What happens when big government seems to get too greedy and out of control? A look at a citizen takeover of Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is an illustration.
Last week, local activists broke into an unoccupied building on the 187,000-acre refuge in eastern Oregon to protest what they say is the false imprisonment of two local ranchers, father and son duo Dwight and Steven Hammond.
The story starts back in 1908, when Theodore Roosevelt set aside nearly 90,000 acres around Malheur Lake as a bird refuge. Since then, the government has gobbled up nearby land and water and coerced thriving ranchers to sell.
The federal government has instituted a host of regulations on the ranchers, including revoking grazing permits, mismanaging water resources and buying out private landowners so the refuge could grow to its current massive size, according to a Wall Street Journal editorial.
The Hammonds are one of the last remaining private landowners in the area. In 2001, the family told federal authorities it planned to set a managed fire on its land to fight invasive species - a common practice in ranching - but the fire spread to cover nearly 140 acres of public land before it was extinguished. In 2006, the family attempted to set "back fires" on its land to protect its winter feed from a lightning fire. The back fire burnt an acre of public land.
It wasn't until 2011 that Dwight and Steven Hammond were charged with nine counts under the Antiterrorism and Effective Death Penalty Act. A federal grand jury found them guilty of the two fires they admitted to setting. Dwight Hammond was sentenced to three months in prison; Steven was sentenced to one year. The family also owes $400,000 in fire-related costs.
Many in the area view the sentencing and restitution as a government vendetta. Enter the armed group of protesters, led by Ammon Bundy, who say they're standing up for the Hammonds and what they believe is government overreach.
But the Harney County, Ore., sheriff sees Bundy's group as having an ulterior motive, saying the group is attempting to overthrow the U.S. government.
Bundy, however, argues the government has no jurisdiction over the Hammonds' land and says his group will occupy the refuge "for as long as needs be."
Perhaps there is a bit of both sides being partly right and both sides being partly wrong in this situation. But rightly or wrongly, it's an example of government getting too big, too controlling and pushing otherwise law-abiding citizens to the limits. Bundy's siege may be inexcusable, but so too may be continued federal takeover of private lands and rights of ranchers.