海角大神

The armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge which ended in February has left an unexpected legacy to the park, one that appears to be in conflict with the occupiers' original intent.

Since the siege on the refuge ended in early February, the park has seen a surge of financial support.聽

While disgruntled farmer Ammon Bundy initiated the takeover with his armed supporters to protest federal ownership of land 鈥� such as Malheur in Harney County, Ore. 鈥� his 41-day occupation of the refuge appears to have worked against his agenda: Malheur has witnessed an outpouring of donations and visitors. Neither the park nor the occupiers could have anticipated the kind of interest the occupation would eventually spark.

鈥淚t was a curse for the refuge and the [Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge] group, and it was kind of dark days,鈥� Gary Ivey, president of the independent nonprofit Friends of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, told Oregon鈥檚 Bend Bulletin. The organization has raised over $75,000 in new memberships and donations since January. 鈥淚t鈥檚 also a blessing because there鈥檚 been a lot more broad support and [the refuge is] more well known now.鈥澛�

Malheur held its annual Harney County Migratory Bird Festival earlier this month and it was an unprecedented success. According to the festival鈥檚 website, 鈥淭ours filled up faster than we could keep up鈥� and many of the events sold out before the three-day festival.聽聽

鈥淭his has definitely been way more popular than past years and probably the busiest year we鈥檝e had,鈥� Chrissi Carpentier, a coordinator with the Harney County Chamber of Commerce, told the Bend Bulletin.聽

鈥淭he name was out there, and it did help people realize that there鈥檚 a beautiful refuge here,鈥� Chelsea Harrison, director of the Harney County Chamber of Commerce, told Oregon Public Broadcasting.聽聽

The occupation even started bringing in funds before the Bundys left the premises. Soon after the occupiers took over Malheur, a pair of Oregon brothers started an online fundraiser for the refuge and other related interests.

鈥淔or each day the unlawful occupation continues, the pledged funding for these groups will increase. It is our hope that the nonnative occupiers will see the futility of their wrongful takeover and peacefully go home!鈥� brother Zach and Jake Klonoski pleaded on the site gohomemalheur.com.聽The Klonoski brothers鈥� mother is US District Court Judge Ann Aiken, whose resentencing of ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond became the Bundys鈥� rallying cry.

鈥淭he Klonoskis鈥� fundraiser poses a direct challenge to occupational organizers: the longer they stay the more money is raised for the Paiute Tribe; Friends of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge; Americans for Responsible Solutions, a gun control organization founded by former Arizona Rep. Gabby Giffords; and the Southern Poverty Law Center, which monitors extremist groups in the US,鈥� the Monitor鈥檚 Molly Jackson wrote in January.

鈥淲e need the final donated amount to be big, so that history records that the Bundys raised a ton of money against their own cause through their futile occupation,鈥� write the Klonoski brothers. And when the occupation did end after 41 days, $135,647 was pledged to the GoHome campaign. In other words, each day the Bundys prolonged their occupation, $3,154 was raised for Malheur.

But it has not been all good financial news since the occupation ended over two months ago. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the occupiers left the refuge with $1.7 million in damages. But while it will take some time for Malheur to recover, the occupation appears to have reinvigorated the refuge鈥檚 conservation motives.

鈥淏undy鈥檚 stated goal was to turn the refuge over to local ranchers, loggers and miners,鈥� writes Triple Pundit鈥檚 Tina Casey. 鈥淏ut instead he set off a surge of public support for national parks in general and the Malheur refuge in particular.鈥�