The federal government will tread slowly before returning to the expansive Gold Butte area following the arrest in Oregon of a
Bunkerville rancher and two of his sons, a Bureau of Land Management officials said Tuesday. Gayle
Marrs-Smith, Southern Nevada BLM field manager, told the Legislative
Public Lands Committee the situation remains "fluid" and there is no
timeline for federal officials to resume a presence on those public
lands where a
tense standoff occurred in 2014 between armed supporters of Cliven Bundy and law enforcement who
tried to confiscate his cattle for failure to pay $1 million in grazing fees. Gold Butte is about 110 miles east of Las Vegas, via Interstate 15 and state Routes 170 and 113.
Cliven Bundy remains jailed in Oregon on multiple charges,
including assault on a federal law enforcement officer, obstruction of
justice, conspiracy, extortion and carrying a firearm in a crime of
violence. Marrs-Smith spoke cautiously when questioned by
Assemblywoman Heidi Swank, D-Las Vegas, about Gold Butte, telling
committee members the agency's priority is the safety of employees and
the public. "We're going to be very measured and we're going to kind of wait and see," she said. "Things are very fluid." She added, "We are looking forward to managing out there, getting back out there." The federal government withdrew from the Gold Butte area after the 2014 standoff. While some federal workers and contractors were sent back to work in the
months afterward, the BLM ordered all staff and contract employees to
stay out of the area after a survey crew was forced from their campsite
by gunfire in the middle of the night...
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