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On public lands, Congress should stand with American people, not anti-government extremists

Armed with assault rifles, members of a militia group called the Oath Keepers recently descended on two different “BLMs”:  last month’s Black Lives Matter protests in Ferguson, Missouri, and a mine on public lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management in Oregon.  They also offered a “security detail” to Kim Davis, the Kentucky clerk found in contempt of court for refusing to issue marriage licenses to same-sex couples.  

In Ferguson, protesters said they feared the Oath Keepers, “dressed in camos, semi-automatic rifles plowing through the crowd,” while the police chief called their presence “unnecessary and inflammatory.” In Oregon, the Oath Keepers set up a roadblock at a public road, insisting they were there to “protect” a mine that they claimed was private, despite it being on public land. 

{mosads}In both cases, the message was clear—this group believes that the answer to its frustrations with the federal government is armed intimidation.  This is, of course, no way to resolve a dispute in a civil society.   

The Oath Keepers—as well as other anti-government advocates like scofflaw rancher Cliven Bundy—also believe that the American people, through the federal government, have no right to public lands.   

This strain of anti-government extremism has quietly made gains in legislatures across the American West and is seeping into the dialogue in Washington, D.C.   An effort is afoot to turn over millions of acres of national lands to the Western states, and it has already been advocated by high-profile politicians like Sens. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Rand Paul (R-Ky.) and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska). 

This proposal is unworkable from a fiscal, policy, and legal perspective, not to mention the fact that it’s extraordinarily unpopular because it would significantly restrict public access to our lands.   

But why, despite these obvious flaws, does the land seizure movement continue to gain traction in the political mainstream? The answer, it turns out, has much to do with the Oath Keepers and other radical groups and ideologies, and the lawmakers who have direct connections to them. 

As my organization describes in new research, the entire movement to turn public lands over to the states is underpinned by anti-government extremism.   

We found that lawmakers in nine out of the 11 Western states that saw land takeover legislation in 2015 had ties to extremist anti-government groups or ideologies.  These organizations, such as the Oath Keepers, the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, Agenda 21 conspiracy theorists, and the county supremacy movement exist far outside of mainstream conservative thought.  

Take Nevada State Assemblywoman Michelle Fiore, for instance, who sponsored legislation this year that would prohibit the American people from owning lands and waters in the state. Not only was she an outspoken supporter of Cliven Bundy, but she publicly swore the oath of the Oath Keepers at the Bundy ranch. 

Or look at Utah State Representative Ken Ivory, the public face of the land takeover movement. Ivory signed the pledge of the Constitutional Sheriffs and Peace Officers Association, a group that believes county sheriffs should take up arms and resist the government.  Ivory has been accused of fraud in three states for activities related to his group, the American Lands Council, which uses taxpayer money to demand that Americans give up their public land. 

Ivory has functioned as the bridge between the extreme and the mainstream, engaging with both extremist groups and well-regarded politicians.  And his efforts seem to be paying off—this issue is now making its way from the fringe into the halls of Congress. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-Utah), for instance, founded a group dedicated to turning public lands over the states. That group just held its first meeting with no public notice, and expects to introduce legislation this fall.   

A wholesale giveaway of American lands is one of the most far-reaching changes to public lands management that has been considered in recent memory.  When legislation to this effect moves forward in Congress, our elected officials will face a choice: do they stand with extremists like Cliven Bundy and the Oath Keepers, or do they stand with the American people who know and embrace the exceptional values of our national lands?

Goad is the advocacy director at the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation policy organization based in Denver, Colorado focused on land and energy issues in the American West.

Tags Lisa Murkowski Rand Paul Rob Bishop Ted Cruz

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