Ammon Bundy and his band of gun-toting thugs continue to occupy the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon, protesting the arson sentences of two fellow thugs, and trying to make the larger point that the Federal Gubmit is taking away the rights of farmer and ranchers. In effect, they’re claiming that they and not the government have the rights to government land.

This cannot stand. Although the Guardian reported on Tuesday that the feds plan to shut off power to the refuge, freezing out the outlaws, I’m not sure if they’ve done that yet, and Bundy’s group would probably just chop wood (an illegal act itself) to keep themselves warm. Granted, an armed assault on the thugs would be a disasterous mistake, but I still think they should cut off supplies and water until the group surrenders. They should then be promptly clapped in jail. But the authorities remain curiously disengaged from the occupation, as they have been with Ammon’s father, Cliven Bundy, who has yet to be punished for his own illegal activities.

The non-response of the government to both Ammon and Cliven’s crimes is disturbing for two reasons. First, it sets a bad example: letting one class of citizen break the law without punishment. That sends the message that some people are above the law, which of course outraged people when the “affluenza teen” got off lightly. Although this is civil disobedience, it differs drastically from the civil disobedience of the Sixties civil rights protests.  The protestors in Malheur are armed, will not be taken willingly, and have threatened to “defend themselves” if action is taken to remove them. And the laws against grazing and farming on federal land are not unjust, as were the segregation laws of the South.

Second, the government’s failure to take action simply emboldens libertarian thugs like the Bundys who think they know how to use the land better than the government (i.e., us), and we can thus expect more actions like the one at Malheur. And more guns will be involved.

One thing I didn’t know when these protests began is that the Malheur refuge is an important one for wildlife, as noted by bird-lover Peter Cashwell’s op-ed in today’s New York Times,”Bird-watching, patriotism, and the Oregon standoff.” Cashwell makes two points, the first about the importance of the refuge for wildlife—and for people who like wildlife:

The Malheur refuge itself was established by Teddy Roosevelt, an avid outdoorsman who in 1908 set aside federal property around three Oregon lakes as a place for migratory birds to breed, one of more than 50 such refuges created during his presidency. I wonder sometimes whether T.R. became a conservationist because he came from New York City, a place where the principle of setting aside land for the public is close to sacred. This can be observed every spring, as thousands of urban birders fill New York’s carefully defined green spaces, hoping to get a glimpse of the brightly feathered migrants that settle in the trees on their way north — without kicking out the Frisbee players in their midst.

. . . Malheur is such a property. A birder will tell you that more than 320 different bird species have been recorded at the refuge, and more than 130 have nested there — a pretty fair total considering the entire North American continent hosts about 800. But this isn’t just a tiny spot on the map where hard-core birders can ooh and aah over rarities. Because the refuge lies along the Pacific Flyway, a common route for migration, a substantial part of a given species’ population may well come through in the spring and fall. Mel White, an author and birder, says that when they see more than 300,000 snow geese in Malheur during migration, “even non-birders will be impressed.”

Cashwell’s second point is simple:

[Ammon Bundy] is leading this action, he explained, so “people can reclaim their resources.” The identities of the people who will be doing this reclaiming remain unclear, but to me this action seems much like many others in American history: a loudly proclaimed defense of principle intended to cover up a land grab.

And the land being grabbed? It’s ours.

. . . And that, I think, is where Mr. Bundy and his followers miss the point: When land is held by the federal government they so despise, that land belongs to us all. You cannot “reclaim” territory for the “people” if they already own it. The seizure of Malheur is an attempt to claim the land, at the point of a gun, for unnamed individuals, all while taking it away from every other American. Whatever this action may be, it is not patriotism.

Yep, it’s our land to keep intact, not theirs to ravage, burn, and overgraze; and I for one prefer to see it kept unsullied. So does the government.

If you doubt the resolve of the birders who share Cashwell’s animus against the thugs, read this piece on The Daily Kos: “Warning from the birding community to the terrorists in Oregon: We’re watching you“. It’s a bit extreme, I think, and perhaps a little tongue-in-cheek, but I like it anyway, for it shows how the birders counter guns with cameras and binoculars:

. . . Those of us who are international wildlife and nature photographers regularly face charging elephants, attacking lions and grizzlies, hidden crocodiles, massive storms, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, the hottest, coldest and windiest conditions, and all kinds of poisonous snakes and bugs in our work, and we know the outdoors and wilderness from desert to jungle to sea to mountain to tundra from pole to equator better then any poacher or criminal or yeehaw yokel ever will, and we are not afraid to protect it. We have a just fear of nature from experience, but we don’t fear you gun-toting thugs in the least. You will never see us, but we and our cameras will always see you. We will #takebackmalheur from you terrorists, and will not rest until every one of you thugs and poachers is behind bars where they belong. You may think that your communities support you, but the majority do not and as many as support you, many more despise you, and your every move is being documented in great detail. The birding networks are ablaze right now about everything going on in Malheur. We know the nearby trailer park, who is supplying you with food, and a tourist boycott of them is already in the works for all birders for this upcoming bird season. We know who everyone is coming in and out, and why, and every shred of information is going straight to law enforcement and across every birding network in America.

. . . We are watching you and our years of birding photography have made us endlessly patient and determined.

Well, I wouldn’t yet call the Bundy Gang “terrorists” (though one could make a case that they are, since they’re trying to intimidate people by brandishing firearms and threatening to use them), but I know one thing: I am far more sympathetic to the birders than to loons like the Bundy Gang.

Someone added this cartoon to the comments:

h/t: Diane G