Sheriff Dave Ward and Ammon Bundy Meet on 'Neutral Ground' to Discuss End to #Malheur Occupation (VIDEO)

At the Portland Oregonian, "Sheriff, Bundy meet on neutral ground to discuss ending refuge occupation":

CRANE -- Harney County Sheriff Dave Ward, backed up by two other sheriffs, met face-to-face Thursday with protest leader Ammon Bundy to bring a peaceful end to a weeklong occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.

"I'm here to offer safe escort out," the sheriff told Bundy. "Go back and kick it around with your folks."

The sheriff plans to call Bundy on Friday to see what he and his group have decided.

Ward was accompanied by three rigs carrying heavily armed law enforcement officers.

The parley took place in the open, standing at the intersection of a state highway and the back route to the refuge. It was another in a series of twists and turns the past week that have drawn national and international attention to this sparsely populated high desert country.

Ward was encouraged to reach out directly to the militants at a town hall meeting Wednesday night in Burns that drew an estimated 400 people. Several speakers urged the sheriff to do just what he is doing Thursday, and several ranchers had volunteered to join him if needed to end the occupation.

Bundy and about 20 other militants took over the headquarters compound of the refuge on Saturday and additional protesters have been arriving in the past day. Bundy, a member of an Arizona ranching family, has said repeatedly that the occupation was to protest the imprisonment of two Harney County ranchers and to demand that the federal government turn over ownership of federal land to local control.

The meeting happened in one of the most remote spots in Oregon, near where Highway 78 intersects with Lava Bed Road. This is largely flat terrain – sage country that hosts few people and sustains thousands of cattle. There has probably been no more unlikely place for the work of ending a confrontation that has turned life upside down in Harney County.

The protesters have been left alone at the refuge. They have been free to come and go at will and have dispatched supporters 30 miles to Burns for supplies. They have held daily news conferences, allowed reporters to explore outside the buildings and have hosted dozens of local residents who have come to talk.

Several protesters attended the town hall meeting but didn't speak – Ward said only local residents could have the mic...

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