You are here
Home > News > County Court > Hammonds > Harney County community weighs in

Harney County community weighs in

A diverse range of opinions

The Memorial Building at the Harney County Fairgrounds was overflowing with community members and camera crews Wednesday, Jan. 6, as the Harney County Sheriff’s Office hosted a community meeting to discuss safety concerns and disruptions regarding the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

Following a peaceful rally and march on Saturday, Jan. 2, a splinter group of militia members, including Ammon Bundy from Nevada, occupied refuge headquarters south of Burns. The occupation is part of a protest by Bundy and others regarding the resentencing in October 2015 for Harney County ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond. Bundy is now calling for federal lands to be given to the people of Harney County.

As the meeting got underway, Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward was greeted with cheers and a standing ovation.

A word from Ward

“This community is one of the most amazing places I’ve ever been to in my life. I love living here, and I love raising my family here,” Ward said. “The things that have been going on in our community over the last six to eight weeks, that’s not Harney County. That’s not who we are. This community is a united family unit, and you don’t get to come here from elsewhere and tell us how we’re going to live our lives.”

Community Meeting 2 WEB
Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward asked the individuals who are occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to leave. (Photo by Samantha White)

Ward reported that deputies have been followed home, and their families have been followed around. He said his wife’s tire was recently flattened, and she left town because of stress. Ward’s parents, who are in their 70s and have heart problems, were followed by people from outside of the community.

“You don’t come here and intimidate people. That’s not OK. That’s not how we live our lives in Harney County,” Ward said. “There’s people in the room right now that I wholeheartedly disagree with, and you don’t get to threaten me because I disagree with you because I’m an American. Your constitutional rights are the same as everybody else’s.”

However, Ward welcomed anyone who wants to move to the community and be “a true Harney County citizen.” He explained, “That’s a person who loves their neighbor, goes out and does their chores for them when they’re laid up in the hospital or sick, and offers to help them out when they’re in need.”

A show of hands

Ward asked the citizens of Harney County who were in attendance to raise their hands if they want “to work this out peacefully and would like these folks to go home.”

Ron Copeland remarked, “When we raised our hands about those of us who wanted this group to go home, I couldn’t see anybody that was seated that didn’t have their hand up.”

However, Kim Rollins said, “Sheriff, I came up here because you had a straw vote earlier, and first you asked the question, ‘Do we want this to end peacefully?’ and my hand went up. But then you added to that, ‘Do we want them to go home?’ and my position on this is: Not necessarily. Those people have brought us a voice. I don’t necessarily want them to go home because I want to hear what they have to say, so that I may consider it. They have the same rights as we do, rights of free speech et cetera, and those rights don’t stop, or shouldn’t stop, for us when we cross a county line or a state line. I don’t agree with what they did at the refuge, but I’m willing to listen to what people have to say so that I may consider it.”

Providing a platform

Mitch Siegner said, “Whether you agree or disagree with Bundy’s movement, he has given Harney County our biggest and best platform to get our message out. People are talking about local land use issues; we’re working at keeping the sage grouse off the endangered species list; it would be great to log our forests, instead of letting the beetle kill them to rot and burn up. We’ve got natural resources that, if managed locally, correctly, and responsibly, we could all prosper as a community.”

A number of other community members expressed the opinion that the refuge occupation has brought national attention to the issues that are impacting Harney County.

“These people down here at the refuge — I just came from there, and I talked to them — and they ain’t hurting a damn thing down there,” said Merlin Rupp. “They’re waking people up.”

Pat Horlacher asked, “If the Bundys did not come here, do you think all these video cameras would be here? Do you think that Burns would make national news?”

Horlacher said local ranchers are complacent, adding that they’re afraid of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the repercussions of talking to the occupiers at the refuge.

He added, “We do have a federal government that is far exceeding its grasp, and all we’ve been able to do is slow down the steady encroachment of that government. I have yet to hear somebody come up with an appropriate channel that’s actually worked. Can you name — besides the Bundys, exclude them — can you name anybody that’s acting and actually had major victories?”

Making progress

Georgia Marshall said she has BLM and refuge permits, and she’s worked with numerous managers and range conservationists, both on the BLM and refuge.

“I have seen the progress that we have made in this community, compared to the [expletive deleted] we went through years ago when you could not stand and talk to a manager, when you could not stand and talk to a range con. But now, we have been making some progress. Granted, it’s not a lot of progress, but it’s coming,” she said.

Marshall explained that the High Desert Partnership (HDP) is working “damn hard” for the citizens of Harney County.

“It takes the time to listen across the board to what we all have to say as community, as environmentalists, as agencies, as business owners, as educators,” she said regarding the partnership.

Founded in 2005, HDP is a rural, nonprofit, grassroots organization serving Harney County and surrounding southeastern Oregon. According to its website, the partnership’s mission is “to enhance the ecological sustainability, economic well-being, and social vitality of our communities by using a collaborative decision-making process with all interested stakeholders to solve challenging issues.”

Marshall said, “We are the poster child of the ranching community, of the environmental community, of the government community when they see what has happened here in Harney County. We have a CCP [Comprehensive Conservation Plan] that was done just a couple of years ago that is unprecedented across the United States on refuges. Have we ever had anybody put together a refuge plan in this goddamn nation? Hell no we haven’t! But it happened here, and it happened in Harney County. And you know why? Because we love this county. Because we care about it,  and we care about how it works for us.”

The CCP is a 15-year plan governing the direction of management of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge worked with the HDP and Oregon Consensus to bring all interested parties (including scientists, agencies, conservation groups, Harney County residents, recreationists, and elected officials) together to draft the CCP. The final draft was filed with the Federal Register in December 2012.

Marshall added that the timber initiative has enabled Grant and Harney counties to harvest small-diameter timber.

“It’s not the best thing, but it’s better than what it was,” she said. “It is getting people in the woods a little bit.”

She added, “Let’s not destroy what we are doing because we think we have to make a stand for everything that’s happened in the goddamn past. This is our time now. It is not what we did 100 years ago, or 60 years ago, or 30 years ago. It’s our moment right now! We don’t know our future, but I’ll tell you what. It’s better than what we had. So let’s try to keep going. Let’s not get caught up, like I’m pissed as hell right now, and my boots are shakin’. But I’m proud of who I am, I’m proud to be a rancher, and I’m not going to let some other people be my face. I am me!”

Ward added, “Maybe elsewhere in big government we might have faceless entities.”

However, he said that isn’t the case locally.

“Those are our neighbors, our friends, our relatives. Every single person that works for one of these government agencies within our community has a spouse that lives and works in this community, they have children that live in this community and go to school with our children. We can work this out.”

Getting involved

Shane Otley encouraged  more community involvement.

“If you want to get involved and make change, get yourself engaged in this community. We need more people. We need more faces,” he said.

Otley encouraged the community to write letters, asserting that they do get read.

Kate Marsh invited community members to attend monthly Harney County Community Response Team meetings, which provide information concerning business and industry in Harney County.

Marsh added that she “really resents” the occupiers for what they’ve cost Harney County, explaining that schools have been closed, her 4-H group has been unable to meet, and community meetings have been canceled.

School closures

A group of school children asked Ward when they’d be returning to school.

Harney County School District (HCSD) No. 3 schools were closed for the week of Monday, Jan. 4 through Thursday, Jan. 7. (The district does not hold school on Fridays.)

Earlier in the meeting, Ward said, “We wanted to make darn sure that we had a good idea of how to keep our schools safe, or that there was not even an issue, before we returned our kids to school. I think that’s appropriate. I would rather have people say, ‘You guys went overboard,’ than in hindsight someone saying, ‘Why didn’t you do enough?’”

In response to the school children, Ward said, “We’re working together on that with the school district. And as soon as we know that you kids are going to be safe going to school, we’ll have you back in there.”

Classes resumed on Monday, Jan. 11.

Increased law enforcement

Ward explained that sheriffs have come from around the state to assist Harney County.

He added that the HCSD No. 3 office building (the former Lincoln Junior High School) is being used for law enforcement activities, and roads leading to the building have been blocked off to ensure the officers’ safety.

A number of the community members who spoke complimented Ward and thanked the officers who have come to assist in the community.

Asking the occupiers to leave

A number of community members suggested that a group of Harney County residents accompany the sheriff to the refuge and ask the occupiers to leave.

Ward replied, “They’re welcome to leave, and I’ll escort them out of the county.”

Vanessa Leathers asked why the sheriff hasn’t gone out to talk with Bundy.

Ward relied that he isn’t in charge of the investigation at the refuge.

However, he added, “Some of these gentlemen, I’ve spoken with collectively for probably more than eight hours over the last several months. They have a stance that they’ve taken, and I’ve taken a stance that I’ve maintained throughout this. What happened last Saturday [Jan. 2] is unfortunate. There’s some folks in this room that worked very hard to put together a peaceful rally. I saw a lot of people turn out to support the Hammonds. Regardless of which side of the fence you’re on, when that many people get together and work together in a positive way, they made a statement, but that positive statement was undermined by the selfish actions of a few.”

Gary Hannaford said he walked in the rally, and it was “awesome.”

However, he added, “But what Bundy did, and what they’re doing down there, isn’t right. That’s not the answer.”

Hannaford said he thinks law enforcement officers are “totally competent to deal with what’s going on down there.” He said, “We don’t need to worry about us going down there.”

Leathers said there are a lot of local people at the refuge 24 hours a day, and she expressed concern about their safety.

“Local or not, we don’t want anybody hurt,” Ward replied.

Malheur County Sheriff Brian Wolfe and Tillamook County Sheriff Andy Long accompanied Ward to a meeting with the individuals who are occupying the refuge on Thursday, Jan. 7. Ward called for a peaceful resolution and asked the group to leave.

On Friday, Jan. 8, the occupiers made it clear that they have no intention of honoring the sheriff’s request to leave.

“Because of that, there are no planned meetings or calls at this time. However, the sheriff is keeping all options open,” Ward wrote in a statement issued Jan. 8.

Harney County Committee of Safety

Tim Smith provided an overview of the Harney County Committee of Safety.

“We were appointed basically at the time of the first Bundy meeting here in town,” Smith said. “The people that were there decided that they wanted to change the way the county is controlled in terms of jurisdiction from federal to make it more local control.”

In fact, the group has put forward a resolution that states, “We the undersigned residents of Harney County do hereby support the development of a plan to provide the expedient, systematic and harmonious transfer of all currently managed federal lands within Harney County to the jurisdiction of the people of Harney County.”

The group also put forward founding principles, which include support for the Hammond family in its legal battle with the federal government.

The resolution and founding principles are available on the group’s website at www.hccommitteeofsafety.org/home.html. The group hosted a meeting on Friday, Jan. 8.

Support for the Hammonds

“I appreciate all the help that everybody will give the Hammonds ‘cause they got the rottenest deal that there ever was,” Merlin Rupp said. “Dwight Hammond and Steve Hammond are the nicest people that ever walked the foot of this Earth.”

Erin Maupin said, “Somebody, somewhere needs to do something to please get [them] out. As a community, as a nation, we’ve signed petitions, we’ve called our county officers, we’ve called our governor, we’ve called our representatives, and no one has said they can help. It’s not a county issue anymore. This was tried in a federal court, and they were convicted federally, so this now effects everyone within the borders of the United States of America. And we need to get together and stand up. And I’m not talking about a military coup. I’m not talking about raising arms. I’m talking about raising our voices. We as food producers need to stand together. You as food consumers need to stand with us because, ultimately, when the food producers are affected and affected and affected and affected to the point where we can’t feed a hungry world, we’re all in trouble.”

Rob Frank said, “Right now, there’s a potential for a national dialogue that has never gone on. But they’re not going to let the Hammonds out of prison overnight because the federal government doesn’t have that jurisdiction, the same way the judge didn’t have the jurisdiction to mis-sentence them. It’s going to take time. They’re not going to hand the deed to Malheur refuge over to the occupation group or to Harney County because they don’t have the power to do that. There’d have to be a law passed, which would have to go through legislation, which would never happen during an occupation.”

John Lamborn asked Ward if he had the authority to set up some sort of safe haven for the Hammonds.

“No I didn’t, and I think that would have created a lot more problems for the Hammonds than what they were already up against,” Ward replied.

Lamborn continued that, when the Hammonds were originally sentenced, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Hogan imposed sentences below the five-year mandatory minimum sentence for arson on federal land.

“Judge Hogan heard the facts, Judge Hogan respected the will of the jury that heard the case, and Judge Hogan decided that, based on what he heard, that the federal mandatory minimum sentence…shocked his conscience,” Lamborn said. “Mandatory minimums are a bad thing.”

Mending fences

A number of people who commented said that these issues have caused division within the community.

Ward said, “It’s a trying time for our county. There’s a lot going on, and I think it’s time that we get together, and we work through some issues, and we mend some fences.”

Jesse Svejcar said, “The problem I think is people haven’t been talking face-to-face. We should be able to disagree on 100 percent of the issues and still shake hands, have a meal together, invite our families over, let’s just knock this off.”

Ward said, “Our community can move forward and set an example for other communities on how to handle things and how to work through these issues before they get out of hand. Nobody’s been hurt yet. Some buildings have been seized. Are buildings worth killing someone over? I say no.”

Samantha White
Samantha White was born and raised in Harney County, and she graduated from Burns High School in 2005. After high school, she attended the University of Oregon where she earned a bachelor of arts degree in magazine journalism. White was hired as a reporter for the Burns Times-Herald in September 2012.

10 thoughts on “Harney County community weighs in

  1. I read that the employees of the refuge are feeling intimidated by the out of towners. I can send you the link, if you wish. Seems that that would be a facet of your coverage. Perhaps they were not at the meeting.

  2. If you look at the history of the grazing acts, established after federal agencies began acquiring “Public Lands”; much of the property was taken back without due compensation to the land owners. The Federal courts ruled that this was illegal and the agencies would have to properly compensate these individuals; give the land back; or allow these individuals to continue grazing and harvesting timber or mining on their properties (I believe the first cases tried were against the U.S. Forest service in Arizona). Under these conditions the agencies never had any legal right to deny these people access to these properties; charge any fees; or take away and bid out these lands. So individuals like the Bundy’s probably couldn’t lawfully be charged fees for grazing their livestock.
    What is worse these Agencies began a campaign of illegally isolating the properties of their neighbors; denying individuals access to their own lands, water etc. Prescribed burns or “backfires” were used to burn them out. Reservoirs were built to inundate or dry up crop lands. Anything that could be used to bankrupt the land owners was employed to acquire their lands. These types of government abuses are not in the distant past but continue to this day.
    What’s really appalling is that County and State officials have usually stood by and let it happen to their defenseless citizens.
    If you care to dig into local history you will find that the same tactic were apparently employed for many decades at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
    Who has been terrorizing who?

  3. I don’t like the newspapers use of the term “Anti government group.” I don’t believe these people are anti govt. Is this another group of people this newspaper deems UNWORTHY to be a part of the community? I do believe they have had to deal with a lot of corruption in the govt. agencies. I do believe once you have served your sentence it is corrupt to send someone back to jail out of spite. I believe that judge needs to lose his position and be investigated as to his connections with any of the land management agencies. I wonder how many court cases he has presided over in which land owners lost land to federal acquisitions. I wonder what other affiliations the judge might have with land use committees, loan committees, what stocks does he own, exactly what is his judicial record concerning land issues and federal issues. Common sense should tell you that its not the occupiers who are in town harassing the citizens, if they were they would have been arrested. I say its people with something to hide stirring up fear. I want to know if our federal lands are being used as collateral for NATIONAL DEBT LOANS or collateral for anything other than public use by the American people. The occupiers are AMERICAN PEOPLE and they are using the public lands. The facilities weren’t in use before they got there and it looks like they are cleaning things up that were neglected by management agencies. I hope you keep going till you get some answers.

  4. The Bundy’s are anarchists. If you want to see what happens when central government breaks down just look at Afghanistan, or Mexico. There only authority are the guns on their hips and their threat of violence. They dishonor all Americans in uniform whether in the military or law enforcement

  5. I may not agree with the Bundy’s but if they hadn’t done what they did then the peaceful rally would have ended with the Hammond’d in jail and everyone wringing their hands about “how sad it is that such nice people are in jail and how unfair it all is”…

    Instead, at least there is national attention on the subject and while nothing may change at the very least someone tried something and the voices of the oppressed were heard.

  6. These people are using their 2d amendment right to protect their 1st amendment right here. They’re exercising they’re Right appropriately. Many grievances have gone unanswered by federal admins, judges and congress. They, and many others, have been denied recourse guaranteed by the 1st amendment. They are called terrorist, crazy, radical and a slue of other names..the same was called of the founders, and they prevailed. But now, they have the attention of the minority, which the founders knew would need protection from against a majority. If the people holding the wildlife refuge are acted on with aggression by the govt. I’m confident all hell will break loose in the hearts and minds of the minority; I believe the Feds know this. While a large minority of the citizens of Harney County do stand with the Ranchers and Ammon Bundy, the people are frightened to speak out. The govt has a grim history for dealing with dissenters in a very bad light. The people need to be able to stand up for their guaranteed rights, against their govt, without fear of repercussions. They do not have this today. The unelected local governor cannot and does not speak for every Oregon citizen, in particular, any minority of citizens. The media have a 1st amendment responsibility to the citizens to report news in the least biased manner possible…they are not being responsible with those rights guaranteed to them. Rightly so, they should lose that guarantee as a convicted felon loses certain rights when they violate the liberties of another citizen. The FBI or any other govt agency will never act against the people holding the wildlife reserve. They are smarter than that. I stand with the minority and Ammon Bundy.

  7. The focus of the whole seems to be the Bundy protest group. The Governor appears to be advocating violence. Is that what we want? We need answers.

    Why did the Harney Fire Marshall after 31 years of service resign?

    Agree or disagree the Bundy protest this group has shone a measured light of national scrutiny to the plight of the Hammonds in their long struggle to work the land and earn an honest living despite a government agency’s best effort.

    We as a nation need to question just why our Americans performing a needed back burn (a common practice) to preserve their home are “again” in prison. That fire burnt less than 140 acres of arid “public” land. The BLM made formal charges that were dismissed by the DA. Why nearly five years later, just prior to the statute of limitations, they were they charged under “terror and death act”? Why did the Federal judge refuse to allow the jury to hear the minimum punishment? Why that judge, who retired that day, could not in good conscience sentence them to the minimum of five years under the “terror and death act”?

    What terror act did they commit? Did harm come to land or benefit? Would any other Western rancher done the same? And if so will they too be terrorist worthy of being felons for life and sitting in federal prison without possibly of early release for five years?

    When any government or its agency becomes oppressive, over-reaching and utilizes its powers to take the freedom of honest hard working independent Americans, what are the people supposed to do?

    What is their duty as a good American citizen? What does the constitution express and empowers them to do?

    What are rights if we don’t use them and instead we are complicit and allow them to be eroded to meaningless words on parchment?

    Don’t lose focus of the critical issue that these protesters are making a stand on. Let’s work positively in bringing back the Hammonds to their home, restoring their “ALL” their rights taken, including grazing and water rights. We need to work towards a government that works for us, not the other way around or one that becomes vindictive.

    But most of all we need to resist complacency and not remain silent on issues that set precedence that our children will be compelled to follow.

    Even if it’s for just two honestly wronged men…

    This is a chronological history of the events leading to our current situation: http://theconservativetreehouse.com/2016/01/04/unbelievable-update-oregon-bundy-militia-standoff-the-federal-prosecutor-at-the-heart-of-the-hammond-family-problem/

    This county read the constitution and restored their land back to the people: http://www.defendruralamerica.com/DRA/ApacheCounty.html

    This Oregon Rep Gregg Walden’s address to the U.S. House: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bx4ocLdWE90

  8. The villain in all of this seems to me to be “mandatory sentencing”. Mandatory sentences are definitely not what our forefathers saw as just sentencing. They have filled our jails with people who really need to be back in their communities working to support their families.

  9. If you think getting your guns and threatening law officers and taking over a wildlife refuge is going to be productive in any possible way or if you think that such criminal actions garner sympathy and/or respect from the majority of law abiding citizens, you are sadly mistaken. Those who take the law in their own hands and threaten to kill cops unless their demands are met, regardless of what those demands are, will only hurt your cause. Your voices May be heard, but just like a spoiled child or a mentally deranged person, no one will listen but will turn their heads in disgust at the unadulterated audacity of those who think that democracy in any way is benefited by such violent rhetoric and actions. To most of the world, those guys are dangerous, deserve to be in jail, and are a menace to the American way of life. I feel sorry for your community. However, doubtless, this will serve as an example of what happens when you invite known criminals into your community to further your cause, but, as you put it—at least you are being heard. The costs will be huge and the benefits none. And hopefully no one gets killed. By the way, bundy and his boys are having the time of their life, eating up the media coverage, pretending their patriots. If they really wanted to change things, there are many more effective ways that don’t destroy communities and endanger innocent folk. Wake up harney, before you have a slaughter on your hands.

  10. The jurors in the Hammond case simply did not know they could vote their conscience irregardless of what the judge’s instructions may have been. It only took one juror with common sense to know that a backfire is not terrorism. Had that juror voted his conscience, there would have been a hung jury and no conviction.

Leave a Reply

Top