Local and federal Republican elected officials criticized the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's handling of the armed April standoff with Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, blaming tensions on heavy-handed actions by the agency's law enforcement officials.
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The GOP officials, at a House subcommittee hearing Thursday in Washington, said local authorities should have handled the situation instead and federal land managers should not be allowed to carry guns.
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The bureau wasn't invited to testify at the hearing conducted by the Natural Resources subcommittee.
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Bundy and his states' rights supporters thwarted the bureau's attempt to remove his cattle from public land.
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The bureau says Bundy owes over $1 million in fees and penalties for trespassing on federal property without a permit over 20 years. Bundy refuses to acknowledge federal authority on public lands.  (AP)
