It is no secret that a group of Eastern Oregon ranchers are relatively angry at the government and the way in which it manages public land, going as far as arming themselves and taking over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge outside of Burns, Oregon. However, along with interviews of protesters, the standoffs with the FBI and the reasons behind the occupation, lies another side to the story: the side of the refuge itself.
It may seem straight forward. A wildlife refuge is set up to protect animals. On the other hand, the refuge preserves so much more.
In order to fully understand the occupation, one must discover where the root of the conflict began. While the refuge is in place to protect an important habitat for animals, it is located in a ranching community and is therefore influenced by said community.
According to biology professor Bitty Roy (professor from where), who has taught a class at Malheur, ranchers were once allowed to run their cattle on certain parts of the refuge. However, as time went on, the refuge came to the conclusion that running cattle on the land was harmful to the environment they were trying to preserve, and they stopped allowing the grazing.
The problem with the protest is that the refuge is not simply range land managed by the Bureau of Land Management for the use of livestock. This is a refuge that was set up primarily to protect large sums of birds, many different species, who use it as a feeding ground during their migrations.
Roy pointed out how dry Eastern Oregon is and how dry some states that border Oregon are, such as Nevada. The wetlands protected by the refuge serve as one of very few feeding grounds, or oases, for birds who migrate from that dry region to the Pacific Flyway.
According to a letter written by David Houghton, President of the National Wildlife Refuge Association, the Malheur Refuge is not only there to protect birds and other animals, it is also there for the people. It is public land that has many natural resources for all to enjoy. Since its establishment in 1908, the land has become a popular place for hunting, fishing, birding and hiking.
Over the last six weeks, occupiers have been restricting public access for selfish reasons. The current occupation sprouted from the idea that these Eastern Oregon ranchers wanted the land that makes up the refuge returned to them. But the land was not theirs, nor their descendants, to begin with.
“The land was originally Native American land before the refuge was established,” Roy said.
In reality, they want land they have no right to, apart from visiting the refuge like the general public, handed to them free and clear. The truth of the matter is this land belongs to everyone and should not be dictated by a select group of individuals.
That said, the refuge has every right to do what it sees fit for the benefit and preservation of Malheur. While the ranchers do have a grievance with the refuge and its policies on cattle grazing, the ranchers need to look at the bigger picture and see what this refuge and its land are meant to do.
When I found out that the grazing policies were all the protesters had to stand on, I was aggravated at the idea of someone forcibly attempting to take land that has never belonged to them. If they had a problem with not being allowed to graze their herds on the refuge, there are more peaceful and civilized ways to make their concerns known, like appealing the policy change or working with the refuge to come up with a solution.
Instead they are putting people in danger and having a negative effect on the environment by disrupting the normal occurrences that the refuge works hard to protect.