By: Paul Joseph Watson | Infowars –

Battle of Bunkerville 2: BLM to declare 1.8 million acres environmental protection zone.

A federal land grab being imposed under the guise of environmental protection in Southern Nevada has been labeled an act of “deliberate retaliation” by Cliven Bundy, the rancher who was at the center of a standoff between BLM agents and armed militia groups earlier this year.

On Sunday, the Bundy family posted a Facebook entry which asserted that, “the federal government is mounting retaliations against the Bundy family and the Southern Nevada people,” after it was announced that the feds intended to designate around 1.8 million acres of land around their Gold Butte range as critical to the environment.

The initial dispute between Bundy and the feds, which culminated in an armed standoff between BLM agents and Bundy supporters back in April, centered around more than $1 million in grazing fees which authorities claimed Bundy owed stretching back two decades.

The Bundy family asserts that the new draft Resource Management Plan made public by the Bureau of Land Management would place up to 3 million acres of land off limits to recreational use, agriculture or ranching.

“They’re trying to surround us by controlling all the land. People should know they’re doing this without the knowledge of the people who use it,” Carol Bundy told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Days after the standoff came to a head earlier this year, after which the feds were forced to release nearly 400 cattle belonging to Bundy, Nevada Senator Harry Reid labeled Bundy supporters “domestic terrorists” and indicated that the fight was not over.

“From near the beginning of history, tyrannical men have sought to oppress through the control of land and resources, “Control the land and resources, and you have the power to control the people”. There is a direct correlation to land and resources with power and wealth. All major powers in world history have gained their power & wealth by conquering the land and controlling the resources,” states the Bundy Facebook post, adding that Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACECs) “have been a tool used by the federal government to gain further control of large masses of western lands and the resources.”

The BLM’s latest move to seize huge tracts of land surrounding Bundy’s property under the justification of environmental protection suggests that we could witness part two of the ‘Battle of Bunkerville’ sometime over the next few months.

The comment period for the BLM’s new proposal ends on January 7th after a series of public meetings set to begin on Monday.

Watch footage of April’s armed standoff between Bundy supporters and federal authorities below.