Turnbull closed as precaution

Cheney-area residents like Greg Houff who like to use the trails at Turnbull National Wildlife Refuge for a variety of outdoor activities may have been surprised to find a roadblock in their way last week.

Houff said he drove out to the refuge last Tuesday, Jan. 26, to conduct his daily exercise walk only to find the refuge closed, its gate barring the front entrance. Houff, who likes not only nature’s presence for his daily walks but also the seclusion of trails such as the one at 30-Acre Lake, said he tried to access the refuge several times over a period of 3-4 days, only to find it closed each time.

“I drove up one day and saw a dark-windowed car with lights sitting idling in front of the gate,” Houff said in a Feb. 2 interview.

Houff said he searched the Internet for clues as to why the refuge might be closed but found nothing. Finally, he contacted the Cheney Police Department, and was told the refuge had been closed due to “precaution” from the “Occupy Militia” movement that is taking place at Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Ore.

Cheney Police Cmdr. Rick Campbell confirmed officials from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department, which oversees the nation’s wildlife refugees, had contacted them about closing the refuge as well as other federal lands as a precaution should individuals elect to copy the occupation still underway in Oregon.

“That’s just prudence,” Campbell said. “Somebody could mirror it (Oregon occupation).”

On Jan. 2, about a dozen members of various “militias,” led by out-of-state ranchers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, seized the buildings at Malheur, demanding federal lands in the West be turned over to private parties to manage.

The Bundys and several others have since been arrested, but about four militia members continued to hold out at Malheur at press time.

Campbell said the department didn’t take any “extra steps” to monitor Turnbull, but is available to back up any agencies with jurisdiction over the refuge who might respond should something like Malheur take place.

A staff member answered a call to the refuge by the Cheney Free Press Monday morning, Feb. 1. The individual acknowledged the refuge’s closure, but added they are again open to the public.

Calls to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Department’s Pacific region headquarters in Portland, Ore. for more information were not returned as of press time Tuesday.

John McCallum can be reached at jmac@cheneyfreepress.com.