The region has a history of sheriffs butting heads with federal land agencies.
Bureau of Land Management
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The Bundy bust-up
Charges rain down on militant leaders of Bundy family standoffs in Nevada and Oregon.
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Interactive timeline: Livestock grazing in the West
Whether grazing on public land is a ‘right’ or a ‘privilege’ is one of the region’s most contentious issues. Here’s why.
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How an East Coast think tank is fueling the land transfer movement
ALEC is becoming increasingly involved in the public lands debate by providing model bills for Western states.
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Online editor Tay Wiles talks Oregon militia standoffs with KDNK Radio
The latest episode of Sounds of the High Country.
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In Wyoming, a road block for public access
A tangled web of lawsuits and land sales mean people trying to access a Lincoln County wilderness area could face trespass charges.
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No, federal land transfers are not in the Constitution
Legal scholars debunk arguments about how founding documents support local control of all lands.
Posted inFebruary 2, 2016: Sagebrush Insurgency
Sugar Pine Mine, the other standoff
How a small-time mining dispute in Oregon readied a network of militias for the Malheur occupation.
Posted inFebruary 2, 2016: Sagebrush Insurgency
The BLM’s arms race on the range
The agency has armed up since 1978, but it’s still outgunned without local backup.
Posted inJanuary 25, 2016: The Forever War
A tale of two BLM mascots
Johnny Horizon and Seymour Antelope show the agency’s changing focus.
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BLM proposes rules for oil and gas methane emissions
The rule will help conserve natural gas and mitigate pollution, targeting 100,000 existing wells.
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The first Sagebrush Rebellion: What sparked it and how it ended
Today’s movement is a radical, perverted version of the 1970s-80s rebellion.
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Former BLM chief: Bundys ‘pursuing an agenda’ on public land
Bob Abbey was Bureau of Land Management chief from 2009 to 2012 and Nevada state director from 1997 to 2005. In a recent interview with High Country News, he discusses the BLM’s response to ranchers, including Cliven Bundy in Nevada, who broke federal laws, as well as the importance of collaborating with local law enforcement when it comes […]
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The BLM has armed up since 1978, but it’s still outgunned
In confrontations with armed groups like the Bundy supporters, local law enforcement matters most.
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The BLM’s inconsistent approach toward rule breakers
A look at how the feds have — and have not — punished individuals for defying regulations.
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PZP: Where hope, science and mustangs meet
The longtime mustang advocate, TJ Holmes, and I head into southwestern Colorado’s Spring Creek Basin Herd Management Area, searching for mustangs. We do this regularly. TJ has documented these mustangs for eight years, working in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management. A big part of her work is administering PZP, the fertility-control vaccine (porcine […]
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Malheur occupation, explained
The deep history behind the Bundy brothers’ takeover of a wildlife refuge in Oregon.
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Forty years of Sagebrush Rebellion
The Oregon occupation, the 2014 Bundy standoff and many other stories are all related to a long-simmering movement.
Posted inDecember 7, 2015: Good Neighbors
Gun-toting toddlers in the desert and drunk Brits in the Grand Canyon
Mishaps and mayhem from around the region.