BURNS -- Members of the armed standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife refuge said Monday that they've recruited ranchers to stop paying the federal government for the right to run cattle on public land.

The occupation organizers are planning a "signing ceremony" Friday where ranchers will sign documents renouncing their obligation to pay fees tied to the federal grazing allotments, said spokesman LaVoy Finicum.

Two ranchers - one from Oregon and one from New Mexico - have agreed to sign the papers and "I hope they bring a couple more in tow," Finicum said.

The documents will be sent to the U.S. solicitor general, he said.

"It's not about ranching," Finicum said. "It's about asking the federal government to return to the confines of the law and allow the states and the counties to be free to govern themselves."

The militants believe that federal land managers have no right to control vast tracts of the West. Arizona businessman Ammon Bundy and his followers have repeatedly said they aim to turn the refuge land over to locals who can use it for ranching and logging.

Bundy is the son of notorious Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who led a standoff with federal authorities in 2014 over his own unpaid grazing fees. A judge ordered Cliven Bundy to pay $1 million in fees to the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, but he has refused.

In Oregon and other Western states, it's common for ranchers to pay the government for the right to run cattle on public land. Ranchers' allotments often are several times larger than their private holdings, giving them the ability to raise far more cattle than they could without access to federal land.

The bird sanctuary is 30 miles outside Burns and covers 187,757 acres.

Leaders of the occupation, now in its 17th day, held a public meeting Monday night in the unincorporated community of Crane to offer details about their plans.

Finicum said it's one of several meetings expected in the coming days as the occupiers take their message outside of Harney County and even outside of Oregon. He visited Utah last week to drum up support for the occupiers' cause.

After Harney County officials "rebuffed" a request to use the county fairgrounds for a meeting last Friday to tell community members about their plans to end the standoff, other communities have "reached out to us," Finicum said, including Grant County.

Finicum, who has stopped paying fees on the federal grazing allotment attached to his Arizona ranch, said he doesn't believe ranchers who stop paying the fees should have free access to the land. Instead, the occupiers support a "production tax" directing grazing fees into local government coffers.

The armed occupiers have organized a "rapid response team" tasked with defending ranchers who agree to stop paying their grazing fees, he said.

"At any time that they need somebody, they can call," Finicum said. "If the sheriff will not respond, we will respond."

As for the refuge, Finicum said, "it returns to Harney County." County officials have said they have no interest in taking ownership of the 187,000-acre land holding.

For the third straight day, environmental activists joined in the occupiers' daily news briefing, carrying signs, speaking in favor of federal land management and arguing with Bundy supporters over who knows more about the Constitution.

A contingent from the Center for Biological Diversity, a national environmental group based in Tucson, planned to observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day by hiking on the refuge. The federal government is celebrating the holiday with a fee-free day for recreation on public lands, but the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge remains closed due to the standoff.

In a statement, the center's executive director, Kieran Suckling, said the hike is meant to "bear witness to this great injustice and show the militia thugs that America won't be scared away from its public lands by guns and threats."

The group also is planning a protest Tuesday on the refuge, with supporters traveling from Bend and Eugene to join the handful of environmentalists who have already arrived in Harney County.

Burns civic leaders will gather Tuesday evening at Burns High School to update the community on the standoff.

-- Kelly House

khouse@oregonian.com

503-221-8178

@Kelly_M_House