BURNS -- Residents of sparsely populated Harney County on Monday night told armed outsiders to go home as they expressed fears about personal safety. At a community meeting, they also acknowledged deep rifts within the community, brought to the surface by the standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

"I've lost friends. ... I've never seen our community so divided," said Karmen Schatz, a local Safeway employee who has lived here for 31 years, at the meeting hosted by county officials in the Burns High School gymnasium.

It was the latest in a series of public meetings held in response to the ongoing occupation of the refuge by Arizona businessman Ammon Bundy and his band of militants. Hundreds of people filled the gym and spoke passionately about the plight of ranchers and loggers in Harney County, local residents' attitudes toward the federal government and most of all about the community's full-throated desire for Bundy, son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, to leave.

Sheriff Dave Ward, Harney County Judge Steve Grasty, state Rep. Cliff Bentz and other elected officials addressed the crowd before allowing residents themselves to take the microphone. A picture emerged of a community that is ready to heal and move forward but is desperate to rid itself of Bundy and the many distractions he has brought to this small town of less than 3,000.

Still, even Bundy's most vocal opponents had to acknowledge that he has started a conversation about federal land-use policies that many locals think is long overdue.

Grasty called the militants and the other self-styled patriot groups that have arrived in Harney County "armed thugs." But, he said reluctantly, "there's no way to deny" that Bundy has started a long-overdue dialogue.

The militants are protesting the imprisonment of local ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr. and his son, Steven, for setting fires that spread to public land. They are also demanding that the federal government hand over publicly owned land to local ranchers and loggers.

Harney County Community Meeting, Jan. 11, 2016 23 Gallery: Harney County Community Meeting, Jan. 11, 2016

Cory Shelman, a rancher from northern Harney County, said he also thinks Bundy and the militants should go home. And he said local federal employees - who have reportedly been followed and felt rattled by the out-of-town visitors and anti-government rhetoric - have "a right to their jobs" and should be treated with respect.

But he also said he doesn't think it's constructive to label Bundy a "thug" and believes Bundy has committed a public service by raising the issue of federal land management.

"Harney County, to a degree, owes [the militants] a 'thank you' for taking a stand that needed to be made," Shelman said.

Bentz, a Republican from Ontario whose district includes Harney County, encouraged residents to honor the rule of law and make changes through the political process rather than supporting armed occupation.

"What I hope as I listen tonight is that I'll hear a reaffirmation of the hard work of government," Bentz said. "Not the siren song of a gun."

Liz Appelman, a retired Bureau of Land Management employee who worked for the agency for 29 years, told the crowd that federal workers in Harney County "have put their lives into this place." The BLM is one of the chief targets of the anti-government protesters.

"They've worked hard to be part of the community," she said.

Officials were hoping to wrap the meeting up by 8:30 p.m., but it ran long because so many people - many of whom have lived in Harney County for decades - wanted to speak. It was a 15-year-old Burns High School freshman, though, who stole the show.

Ashlie Presley reminded the audience that she had returned to school from the holiday break earlier in the day, a week later than scheduled because of safety concerns about the militants.

"It was a lot of pressure knowing how tense it could have been today," Presley said. "And I just want them [Bundy and the militants] to go home so I can feel safe and I can feel like it is home again."

With tears in her eyes, Presley said, "I shouldn't have to be scared in my own hometown."

Disagreements aside, everyone in the gym gave her a standing ovation.

-- Luke Hammill

lhammill@oregonian.com

503-294-4029

@lucashammill