Protesters Greet ‘New Code of the West’ Conference in Whitefish

More than 300 people gathered in Whitefish’s Depot Park on Oct. 13 in response to a controversial conference nearby that featured Ammon Bundy, a Nevada man who made national headlines during a 2016 standoff with federal law enforcement at an Oregon wildlife refuge.

Bundy was the headline speaker of the “New Code of the West” conference at Grouse Mountain Lodge. The event was put on by “This West is OUR West” founder Laura Lee O’Neil and focused on property rights in the American West. However, human rights advocates and conservation groups have accused O’Neil and her followers of harboring extreme anti-government and anti-Native American views.

Ammon Bundy’s father, Cliven Bundy, led a standoff against federal agents trying to seize his cattle in 2014 after the Bureau of Land Management said he had been grazing his animals on federal lands without paying the proper fees. In 2016, Ammon and his brother Ryan Bundy led a 40-day standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that led to the death of one man.

The Bundys have stated they believe the federal government is mismanaging public lands in the West and have called for more state and local control of public lands. Conservation groups counter that transferring federal lands to the states would result in privatization and less access.

The Montana Wilderness Association and Love Lives Here organized the counter-protest on Oct. 13. Grete Gansauer, Northwest Montana field director for the wilderness association, said it was important for her organization to respond to Bundy’s extreme rhetoric.

“We wanted to give the community an opportunity to support our public lands and human rights,” she said. “I don’t think Ammon Bundy is going to find a lot of support for his views here in Montana.”

A number of speakers took turns rallying the Depot Park crowd around public lands, and chants of “We love public lands” and “No hate in our state” were frequent. Meanwhile, a smaller group at Grouse Mountain Lodge listened to discussions about land rights, bureaucratic overreach and the “deep state.” Besides Ammon Bundy, well-known anti-Indian activist Elaine Willman spoke of terminating Indian treaty rights and eliminating tribal sovereignty.

The Oct. 13 conference was the second time in less than a year that a Bundy has made an appearance in Montana. In January, Cliven and Ryan Bundy spoke at a “Freedom and Property” rally in Paradise.