Key Things to Know About Federal Land Grazing in the West

(AP)-Two brothers leading an armed group that has taken up residence for nearly three weeks at a national wildlife refuge in eastern Oregon plan to hold a ceremony Saturday for ranchers to renounce federal control of public land and tear up their grazing contracts.

Ammon Bundy and his older brother, Ryan Bundy, say the declaration will reject what they consider the unconstitutional ownership of land by the federal government and put an end to public land restrictions and grazing fees.

Ryan Bundy also says that they plan to open the 300-square-mile Malheur National Wildlife Refuge to cattle this spring, but he didn't offer details. Federal grazing policy has changed for Western ranchers in recent decades, fueling fears that a way of life that has sustained generations could disappear.