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.”

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.”