美国国家公共电台 NPR Ore. Community Becomes Unwilling Symbol For Anti-Government Movement（在线收听）

Ore. Community Becomes Unwilling Symbol For Anti-Government Movement

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The trial for the militants who seized the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in rural Oregon last winter is close to wrapping up. The militants were led by Ammon Bundy. And they were protesting the federal government's control of public lands. This has been a high-profile trial about an occupation that, as it happened, tore apart the nearby little town of Burns, Ore.

Reporting on the saga were NPR's Kirk Siegler and reporter Amanda Peacher with Oregon Public Broadcasting, who both recently traveled back to Burns. Good morning to you both.

KIRK SIEGLER, BYLINE: Good morning, Renee.

AMANDA PEACHER, BYLINE: Good morning, Renee.

MONTAGNE: So, Kirk, take us back to the basics. How did this start?

SIEGLER: Well, this started when Ammon Bundy and his militia followers, they had initially come to the area to protest the government's treatment of two local ranchers who had pled guilty to arson charges. Now, Ammon of course is the son of Cliven Bundy, the Nevada rancher who's at the center of this sort of lands movement. And the Bundys want to turn over all federal land in the West to local control. And so this protest turned into a much larger armed occupation out at the refuge in an attempt to do just that.

MONTAGNE: Amanda, you were on the ground for most of the 41-day siege. What was it like for that community there, that rural community?

PEACHER: Well, there were a few people in the community who supported the militants and the idea of the siege. But the vast majority of the community wanted these people to go. The militants were from outside. They were strangers to this small town. And it created a very tense environment in Burns.

MONTAGNE: So Burns, Ore., was thrust into the international media spotlight along with the entire siege. Not, though, much has been said about it at this trial. What is it like there now?

SIEGLER: Well, that's exactly what we wanted to find out, Renee. So we went back and started our reporting at the recent Harney County Fair.

PEACHER: The Harney County Fair is probably the biggest event of the year here. There's a rodeo, there are 4-H kids showing their pigs and rabbits that they've been raising all year long.

SIEGLER: And the main event, the parade through downtown Burns. There's a float in support of the local sheriff, Dave Ward. He was one of the most vocal opponents of the armed occupation.

UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: (Over loudspeaker) Dave Ward is a true Harney County hero.

PEACHER: And then another float passes with several people who supported the Bundys. They're dressed up as ranchers, loggers and miners. And there's a sign on the side that says, these are the endangered species.

SIEGLER: That's a riff on the Endangered Species Act. It's a favorite target of the Bundys. Now, on this float is Cheryl Smith (ph), who doesn't think the Bundys did anything wrong.

CHERYL SMITH: I do not in my heart believe at any point were they confrontational. They're nice people.

PEACHER: Smith remembers a more prosperous time here. The county used to have several timber mills, and some of the highest average wages in Oregon.

SIEGLER: And for her, Ammon Bundy's message of getting the loggers back to logging and the ranchers back to ranching was like this awakening.

SMITH: For me personally, I've been feeling like I've become an ostrich. (Laughter) And I had my head in the sand because I didn't feel I had any power.

SIEGLER: This feeling like she didn't have any power, this sense of disenfranchisement you hear in places like this is something we're hearing a lot in national politics right now.

PEACHER: Now, it's true there is a lot of mistrust toward the federal government in places like this. But in this case, most people in Harney County did not support the occupiers. When that float went by, I saw one guy turn his back in protest.

SIEGLER: It was Judge Steve Grasty, the head of the county government.

STEVE GRASTY: I don't care about Bundy. He came in, used us, used our community. Yeah, it happened here. But it was the wrong place.

PEACHER: This past summer, Grasty easily survived a recall vote that was organized by Bundy supporters. But when I visited him, I noticed his shotgun is still at the ready at his front door. He put it there way back when the Bundys first arrived in town.

SIEGLER: People are still on edge. Take Jess Wenick, he grew up here and has worked as an ecologist for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service out at the refuge for most of his career.

JESS WENICK: This occupation kind of drove a wedge in the community. It's hurt relationships, it's divided churches. It has done a lot...

SIEGLER: Since the occupation, Wenick says some of his co-workers - biologists at the refuge - have quit or they're asking for transfers because the climate here for federal workers is just too tense. He says it's sad.

WENICK: It seems that a lot of the people that were against the government and stood very, very strongly were completely unaware of all the things that have been taking place over the last several years and how the community actually came along beside the refuge.

PEACHER: What Wenick is talking about is something you hear a lot in Harney County. After decades of disputes, more recently ranchers and environmentalists and the government had figured out how to work together on the refuge. Pretty much the antithesis of the story the Bundys told here.

SIEGLER: And this collaboration was a big deal because in rural western counties like this, the government owns almost all of the land. And decisions about who can do what on that land are always contentious.

PEACHER: And now in Harney County, there's concern that the occupation threw a wrench into all that hard work.

(SOUNDBITE OF COWS MOOING)

PEACHER: So here's Gary Miller (ph). His family has ranched here for generations.

SIEGLER: On this cold and drizzly morning, he and his sons are moving hundreds of cattle across a highway near the wildlife refuge. Miller says he's not sure where all that collaboration sits now after all the drama.

GARY MILLER: There's people that have drawn a side. And they will not do business with someone that's got an opinion on it.

SIEGLER: Now around the West, I've talked to quite a few ranchers like Miller who resent what happened out here. They say these outside guys just stormed in with their guns and took over a refuge, when ranchers like him had spent years of their own time sitting around a table with all sides, trying to work out deals.

MILLER: You know, I felt better than the last six or eight years than I have felt in a long time. Just, you know, there's been some good things happened in Harney County. You know, really they should be a role model for the nation on some of the collaborative efforts.

PEACHER: Now, people like Miller are ready for this trial to be over. The occupation itself was a huge disruption to his cattle operation. But he doesn't have time to follow it too closely. He's got a lot of work to do. This is his livelihood out here.

(SOUNDBITE OF COWS MOOING)

MONTAGNE: Amanda Peacher of Oregon Public Broadcasting and NPR's Kirk Siegler reporting there from rural Eastern Oregon.

And just one last thought here. I'm curious if there might still be more trouble in the future at that wildlife refuge?

PEACHER: Well, that is still a big concern. The refuge hasn't fully reopened yet. And there is some worry that it could be a target for people who sympathize with the Bundys.

SIEGLER: And in fact, Renee, I'd say some people when I was out there even told me that since the trial had begun again, they've started seeing more people trickling back into town, people that they suspected were militia or militia sympathizers. So it's something we'll have to watch.

MONTAGNE: Kirk and Amanda, thank you very much.

PEACHER: You're welcome.

SIEGLER: Glad to be here.