Assholes making trouble in Oregon

I didn't say you supported every point she made. I was responding to the point where you did. You really do have a problem following the conversation.

And you are correct in a way. I have followed the conversation as best as I can. I find it hard to try to scroll through a thread that grows this fast and really attempt to read every post, especially when I see so many that are off topic and full of personal attacks, so therefore I have scrolled too far at times and not read every single post. I guess I'm getting too old for this . . . . . you win.
 
And on that note, all of you .gov lovers and progressives win. I resign. All the odds are on the house. I see that clearly now. I hope that the FBI just goes in and wipes those at the refuge off the face of the map, guns a blazing; that is what you all want, right? Because that is all most of seem to want. Blood. You could care less about the deeper questions that should have been raised in this thread. There has, IMHO been a bit of information posted that could have been sifted through for a thinking person to try and truthfully debate this situation, but truthful debate is not part of this section of USMB. Personal attacks and lapping up what the .gov MSM as truth is.

No, logic is not allowed here. Truth or any attempt at finding it in between the two different sides of the story are not allowed. Only personal attacks and bullshit is all. Tyrone has called me and asshole. I say "F" you. Bet that even gets me an infraction.

All I have to do now is wait for it, wait for it, and see how many tag my post as 'funny' starting with Mr Black and White (aka Tyrone) and on down, and then I know I am right, if only in my mind.

So, I sign off of this thread and here is me . . . . .



















ignoring the rest of the personal attacks on me and those others who have tried and failed to make you folks try to think for yourselves.
 
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Amanda Peacher Verified account @amandapeacher
Approx 100 anti occupation protesters #inbend. #Oregonstandoff
CYyX7j4UAAIJ6Z8.jpg
 
"What gives these people more right to the land than a teacher, who wants to take his/her students to the refuge?" - Kim Jones of Hailey, Idaho
 
So, what do you think about this "conspiracy?" Are some of you people actually supporters of eminent domain? Good! I hope the feds come and confiscate your property. :2up: That would be awesome.

I find it hard to believe that anyone could support this travesty of justice. You are some really rotten people, that is FO SURE!

The following is just PART of the story of what is going on and how the government is screwing WE THE PEOPLE over.

HISTORY: (aa) The Harney Basin (where the Hammond ranch is established) was settled in the 1870’s. The valley was settled by multiple ranchers and was known to have run over 300,000 head of cattle. These ranchers developed a state of the art irrigated system to water the meadows, and it soon became a favorite stopping place for migrating birds on their annual trek north.
(ab) In 1908 President Theodor Roosevelt, in a political scheme, create an “Indian reservation” around the Malheur, Mud & Harney Lakes and declared it “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds”. Later this “Indian reservation” (without Indians) became the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
(a) In 1964 the Hammonds’ purchased their ranch in the Harney Basin. The purchase included approximately 6000 acres of private property, 4 grazing rights on public land, a small ranch house and 3 water rights. The ranch is around 53 miles South of Burns, Oregon.
(a1) By the 1970’s nearly all the ranches adjacent to the Blitzen Valley were purchased by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and added to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge covers over 187,000 acres, stretches over 45 miles long and 37 miles wide. The expansion of the refuge grew and surrounds to the Hammond’s ranch. Approached many times by the FWS, the Hammonds refused to sell. Other ranchers also choose not to sell.
(a2) During the 1970’s the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), took a different approach to get the ranchers to sell. Ranchers were told: “grazing was detrimental to wildlife and must be reduced”; 32 out of 53 permits were revoked and many ranchers were forced to leave. Grazing fees were raised significantly for those who were allowed to remain. Refuge personnel took over the irrigation system claiming it as their own.
(a3) By 1980 a conflict was well on its way over water allocations on the adjacent privately owned Silvies Plain. The FWS wanted to acquire the ranch lands on the Silvies Plain to add to their already vast holdings. Refuge personnel intentionally diverted the water bypassing the vast meadow lands, directing the water into the rising Malheur Lakes. Within a few short years the surface area of the lakes doubled. Thirty-one ranches on the Silvies plains were flooded. Homes, corrals, barns and graze-land were washed a way and destroyed. The ranchers who once fought to keep the FWS from taking their land, now broke and destroyed, begged the FWS to acquire their useless ranches. In 1989 the waters began to recede; now the once thriving privately owned Silvies plains are a proud part of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge claimed by the FWS.
(a4) By the 1990’s the Hammonds were one of the very few ranchers who still owned private property adjacent to the refuge. Susie Hammond in an effort to make sense of what was going on began compiling facts about the refuge. In a hidden public record she found a study done by the FWS in 1975. The study showed the “no use” policies of the FWS on the refuge were causing the wildlife to leave the refuge and move to private property. The study showed the private property adjacent to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge produced four times more ducks and geese than the refuge. The study also showed the migrating birds were 13 times more likely to land on private property than on the refuge. When Susie brought this to the attention of the FWS and refuge personnel, her and her family became the subjects of a long train of abuses and corruptions.
(b) In the early 1990’s the Hammonds filed on a livestock water source and obtained a deed for the water right from the State of Oregon. When the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) found out the Hammonds obtained new water rights near the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge, they were agitated and became belligerent and vindictive toward the Hammonds. The US Fish and Wildlife Service challenged the Hammonds right to the water in an Oregon State Circuit Court. The court found the Hammonds legally obtained rights to the water in accordance to State law and therefore the use of the water belongs to the Hammonds.*
(c) In August 1994 the BLM & FWS illegally began building a fence around the Hammonds water source. Owning the water rights, and knowing that their cattle relied on that water source daily, the Hammonds tried to stop the building of the fence. The BLM & FWS called the Harney County Sheriff department and had Dwight Hammond (Father) arrested and charged with “disturbing and interfering with” federal officials or federal contractors (two counts, each a felony). Dwight spent one night in the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, and a second night behind bars in Portland. He was then hauled before a federal magistrate and released without bail. A hearing on the charges was postponed and the federal judge never set another date.
 
So, what do you think about this "conspiracy?" Are some of you people actually supporters of eminent domain? Good! I hope the feds come and confiscate your property. :2up: That would be awesome.

I find it hard to believe that anyone could support this travesty of justice. You are some really rotten people, that is FO SURE!

The following is just PART of the story of what is going on and how the government is screwing WE THE PEOPLE over.

HISTORY: (aa) The Harney Basin (where the Hammond ranch is established) was settled in the 1870’s. The valley was settled by multiple ranchers and was known to have run over 300,000 head of cattle. These ranchers developed a state of the art irrigated system to water the meadows, and it soon became a favorite stopping place for migrating birds on their annual trek north.
(ab) In 1908 President Theodor Roosevelt, in a political scheme, create an “Indian reservation” around the Malheur, Mud & Harney Lakes and declared it “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds”. Later this “Indian reservation” (without Indians) became the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
(a) In 1964 the Hammonds’ purchased their ranch in the Harney Basin. The purchase included approximately 6000 acres of private property, 4 grazing rights on public land, a small ranch house and 3 water rights. The ranch is around 53 miles South of Burns, Oregon.
(a1) By the 1970’s nearly all the ranches adjacent to the Blitzen Valley were purchased by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and added to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge covers over 187,000 acres, stretches over 45 miles long and 37 miles wide. The expansion of the refuge grew and surrounds to the Hammond’s ranch. Approached many times by the FWS, the Hammonds refused to sell. Other ranchers also choose not to sell.
(a2) During the 1970’s the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), took a different approach to get the ranchers to sell. Ranchers were told: “grazing was detrimental to wildlife and must be reduced”; 32 out of 53 permits were revoked and many ranchers were forced to leave. Grazing fees were raised significantly for those who were allowed to remain. Refuge personnel took over the irrigation system claiming it as their own.
(a3) By 1980 a conflict was well on its way over water allocations on the adjacent privately owned Silvies Plain. The FWS wanted to acquire the ranch lands on the Silvies Plain to add to their already vast holdings. Refuge personnel intentionally diverted the water bypassing the vast meadow lands, directing the water into the rising Malheur Lakes. Within a few short years the surface area of the lakes doubled. Thirty-one ranches on the Silvies plains were flooded. Homes, corrals, barns and graze-land were washed a way and destroyed. The ranchers who once fought to keep the FWS from taking their land, now broke and destroyed, begged the FWS to acquire their useless ranches. In 1989 the waters began to recede; now the once thriving privately owned Silvies plains are a proud part of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge claimed by the FWS.
(a4) By the 1990’s the Hammonds were one of the very few ranchers who still owned private property adjacent to the refuge. Susie Hammond in an effort to make sense of what was going on began compiling facts about the refuge. In a hidden public record she found a study done by the FWS in 1975. The study showed the “no use” policies of the FWS on the refuge were causing the wildlife to leave the refuge and move to private property. The study showed the private property adjacent to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge produced four times more ducks and geese than the refuge. The study also showed the migrating birds were 13 times more likely to land on private property than on the refuge. When Susie brought this to the attention of the FWS and refuge personnel, her and her family became the subjects of a long train of abuses and corruptions.
(b) In the early 1990’s the Hammonds filed on a livestock water source and obtained a deed for the water right from the State of Oregon. When the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) found out the Hammonds obtained new water rights near the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge, they were agitated and became belligerent and vindictive toward the Hammonds. The US Fish and Wildlife Service challenged the Hammonds right to the water in an Oregon State Circuit Court. The court found the Hammonds legally obtained rights to the water in accordance to State law and therefore the use of the water belongs to the Hammonds.*
(c) In August 1994 the BLM & FWS illegally began building a fence around the Hammonds water source. Owning the water rights, and knowing that their cattle relied on that water source daily, the Hammonds tried to stop the building of the fence. The BLM & FWS called the Harney County Sheriff department and had Dwight Hammond (Father) arrested and charged with “disturbing and interfering with” federal officials or federal contractors (two counts, each a felony). Dwight spent one night in the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, and a second night behind bars in Portland. He was then hauled before a federal magistrate and released without bail. A hearing on the charges was postponed and the federal judge never set another date.
Where did you get this alleged history? There are some very noticeable misrepresentations that are obviously agenda driven for the benefit of promoting private ranches. Can you provide the source or is this essay your own creation?
 
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So, what do you think about this "conspiracy?" Are some of you people actually supporters of eminent domain? Good! I hope the feds come and confiscate your property. :2up: That would be awesome.

I find it hard to believe that anyone could support this travesty of justice. You are some really rotten people, that is FO SURE!

The following is just PART of the story of what is going on and how the government is screwing WE THE PEOPLE over.

HISTORY: (aa) The Harney Basin (where the Hammond ranch is established) was settled in the 1870’s. The valley was settled by multiple ranchers and was known to have run over 300,000 head of cattle. These ranchers developed a state of the art irrigated system to water the meadows, and it soon became a favorite stopping place for migrating birds on their annual trek north.
(ab) In 1908 President Theodor Roosevelt, in a political scheme, create an “Indian reservation” around the Malheur, Mud & Harney Lakes and declared it “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds”. Later this “Indian reservation” (without Indians) became the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
(a) In 1964 the Hammonds’ purchased their ranch in the Harney Basin. The purchase included approximately 6000 acres of private property, 4 grazing rights on public land, a small ranch house and 3 water rights. The ranch is around 53 miles South of Burns, Oregon.
(a1) By the 1970’s nearly all the ranches adjacent to the Blitzen Valley were purchased by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and added to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge covers over 187,000 acres, stretches over 45 miles long and 37 miles wide. The expansion of the refuge grew and surrounds to the Hammond’s ranch. Approached many times by the FWS, the Hammonds refused to sell. Other ranchers also choose not to sell.
(a2) During the 1970’s the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), took a different approach to get the ranchers to sell. Ranchers were told: “grazing was detrimental to wildlife and must be reduced”; 32 out of 53 permits were revoked and many ranchers were forced to leave. Grazing fees were raised significantly for those who were allowed to remain. Refuge personnel took over the irrigation system claiming it as their own.
(a3) By 1980 a conflict was well on its way over water allocations on the adjacent privately owned Silvies Plain. The FWS wanted to acquire the ranch lands on the Silvies Plain to add to their already vast holdings. Refuge personnel intentionally diverted the water bypassing the vast meadow lands, directing the water into the rising Malheur Lakes. Within a few short years the surface area of the lakes doubled. Thirty-one ranches on the Silvies plains were flooded. Homes, corrals, barns and graze-land were washed a way and destroyed. The ranchers who once fought to keep the FWS from taking their land, now broke and destroyed, begged the FWS to acquire their useless ranches. In 1989 the waters began to recede; now the once thriving privately owned Silvies plains are a proud part of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge claimed by the FWS.
(a4) By the 1990’s the Hammonds were one of the very few ranchers who still owned private property adjacent to the refuge. Susie Hammond in an effort to make sense of what was going on began compiling facts about the refuge. In a hidden public record she found a study done by the FWS in 1975. The study showed the “no use” policies of the FWS on the refuge were causing the wildlife to leave the refuge and move to private property. The study showed the private property adjacent to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge produced four times more ducks and geese than the refuge. The study also showed the migrating birds were 13 times more likely to land on private property than on the refuge. When Susie brought this to the attention of the FWS and refuge personnel, her and her family became the subjects of a long train of abuses and corruptions.
(b) In the early 1990’s the Hammonds filed on a livestock water source and obtained a deed for the water right from the State of Oregon. When the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) found out the Hammonds obtained new water rights near the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge, they were agitated and became belligerent and vindictive toward the Hammonds. The US Fish and Wildlife Service challenged the Hammonds right to the water in an Oregon State Circuit Court. The court found the Hammonds legally obtained rights to the water in accordance to State law and therefore the use of the water belongs to the Hammonds.*
(c) In August 1994 the BLM & FWS illegally began building a fence around the Hammonds water source. Owning the water rights, and knowing that their cattle relied on that water source daily, the Hammonds tried to stop the building of the fence. The BLM & FWS called the Harney County Sheriff department and had Dwight Hammond (Father) arrested and charged with “disturbing and interfering with” federal officials or federal contractors (two counts, each a felony). Dwight spent one night in the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, and a second night behind bars in Portland. He was then hauled before a federal magistrate and released without bail. A hearing on the charges was postponed and the federal judge never set another date.
Where did you get this alleged history? There are some very noticeable misrepresentations that are obviously agenda driven for the benefit on promoting private ranches. Can you provide the source or is this essay your own creation?

The Park Service influences it because they have four borders to look after. Everything follows. :lol:
 
WATCH: Oregon lawmaker opens can of whoop-ass on feds for ignoring ‘ultra-rightwing extremist’ Bundys

Asking “Is anybody home?” an Oregon lawmaker tore into the U.S. Justice Department for sitting on their hands and letting “ultra-rightwing anti-government extremists” occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, KEZI is reporting.

Democratic Rep. Peter DeFazio, who represents Eugene, Oregon, took to the floor of the House of Representatives where he mocked the Justice Department for their continuing hands-off approach when it comes to all things Bundy.

“The heat and the lights are on at the Malheur Wildlife Refuge, illegally occupied by ultra-rightwing anti-government extremists,” DeFazio began, “But you gotta wonder if the lights are on or is anybody home down there at the Justice Department.”
“Hello” he sarcastically cried before adding, “I don’t think there’s anybody there.”

“I believe that this illegal occupation, this destruction of federal property was directly emboldened by the fact that their father of the two leaders, Cliven Bundy, stood down the government two years ago when he owed a million dollars — other ranchers paid their grazing fees, he refuses to do it. And he was grazing in areas that were prohibited,” he exclaimed. “And he stood down the government at the point of a gun, and he’s still grazing and nobody, nobody at the Justice Department has seen fit to raise a finger against him.”

“He celebrated the anniversary of the takeover and said ‘this is how it’s done.’ And now his sons are replicating that in my state of Oregon, where we abide by the laws,” Rep. DeFazio said. “Yeah, we disagree over a lot of federal policies, but we abide by the laws.”
“It’s time for the Justice Department to take some action. Wake up down there!” he shouted.
 
I certainly do not want anyone killed in this confrontation however the spectacle or armed brazen recalcitrant criminals parading around on Government property has to stop. they need to be confronted put on trial and placed in a penitentiary for several years to "think things over"..............
 
So, what do you think about this "conspiracy?" Are some of you people actually supporters of eminent domain? Good! I hope the feds come and confiscate your property. :2up: That would be awesome.

I find it hard to believe that anyone could support this travesty of justice. You are some really rotten people, that is FO SURE!

The following is just PART of the story of what is going on and how the government is screwing WE THE PEOPLE over.

HISTORY: (aa) The Harney Basin (where the Hammond ranch is established) was settled in the 1870’s. The valley was settled by multiple ranchers and was known to have run over 300,000 head of cattle. These ranchers developed a state of the art irrigated system to water the meadows, and it soon became a favorite stopping place for migrating birds on their annual trek north.
(ab) In 1908 President Theodor Roosevelt, in a political scheme, create an “Indian reservation” around the Malheur, Mud & Harney Lakes and declared it “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds”. Later this “Indian reservation” (without Indians) became the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
(a) In 1964 the Hammonds’ purchased their ranch in the Harney Basin. The purchase included approximately 6000 acres of private property, 4 grazing rights on public land, a small ranch house and 3 water rights. The ranch is around 53 miles South of Burns, Oregon.
(a1) By the 1970’s nearly all the ranches adjacent to the Blitzen Valley were purchased by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and added to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge covers over 187,000 acres, stretches over 45 miles long and 37 miles wide. The expansion of the refuge grew and surrounds to the Hammond’s ranch. Approached many times by the FWS, the Hammonds refused to sell. Other ranchers also choose not to sell.
(a2) During the 1970’s the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), took a different approach to get the ranchers to sell. Ranchers were told: “grazing was detrimental to wildlife and must be reduced”; 32 out of 53 permits were revoked and many ranchers were forced to leave. Grazing fees were raised significantly for those who were allowed to remain. Refuge personnel took over the irrigation system claiming it as their own.
(a3) By 1980 a conflict was well on its way over water allocations on the adjacent privately owned Silvies Plain. The FWS wanted to acquire the ranch lands on the Silvies Plain to add to their already vast holdings. Refuge personnel intentionally diverted the water bypassing the vast meadow lands, directing the water into the rising Malheur Lakes. Within a few short years the surface area of the lakes doubled. Thirty-one ranches on the Silvies plains were flooded. Homes, corrals, barns and graze-land were washed a way and destroyed. The ranchers who once fought to keep the FWS from taking their land, now broke and destroyed, begged the FWS to acquire their useless ranches. In 1989 the waters began to recede; now the once thriving privately owned Silvies plains are a proud part of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge claimed by the FWS.
(a4) By the 1990’s the Hammonds were one of the very few ranchers who still owned private property adjacent to the refuge. Susie Hammond in an effort to make sense of what was going on began compiling facts about the refuge. In a hidden public record she found a study done by the FWS in 1975. The study showed the “no use” policies of the FWS on the refuge were causing the wildlife to leave the refuge and move to private property. The study showed the private property adjacent to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge produced four times more ducks and geese than the refuge. The study also showed the migrating birds were 13 times more likely to land on private property than on the refuge. When Susie brought this to the attention of the FWS and refuge personnel, her and her family became the subjects of a long train of abuses and corruptions.
(b) In the early 1990’s the Hammonds filed on a livestock water source and obtained a deed for the water right from the State of Oregon. When the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) found out the Hammonds obtained new water rights near the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge, they were agitated and became belligerent and vindictive toward the Hammonds. The US Fish and Wildlife Service challenged the Hammonds right to the water in an Oregon State Circuit Court. The court found the Hammonds legally obtained rights to the water in accordance to State law and therefore the use of the water belongs to the Hammonds.*
(c) In August 1994 the BLM & FWS illegally began building a fence around the Hammonds water source. Owning the water rights, and knowing that their cattle relied on that water source daily, the Hammonds tried to stop the building of the fence. The BLM & FWS called the Harney County Sheriff department and had Dwight Hammond (Father) arrested and charged with “disturbing and interfering with” federal officials or federal contractors (two counts, each a felony). Dwight spent one night in the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, and a second night behind bars in Portland. He was then hauled before a federal magistrate and released without bail. A hearing on the charges was postponed and the federal judge never set another date.
Where did you get this alleged history? There are some very noticeable misrepresentations that are obviously agenda driven for the benefit of promoting private ranches. Can you provide the source or is this essay your own creation?

What parts do you feel have been misrepresented?
 
Pretty much the whole spiel. A right wingnut history that has little to do with the actual facts, and fails to recognize some other major factors in the history of that area. Problem for people like you is that the people there, and those that have roots in the area know the history, and are not buying into these wingnut fantasies.
 
Pretty much the whole spiel. A right wingnut history that has little to do with the actual facts, and fails to recognize some other major factors in the history of that area. Problem for people like you is that the people there, and those that have roots in the area know the history, and are not buying into these wingnut fantasies.

What is untrue about it? Please specify and show me your evidence that is to the contrary.
 
Yes, they had more cattle and sheep there in the 1880's and 1900. But they also overgrazed the land, causing a lot of damage. Not only that, the climate of that area at that time was not only colder, but also wetter. At the time, it was not successfully supporting the number of livestock, as in maintaining the health of the land. And today, at the end of a four year drought it most definately cannot support those kinds of numbers.

The Malhuer Game Refuge is a unique area in the whole of the US. And supports not only a wonderful variety of birds, but provides wintering ground for elk and mule deer. Whatever it's use before, that is definately it's best use today. That people like you wish to destroy it, speaks to your lack of morality, and the fact that you care nothing for the future of this nation.

You do not speak for the people in the area. Not for the Paiute, not for the people of Harney County, and not for the majority of Oregonians, who all want these outsider assholes to get the hell off the Refuge.

The stupid bit about the Refuge people flooding the basin is over the top. The waters of the lakes in the Malhuer basin wax and wane according to snowpack and rainfall. In 1898, long before the Refuge, the lake waters reached the Burns city limits one spring. As for the Refuge controlling the irrigation water, during the depression, a lot of the land was purchased from ranchers that were going broke. A not uncommon occurance in the Harney basin. And, with the land, went the water rights. That is how the law on water works in Oregon.

Were it not for the government, half of the people in Harney County would be unemployed. There are few resources, other than the ranches that are fortunate enough to have year round water. And that is hardly a high profit operation.

All you right wing nuts are doing is making life even harder for a lot of hard working people in Harney County. At some point, they are going to get enough of you, and kick all your asses out, other than those that end up buried right there.
 
So, what do you think about this "conspiracy?" Are some of you people actually supporters of eminent domain? Good! I hope the feds come and confiscate your property. :2up: That would be awesome.

I find it hard to believe that anyone could support this travesty of justice. You are some really rotten people, that is FO SURE!

The following is just PART of the story of what is going on and how the government is screwing WE THE PEOPLE over.

HISTORY: (aa) The Harney Basin (where the Hammond ranch is established) was settled in the 1870’s. The valley was settled by multiple ranchers and was known to have run over 300,000 head of cattle. These ranchers developed a state of the art irrigated system to water the meadows, and it soon became a favorite stopping place for migrating birds on their annual trek north.
(ab) In 1908 President Theodor Roosevelt, in a political scheme, create an “Indian reservation” around the Malheur, Mud & Harney Lakes and declared it “as a preserve and breeding ground for native birds”. Later this “Indian reservation” (without Indians) became the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
(a) In 1964 the Hammonds’ purchased their ranch in the Harney Basin. The purchase included approximately 6000 acres of private property, 4 grazing rights on public land, a small ranch house and 3 water rights. The ranch is around 53 miles South of Burns, Oregon.
(a1) By the 1970’s nearly all the ranches adjacent to the Blitzen Valley were purchased by the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and added to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. The refuge covers over 187,000 acres, stretches over 45 miles long and 37 miles wide. The expansion of the refuge grew and surrounds to the Hammond’s ranch. Approached many times by the FWS, the Hammonds refused to sell. Other ranchers also choose not to sell.
(a2) During the 1970’s the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), in conjunction with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), took a different approach to get the ranchers to sell. Ranchers were told: “grazing was detrimental to wildlife and must be reduced”; 32 out of 53 permits were revoked and many ranchers were forced to leave. Grazing fees were raised significantly for those who were allowed to remain. Refuge personnel took over the irrigation system claiming it as their own.
(a3) By 1980 a conflict was well on its way over water allocations on the adjacent privately owned Silvies Plain. The FWS wanted to acquire the ranch lands on the Silvies Plain to add to their already vast holdings. Refuge personnel intentionally diverted the water bypassing the vast meadow lands, directing the water into the rising Malheur Lakes. Within a few short years the surface area of the lakes doubled. Thirty-one ranches on the Silvies plains were flooded. Homes, corrals, barns and graze-land were washed a way and destroyed. The ranchers who once fought to keep the FWS from taking their land, now broke and destroyed, begged the FWS to acquire their useless ranches. In 1989 the waters began to recede; now the once thriving privately owned Silvies plains are a proud part of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge claimed by the FWS.
(a4) By the 1990’s the Hammonds were one of the very few ranchers who still owned private property adjacent to the refuge. Susie Hammond in an effort to make sense of what was going on began compiling facts about the refuge. In a hidden public record she found a study done by the FWS in 1975. The study showed the “no use” policies of the FWS on the refuge were causing the wildlife to leave the refuge and move to private property. The study showed the private property adjacent to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge produced four times more ducks and geese than the refuge. The study also showed the migrating birds were 13 times more likely to land on private property than on the refuge. When Susie brought this to the attention of the FWS and refuge personnel, her and her family became the subjects of a long train of abuses and corruptions.
(b) In the early 1990’s the Hammonds filed on a livestock water source and obtained a deed for the water right from the State of Oregon. When the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) found out the Hammonds obtained new water rights near the Malhuer Wildlife Refuge, they were agitated and became belligerent and vindictive toward the Hammonds. The US Fish and Wildlife Service challenged the Hammonds right to the water in an Oregon State Circuit Court. The court found the Hammonds legally obtained rights to the water in accordance to State law and therefore the use of the water belongs to the Hammonds.*
(c) In August 1994 the BLM & FWS illegally began building a fence around the Hammonds water source. Owning the water rights, and knowing that their cattle relied on that water source daily, the Hammonds tried to stop the building of the fence. The BLM & FWS called the Harney County Sheriff department and had Dwight Hammond (Father) arrested and charged with “disturbing and interfering with” federal officials or federal contractors (two counts, each a felony). Dwight spent one night in the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, and a second night behind bars in Portland. He was then hauled before a federal magistrate and released without bail. A hearing on the charges was postponed and the federal judge never set another date.
Where did you get this alleged history? There are some very noticeable misrepresentations that are obviously agenda driven for the benefit of promoting private ranches. Can you provide the source or is this essay your own creation?

What parts do you feel have been misrepresented?
At the very beginning, a claim is made that the ranchers created a state of the art irrigation system that in turn created an environment for migrating birds. Those lakes and waterways were used by migrating birds for thousands of years It was, in fact, a haphazard short-term system that destroyed the system and created a nonsustainable environment for continued cattle grazing while it destroyed the environment for wildlife habitation. This claim is a purposeful misdirection to the next entry.

The claim is made that Roosevelt ended up making the area an Indian Reservation for political purposes. It was President Grant that created the Malheur reservation in 1872 and made the lands taken away from the Paiutes available to ranchers. Roosevelt, the great conservationist, saw the massive destruction caused by those ranchers and created the Wildlife Refuge.

It should not be necessary to go on, paragraph by paragraph, section by section when the very beginning is found to be so blatantly wrong and manipulated into a disinformation political agenda driven piece missing any genuine historical content.
 

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