How a small-time mining dispute in Oregon readied a network of militias for the Malheur occupation.
Sagebrush Rebellion
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 inFebruary 2, 2016: Sagebrush Insurgency
Graphic: The hidden connections of the Sagebrush Insurgency
Where a sprawling network of actors find common cause.
Posted inFebruary 2, 2016: Sagebrush Insurgency
Sagebrush Insurgency connections
Connecting the dots within a vast right-wing network of militia members, state and local politicians, and others.
Posted inFebruary 2, 2016: Sagebrush Insurgency
The rise of the Sagebrush Sheriffs
How rural ‘constitutional’ peace officers are joining the war against the feds.
Posted inArticles
FBI veteran gives authorities high marks for Malheur crackdown
Occupier who was killed showed signs of ‘suicide-by-cop mentality.’
Posted inArticles
Malheur arrests, as they happened on social media
As the Tuesday’s confrontation unfolded, key information came out on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube.
Posted inArticles
Authorities closing in on Oregon’s Malheur occupation
FBI calls for removal of occupiers following eight arrests and the death of one man late Tuesday.
Posted inArticles
Malheur occupation could set conservation efforts back years
Invasive carp may recolonize areas they were once eradicated from, depending on how long the occupation lasts.
Posted inJanuary 25, 2016: The Forever War
Modern sagebrush rebels recycle old Western fantasies
Ammon and Ryan Bundy, sons of scofflaw Nevada rancher Clive Bundy, appear to have made an ambitious New Year’s resolution: Force the federal government, which has managed more than half of the American West’s lands for the past century, to relinquish them, at gun point if necessary, to the locals. Over the weekend, the Bundy […]
Posted inJanuary 25, 2016: The Forever War
Photos: A protest over imprisoned ranchers becomes an occupation of a wildlife refuge
In eastern Oregon, the latest iteration of the Sagebrush Rebellion.
Posted inArticles
West Obsessed: Behind the Malheur occupation
Our editors discuss the lead-up to the stand-off in Oregon.
Posted inArticles
Economic downturns fuel Sagebrush Rebellion events
Natural resource-dependent rural economies help explain why disputes happen where they do.
Posted inArticles
The first Sagebrush Rebellion: What sparked it and how it ended
Today’s movement is a radical, perverted version of the 1970s-80s rebellion.
Posted inArticles
Who’s who inside and on the outskirts of the Malheur occupation
Here are the most vocal occupiers, along with a core group of militia members staying in Burns.
Posted inArticles
Sieges like the Oregon standoff turn the rural West into a political stage
The armed protesters occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in southeast Oregon have indicated that they will leave if the locals so desire. Well, it’s time for them to go: Harney County residents, who just held a huge community meeting about this invasion, seemed to heartily agree that they want the vigilantes to pack their […]
Posted inArticles
I have a lot in common with the Bundys. Here’s what I’d like to say to them.
Like the Bundy brothers now illegally occupying the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, I’m a lifelong rural Westerner, and I believe that if I were to talk with them, we’d most likely find we have a lot in common. There’s the way our lives were shaped by the land, for instance. I was […]
Posted inArticles
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 […]
Posted inArticles
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.
Posted inArticles
The BLM’s inconsistent approach toward rule breakers
A look at how the feds have — and have not — punished individuals for defying regulations.