Malheur and beyond
Here's a good article by a political scientist who has been monitoring the sagebrush rebellion and has a lot of knowledge about the Bundys and much more about public land laws and management practices.
Malheur and beyond
Ralph Maughan
April 7, 2016
Its been a month-and-a-half since occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon ended. Most of the Malheur occupiers and many of those who planned and directed the earlier 2014 standoff with federal personnel at the Bundy Ranch near Mesquite, Nevada, are now in prison waiting trial.
What kind of activists were the occupiers?
Hal Herring, a Montana journalist, lived with the occupiers for a while and has now written a telling feature article, The darkness at the heart of Malheur. It is in the latest issue of the High Country News. Herring believed he might have something in common with them and hoped to use this to help him understand and write about the event.
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Texan Ted Cruz makes it clear he wants to rid us of our public lands and make the whole country like Texas. Texas is one of the most boring states I ever visited. It might be big, but since it is private you cant see it. Youd never know. Some members of Congress are on the same page as Cruz. This includes Utahs five members and our own Raul Labrador in the first congressional district. He seems not to have had the chance to learn about the long tradition of public lands in the West back in Puerto Rico where he came from.
Of all those who occupied the Malheur Refuge, only one came from Oregon. In Idaho most of those who want to get rid of our public lands seem to be people who grew up in a non-Western tradition like Representative Raul Labrador. Nevada state legislator Michelle Fiore was major supporter of the Refuges occupation. This zaftig blonde is best known for her many poses with guns. She even has a calendar of this, but she came to Nevada from Brooklyn, New York.
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http://www.thewildlifenews.com/2016/04/07/malheur-and-beyond/
Dr. Maughan is a life-long resident of Utah/Idaho, professor emeritus at ISU, founder of http://www.thewildlifenews.com/ and among his many accomplishments was instrumental in the establishment of the Frank Church Wilderness River of No Return in central Idaho.
There's quite a bit more at the link that explains the actual legal situation in the western states' legislative bodies and what a mess it is but also informing us of what we need to consider on this topic.