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MINING CLAIM Oath Keepers say they'll defend contested mining claim on BLM land Comment By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 14, 2015 at 4:06 PM Updated Apr 14, 2015 at 7:54 PM By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 14, 2015 at 4:06 PM Updated Apr 14, 2015 at 7:54 PM » Social News MERLIN — A group of armed volunteers has descended on rural Josephine County in defense of a mining claim that's become the subject of regulatory action by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The federal agency says the Sugar Pine Mine, near Merlin, has been operating outside current mining laws and regulations, and the BLM recently ordered the claim's owners to cease operations until they file a plan of operations. In response, the local chapter of the Oath Keepers, a group of former and current military and law enforcement personnel who've pledged to disobey any "unconstitutional" orders, says it was asked to defend the property from any encroachment by federal authorities. The organization previously rose to media prominence in 2014, when many of its members turned up in Nevada to support rancher Cliven Bundy, whose cattle had been corralled by the BLM for illegally grazing its lands. After hundreds of armed supporters confronted BLM rangers, the agency eventually backed down and released the cattle. "Oath Keepers is a big organization in Josephine County," Mary Emerick, the chapter's spokeswoman, said Tuesday. She said the group was offered private land on Camp Joy Road, also in Josephine County but some 20 miles from the mine, to use as a staging area and has received significant offers of outside help. "We haven't asked for anyone to come, but I have personally been contacted by people from Colorado, Utah, Montana, Idaho, Arizona, all parts of Oregon," Emerick says. Jim Whittington, public affairs officer for the BLM's Medford District, says the agency wasn't aware of any mining operations at the site until inspectors looking for abandoned mines stumbled on the site earlier this year. He says inspectors visited the site in January and found the owners, George Backes and Rick Barclay, were out of compliance with the law, not having filed an operational plan for mining the claim. "Every time a mining claim changes ownership, it resets," Whittington says. "They had heavy equipment, built a structure, they cut down trees, moved some earth and stuff of that nature," he says. "We've sent them two letters because the parts (of the regulations) they're in noncompliance with have two different administrative solutions." Whittington says the owners can either file a plan of operations within 30 days, or file an appeal of the BLM's decision.  Emerick says the Oath Keepers aren't trying to start a fight with the BLM, but instead are defending landowners in a conflict already under way. "Our mission is simply to make sure that the mine owners' constitutional, Fifth Amendment rights are in place — the right to due process," she says. "If this resolves itself tomorrow, we're ready to pack up and leave, but we're prepared (for the long term)." She says the group doesn't want its security operation referred to as a "standoff," and says the event's timing coinciding with the one-year anniversary of Bundy's showdown with BLM agents was unintentional. "There's absolutely no relationship to that," she says. The Josephine County Sheriff's Office reported Tuesday that Sheriff Dave Daniel had met with both the Oath Keepers' coordinator and the BLM's assistant special agent in charge of its law enforcement operations in Eugene, in an attempt to mediate the dispute. Whittington says his agency's law enforcement officers aren't planning to take any action against the armed volunteers, barring some unlawful action, and Emerick says she doesn't have any information that the Oath Keepers have had any encounters with law enforcement personnel since setting up camp. "Our position is that we're treating this no differently than we would any other issue," Whittington says. "This is not the first time we've dealt with something like this." Reach reporter Thomas Moriarty at 541-776-4471, or by email at [email protected] . Follow him at @ThomasDMoriarty . By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune MailTribune.com By Thomas Moriarty Mail Tribune Posted Apr. 14, 2015 at 4:06 PM Updated Apr 14, 2015 at 7:54 PM » Comment or view comments Reader Reaction » STAY INFORMED Email NewsLetter Sign Up Today Sign up for our newsletter and have the top headlines from your community delivered right to your inbox. Southern Oregon Directory Featured Businesses Loading... 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