This past fall, through strange coincidence, the heavily armed occupiers of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon and the peaceful protesters at Standing Rock in North Dakota became tied together. On October 27th the people who carried guns into a wildlife refuge in January and threatened and intimidated both the community of Burns, Oregon and then the rangers and scientists trying to do their jobs – as well as Americans who simply wanted to hunt and recreate on their land – were found not guilty of federal conspiracy charges. Meanwhile, peaceful protesters standing up to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline so they can protect their land and water were forcibly removed from their land by law enforcement using Mace and guns firing bean bags and rubber bullets.
There has been a lot of discussion in the West recently about “my” land and “their” land. The armed occupiers at Malheur claimed to be giving the land back to the people – while keeping the public out with guns. Our executive director and deputy director witnessed this first hand. The occupiers either didn’t know or willfully ignored the fact that they were on public lands – owned by all Americans. Even worse, if the land was going to be “given back” to anyone it would be the Burns Paiute Tribe who have sacred sites in the refuge (which the occupiers dug up with a backhoe) and had worked out peaceful access with Malheur staff.
Designated as a National Wildlife Refuge in 1908 during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, Malheur was granted permanent protected status because of its critical regional habitat values for myriad game and non-game fish and wildlife species. The Malheur National Wildlife Refuge was and is a model of collaborative land management between local stakeholders – including but not limited to the Paiute Tribe, hunters, anglers, and grazing permittees – and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The occupiers of the refuge stated their discontent with how public lands are managed and yet Malheur itself represents a model of collaborative public lands management.
Their entire occupation and intent were nothing more than a dangerous, destructive and reckless charade. It destroyed sacred Paiute sites, kept vital work from being done, barred sportsmen and the recreation community from using the refuge and ended up costing the US Fish and Wildlife Service — meaning taxpayers — more than $6 million.
In contrast, the protesters of the Dakota Access Pipeline were standing on land designated to the Great Sioux Nation by the 1851 Treaty of Fort Laramie. The land they were defending has been declared legally theirs by the United States government yet these unarmed protesters were driven out by force.
Why did Americans see such different reactions to the armed occupation of a wildlife refuge and the peaceful protest of a potentially destructive pipeline? We hope in the years to come we will be able to look back on October 27th as a turning point when Americans realized intimidation is not the answer and working together for realistic solutions is the only way forward.
It’s okay to disagree. It’s not okay to bring weapons into a place where people try to work on behalf of conservation or bring their families to recreate. It’s not okay to ignore the people who have lived on and utilized our lands for centuries and peacefully try to be heard.
The New Mexico Wildlife Federation stands in strong opposition to the acquittal of the occupiers of Malheur and we stand in strong support of Standing Rock.
