BURNS -- As the armed occupation of a Harney County wildlife refuge drags into its 13th day, protesters are sending mixed signals about their plans.

On one hand, Ammon Bundy and his followers who have taken over the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge planned to announce their exit strategy to the community Friday.

But they've also contacted nearby sheriffs and other officials looking for support. They've accumulated a large stash of food and supplies after making pleas to supporters online.

And at a daily press briefing Thursday, Bundy held forth on the subject of patience, saying he believed the continued presence of the occupiers was giving the county residents courage and hope.

"This hope is building and it's a slow process," Bundy said. "We know it has to happen now. We know this is the place, Harney County, and that these are the people."

He didn't offer an update on his plans, nor on the the planned meeting where he previously said he would announce plans to leave. Bundy and his affiliates are still seeking a place to hold the meeting after the county government said it couldn't be held at the county fairgrounds.

Protesters have indicated they would decamp if county residents wanted them to leave. At past community meetings, many people have been vocal in asking Bundy and the others to go home.

Earlier in the week, three members of Bundy's group met with Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer. They asked him to come to the refuge and "take a stand," Palmer told the Blue Mountain Eagle. He declined, saying he wouldn't without Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward's permission.

Ward told Palmer that he was welcome only if he would "shame and humiliate them into giving up," Palmer told the newspaper. Palmer, calling the occupiers "patriots," said he wasn't willing to do that and decided not to come.

Palmer declined comment to The Oregonian/OregonLive.

Bundy said he didn't personally meet with Palmer, but that the two have been "in communication."

"We're reaching out to these sheriffs, and to be frank, most of them have reached out to us," Bundy said.

Palmer has been a critic of perceived federal overreach, railing against gun-control measures in a letter to Vice President Joe Biden and publicly speaking about agencies he believes are imposing rules and regulations without constitutional authority.

Soon after learning of the Palmer meeting, Harney County commissioner Steven Grasty arranged a conference call with officials from other counties about being ready for a takeover similar to the one at the Malheur refuge.

"I'm thinking 'Wow, what if this grows? Should other counties know what our experience here is?'" Grasty said.

In the brief call Wednesday, Grasty asked hypothetical questions such as how the counties would provide for public safety if dozens of militia arrived at their courthouses.

Susan Roberts, a Wallowa County commissioner who was on the call, said she's taking steps to prevent an armed occupation like the one in Harney County. Though she doesn't believe an imminent threat exists, Roberts said she wants to educate her community about avenues in place to express grievances about federal land policies.

"I'm not saying that we don't agree with this group," Roberts said. "But the means of going about fostering an answer to this is different."

Meanwhile, the occupiers at the refuge said they're preparing to bring charges through an extra-legal court system against county and other government officials. The process could end in an attempt to arrest those officials.

A self-appointed judge, Bruce Doucette, arrived at the compound to oversee the proceedings along with a "citizens' grand jury" convened by the group.

Bundy has distributed a laundry list of charges he said could apply, excerpted from the federal criminal and penal code.

"There will be a trial with the redress of grievance. Whatever happens, it's up to the people here in this county," said Michael Emry, an occupier who said he was speaking for Doucette. "You have to have enforcement in a court of law, and that's what this is about."

Bundy has said he is occupying the refuge to protest the prosecutions of Dwight Hammond Jr. and Steven Hammond, local ranchers sentenced to prison for burning federal land. In addition to demanding the Hammonds' release, Bundy has demanded that the federal government hand over control of the wildlife refuge to local control.

The protesters also have seized upon an account of FBI agents scouting the Oregon National Guard armory in Burns as a means to bolster their beefs with federal authorities.

A retired Burns fire chief, Chris Briels, said he confronted two men near the armory because he thought they were from the refuge occupation. When the men refused to identify themselves, Briels called the 911 dispatch center, where he told reporters an operator identified them as undercover FBI agents.

The protesters and their supporters said Briels' story is evidence that federal agents are posing as occupiers to sow discord in the community. But in his remarks to reporters this week, Briels never said the men claimed to be protesters.

Representatives of the law enforcement response to the refuge takeover declined to comment.

Briels is a member of the Harney County Committee of Safety, a group of local residents formed at a community meeting organized by protesters in the week before they started the Jan. 2 occupation.

The occupation continues to affect Burns in big and small ways. Three top administrators at Harney County School District 3 announced their resignations this week. All are leaving after the end of the school year.

They felt the need to explain that their decisions weren't tied to the refuge takeover, but for personal reasons.

-- Elliot Njus and Fedor Zarkhin

enjus@oregonian.com

503-294-5034

@enjus

503-294-7674

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