Recommended - Congress Should Confront the Rise of Violent Extremism on America’s Public Lands

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Congress Should Confront the Rise of Violent Extremism on America’s Public Lands
By Matt Lee-Ashley | Thursday, March 24, 2016
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2016/03/24/133730/congress-should-confront-the-rise-of-violent-extremism-on-americas-public-lands/

Rancher Cliven Bundy speaks at an event on April 11, 2015, in Bunkerville, Nevada.

Through dangerous, illegal, and absurd means, the Bundy brothers’ stand—which lasted 41 days—brought into focus the most powerful philosophical and political attack on America’s parks and public lands since they were established. Bolstered by the rhetoric of sympathetic politicians, the anti-government anger of so-called patriot militias, and the financing of billionaire brothers Charles and David Koch, the Bundys and their allies seek to divest U.S. taxpayers of their public lands. They promise that, with the U.S. government out of the way, Western states could enjoy vast riches from unfettered mining, logging, livestock grazing, and energy extraction.

Neither the law, economic reality, nor most Westerners support the fantastical—indeed, fictional—tale that Ammon Bundy, U.S. Rep. Rob Bishop (R-UT), Utah state Rep. Ken Ivory (R), and other leaders of the movement are telling to promote the seizure and sale of public lands. Yet the vision they articulate is so compelling that its true believers will stop at nothing in its pursuit. Anti-government extremists are intimidating—and perpetrating violence against—public servants, destroying public property, desecrating the cultural resources of tribal nations, and leading armed insurrections against federal law enforcement officials. Within the political system, they are pressuring state legislators to pass unconstitutional copycat bills that demand the turnover of national public lands to state control.

The U.S. Congress has been a compliant witness to the rise of violent extremism on America’s public lands. The inflammatory rhetoric of some members of Congress has signaled to so-called patriot militias and anti-government activists that their complaints are legitimate and their goals justified. Congressional committees, meanwhile, have held only one hearing, organized no investigations, and enacted no policies to help reduce the growing risk that violent anti-government activists pose to public employees, public lands, and American communities. With its failure to act, Congress is tolerating a culture of violence, terror, and intimidation that has no place in American society.

https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/green/report/2016/03/24/133730/congress-should-confront-the-rise-of-violent-extremism-on-americas-public-lands/