Employees return to Malheur National Wildlife Refuge

It’s the same watchtower overlooking the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, but the guards at the entrance are now members of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. More than a month after the 41-day occupation ended, officials are still picking up the pieces.

The sign at the entrance is gone to get repaired after occupiers had put a sticker over it, renaming it the Harney County Resource Center. It’s just one of many things damaged, officials say.

Many offices were trashed, cameras were broken and archeologically sensitive sites damaged. The occupiers also dug trenches that were filled with feces.

“You didn’t know it was going to be that bad,” refuge employee Faye Healy said during Wednesday’s media tour.

Tonight on NewsChannel 21, Wanda Moore reports on the views of some area ranchers about what happened over those 41 days. Tune in on Fox @ 4 and 5/6 on KTVZ.

All in all, officials with the USFWS estimate the occupation will cost them around $6 million — and the cost will likely go up.

“We’ve seen an increase in threats and intimidation, and we’re having to staff up to meet those concerns West-wide,” said Daniel Ashe, director of the federal agency.

Of that $6 million, Ashe said, $1.7 million is needed to restore the refuge headquarters, $2 million to catch up on fire prevention and other tasks and another $2.3 million to beef up security at refuges around the West.

“We were concerned about the occupation spreading,” Ashe said.

The $6 million price tag does not include the costs incurred by Harney County, the FBI and other law enforcement agencies.

“My first concern was that the employees were safe,” said refuge Manager Chad Karges.

The threat was real to many employees.

“The militia were in my driveway, watching my house,” said refuge employee, Linda Beck.

All employees had to be evacuated and relocated.

“(You were) just worried about people you love,” Beck said. “The militia had my address.”

Healy said she was anxious: “It was really hard, and I had a lot of concern for the other employees.”

Many saw their offices on national television, being used by the occupiers.

“It’s an eerie thing to watch something that’s very special to you being used by someone else for a completely different purpose and their agenda,” Healy said.

When they finally came back to work, they said, nothing was how they left it.

“Of course it’s emotional,” Beck said. “You had to go through an FBI checkpoint to go to where you work.”

Now, they’re picking up the pieces and are moving on.

“Normal is going to be a new normal,” Karges said. “It will not be the normal of the past.”