[RJL]

I'm a suburban type, not a rancher. I understand the anger and the waste of Hawn's actions, but Downare seems to have plenty of guilt here too.

The former owner of Hawn's property put him in contact with the Illegal Alien activist group

Interesting. Why would he do this? Perhaps Downare wants to grab Hawn's land cheap and is using his Bison and their destructive behavior to drive the former owner and now the new owner, Hawn, off his own land.

Also interesting: on April 1 officers "retrieved a spent bullet from one of the wasted bison carcasses that had been shot weeks prior to the first contact with hunters at the Hawn property."

How big are these ranches? At least one, perhaps all of Downare's livestock are off his ranch for weeks at a time before he notices them gone. Wouldn't all the destroyed fencing give Downare a clue?

[editor-surveyor]

"How big are these ranches? At least one, perhaps all of Downare's livestock are off his ranch for weeks at a time before he notices them gone."

Do you understand grazing leases? Ranchers that lease BLM land for grazing don't have fences where they adjoin the Fed lands. This is the rule, rather than the exception, in the west. Have you noticed that Hawn is the only one with the problem? The others are happy to have the herd graze their fire-prone land.