Birds – and staff – return to Oregon wildlife refuge after occupation

MALHEUR NATIONAL WILDLIFE REFUGE, Ore. – Linda Beck is a fish biologist in charge of a struggle against millions of invasive carp that have uprooted aquatic plants, severely diminishing the food supply here for waterfowl.

During the winter occupation of the Malheur refuge, as threats to federal employees escalated, Beck left for Vancouver, Washington, leaving behind her rancher husband to take care of their cattle.

Meanwhile, the extremists who sought to transfer the refuge to local control claimed Beck’s desk, rifling through her files. Someone removed personal items that included a pelican’s beak, a carp’s skeleton and a stuffed crow that had been passed on to Beck from her grandmother.

Today, Beck is back on the job, working out of a temporary trailer office where she prepares to resume catching carp in fish traps and planning a commercial net harvest in May. The refuge occupation appears to have reinforced her sense of mission.

“It pretty much cemented in me that I was going to come back and conquer the carp,” Beck said. “It was a 41-day occupation, but it was a real small part of Malheur’s history.”

The occupation ended Feb. 11, and the return of 16 full-time refuge staff has enabled the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reopen the 187,757-acre refuge’s road system just as bird populations increase with the onset of spring.

The refuge headquarters complex, which includes a visitor’s center and museum, is expected to stay closed until later in the year as it is repaired.

The damage resulted from events touched off by the decision of Ammon Bundy and a core group of supporters to take over the refuge Jan. 2. Bundy is the son of Cliven Bundy, a Nevada rancher who led an armed standoff with federal agents in 2014.

Refuge officials said during the occupation, some buildings were damaged, carpets were soiled and a septic system plugged up from overuse. The headquarters area also was littered with trash and piles of human waste.

Dan Ashe, the director of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services, said during a visit to the refuge that repairs so far have cost $1.7 million.

He said the agency incurred $2 million in additional costs during the occupation as refuge employees were moved to other places, and $2.5 million has been spent increasing security at other refuges.