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Adjacent Neighbors Aren't Bothered By Malheur Occupiers

Just several miles from the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, ranchers say they’re unafraid of the armed occupiers.

Several men were even out moving their cattle Monday.

Dally Taylor said his family has been ranching these BLM grounds since the 1970s. He said the occupation at Malheur has caused some disruption for school children. But Taylor agrees with the occupiers that more land in local control wouldn’t hurt.

“The east side of the state suffers,” Taylor said. “We don’t have revenue, the timber revenue and everything that we used to, so if these grazing permits, if that money is going to local and state, and not going back to the federal government -- I don’t see anything wrong with that.”

Taylor spoke while on a lunch break after rounding up cattle to move them into another field.

Anna King calls Richland, Washington home and loves unearthing great stories about people in the Northwest. She reports for the Northwest News Network from a studio at Washington State University, Tri-Cities. She covers the Mid-Columbia region, from nuclear reactors to Mexican rodeos.