Convoy Casts Feds as Foes
By Kehn Gibson, K-Falls Herald and News
August 20, 2001

Participants share dislike of federal actions

They live hundreds of miles from Klamath Falls, but they're at odds with the same bureaucracy that has thrown Klamath Basin farmers into crisis.

A convoy of protesters from Montana made its way towards Oregon over the weekend, planning to link up with two other convoys for a parade and day of demonstrations Tuesday in Klamath Falls..

The convoy that originated in Kalispell, Mont., Saturday is hauling food, a 25-foot tall shovel, and an $11,000 check destined for the Klamath Relief Fund..

One thing they are not packing, convoy participants say, is trouble..

"This is about people helping people, nothing else," said convoy organizer Jayne Strash. "We care about what is happening there because we have seen it happen to us.".

She downplayed reports that the convoy included members of the Montana Militia..

Strash said the militia chose not to participate in the convoy, although some members of the group attended the send-off rally in Kalispell Saturday morning..

Her statement was confirmed by Dave Burgert, a member of the Montana Militia..

"I am sure there are no active members riding with the convoy," Burgert said. "What (the convoy riders) are doing they are doing as friends and supporters of the Klamath farmers.".

Burgert, speaking as a citizen and not for his organization, said use of the word "militia" would cloud the goal of the convoy, which includes about 20 people..

"We believe we are not important to this thing. The ones that are important are the ones that are going there," Burgert said..

"I know most of those people, and they are barely squeaking by. For them to take what they have and travel to Klamath speaks to how important they think it is to help. The word ‘militia' is not important.".

Although there are no Montana Militia members with the convoy, principles espoused by the militia are heard again and again as one listens to convoy participants describe how they came to be "activists.".

For Paul Crosby, it began with books..

"I'm a reader, and I got progressively more angry and more dissatisfied with our central government as I found out what was going on.".

Crosby, going to Klamath Falls with his wife Barb, retired in 1974 after 22 years in the military. A veteran of the Korean War, Crosby said it sickens him now to think of men he served with dying for an uncaring federal government..

"Our politicians have no ability to make a decision for the people, and we have a real corrupt court system," Crosby said. "There should be no other court except the common law court, and the remedy is to go back to the original intent of the Constitution.".

For Clarice Ryan, it began with an inheritance and a gravel pit..

Heiress to a family farm in Ord, Neb., Ryan said she signed a contract with a gravel mine operator in 1992 and applied for a necessary permit to dig gravel on the farm. What was expected to be a routine process turned into a year-long legal battle with the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service..

Her husband Don, an attorney, found the U.S. Fish and Wildlife had lied to the court in a filing saying the agency had inspected the site of the proposed pit. When the agency later sent an inspector at the order of the judge, the inspector declared the site to be a wetlands needing protection, she said..

"They have the power to tell you what you can and cannot do on your land," Ryan said. "Their goal is to control private property, and their ultimate goal is socialism.".

Ryan and her husband moved to Montana nine years ago, and she began seeing an extension of her Nebraska experience as the logging industries in her new home were slowly regulated out of existence..

"The injustices, the arrogance of their decisions ..." Ryan said, shaking her head. "What has happened in Klamath is like it, because it is a step towards famine and is destroying families. I care because I see it as a plot from the top levels of government to destroy industries and get people off the land.".

A computer specialist, Gary Henry became involved after he read an article in a local newspaper..

"I did some digging on the Internet, and started to get the whole story," Henry said, his eyes unflinching. "I got to looking around at what else was happening with mining, logging, an aluminum plant in the Flathead Valley, and did some more digging..

"I found a government publication called ‘Your Rights as a Displaced Person,' and saw they are planning to depopulate rural America. It has been coming for a while and we aren't paying attention.".

Asked about the decision to deny water to the Klamath Basin, Henry doesn't mince words..

"It is insane what they are doing. They are destroying people's lives and livelihoods. Being a firm believer in the Constitution, I believe very strongly they are going against the Constitution. It is not the way a free people should be treated..

"That is why I've become an activist for freedom. I have never been a radical, but that is what they are going to start calling me, because I am not going to take it anymore.".

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