be killed” rather than leave the land.

Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the northwestern state of Oregon had been the site of a stand-off between local ranchers and the government over the use of the public lands for grazing livestock.

That dispute turned into an occupation on Saturday night, as militiamen seized the refuge’s headquarters - which were vacant over the holiday weekend - and blocked access roads.

The de facto leader of the occupation is Ammon Bundy, whose father Cliven Bundy staged a high-profile armed showdown with authorities in 2014, also over the use of public lands for grazing.

The elder Mr Bundy became a conservative folk hero when he refused to move his cattle from federal lands in Nevada, though politicians who had praised him later distanced themselves from him after a series of racially charged comments.

His son posted a video to Facebook on Saturday night after he and his followers moved into the headquarters, saying they were prepared to remain in the refuge “as long as it takes”.

“We’re out here because the people have been abused long enough, really,” Mr Bundy said. “Their lands and their resources have been taken from them to the point where it’s putting them literally in poverty.”

The Bundys and their followers claim that the federal government does not have the Constitutional authority to claim lands within a particular state’s borders, and therefore dispute the legitimacy of national parks or other such areas.

The militia that carried out Saturday’s occupation was in Oregon protesting the fact that Dwight and Steven Hammond, the owners of a nearby cattle ranch, had been ordered to return to prison over 2012 convictions for arson.

The Hammonds set fire to lands within the refuge, which borders their property. They claimed the fires were to stop invasive plants from reaching their fields, but prosecutors disputed that motive.

The minimum sentence for the charge they faced was five years, but a judge initially ruled that was excessive and gave the elder Hammond three months in prison, and his son one year. A federal judge has now ruled that they serve out full five year terms.

Two days before the Hammonds were set to report to a federal prison, the militiamen took action.

Estimates of the number of people involved in the operation vary, with militia leaders claiming there are 150 of them, and reporters at the scene saying there appear to be far fewer.

Ammon Bundy insists in the video that the occupation will be peaceful, but local media report that members of the militia told them they were prepared to “kill or be killed”.

Federal authorities have not yet indicated how they plan to respond. A local FBI official said merely that she was aware of the situation at the refuge.Mr Bundy called on like-minded militiamen to join him there, saying “it’s time to stand up” and referring to the Hammonds as “symptoms in a very huge, egregious problem”.

“All comfort, all wealth, everything that we have as a people that we use to live, to eat, to find comfort, comes from the earth,” he said.

“We cannot have the government restricting the use of that to the point that it puts us in poverty.”

Mr Bundy said he would happily leave the refuge once local people are free to “use these lands as free men”.

The Hammond family has said they oppose the occupation, and Cliven Bundy has also questioned the wisdom behind it.

Undeterred, Ammon Bundy said the occupation could last “years”.

Armed militia occupies wildlife refuge in Oregon, say they will remain for 'years' - Telegraph

Explainer: The Bundy Militia’s Particular Brand Of Mormonism

by John Sepulvado OPB | Jan. 3, 2016 6:18 p.m. | Updated: Jan. 4, 2016 10:15 a.m.

---

One of the protesters, who gave the name "Captain Moroni," guards the entrance to the refuge Sunday. "Moroni" said he was disappointed that more protesters did not arrive after a widespread call on social media.
Amanda Peacher/OPB

“I’m Captain Moroni, from Utah.” That’s how one militiaman at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge responded to OPB’s Amanda Peacher when she asked for his name.

That name is not a silly response to deflect responsibility: In many ways, it encapsulates a deeply intertwined anti-federal sentiment mixed with Mormon symbolism.

Captain Moroni is a crucial figure in the Church of Latter-day Saints. He’s also a heroic figure for anti-federalist extremists.

In the modern day west, Captain Moroni has become one of several powerful symbols for the Bundy militia’s anti-governmental extremism.

Who Is Captain Moroni?

According to LDS scripture, Captain Moroni took command of the Nephites when he turned 25. Moroni innovated weaponry, strategy and tactics to help secure the safety of the Nephites, and allow them to worship and govern as they saw fit.

In LDS texts, Moroni prepares to confront a corrupt king by tearing off part of his coat and turning it into a flag, hoisting it as a “title of liberty.” This simple call to arms inspired a great patriotism in the Nephites, helping to raise a formidable army. Vastly outnumbered, the corrupt king fled. According to the Book of Mormon, Captain Moroni continued to push for liberty among his people.

“And it came to pass that Moroni was angry with the government, because of their indifference concerning the freedom of their country.”

An Embrace Of The “Title of Liberty”

During an April 2014 standoff with federal officials, supporters and members of the Bundy militia cited Book of Mormon passages centering on Captain Moroni. There were also several flags quoting Captain Moroni’s own writing on his “title of liberty.” Often next to American flags, these banners read “In memory of our God, our religion, and freedom, and our peace, our wives, and our children.”

Cliven Bundy - the Nevada Rancher who called on militia and anti-government forces to help him in the showdown with the Bureau of Land Management – cited his own Mormon faith as a reason for what he viewed as a favorable outcome. As quoted by the Salt Lake City Tribune:

“If the standoff with the Bundys was wrong, would the Lord have been with us?” he asked, noting no one was killed as tensions escalated. “Could those people that stood (with me) without fear and went through that spiritual experience … have done that without the Lord being there? No, they couldn’t.”


Ammon Bundy is the leader of the occupation that took over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge building on Saturday.
Amanda Peacher/OPB

Those remarks represent the deep commitment to the Bundy brand of faith. Abraham Bundy – Cliven’s great-grandfather – was a deeply religious man who was driven from prior homes first by flood, and then by revolution. He settled what would become Bundyville, home to a one-room schoolhouse and a scattering of homesteads in a harsh stretch of desert.Ultimately, the small town Abraham Bundy founded would be abandoned, after the Bundy family could not secure water and grazing rights from the federal government.

Bundy has previously said in interviews that relocation played a significant role in shaping his family’s outlook toward the federal government.

Those views are intertwined with Bundy’s faith. Speaking in St. George, Utah, after the standoff with the Bureau of Land Management, Bundy posed these questions to a crowd of mostly conservative Mormons, as reported by the Spectrum of St. George:

“If our (U.S.) Constitution is an inspired document by our Lord Jesus Christ, then isn’t it scripture?” Bundy asked.

“Yes,” a chorus of voices replied.

“Isn’t it the same as the Book of Mormon and the Bible?” Bundy asked.

“Absolutely,” the audience answered.

A New Generation Of Mormon Extremism

David Ammon Bundy – Cliven’s father – relocated the family to Nevada in the 1940s. Cliven named his third son, Ammon, after his father. Ammon is also a figure in the Mormon faith, described as a “great servant” in LDS scripture.

Ammon Bundy is a self-described devout Mormon, with strong anti-federal feelings. He praises his father’s actions against the federal government, and once accused the Bureau of Land Management as using the Endangered Species Act as a type of eminent domain.

“They have this quota that they meet,” Bundy told the Cultural Hall podcast. “What we start to see is them using the resources and selling the land for their own benefit!”

Ammon Bundy uses much of the same language as his father, mixing Mormon religious symbolism with a disgust of the federal government.

Speaking to Harney County residents last December, Ammon Bundy explained why he became involved in the Dwight and Steven Hammond case that sparked this takeover of federal property.

“I got this urge that I needed write something,” Bundy said. “I asked the good Lord…I need some help. And he gave me that help. The Lord is not pleased what has happened with the Hammonds.”

And Bundy justified their armed-intrusion this way to OPB’s Amelia Templeton:

“The main reason we’re here is because we need a place to stand,” Bundy said. “We stand in defense, and when the time is right we will begin to defend the people of Harney County in using the land and the resources.”

Meanwhile, Bundy has called for “fellow patriots” to join him at the armed occupation. That call itself closely represents what Captain Moroni told his fellow Nephites in LDS scripture. And it’s part of the reason why “Captain Moroni” came to Burns.

The man identifying as Captain Moroni said he was inspired by the call, and that the inspiration was validated by God in the form of a flock of geese he saw flying.

“I just knew it was the right thing [to come to Oregon],” Captain Moroni said. “I’m willing to die here.”

http://www.opb.org/news/article/expl...-of-mormonism/

Originally Posted by Judy

So what's the problem?

So far only "Breaking and entering".
They broke into a locked building.

. . . "After the march Saturday, the armed protesters broke into the refuge's unoccupied building and refused to leave. Officials have said there are no government employees in the building." . . .
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/03/us/ore...efuge-protest/

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2

So far only "Breaking and entering".
They broke into a locked building.

. . . "After the march Saturday, the armed protesters broke into the refuge's unoccupied building and refused to leave. Officials have said there are no government employees in the building." . . .
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/03/us/ore...efuge-protest/

The article didn't say it was locked. They may have just opened the door. They're assembled to protest and at least one person at the gate doesn't feel they've broken any laws. I don't agree with what they're doing but they do have the right to protest so long as they don't break any laws. That Bundy guy is a strange bird. He claims the federal government is taking land from farmers, but aren't those lands public lands and the farmers are just leasing them and paying very little on the leases to begin with? I think that was the story on another situation down in Texas. It wasn't the government taking more land, it was the government terminating ranch leases, which it has the right and full authority to do.

Originally Posted by JohnDoe2
So far only "Breaking and entering".
They broke into a locked building.

. . . "After the march Saturday, the armed protesters broke into the refuge's unoccupied building and refused to leave. Officials have said there are no government employees in the building." . . .
http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/03/us/ore...efuge-protest/

Originally Posted by Judy

The article didn't say it was locked. They may have just opened the door. . . .

The article did say "BROKE INTO".
I do not know Oregon laws but in most places being armed during the commission of a crime is a separate crime.

4,000 artifacts stored at Oregon refuge held by armed group

Thousands of archaeological artifacts—and maps detailing where more can be found—are kept inside the national wildlife refuge buildings currently being held by an armed group of protestors angry over federal land policy.

Ryan Bundy, one of the leaders of the group occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeastern Oregon, says they have no real interest in the antiquities. Still, their access to the artifacts and maps has some worried that looters could take advantage of the situation.

"There's a huge market for artifacts, especially artifacts that have provenance, where you can identify where they came from," said Carla Burnside, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's refuge archeologist.

More than 300 recorded prehistoric sites are scattered across the refuge, including burial grounds, ancient villages and petroglyphs. Some of the artifacts—including spears, stone tools, woven baskets and beads—date back 9,800 years.

The artifacts and remains came from ancestors of the Burns Paiute Tribe. Chairwoman Charlotte Rodrique says she feels helpless knowing that her tribe's cultural heritage is now in the hands of the armed group.
"As far as I'm concerned, our history is just another hostage," Rodrique said.

The tribe has sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. attorney for Oregon, Billy Williams, asking that members of the armed group be prosecuted if any artifacts or maps are damaged or missing.

WHY AREN'T THE RELICS AT A MUSEUM?

About 7,000 artifacts and samples from the refuge are kept at a museum in Eugene, Oregon. But 4,000 more are kept at the refuge for research.

Only Burnside has a key to the room containing the artifacts and the maps. She's since seen pictures of the occupiers in her office, adjacent to the room where the artifacts are stored. The group has been looking through government files at the site, but it is unclear if they've gone through the room with the artifacts. Bundy told The Associated Press that he's seen the artifacts and lots of maps, but he didn't know what the maps illustrated.

The artifacts and maps are legally protected by the 1979 Archeological Resources Protection Act and other federal laws.

Rodrique said she doesn't know if members of the group have disturbed the artifacts but wants the artifacts and documents catalogued as the occupation continues and once it comes to an end.

"If the occupiers disturb, damage, remove, alter or deface any archaeological resource on the refuge property, the Tribe requests that the United States bring criminal charges," Rodrique wrote in her letter to federal officials.

WHAT IS THE ARMED GROUP DOING WITH THE ARTIFACTS?

Bundy said they're not interested in the artifacts and would turn them over to the Burns Paiute Tribe, if asked.

"If the Native Americans want those, then we'd be delighted to give them to them," he said.

Rodrique said the tribe is not going to legitimize the armed group's occupation of the refuge by negotiating with them.

"That's our history, our ancestors' possessions and remains," Rodrique said. "It's hard to explain, as a native person, what that means to us. That's the very proof of our existence in this country."

Bundy said he didn't think it was likely that anyone would use the maps to loot the site.

"We haven't really been thinking along those lines," Bundy said.

Removing artifacts from federal property without a permit is illegal.

WHAT ABOUT THE PREHISTORIC SITES?

Scientists are also worried about unintentional damage that could be done to the prehistoric sites by cattle, vehicles and heavy equipment.

The group at the ranch has driven road graders and other large construction equipment around the refuge headquarters buildings, but Bundy said Thursday they haven't used the machinery to move any earth. He wouldn't rule out that possibility, however.

In 2014, Ryan Bundy and supporters of the Bundy family rode ATVs on federal land closed to motorized vehicles in Utah as part of a protest. Their route took them along an illegal trail that crossed through Native American archeological sites.

HAVE THE SITES BEEN LOOTED BEFORE?

While well-known petroglyphs or other prehistoric sites are occasionally publicized for public viewing, federal land managers often go to great lengths to keep such locations secret when they can't be safely protected from vandals and looters.

Looting has long been a problem at the refuge, with the first documented instance recorded in 1979, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service's comprehensive conservation plan.

"It's a huge problem in Oregon, especially in the southeast portion of the state," said Dennis Griffin, the state's archaeologist. "More often than not, when they are caught, it's connected to drug running or seeking quick money on eBay."

An online search of "great basin artifacts for sale" yields arrowheads, stone pestles and other items, many priced at hundreds of dollars each.

WHY DOES IT MATTER?

Burnside said the artifacts are part of the ancestry of the Burns Paiute Tribe and are priceless to science.

"There's so much you can gain from looking at one artifact: Where the stone came from, how far they traveled, how it was used, the skill of the person who made it," she said.

The tribe works extensively with federal officials on the archeology projects. In her letter, Rodrique said the tribe knows it's a difficult time for Burnside and other refuge employees, and thanked the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for its cooperation and help.

"All I want is that our past be respected, that things don't go by the wayside, that they're not destroyed by cattle," Rodrique said in a phone interview.

"Their history is being hijacked by these people," said Donald Grayson, an anthropologist and archeology expert at the University of Washington.

HOW DOES BUNDY WANT THE ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES HANDLED?

Bundy said people interested in archeology are welcome to explore the refuge, but that cattle ranchers and loggers should have priority when it comes to land use.

"Before white man came, so to speak, there was nothing to keep cattle from tromping on those things," Bundy said.

Though some countries had domesticated cattle 10,000 years ago, the animals came to the United States with European settlers.

"We also recognize that the Native Americans had the claim to the land, but they lost that claim," Bundy said. "There are things to learn from cultures of the past, but the current culture is the most important."

Read more at: 4,000 artifacts stored at Oregon refuge held by armed group (Update)