After fuming about the ongoing occupation at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge for days, three men took a trip to the reserve. They spoke briefly with the protesters and checked up on the bird sanctuary they love.

Planned rallies

What

: Several groups have come together to hold rallies against the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

When

: Noon on Tuesday, Jan. 19

Where:

Portland/Holliday Park near Lloyd Center

911 NE 11th Ave, Portland

Bend/Riverfront Plaza downtown

875 NW Brooks St.

Eugene

Old Federal Building

211 E. 7th Ave, Eugene

on these rallies and others in Corvallis and Hood River, which remain in the planning stage.

As they drove along the long road out, they noticed a refuge sign covered by an occupiers' gray tarp.

One of the men - all members of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers' Oregon and Washington chapters -- filmed as another hopped the fence and ripped off the covering.

"It occurred to us that it would be a great protest against the occupation," said Ed Putnam of Bend who watched from the car.

The video - taken last weekend -- has gotten 3,900 views so far.

For 13 days, nature lovers across Oregon - and the country - have stewed as they watched armed squatters stroll the lands and historic buildings where they've worked, hiked and tracked sandhill cranes along the Pacific flyway.

They've heard Ammon Bundy demand that the refuge's 187,000 acres be turned over to ranchers, loggers and miners as the rightful owners.

But their patience grew thin this week as they saw the occupiers use government-owned pliers to snip a barbed-wire fence protecting grass and wetlands that have been dedicated for more than a century to birds and other wildlife.

The move was intended to let cattle on the grasses, yet naturalists point out that some local ranchers already have access - and the rancher whose land abuts the cut fence has said he didn't want it cut down either.

While most refuge supporters stop short of calling on law enforcement to act, they join Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, the Burns Paiute Tribe and a chorus of community members who want the occupiers to get out.

Several other state and national environmental nonprofits and sporting clubs, which represent anglers and hunters who use public lands, also are chiming in by posting videos, creating online petitions and organizing protests critical of the occupation next week in Portland, Eugene and Bend.

They had muted their immediate outrage because the FBI and U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which runs the refuge, cautioned about provoking tensions at the occupied compound.

"But that's gone on long enough," said Tim Blount, executive director of the Friends of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge nonprofit. "I feel offended, violated and that my rights have been pushed back in a corner because it didn't matter to these people."

Whether Bundy and the protesters remain, the Malheur nonprofit leaders and the Harney County Chamber of Commerce plan to move ahead with the annual Migratory Bird Festival, a popular Burns-based celebration in April featuring events at the refuge.

They've also begun collecting ideas for a re-dedication ceremony, they say, for when the occupiers leave the refuge.

In each of the last two years, about 25,000 people have visited the refuge for a range of activities, including hunting and fishing. A Fish & Wildlife report estimates that tourists to the area spend about $15 million annually in Harney County.

"It has been very frustrating to watch all this unfold," said Gary Ivey, chairman of the refuge Friends group.

"This is the people's land. The idea that these 'ranchers, loggers and miners' have a God-given, constitutional right to the people's lands is ridiculous," he said. "There's no right for economic use, it's a privilege."

Ivey and other local birders cite specific concerns. They worry about the owl's nest in the fire lookout, which rifle-carrying occupiers have been using as a watchtower. They fear a lengthy occupation will delay work to prepare the refuge's water system for the spring thaw.

Putnam of the Backcountry Hunters & Anglers said he's also concerned about the people involved. He said the occupation is dividing the community and could harm relationships that hunters, lawmakers, federal agencies and ranchers have worked for years to forge.

Some refuge supporters have taken their questions directly to the occupiers, posting on the Facebook pages where occupiers tend to communicate with each other. Kim Jones of Hailey, Idaho, questioned Brandon Curtiss, the president of the III% of Idaho group that visited the refuge last week.

"What gives these people more right to the land than a teacher, who wants to take his/her students to the refuge to learn about the birds and wildlife in an effort to educate and preserve for future generations?" she wrote on Curtiss' Facebook page on Wednesday. "Further, what gives these people, who aren't even from the area, the right to use equipment they don't own to remove fences they neither built nor own?"

Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge has gained about 400 new members to its original circle of about 150 since Bundy and about 20 other protesters took over the refuge on Jan. 2 after a rally to support the imprisoned local ranchers Dwight Hammond Jr., and his son, Steven Hammond.

New members and other donors have given about $10,000 to the group since the takeover began, Ivey said.

While the Friends would typically spend that money on projects, Ivey said, some of it now might have to go to fix things that they suspect occupiers have broken.

And while the Friends are careful about criticizing the law enforcement response, some are pushing the FBI and other agencies to act.

An online petition created on a White House Web page raises the point that continuing to allow the occupation could lead to similar actions in the future.

Why we love the refuge

of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and how the public park has shaped their lives.

"Law enforcement inaction up to this point is an egregious violation of public safety and emboldens their erroneous assertions that the US Government has no Constitutional Authority," states the petition, launched by "E.K. of Jonesboro, Arizona" on Jan. 9.

"Please end the siege of the refuge and arraign Ammon Bundy as soon as possible."

The petition needed at least 150 signatures to become a document people can find in online searches. So far, 5,321 people have signed. The stated goal is to hit 100,000 signatures by Feb. 8.

Chris Gardner, a Friends board member, visited the refuge last weekend to witness the takeover for himself. He said he was met by two polite, yet armed men who stopped to question him and then invited him in.

Gardner said it was scary and that he declined, having heard rumors that occupiers might want to take a hostage to use in exchange for the imprisoned local ranchers. He would like the occupation to end, but he said he agrees with federal authorities' cautious response.

Even scarier than the armed men in the refuge, he and others said, is the potential for violence and bloodshed in a place that brings them such peace.

"It's a little like a child being kidnapped - that refuge is like a child to a lot of us," Gardner said. "You want the child back, but don't want the child hurt. We want a peaceful resolution that doesn't further spoil the refuge.

"We just want our child back in our arms."

-- Laura Gunderson

lgunderson@oregonian.com

@lgunderson; 503-221-8378