The Bundy Family’s Bloody War over Federal Land

Summary

Lawless Planet – "The Bundy Family’s Bloody War over Federal Land"

Host: Zach Goldbaum
Air Date: February 16, 2026

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Episode Overview

This episode dives deep into the true crime saga of the Bundy family, their decades-long conflict with federal authorities over grazing rights, and the explosive confrontations that sparked a national movement. Through firsthand accounts, expert insight from historian Betsy Gaines Quammen, and audio from the standoffs themselves, host Zach Goldbaum chronicles how the Bundys’ war over public land escalated into one of America’s most notorious armed uprisings and forever altered the landscape—politically and environmentally—of the American West.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Stage: The Battle in Bunkerville

• Bunkerville, Nevada, April 2014: Federal agents begin rounding up Cliven Bundy’s cattle for illegal grazing on federal land ([00:09]).
• Bundy’s Defiance: Cliven Bundy refuses to recognize federal authority, claiming the land belongs to the people of Clark County.

  “The money's not the deal. The cows are not the deal... it's freedom and liberty and access to our land and get rid of this abusive government.”
  — Cliven Bundy ([00:43])

• 20-Year Legal Stalemate: Bundy ceases paying grazing fees after new restrictions to protect the endangered desert tortoise; by 2014, he owes roughly $1 million.

2. Escalation to Armed Conflict

• April 2014: BLM begins seizing cattle. Cliven's son Dave is arrested for refusing to disperse ([02:57]).
• "Range war begins tomorrow": Cliven mobilizes supporters, writes online calls to arms ([03:15]).

3. Historical & Cultural Context: The West’s Relationship with Federal Land

• Nevada’s Unique Status: Over 80% of Nevada is federally managed ([05:49]).
• Ranchers vs. Environmentalists: Tension is fueled by shifting government policies and religious narratives.

  “They really do pit the ranchers against environmentalists because it's ungodly to keep land wild.”
  — Betsy Gaines Quammen ([03:55])

4. The Bundy Mythos and Media Influence

• Rise as Folk Heroes: Cliven is seen by many as a rugged individualist standing up to federal “overreach."

  “He's a perfect symbol for conservative media... a cowboy proxy for those who want to open up public land.”
  — Betsy Gaines Quammen ([08:18])

5. Religious Justification & Worldview

• Mormon Environmental Ethic: Betsy Gaines Quammen details how Bundys view land use as a divine mandate.

  “God created the earth for man, that the land is meant to be utilized. ... A wild landscape is not pleasing to the eye of God.”
  — Betsy Gaines Quammen ([09:35])

6. The 2014 Bundy Standoff: Armed Mobilization

• Militias Arrive: Supporters, far-right groups, and militias answer Cliven’s call, coming armed to defend the Bundys ([13:16]).
• Peak Tension: BLM agents face off against armed protesters; concerns mount about a potential “another Waco” ([14:14]).
• De-escalation: Fearing bloodshed, BLM releases the cattle and withdraws ([15:48]).

7. Fallout: Media Backlash & Bundy’s Public Image

• Racist Remarks Surface: Cliven Bundy’s comments on Black Americans quickly turn public sentiment.

  “I've often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton... or are they better off under government subsidy?”
  — Cliven Bundy ([16:50])

• Political Support Recedes: Former allies and politicians swiftly denounce Bundy.

8. Ammon Bundy Steps Up & The Oregon Standoff

• Ammon’s Rise: Ammon Bundy leverages the moment to become the movement’s leader ([17:38]).
• Oregon, 2016 – Malheur Wildlife Refuge Occupation: Ammon and followers, including rancher Lavoy Finicum, take over federal buildings to protest prison sentences for the Hammond family ([22:14]).

  “Those who are ready to actually do something about it... follow me and go to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and we're going to make a hard stand.”
  — Ammon Bundy ([22:14])

9. Nature of the Occupation and Community Response

• Local Reactions: Many residents and the Hammond family disapprove of the occupation ([24:23], [26:37]).
• Impulsive and Ill-Prepared: Occupiers struggle with logistics, rely on supporters for supplies ([29:04]).

10. Violent Climax & Lavoy Finicum’s Death

• FBI’s Move: Weeks into the occupation, FBI sets up a roadblock. In the ensuing confrontation, Lavoy Finicum is shot and killed ([32:21]).

  “You want to shoot me, you shoot me. But I'm not going anywhere.”
  — Lavoy Finicum ([31:21])

• Aftermath: Video released by FBI, but conspiracy theories remain. Most occupiers arrested; Ammon Bundy and his brother face felony charges ([33:24]).

11. The Trials and Legal Loopholes

• Stunning Acquittal: Ammon Bundy and codefendants found not guilty in Oregon, largely due to prosecutorial missteps involving FBI informants ([37:02]).
• Mistrial in Nevada: Similar errors lead to dropped charges.

12. Environmental Consequences of the Occupations

• Cost & Damage: $6 million in damage to the Malheur Refuge; tribal artifacts desecrated, research projects disrupted, habitats harmed ([39:45]).

  “These are our public lands... they were digging pit latrines on sacred land... absolutely appalling.”
  — Betsy Gaines Quammen ([39:29])

13. Continuing Legacies & Warnings for Public Land

• Public Land at Risk: Bundy standoffs highlight vulnerability of federal lands to anti-government extremism and calls for deregulation ([41:15]).

  “I think there are a lot of people who see them as folk heroes, and ... as criminals who got away with it.”
  — Betsy Gaines Quammen ([41:27])

• Current Status: The Bundy family continues illegal grazing. The desert tortoise is now considered endangered in California ([42:41]).

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Cliven Bundy’s Defiance:
  “I am a citizen of Clark County and the public lands belong to we, the people of Clark County. How could I be trespassed on federal land if this land belongs to the people of the state of Nevada, the people of Clark county?” ([01:56])

• Betsy Gaines Quammen on Divine Justification:
  “A wild landscape is not pleasing to the eye of God. It's a landscape that is used that pleases the eye of God.” ([09:35])

• On Armed Confrontation:
  “It was a very intense two hours and then there was a real danger that it could be, quote unquote, another Waco, which in some ways I really do think people wanted.”
  — Betsy Gaines Quammen ([14:14])

• On Local Sentiment:
  “I'm proud to be a rancher, and I'm not gonna let some other people be my face. I am me. This is my home.”
  — Local rancher ([26:37])

• Finicum’s Last Stand:
  “You want to shoot me, you shoot me. But I'm not going anywhere... There are things more important than your life, and freedom is one of them.”
  — Lavoy Finicum ([31:21], [30:00])

• Quammen on Public Land Value:
  “One of the best things that we have as Americans… absolutely essential wildlife habitat… And right now, it's ours. It's more important than ever to know what's at stake and what the consequences could be if we don't pay attention.”
  — Betsy Gaines Quammen ([42:41])

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Timeline of Major Events (Timestamps)

• 00:09: Federal authorities seize Bundy’s cattle in Bunkerville, Nevada.
• 02:57: Dave Bundy, Cliven’s son, is arrested—triggering calls for a “range war.”
• 05:49: Explanation of federal land management in the West.
• 08:18: Betsy Gaines Quammen introduces Cliven as a media folk hero.
• 13:16: Militia groups arrive at Bundy Ranch.
• 14:14: Standoff nears possible “Waco” proportions.
• 15:48: BLM relents, releasing cattle to protesters.
• 16:50: Bundy’s racist comments surface; major political fallout.
• 22:14: Ammon leads rally to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
• 29:04: Occupiers’ lack of preparation highlighted—a target of public ridicule.
• 31:21–33:24: Finicum’s fatal confrontation with law enforcement.
• 37:02: Ammon Bundy acquitted in Malheur trial.
• 39:45: Environmental and cultural damage to Malheur Refuge detailed.
• 42:41: Reflection on what’s at stake for America’s public lands.

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Summary

This episode exposes the Bundy standoffs as a flashpoint in America’s modern land wars, where personal, religious, and political beliefs collided with environmental protections and federal law. The Bundys—once painted as heroes by segments of the right—inflicted real harm: to landscapes, protected species, Indigenous cultural sites, and communities. Their story raises urgent questions about the future of public land, the consequences of unchecked extremism, and the precarious balance between individual freedoms and collective responsibility. As Betsy Gaines Quammen warns, what’s at stake is not only the fate of millions of acres, but the very idea of public stewardship for generations to come.

Transcript

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

It's a Saturday in April 2014 in the tiny town of Bunkerville, Nevada, just a few miles from the Arizona border. Across the dusty plain, federal agents and rangers dot the landscape. They approach a group of hundreds of bulls and cows and herd the roaming cattle into gated enclosures. This land is owned by the US government, but the cattle is owned by somebody else, a man named Cliven Bundy. And he isn't happy.

[Cliven Bundy]

The money's not the deal. The cows are not the deal. Still, you gotta understand his freedom and liberty and access to our land and get rid of this abusive government.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Cliven's in his late 60s, with a weathered face and a straw cowboy hat that rarely leaves his head. He comes from a long line of Mormon ranchers in Nevada's Virgin Valley. And his beef is with the Bureau of Land Management, aka the BLM, which manages grazing permits on federal land. In 1973, Cliven was granted his first federal grazing permit. But when it was time to renew it 20 years later, the federal and physical landscape looked a lot different. The desert tortoise, a species native to the Southwest, shared the same land as Cliven's cattle, and they'd recently become classified as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. This meant that Cliven's land allotment would have to shrink in response to this change. Cliven stopped paying his grazing fees altogether, and he wrote letters to the BLM to tell them why. In his opinion, they had no right to tell him what to do on federal land. It belonged just as much to him as anyone else.

[Cliven Bundy]

I live in Clark County. I am a citizen of Clark county and the public lands belong to we, the people of Clark County. How could I be trust and passed on federal land if this land belongs to the people of the state of Nevada, the people of Clark county.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

For the next 20 years, the BLM fought a war with Cliven on paper. Court orders, fines, proposals. Cliven ignored them every step of the way. By 2014, Cliven was the only cattle rancher left in southern Nevada. Now he owes around a million dollars in grazing fees and he's still letting 1,000 cattle graze on federal lands illegally. The BLM decides enough is enough. On April 5th, BLM agents start rounding up Cliven's cattle. The second. The next day, one of Cliven's sons, 37 year old Dave Bundy, heads to the roundup and starts filming. The BLM convoys come to a halt and tell him to stop and to leave the area, but he refuses.

[Cliven Bundy]

I'm gonna drag you out of the car.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Okay, here in a second. Leave now. Leave now. You have children in the car. Dave is arrested by the federal officers for refusing to disperse and resisting arrest. Cliven won't take this lying down. It's time to bring in the big guns, maybe literally. That night, he posts a message on the Bundy Ranch website. It reads, they have my cattle and now they have one of my boys. Range war begins tomorrow. From wondry zach. I'm zach goldbaum and this is lawless planet. Each week we tell a new story about the true crimes fueling the climate crisis and the people fighting to save the planet or destroy it.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

They really do pit the ranchers against environmentalists because it's ungodly to keep land. W.

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[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

The tug of war over undeveloped land isn't new. Since the US expanded west in the early 1800s, starting with the Louisiana Purchase, American citizens have pushed back on how much control the government has and how much land they can claim. And there's nowhere this fight rages as hard as in Nevada, which has the highest percentage of federal land in the country. Over 80% of the state is owned and managed by the federal government. And that land isn't just national parks. It includes wilderness areas, military reservations, and raw, untouched acreage. To some, it screams to be developed and privatized. More often than not, that means drilling and mining. But it can also mean cattle grazing, like in the case of the Bundys. In the past, rural conservatives have supported conservation efforts. But these days, a lot of Them think that the government has no place in local land. This latest culture war clash goes back to 2014, when the Bundy family decided to push them out with brute force. They would galvanize a movement and set the stage for one of the largest armed uprisings against the government in American history. Cliven Bundy has a long history in Bunkerville. His great grandfather established the family homestead there in 1877, and as a child, Cliven moved onto his current ranch only a few years after the BLM was first established by President Harry Truman. When Cliven grew up and began running cattle himself, he joined the family tradition, which meant getting a federal grazing permit. It's common for ranchers to get allotments of federal land for their cattle to graze on. When homesteaders first started running cattle in the late 1800s, the land out west quickly became overgrazed and degraded. So Congress came up with legislation to reverse this damage. And for the most part, it worked. Throughout the 60s and 70s, more policies were introduced, like the Endangered Species Act. That act is exactly what kicked off the mess with the Bundys. Once the desert tortoise became threatened, the BLM told Cliven he'd have to evacuate the land he'd made his living off of. That's when their 20 year Cold War began. And in April 2014, when the BLM started confiscating Cliven's cattle, Cliven kicked off the range war he'd been threatening.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

He's a perfect symbol for conservative media.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

That's Betsy Gaines Quammen, a historian and the author of the book American Cliven Bundy. God and Public Lands in the West.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

You know, here's a rancher in a rural place who is standing up to the government. And I think that Cliven in some way became a cowboy proxy for a lot of the folks that really wanted to open up public land.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

In the 2000 and tens, Betsy was working on her dissertation at Montana State University, focusing on the way Mormonism shapes its believers, relationships to the landscape. Her research led her straight to Cliven Bundy. So she reached out.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

I went down after just calling them and saying, I want to talk to you about why this is a religiously sort of justified, wore, quote, unquote, their words. And they invited me to their house and were quite open with me.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Betsy spent over three hours talking to the Bundys that day. And she says she learned that they considered it their religious duty to use the land around them rather than leave it wild. As far as they were concerned, God wanted it that way.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

God created the earth for man, that the land is meant to be utilized. And so a wild landscape is not planned, pleasing to the eye of God. It's a landscape that is used, that pleases the eye of God. And so this idea that land needs to be extracted, developed, utilized, that is something that they really think is key.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

That belief may be why Cliven and his family decided to fight back when the BLM started rounding up their cattle that day in April, after Cliven declared a range war online and called for locals to join their fight, he made another call to his son Ammon and told him, it's time for you to join us.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

Cliven really sees himself as this patriotic cowboy hero that many others see him as. And Ammon is not a cowboy. I mean, he was a businessman, and I think he wanted to ride on his father's coattails.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

On April 9, Ammon is in Bunkerville. He's in his late 30s, wearing a cowboy hat like his dad, and is pleased to find out that the Bundys won't have to fight the BLM alone. Dozens of ranchers and supporters had descended upon the disputed land in solidarity, carrying flags and signs and often firearms.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

These folks came out with their guns and their enthusiasm and their desire to be a part of a cause and to stand up against the federal government.

[Cliven Bundy]

This Bundy family, no more than just a good ranch family. There's a good example of what they've tried to do to right here on this deal, right here. Only the people have finally had enough.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Well, the last 20 years they've been.

[Cliven Bundy]

After the good guy.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

The Bundys have a stronghold in their community, so it's no surprise people come out to support them. But the community was extra passionate about their cause because of how the BLM was handling it.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

The government did a terrible, terrible job reaching out to the local community, explaining what they were going to do. They were driving around in black Suburbans with tinted windows and they were playing into the residents largest fears.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

As more and more protesters join the rally, federal convoys drive up to a teeming crowd of angry men and women. Agents aimed terror tasers at protesters and push them to the ground as dogs bark wildly. And when Ammon confronts them in front of a semi truck and kicks one of the dogs, an officer pulls out a Taser and shoots it at Ammon. This confrontation spurs the Bundys to take their fight to a broader audience. Cliven's wife posts on Facebook calling for militias across the country to join their fight. And the clash makes national news. Tonight, there's a showdown in Nevada between a rancher and the federal government over.

[Ammon Bundy]

Who controls 1200 square miles of grazing land.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Cliven's online videos resonate with something called the sovereign citizen movement. It's an informal collective made up of a mix of conspiracy theorists, people who refuse to pay taxes, and even some full on white supremacists. But the one thing they all have in common is a rejection of government authority. Overnight, people arrive at the Bundy ranch in trucks loaded with guns and ammo. They carry signs that read where's the justice and tyranny is alive? And they post videos online to call for even more backup.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

Hey guys, just a real quick update here. The Nevada militia is mobilizing and asking anybody that can come and help get to the Clive Bundy ranch. You're armed. You don't see yourself as a threat to blm?

[Ammon Bundy]

No, absolutely not.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

We're here to prevent a confrontation. In addition to these supporters, far right groups including the White Mountain militia, 3 percenters, and members of extremist organizations like the Oath Keepers start setting up camp to protect the Bundy ranch. And they are ready for a fight. On April 12, the standoff between the BLM and the militiamen reaches its boiling point. By now, there are as many guns as there are protesters. Men on horseback wear army gear and face a row of federal agents and trucks. Protesters claim they've spotted snipers watching the crowd.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

It was a very intense two hours and then there was a real danger that it could be, quote unquote, another Waco, which in some ways I really do think people wanted.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Waco was one of the most notorious and deadly standoffs in American history. In 1993, ATF agents in Waco, Texas faced off with a cult called the Branch Davidians in a 51 day siege, resulting in the deaths of over 70 people. That disaster is top of mind for the BLM at this point. So the officers announce they'll stop rounding up Clavin's cattle and they call off the operation. But the Bundys aren't done because the BLM still has about 300 of their cattle in custody and they want them back. We got people. We got people. We got. Get off our land. Ammon Bundy approaches BLM agents wearing a black shirt bearing an outline of a cow and the words we support the Bundys. Stakes are good. He gets in the face of one of the BLM agents and tells him the only way to end this is for BLM to retreat.

[Ammon Bundy]

You guys need to leave.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

You need to leave. That's what I'm telling you, you need to de escalate the situation. I'm imploring upon you, your responsibility. De escalate. That's it.

[Ammon Bundy]

We're staying here until they're gone. That's what we're doing.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Finally, the BLM caves. They open the gates and release the cattle. The crowd cheers as some 300 cattle trot out of the compound. Protesters on horseback herd them toward the Bundy Ranch. The BLM assures reporters that eventually they'll collect the 1 million doll Cliven still owes and get his cattle off the land. But that's a problem for later. Cliven declares victory and right wing media calls him an American hero. So get the cows off so they can have the desert tortoise live there in peace.

[Ammon Bundy]

We're not anti turtle, but we're pro logic and tradition.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

I like anybody that's willing to fight. You know, I'm just afraid what this.

[Cliven Bundy]

Government'S capable of doing.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

I mean, we saw what happened in Waco and the. But just as the Bundys are becoming media darlings, a video from a press conference that Cliven gave right after the standoff comes to light. And it exposes another side of Cliven Bundy, specifically what he thinks about black people.

[Cliven Bundy]

I want to tell you one more thing I know about the Negro. They abort their young children, they put their young men in jail because they never, they never learned how to pick cotton. And I've often wondered, are they better off as slaves, picking cotton, having family life and doing things, or are they better off under government subsidy?

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Days after conservative groups propped up Cliven as a folk hero, his racist comments turn him into a pariah. Politicians who'd previously supported his fight, like Senator Rand Paul, immediately reverse course. Even the chairman of the Republican National Committee publicly denounces Cliven's comments as 100% wrong and completely beyond the pale. If the Bundys want the public back on their side, they would need someone else to be the face of the family.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

Ammon, I believe, saw it as an opportunity. Ammon Bundy was somebody who really used the moment to elevate his own position and to establish himself as a leader in these circles.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Ammon starts regularly doing press, speaking at events and meeting with militia leaders. Even though the Bunkerville standoff is over, he feels the pressure of this new movement at his back and he wants to be its leader. All he needs is a new fight over public land, and he's about to find one in Oregon. The Bundys Bunkerville standoff in 2014 ignites something in the American sovereign citizen movement. And thanks to Ammon's relentless press tour, many ranchers are inspired to join his fight. One of them is Lavoy Finicum, a Rancher in his 50s from Arizona.

[Lavoy Finicum]

Hello, everyone. This is Lavoy Finicum owned cowboy stand for freedom. I'm here, my ranch, and it's beautiful out here.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

And.

[Lavoy Finicum]

It'S time that we do something more than just talk about freedom and about defending our Constitution.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

After he heard about the Bundys, Lavoie stopped paying his own grazing fees to the BLM and started posting videos on YouTube calling for big government to leave ranchers alone.

[Lavoy Finicum]

I've never been one to try to cause problems. I can get in trouble. In school, I always raised my hand. I always stood in line. To this day, I do not have a speeding ticket. So it's not in my nature to go out and poke my finger in people's eyes. But there's a time when we need to come and stand up for the Constitution.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Like Ammon, Lavoie's been on the lookout for signs of government overreach in other states. And in 2016, trouble is brewing with another family in Oregon.

[Lavoy Finicum]

I think I'm pretty upset this evening. I've been following what's happening over in Oregon with the Hammond family, and I'm pretty upset with what debil am has done to them. Actually. I'm really angry. America, how long are you going to put up with this type of stuff? You know, it's time to stop.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

In eastern Oregon, about 300 miles from Portland, sits a small city called Burns. It's a conservative rural area with federal forests to the north and a wildlife refuge to the south. With less than 3,000 residents, Burns isn't the kind of place that gets a lot of attention. But Ammon Bundy plans to change that in 2016. Two days into the new year, Ammon arrives in town as a celebrity of sorts. Since his family standoff in Bunkerville two years ago, he's built a reputation as an anti government activist. And today, he's in Burns to help out two men he sees as kindred spirits. A father and son ranching duo named Dwight and Stephen Hammond. Four years earlier, the Hammonds had been charged with arson for lighting fires on federal land which burned out of control. Dwight was sentenced to three months. Stephen, his son, got a year and a day. But arson on federal land carries a five year minimum sentence, so prosecutors appeal. And in October, the men were resentenced to more prison time. And they're scheduled to go back behind bars just two days from now. That's why Ammon is out in the icy streets of downtown Burns today. He's organized a rally and he's joined by hundreds of protesters flying American flags.

[Ammon Bundy]

We're gonna continue down this road to.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

The corner of the Hammonds thing.

[Ammon Bundy]

Everybody ready to do this?

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

The crowd chants and stomps through the snow. And when they pass 73 year old Dwight Hammond standing on his front patio, he tears up from under his baseball cap. Dwight, he tells reporters it's the most humbling experience that anybody could have. The crowd circles back to the Safeway parking lot where they started their march. It's supposed to be where today's rally ends. But Ammon has another idea.

[Ammon Bundy]

Those who are ready to actually do something about it. I'm asking you to follow me and go to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and we're going to make a hard stand.

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[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

40 miles. 40 miles. Ammon and a small group of protesters split off and head to the federal Wildlife Refuge just south of Burns. And as soon as they get there, they occupy the government owned buildings and blockade the roads. Police know they're armed so they don't get too close. Soon after, Ammon holds a press conference and announces the name of this new group. Citizens for Constitutional Freedom. How long will you stay?

[Ammon Bundy]

As long as it's necessary.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

It was an armed takeover, an occupation.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

That's historian and author Betsy Gaines Quammen again, who like the rest of the country was watching the events in Oregon unfold in the news.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

The Malheur Wildlife Refuge is absolutely beautiful and I think it's most well known for it's birds, it's cacophonous, it's exquisite, but it's very remote.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Over the next few days, Ammon's group settles in at the Molheer Wildlife Refuge. Despite appearances, this wasn't an impulsive decision for Ammon. He'd had this idea for months to challenge the constitutionality of the government owning land. He'd occupy some federal land, get as much attention as possible and force Oregon to open a civil case and then hand over ownership of the wildlife refuge to local authorities. As he explained in videos online before the takeover, he felt like God wanted him to do this.

[Ammon Bundy]

I clearly understood that the Lord was not pleased with what was happening to the Hammonds and that what was happening to them, if it was not corrected, would be a type and a shadow of what would happen to the rest of the people across this country.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

While Ammon let his Mormon faith lead him to the refuge. Most of the group from the rally in Burns that morning didn't follow him. To them, it was a step too far.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

Ammon, I think, thought he could sweep in and talk about getting the land back to the ranchers, miners and loggers without understanding the community and the relationships there.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Even the Hammond family discourage them from occupying the refuge. But Ammon had a plan, and to him, there's no turning back. Once Ammon and his supporters, like Lavoy Finicum, set up camp at the Mulheir National Wildlife Refuge, they treat it as their own. Before they arrived, Ammon notified the sheriff's office about the takeover and even contacted the local utility company about switching the electricity to and other services into their names. And once they settle in and secure the perimeter of the refuge, Ammon goes into PR mode.

[Ammon Bundy]

And our intent is to assist the people of Harney county in claiming their rights. We intend on making sure that the unconstitutional transactions of land rights and water rights are corrected. Our end goal is to get the economics here in the county revived again and get it hopping again.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Ammon claims that this standoff will lead to the revival of logging and other industries in Burns as part of the greater fight against federal oversight. In the press and online, Ammon claims there are between 100 and 150 men guarding the refuge. Oregon Public Broadcasting reports that it's closer to a dozen. Either way, Ammon goes online to call for more protesters and militias to join the occupation. In the video he posts on Facebook, he's in a dark room and sounds tired.

[Ammon Bundy]

We have a group of wonderful people here that are strong. We've got good numbers, but there's a lot to do, and we will eventually get tired if we do not have help. We need to make sure that there's enough people here that no one comes down upon us. And that is a very real reality right now. So we need you to come. We need you to be part of it.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Four days into the occupation, the county sheriff holds a town meeting for Byrnes residents to voice their concerns. Some of them support the movement, but a lot of them don't approve of what Ammon's doing.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

I'm proud to be a rancher, and I'm not gonna let some other people be my face. I am me. This is my home.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

How many people want to work this out peacefully and would like these folks to go home? As the days pass on the refuge, the police keep their distance to avoid escalating the situation. And as they wait, more and more national media turn their attention to ammonia and the occupation.

[Ammon Bundy]

So how does this end? Your brother Ryan Bundy told the Portland Oregonian that you and your group is willing to kill and be killed if necessary. Well, I think when people are defending their rights, that's always what we have to stand on. We have to be willing to say, look, we'll do what it takes to defend our rights. And if we're not willing to do that, they'll be taken away.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Law enforcement is struggling with how to handle this unusual takeover. The FBI has been trying to build a case against the Bundy since the Nevada standoff. So they quietly take over as the lead agency. They're just waiting for an opportunity to act. In January 2016, Ammon Bundy and his supporter, the rancher Lavoy Finicum, are camped out at the Mahure Wildlife Refuge with their group. Five days into the occupation, Ammon meets the sheriff to hear an offer, a safe escort for the group if they leave now. But Ammon refuses. He says he won't be leaving until the land is turned over from the government to the people of Harney county, even if it takes a year. That weekend, even more right wing militias descend upon the town of Burns carrying long guns. Lavoie tells the newcomers to stand down and go home. Ammon didn't expect them to show up, but. And he wants them gone. So the militias leave the refuge and instead form a perimeter around it, weapons at the ready. In their second week on the refuge, Ammon, Lavoie and the other protesters explore their new digs inside the refuge buildings. They leaf through documents looking for proof that the government discriminates against ranchers who graze on federal land. But by and large, they seem a little bit aimless.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

I mean, you look at it and, you know, they got there, they didn't have supplies, they didn't have food. They were going on and begging people to send them care packages. It wasn't a well thought out action.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

As news of the takeover spreads online, some Americans roll their eyes at Ammon's mission. People tweet jokes about the militias calling them y' all Qaeda. And in response to the group's online requests for winter supplies, people mail them things like nail polish, glitter, and a 55 gallon drum of lubricant. But Ammon and Lavoie aren't deterred. Lavoie tells the Washington Post that the buildings will never, ever return to the federal government. This movement is bigger than any one man. And as Lavoie tells NBC, it's even worth dying for.

[Lavoy Finicum]

I will never point a gun at somebody not pointing a gun at me.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

And if they point a gun at.

[Lavoy Finicum]

You, honestly, there are things more important than your life, and freedom is one of them.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

At the end of January, almost four weeks into the occupation, Ammon, Lavoie and a few of the group's members travel to a neighboring Oregon town for a community meeting. The day is cold and blustery with snow banks lining the long road out of the refuge. Protesters had made a few trips off the refuge before, but not with top leadership in tow. So today is different, and the FBI knows this is their shot to end the standoff. As the two cars of protesters enter a cell phone dead zone, an FBI plane watches them from above. Earlier, federal agents had set up a traffic stop on a desolate stretch of highway. They knew the cars would pass in the hopes of trapping and arresting Ammon and his gang without violence. In the late afternoon, the FBI and state police pull over two cars. In one of them sits Ammon, and the cops arrest him and the other passengers. But the other car, a white Dodge Ram, stays locked. Inside is Ammon's older brother, Ryan, along with a militia leader and two women who've been helping with the occupation. And sitting in the driver's seat is Lavoy Finicum. One of the women begins filming. I'm not turning off the vehicle. This is Lavoy Finicum. You want to shoot me, you shoot me. But I'm not going anywhere. Lavoy hollers to the cops that they're not going to cooperate without brute force, and he repeats his invitation over and over. Go ahead, shoot me.

[Cliven Bundy]

Here I am, right there. Right there. Put a bullet through it. You back down or you kill me. Now.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Lavoie and the others debate what to do next. After a few minutes of frantic conversation and tense silence, they agree on a plan. Lavoie will speed away, and the others will crouch in case police start shooting.

[Cliven Bundy]

Okay, get down.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

Then you duck down. Give me that camera.

[Cliven Bundy]

Okay, give me this camera. Go. Get it. Are they shooting? Get it.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

They don't get far. Lavoy sees three cars blocking the road ahead, and he swerves the truck into a snow bank. He opens his door and jumps out. And that's when law enforcement officers make their move.

[Cliven Bundy]

Stay down. Stay down.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Lavoy collapses into the snowbank. The women in the car scream and dock as shots continue to ring out.

[Cliven Bundy]

Damn it. Are they shooting him? Did I shoot him, you asshole. Oh, my God.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

After about 30 seconds, the cops throw flashbangs at the truck. To stun the remaining passengers, and the women plead for them to stop.

[Cliven Bundy]

Stop, please stop.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Lavoie is laying in the snow next to the truck, and less than 10 minutes after the shooting started, it ends.

[Cliven Bundy]

With a white flag. Okay, okay, Just don't show me.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

According to law enforcement later, Lavoie had been reaching for his waistband when he got out of the car. They knew he had a loaded gun on him, and when they told him to put his hands up, he didn't. He just kept reaching. It takes 10 minutes for Lavoie to get medical attention after he's shot, but it's no use. He dies on the side of the road the day before his 55th birthday. As the police close down the scene, they find three more loaded guns in the truck and take the rest of the protesters into custody. It's the end of one battle, but another one is about to begin. Immediately after Lavoie's death, his family and supporters swarmed the media to share their opinions. And they think that law enforcement shot Lavoie while he was trying to surrender, which would make his death a cold blooded murder. There was something wrong with the way this was done, and the American people are tired of it. They're tired of seeing wrong instead of seeing right, in my opinion. A Mr. Finicum was murdered at the hands of the Oregon State Police federal agents as well. This man was trying to surrender, but yet they chose violence and murder rather than to apprehend him. Two days after the shooting, the FBI releases video footage from the plane that was flying overhead. They want to get ahead of any conspiracy theories, and they're already investigating the shooting since officers were involved. But it's not enough to convince Lavoie's supporters. Almost all of the people in the two cars that day were arrested the day of the shooting, including Ammon Bundy and his brother Ryan. They're facing felony charges for conspiracy to impede federal officers. And with the leaders of the movement either in custody or dead, the remaining protesters at the refuge are spooked. The morning after the shooting, four cars filled with occupiers and kids leave the refuge. Shortly thereafter, the last holdouts leave, too. On February 10, Ammon's father, Cliven Bundy, is also arrested. He'd flown down to Oregon to offer support, but was nabbed by law enforcement as soon as he landed. He hadn't faced any consequences from the standoff in Bunkerville two years earlier, but the FBI now hits him with a slew of federal charges related to that day, including conspiracy to commit an offense against the US and assault on a federal law enforcement officer. In total, 26 people eventually get felony conspiracy and weapons charges for the occupation. The countless social media posts from Amman and the other protesters paint a clear picture of what happened. And as it turned out, there's more evidence straight from the mouths of the Bundys themselves. After the 2014 standoff in Bunkerville, a group of FBI agents posed as documentary filmmakers and exploited the Bundys media circus to interview them and their followers. And they got exactly what they needed to take them down. In September of 2016, the trial of Ammon Bundy and his followers begins in Oregon. It includes over a thousand exhibits of evidence ranging from wiretaps to dirt from informants. This seems like an open and shut case. But then a few weeks later, the decision is handed down.

[Ammon Bundy]

We begin tonight with some breaking news. A verdict in the Malheur county refugee standoff and occupation. Not guilty. The jury acquits the seven defendants on your side's Roland Barris explains.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Oh Don. The verdict came down about 5:20. Fox News calls it a victory for rural America. Ammon's lawyer admitted that the group took over the refuge, but they reframed it less as a takeover and more as a protest. According to them, this wasn't a conspiracy to harm federal workers or block them from doing their jobs. They just wanted to take a stand motivated by religion and fear of federal overreach. But what really sealed the Bundys victory was a big FBI misstep. Prosecutors highlighted the massive stock of weapons the protesters brought to the refuge and played a video of the occupiers firing rifles in a shooting exercise on the refuge. The only video of them using guns there. But near the end of the trial, it was revealed that an FBI informant had been at the refuge too specifically to capture video of the protesters being violent. This raised questions about who suggested the shooting exercise and the first place. Then a year after winning that trial, the Bundys are freed from their previous charges in Nevada. The judge says the feds willfully failed to turn over documents that would have helped the defense and declares a mistrial. And that footage the feds collected while working undercover as DOC filmmakers. It was ethically dubious and probably hurt their case more than it helped. At this point the Bundys are the very public face of the grand growing patriot movement. And more Americans than ever are wary of the federal government. This struggle between individual freedom and collective responsibility will only intensify in the years to come. And ultimately it's the environment that will pay the Price. After the last occupiers left the Malheur wildlife refuge in February 2016, staffers from the U.S. fish and Wildlife Service returned to their workplace. And what they found was devastating. The buildings and land were trashed. Tribal sites and boxes of native artifacts of the refuge had been desecrated. Government property was missing from various offices. All told, the cost to taxpayers to repair the damage totaled at least $6 million. Here's historian Betsy Gaines quammen again, these.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

Are our public lands, and this is also indigenous land. I mean, these guys were digging pit latrines on sacred land and in some case in burial grounds. And it was absolutely appalling. The desecration.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

Part of that $6 million cost included relocating staffers who were being threatened by anti government activists in town and online. And the people working at the refuge weren't the only ones that being threatened. Animals who called the refuge home were too. Research projects were delayed, including a carp eradication project that was designed to address one of the greatest threats to the area's waterfowl. And the birds that came to the refuge every season arrived to find meadows without water. Thanks to delayed repairs to irrigation ditches, that population decreased, too. The Bundys didn't care about the environmental consequences of their takeover. And they don't seem to care what their ideas would do to the 640 million acres of federal land across the country if they get their way. Private ownership would threaten dozens of species who thrive on the untouched land of the West. If ranchers could send their cattle to graze wherever they wanted, multiple endangered species would likely die out. Plus, realistically, it's not the ranchers who would get the lands if they were taken away from the public.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

I don't believe the Bundys have much to do with where we are with public lands, because now we have Trump wanting to open up everything for everything. I mean, you know, it's mining, logging, grazing, you name it. I mean, he's not even trying to pretend it's the little guys anymore.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

The Bundys had one goal, to challenge the government and reduce its power. But what their standoffs and takeovers did instead was show how vulnerable public land can be.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

I think there are a lot of people who see them as folk heroes, and I think there are a lot of people who see them as criminals who got away with it.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

In July 2018, Donald Trump pardoned the Hammonds, and the White House called their prison sentences unjust in a press release. Two years later, during the pandemic, Hammond formed an organization called the People's Rights Network, which dabbled in conspiracies and far right extremism. In 2021, he ran for governor of Idaho and lost. Since 2023, he's been dealing with a defamation lawsuit from an Idaho hospital that's got him on the run. He's currently living in Utah as a wanted man. Today, on the broad hills speckled with desert brush in Bunkerville, Nevada, Cliven's cattle still roam just across state lines. California has escalated the desert tortoise's status from threatened to endangered. 12 years have passed since the Bundy family's standoff with the blm, but they're still sending them to graze and on public land and they still don't have a permit.

[Betsy Gaines Quammen]

I think that the best thing we can do right now as Americans is be aware of how vulnerable these places are because they are one of the best things that we have as Americans. They're absolutely essential wildlife habitat. And they're places we can go for free in many cases and just be out in the land in some of the most beautiful places that billionaires would love to own. They would love to own it. And right now, it's ours. It's more important than ever to know what's at stake and what the consequences could be if we don't pay attention.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

On the next episode of Lawless Planet, when thousands of soldiers return from Iraq with a raft of debilitating health symptoms, all signs point to an environmentally destructive practice that the military had been carrying out in plain view.

[Ammon Bundy]

Picture a huge fire that never went away. Always smoking, always, always on fire. But the biggest thing is, I remember, was the smell.

[Narrator (Zach Goldbaum)]

For today's episode, we relied heavily on Betsy Gaines Quammen's book American Cliven Bundy, God and Public Lands in the west, and PBS's Frontline documentary, American Patriot. Lawless Planet is produced and hosted by me, Zach Goldbaum. This episode was written by Olivia Briley. Our senior producer and senior story editor is Derek John. Senior producer for Wondery is Andy Herman. Our senior managing producer is Lata Pandya. Our managing producer is Jake Kleinberg. Our associate producer is Lexi Peary. Sound design and music by Kenny Kuziak. Dialogue edit by George Drabing Hicks. Our music supervisor is Scott Velasquez. For Frison Sync fact checking by Naomi Barr. Our legal counsel is Shepard Mullen. Executive executive producers are Marshall Louie and Jenny Lauer. Beckman for wondering. Thanks for listening. We'll see you next week.