{"id":13161,"date":"2016-01-21T17:45:10","date_gmt":"2016-01-22T00:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/?p=13161"},"modified":"2022-08-22T15:06:26","modified_gmt":"2022-08-22T22:06:26","slug":"13161","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2016\/01\/21\/13161\/","title":{"rendered":"ONE ON ONE WITH MILITIAMAN SPOKESMAN AT THE BUNDY STRONGHOLD"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

One on One with Militiaman Spokesman at the Bundy Stronghold
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n<\/div>\n
\n

Reviewer Magazine<\/em> goes to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Standoff near Burns, Oregon.<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By: Sarah Shafer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 @SASzilla<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

January 9, 2016 \u00a0(6:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.)<\/strong>
\nIt’s been a week since the militiamen gathered at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Armed with six-shooters on their hips and AK-47’s strapped over their shoulders, their refusal to leave the federally owned land has sparked a brush-fire of local opinion and national media spin. Some of this comes second-hand from reporters<\/a> that have never been to Burns. Some of it comes from concerned citizens<\/a> whose families have worked on the very land being disputed. Reviewer Magazine<\/em> sits down for more than just soundbites with spokesman LaVoy Finicum, long time Arizona rancher and friend and supporter of the now notorious leader of the occupation, Ammon Bundy.<\/p>\n

It was dark and snowing when I arrived at the at the scene. Most of the media had gone home, and the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge appeared like any other defiantly warm and quiet structure you might see against the Burns, Oregon snowscape. LaVoy Finicum saw me through an office window and gestured me inside. He stood to shake my hand and offered me the chair opposite him, even though the chair was already full.<\/p>\n

“Pardon me,” LaVoy said to the man in the chair, “I already promised this little lady that I would talk with her. I did promise her first if you don’t mind putting this on hold.”<\/p>\n

The man moved without a word. Leaning over a tall filing cabinet, he quietly folded his arms in front of himself and propped his head up with his hands to listen for me to finish.<\/p>\n

“Thank you for your time. I’m sure you’ve talked to a few people already today,” I said.<\/p>\n

“Yes. One or two,” said Finicum.<\/p>\n

“What do you think of how you’ve been portrayed in the media?”<\/p>\n

“Honestly, we’ve been a little too busy here to really sit down in front of a TV,” Finicum said. “I didn’t have a chance to tell my family I was going to be here. I didn’t know until I came to leave some flowers for the Bundys, and I got the call from Ammon that we needed to do something. Someone mentioned that they did a skit of us on Saturday Night Live, ‘Y’all Qaeda,’ or something, but I haven’t seen it. Of course, my daughter saw me on the news and told everyone: ‘Dad took over a federal building!'”<\/p>\n

“So you weren’t apart of a prior plan in place to take over the refuge?” I said.<\/p>\n

“No. Most of us came here unprepared,” said Finicum, “One of the guys only had time to grab one change of clothes.”<\/p>\n

“In the Federal Land and Policy Management Act,<\/a> doesn’t it mandate that the federal government must consider ceding land back to the state if such an exchange would be in the better interest of the public?” I said.<\/p>\n

\"LaVoy<\/a>
LaVoy Finicum, an occupant at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Picture from:www.ooyuz.com\/geturl?aid=9973294<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Finicum said, “It’s more than that. They\u2019re required. It\u2019s mandatory. Now let’s look back to the history, all right. …Once a territory reached a population of I think sixty thousand people, at that point they would form it into a state. Now, I may be wrong on that number, so don’t quote me on that. So, at the moment that it became a state, the lands were to be ceded to the state to be disposed of. So the first states, for about the first four states right up until about Ohio, that’s what happened. But after awhile it became slow. They [the federal government] still ceded it to the states, but have you ever noticed, if you look at a map of federal land going from east to west. In the east there\u2019s hardly any federal land. You get further and further west and there is more and more, till, like my county is ninety percent federal land. This county is fifty percent federal land… Governments tend to like to grow in power and size. They see the land and resources and they get slower and slower at ceding it back to the states. And pretty soon they say, ‘Oh, no, it\u2019s ours, but you could have got some money off of the revenue had you been productive.’ Its called PILT<\/a>, Payment in Lieu of Taxes… Really it\u2019s Pennies in Lieu of Trillions. That\u2019s really what it is. And so they at that point say, ‘No, the land is ours.’ And they have no constitutional authority to do that. And again, it has real impact on real people and we\u2019ve seen it this week with the Hammond family.”<\/p>\n

“We use to complain about taxation without representation, this is control without representation.”
\n<\/strong><\/h1>\n

“So how do you think turning the federal land here over to state authorities will help local Oregonians?” I said.<\/p>\n

“That’s a good question,” said Finicum, “You have to ask yourself where does the wealth come from? Where did the materials come from? It comes from the resources of the earth. The wealth is generated from the resources of the land. So when you block off access to the land you seal seal the lands resources away for the people. Harney county used to be the wealthiest in the state of Oregon. Do you know where it is now? It\u2019s the poorest. What happened? The Federal government came in. What did they do? They begin to grab and seize the resources of the land. The timber industry was seized and shut down. The ranchers have been suppressed. So when they grab the land and start to move the people off from it then the people can\u2019t cultivate it or prune it to have resources come up. So the people become very poor. And so what happens, you need to realize is that the loyalty a lot of times flows from the direction that the money comes from. So, if people begin to get hooked on because there’s no jobs or land, no mining, or logging, or ranching then they look for what? Government jobs. Government benefits, or government welfare. When money begins to flow down from a federal agency or federal power to the people then their loyalties become this way. You see, getting a check without working is a horrible thing for a person. When a person is out there working his ranch, working his farm, working the forest as a lumberjack, or in the lumber mills, then there’s a sense of worth because he’s doing something of worth. And then he’s producing for the county and increasing the tax base. And then, guess what? Where’s the money flowing? It’s flowing from the people into the county. So now you have a relationship between the county and its citizens, and you have a good relationship instead of the money flowing down to the federal government. Where does the federal government get its money anyway? By taking it from the people or inflating the currency. So the wealth of the nation is increased. The welfare and the mental health of the people is increased. The other way, it all seems to do the opposite. I don’t know, is that an answer?”<\/p>\n

“Do you believe that when the federal government charges people to use the land they’ve confiscated, that it is tantamount to taxation without representation?” I said.<\/p>\n

Finicum said, “Well this is what we have, in Article 1, Section 8,<\/a> in the United States constitution clearly defines what lands the federal government can own and control. Okay? Our founding fathers came from a country and under a rule where it was, what? The king\u2019s forest, the king\u2019s highway. You know, you don\u2019t cut the king\u2019s wood. They knew that if you did just what I said, that if you control the land and the resources, then you control the people… How much land does the federal government claim they control right now? One third of the land mass.”<\/p>\n

\"Occupier<\/a>
Occupier Duane Ehmer rides his horse Hellboy at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon, January 7, 2016. REUTERS\/Jim Urquhart<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

“Now lets think about it even closer to home so you can better understand this,” he said, “On my ranch I have my cows and my grazing room. A bureaucrat behind a desk, a federal bureaucrat, who is not elected by me, is not under the power of recall, he can write a statute… He can just do that. He can just write that, okay? Now that has the force and effect of law. …Where does the power come from? Think about it, this is a little bit of a trick question. The power comes from the barrel of a gun. I have this huge pasture, about four thousand or five thousand acres, I\u2019m not sure how big it is, but I\u2019ve never grazed it off.\u00a0\u00a0 In 6 years I\u2019ve never been able to put cows out there because the only water source out there is a reservoir that has to collect rain water. Well, when I had a great summer and the feed was tall and green and the water flowed over enough that I had water in the reservoir, I said, ‘I\u2019m going to put my cows in early before that water is dry and I can\u2019t graze it off.’ But the bureaucrat said no. He said, ‘You can\u2019t go in there until October fifteenth.’ I said, ‘But there\u2019s water there now and the grass is green.’ …They\u2019ve got the BLM<\/a>\u00a0[Bureau of Land Management] ranger armed with all the military equipment necessary, and he’ll come out and say, ‘You can’t.’ And if I get contrary, they can force it by the barrel of a gun, and where will they haul me? Into a federal court. Neither that ranger, or that bureaucrat, nor malfeasance of the court are under the power of recall of the state or the country or me as a rancher. They aren\u2019t accountable to me, I haven\u2019t elected them, and they rule over the land, over my livelihood, and so, we use to complain about taxation without representation, this is control without representation.”<\/p>\n

At this point I note that the static nature of such bureaucratic laws actually go against the purpose of The Federal Land and Policy Management Act. Specifically, Section 102, (2), where it clearly states: The national interest will be best realized if the public lands and their resources are periodical\u00adly and systematically inventoried and their present and future use is projected through a land use planning process coordinated with other Federal and State planning efforts.<\/em><\/p>\n

I said, “What do you want to say to your supporters around the country, Mr. Finicum? What would you suggest that they do? Do you believe we should stop conceding to their will?”<\/p>\n

Finicum said, “People are becoming disenfranchised fron the government. …Whether it\u2019s on the right side of the spectrum or the left side of the spectrum, we\u2019re on this side of the spectrum, occupying a federal building. We\u2019re not burning things down. We\u2019re trying to preserve and build. We want to be very careful so we can pass this resource center off to Harney County. So we\u2019re trying to take good care of it. …Let me be very clear. I believe in government. I believe in the federal government. We need it. But we need it to be law abiding.”<\/p>\n

“Well, I think that’s all I need. Thank you very much for your time, sir” I said. LaVoy shook my hand one last time, made sure he had my name and the name of my associate correct, and nodded farewell.<\/p>\n

~SAS<\/p>\n

January 9, 2016<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Who<\/a>
Who Owns the West? Federal Land as a Percentage of Total State Land Area | Data source: US General Services Administration, Federal Real Property Profile 2004, excludes trust properties. (Source: http:\/\/www.frugal-cafe.com\/)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lavoy<\/a>
Lavoy Finnicum by Sarah Shafer for Reviewer Magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lavoy<\/a>
Lavoy Finnicum by Sarah Shafer for Reviewer Magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lavoy<\/a>
Lavoy Finnicum by Sarah Shafer for Reviewer Magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lavoy<\/a>
Lavoy Finnicum by Sarah Shafer for Reviewer Magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lavoy<\/a>
Lavoy Finnicum by Sarah Shafer for Reviewer Magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lavoy<\/a>
Lavoy Finnicum by Sarah Shafer for Reviewer Magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"Lavoy<\/a>
Lavoy Finnicum by Sarah Shafer for Reviewer Magazine.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

One on One with Militiaman Spokesman at the Bundy Stronghold Reviewer Magazine goes to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge Standoff near Burns, Oregon. By: Sarah Shafer\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 @SASzilla January 9, 2016 \u00a0(6:00 P.M. to 7:00 P.M.) It’s been a week since the militiamen gathered at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. Armed with six-shooters on their hips and AK-47’s strapped over their […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3024,"featured_media":19178,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1],"tags":[1204,1212,1221,1211,1213,1224,1207,1220,1218,1222,1203,1223],"class_list":["post-13161","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archive","tag-ammon-bundy","tag-blm","tag-bundy","tag-burns","tag-federal-government","tag-federal-land-and-policy-management-act","tag-lavoy-finicum","tag-malheur-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-militiamen","tag-occupation","tag-oregon-standoff","tag-pilt"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/reviewermag.com\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/lavoy-finnicum-IMG_1412-1.webp?fit=750%2C1000&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13107,"url":"https:\/\/reviewermag.com\/press\/2016\/01\/10\/the-oregon-militia-mounts-up-2\/","url_meta":{"origin":13161,"position":0},"title":"The Oregon Militia Mounts Up","author":"sas","date":"January 10, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Friend Or Foe: Holding Ground At\u00a0The Bundy Stronghold One cold January day Reviewer Magazine\u00a0went to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge standoff near Burns, Oregon. by Sarah Shafer\u00a0 @SASzilla January 9, 2016. 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