PORTLAND (AP) — When a group of armed protesters occupied a remote bird sanctuary in Oregon’s high desert early this year, the standoff drew national attention to the decades-old fight between the federal government and Western states over land policy.
After the occupation began on Jan. 2, the government made no immediate attempt to retake the site and largely left the protesters alone for weeks. The occupation finally ended after 41 days, when the last of the protesters abandoned the nature preserve.
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