We've heard of the Bundy Ranch 'standoff' of 2014 in Nevada and the Malheur adverse possession 'standoff' of 2016 in Harney County, Oregon, but what about the in between? Let's talk about the Sugar Pine Mine.
Now I suppose the only real connection with the Bundy's is that it happened in 2015, between the Nevada incident in 2014 and the Oregon incident in 2016. That may be the actual reason it did not garner the same attention. Nobody died in 2014 and 2015, but LaVoy Finicum was murdered in 2016.
"Oh what hell the Bundy Ranch hath wrought.
"A dispute between the Bureau of Land Management and gold miners in Southwestern Oregon drew immediate comparisons to the 2014 standoff at Cliven Bundy’s Nevada ranch as word of the fresh conflict wound its way through the blogosphere this week.
"Many of the ingredients were the same: a disagreement over property rights, a remote locale and a band of armed activists committed to protecting the land owner’s rights under the Constitution."
Is This The Next Bundy Ranch? Militia Men And Oath Keepers Swarm To Oregon
Now, as some follow up:
"The Nineteenth Century gold mine that sparked a 2015 militia standoff is now the subject of a federal lawsuit. On Wednesday, a judge heard arguments from miners and the government on cross motions to dismiss.
"MEDFORD, Ore. (CN) — Two men behind the Sugar Pine Mine, site of a 2015 standoff that foreshadowed a more organized militia movement, argued in court Wednesday that the government can’t stop them from building on their gold claim, which sits on public land near the headwaters of the Rogue River.
"George Backes and Rick Barclay say their claim on a southern Oregon gold mine dates back to 1876, and thus skirts regulations under the 1955 Surface Resources Act. The pair says that means the Bureau of Land Management can’t prevent them from the construction work necessary to work their claim.
"The government doesn’t dispute the men’s mining claim. But because the mine is on public land, the BLM says the men still have to get their construction plans approved ahead of time. "
After Armed Standoff, Sugar Pine Mine at Impasse in Court
And of course, somebody had to pay. Can't have those supposed 'domestic terrorists' go free can they? I mean they murdered Sam and Vickie Weaver, the Branch Dividians, LaVoy Finnicum, Ashli Babbitt, etc., but how dare we the people disagree with the all mighty .gov!
"A federal jury has convicted Kenneth Medenbach for his role in taking over Bureau of Land Management property last year in southern Oregon.
"The 63-year-old Crescent, Oregon, resident represented himself in the case. He was found guilty in a Eugene court Monday of unlawful occupation and illegal camping on federal lands.
"Medenbach traveled to Josephine County after a group of armed activists from the Oath Keepers and other groups gathered at the Sugar Pine Mine in southern Oregon. Constitutional rights groups converged on the small gold mine in May 2015 after the owner issued a call for help because of alleged overreach by the BLM."
