Phil Taylor, E&E reporter
Cliven Bundy is behind bars, but his cows remain at large.
The longtime nemesis of the Bureau of Land Management faces charges
that could keep him imprisoned for the rest of his life. His cattle
linger as an ecological scourge to the Mojave Desert northeast of Las
Vegas.
The Bundy herd, last estimated at 1,000, has trampled sensitive
soils, devoured native saplings and bedded down against Native American
artifacts. One of Bundy's bulls attacked a Nevada wildlife official,
while others have run roughshod over a community garden and a golf
course, BLM said.
BLM and its allies -- following court orders -- want Bundy's cows
gone from the public lands surrounding his Bunkerville, Nev., ranch, and
particularly Gold Butte, a 350,000-acre mesa of Joshua trees, cacti and
creosote bushes below the snow-dusted Virgin Peak.
But removing Bundy's ornery, battle-tested herd -- estimated by one
Nevada official to be worth up to $800,000 -- will be expensive,
logistically difficult and potentially dangerous.
"It's like hunting cape buffalo," said Ken Mayer, the former
director of Nevada's Department of Wildlife. "They're nasty, they're
smart, and they won't hesitate to charge."
Bundy's militant followers may be the bigger hurdle.
...The next roundup is "not going to be easy," said Rob Mrowka, a
biologist at the Center for Biological Diversity who has lobbied for
decades for BLM to remove Bundy's cows. "I think the price is going to
be a lot more when you add the risk."
It's unclear what kind of resistance Bundy or his sons Ammon or Ryan
could muster behind bars without access to the ranch or social media,
which was a key catalyst in the 2014 standoff. Two others whom the
government accuses of helping rally militants to Bunkerville -- Ryan
Payne and Pete Santilli -- are also in custody.
After a roundup, unbranded cattle -- estimated to be three-quarters
of Bundy's herd -- would become the property of Nevada. BLM normally
allows the responsible rancher the opportunity to reclaim his or her
cattle -- if they agree to pay any past-due grazing, trespass and
administrative fees (in Bundy's case, more than $1 million). If the
rancher refuses, BLM could then get permission from the state brand
inspector to sell the cattle.
At Bundy's melon farm along the banks of the Virgin River about 90
miles northeast of Las Vegas, ranching operations are continuing as
usual, said a man named "Skipper" who identifies himself as the family's
head of security. Skipper said he was briefly detained and questioned
by the FBI at the time of Cliven Bundy's arrest Feb. 10 but that he's
back at the ranch.
From jail, Cliven calls the ranch each day with a list of ranching
tasks, Skipper said. Family members including Arden Bundy, 17, Cliven's
youngest son, are setting traps to brand newly born cows. A son-in-law
comes every other weekend to help.
There's been "talk and rumors" of a BLM roundup, "but there hasn't been any traffic out here," Skipper said.
Bundy's cattle, a Brahman-type breed, have been bred to survive in harsh environments.
Their ancestors came from India and have highly developed sweat
glands that help them thrive in the arid Mojave, according to Oklahoma
State University's Department of Animal Science. Centuries of meager
food supplies, insect pests, parasites and diseases have made them
remarkably resilient, the department said.
They also don't take kindly to humans.
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