Forty years of Sagebrush Rebellion

The Sagebrush Rebellion has roots that go back to the early 1900s, when the federal government first started reserving public lands and developing water for early settlements. It took off starting in the 1970s, when the environmental movement pushed Congress to pass The Endangered Species Act, National Environmental Policy Act, Clean Air and Water acts, and others. It appeared again during the Clinton Administration, as it took on public land grazing, mining, and logging, while creating new controversial monuments under The Antiquities Act.  Finally, the election of President Barack Obama brought on the latest iteration, with renewed calls for public land transfers to the states and rising anti-federal sentiment, such as that exhibited by the Malheur occupation.

Malheur occupation, explained (Jan. 4, 2016)
The deep history behind the Bundy brothers’ takeover of a wildlife refuge in Oregon.

In eastern Oregon, a protest over imprisoned ranchers becomes an occupation of a wildlife refuge (Jan. 4, 2016)
Photos from the Burns, Oregon, protests, the latest iteration of the Sagebrush Rebellion.

Modern sagebrush rebels recycle old Western fantasies (Jan. 4, 2016 op-ed)

Public-land transfer proponents may have violated lobbying laws (October 2015) 
Colorado puts the American Lands Council on "notice" for ethical missteps.

Dispatch from White Hope Mine dispute in Montana (August 2015) 
The constitutionalist group Oath Keepers is defending a mine that the Forest Service says is out of compliance.

Counties use a ‘coordination’ clause to fight the feds (May 2015) 
An obscure provision in two environmental laws is the weapon of choice in a bureaucratic Sagebrush Rebellion.

The taxpayer money that fuels federal land transfer demands (May 2015) 
How the behind-the-scenes lobby group American Lands Council gets funding.

Oath Keepers show up for a public lands dispute in Oregon
Plus a Cliven Bundy supporter is charged and BLM emails about the Nevada standoff were released.

State bills to study federal-to-state land transfers (April 2015) 
A rundown of the legislation in each state and a look into the motives behind them.

Dispatch from Cliven Bundy's latest gathering (April 2015)
Who showed up at the one-year anniversary of the BLM standoff? Most of them weren't ranchers.

An update on Nevada scofflaw Cliven Bundy (March 2015) 
The rancher still has influence in some circles, and has seen zero repercussions for trespass cattle and unpaid fees.

Cliven Bundy (April 2014)

• Rancher vs. BLM: a 20-year standoff ends with tense roundup
• After the standoff, what's next for Bundy and the BLM?
• The revolt that wouldn't die
• Photos of a standoff 
  Armed militia members join a Nevada rancher to protest a cattle roundup from public land.
• Timeline: The BLM vs. Cliven Bundy
• Cliven Bundy needs to pay his grazing bills (Writers on the Range op-ed) 

Defuse the West (October 2014)

• Defuse the West 
  Public-land employees are easy targets for a violent, government-hating fringe.
• Reports from the front lines 
  Excerpts from official accounts of threats against U.S. Forest Service and BLM employees.
• Roots of rebellion: A forum 
  Four experts discuss threats to federal public-lands employees and where we go from here.
• Mapping threats on public land 
  Intimidation of federal officials is widespread across the West.
• The BLM fails to provide public records (op-ed) 
  The agency's main Freedom of Information Act office appears incompetent or overworked.

Western states eye federal lands—again (October 2014)

A reluctant rebellion in the Utah desert (May 2014) 
For ATVers at Recapture Canyon, realpolitik meets out-of-town zeal.

How right-wing emigrants conquered North Idaho (May 2013)

One Sagebrush Rebellion flickers out -- or does it? (September 2012)

Fearful of Agenda 21, an alleged U.N. plot, activists derail land-use planning (February 2012)

How Arizona's culture helped shape the shooting of Gabrielle Giffords (February 2012)

Looking past Joe Arpaio (December 2011)

Utah's Sagebrush Rebellion capital mellows as animal-lovers and enviros move in (January 2011)

A dark moment, a glimmer of light (January 2011)

Pillaging the Past (April 2008)

Rebels with a lost cause (December 2007)

The Sagebrush Rebels ride again -- and again (December 2007 op-ed)

Taking Liberties (July 2006)

The West’s Biggest Bully (September 2003)

Change comes slowly to Escalante country (April 2003)

Road warriors back on the offensive (February 2003)

Showdown on the Nevada range (August 2001)

Shoveling vs. sniveling (March 2000 essay)

The last Celtic warlord lives in New Mexico (March 2000)

The Forest Service sets off into uncharted territory (November 1999)

Nevadans drive out forest supervisor (November 1999)

Nevada rebellion ends with a whimper (October 1999)

Idaho stubbornly remains what America used to be (March 1998 essay)

Founding father challenges his movement (March 1997 op-ed)

Wise-users try to whip up a recipe for their own salvation (October 1996 op-ed)

Utah counties bulldoze the BLM, Park Service (October 1996)

Catron County's politics heat up as its land goes bankrupt (June 1996)

Nevada's ugly tug-of-war (October 1995)

Nevada's most rebellious (October 1995)

To save a Utah canyon, a BLM ranger quits and turns activist (October 1995)

County commissioner courts bloodshed (April 1995)

Armed, crazy and lost in the Wild West (May 1995 op-ed)

Waaaaaaaaaaaahh! The West refuses to be weaned (February 1995 essay)

Land-use plan is disemboweled (December 1994)

Ranchers arrested at wildlife refuge (October 1994)

'Wise use' plans abhor change (September 1994)

Home, home on the range ... where neo-Nazis and skinheads roam (June 1994)

The Not O.K. Corral (May 1994)

Landowners turn the Fifth into sharp-pointed sword (February 1993)

Trying a "Bold" landswap (February 1982)

The Sagebrush Rebellion: misdirected dynamite (February 1980 op-ed)

Environmentalists, backlash, and the 'New Right' (May 1978)

• Sagebrush Rebellion
• Public Lands
• National Park Service
• Politics
• Ranching
• U.S. Forest Service
• Defuse the West
• Bureau of Land Management
• Justice
• Agriculture
• Archive