After the FBI ended the armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon February 11, investigators found more than 30 guns, 16,636 live rounds, and about 1,700 spent casings. Yet last week a jury found the seven people who had been dressed as cowboys and soldiers not guilty of conspiring to impede federal workers from their jobs.

It is likely that these domestic terrorists getting off scot-free will embolden others who believe the federal government has no authority to manage lands outside of Washington, DC.

Which national park, forest, or BLM area will be the next to be taken over by seditionists with assault rifles? The original invasion of the federal refuge, the trashing of the facility, the threats to employees and their families, and the acquittal of the criminals is redefining how security is implemented at many federal properties.

Below is an excerpt from an article by Christopher Ketcham in the New York Times in which he interviewed Carolyn Shelton, recently retired after 15 years in a high-level management position at the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in Utah:

…B.L.M. employees who had worked for her “are angry, they are fearful, they are confused,” she said, and added, “Dealing with this toxic environment of animosity is a huge distraction from what we should be doing in public service, which is taking care of the land.”…

Before Ms. Shelton retired last August, security was significantly expanded at monument facilities to guard against attacks on employees and buildings, including installing panic buttons, dual-authentication door locks and, in some buildings, bulletproof glass.

She told me the Utah office of the B.L.M. went so far as to hire a former military terrorism expert, who advised that in the event of “security threats” — which are constant — B.L.M. employees should not go out in the field, wear B.L.M. uniforms or drive B.L.M.-marked vehicles.

“It’s gotten to the point that we do active shooter drills,” Ms. Shelton said. “It’s insane trying to do your job in this environment. It’s all money and time spent not protecting the resources. All we want is to do the job the American public has entrusted us with.”…

And from the High Country News:

Imagine running a business — say a bank or gas station — and every now and then a band of disgruntled customers barges in with guns, takes over your office and spouts nonsense about how you have no right to exist in the first place. How could you continue to conduct your business? How could you recruit new employees? How could you ensure the safety of your customers?

That is exactly the kinds of questions that leaders of our land management agencies — the folks who take care of our national parks, forests and wildlife refuges — now must face…

Now, 10 months later, an Oregon jury has acquitted them. By choosing the more difficult path of proving conspiracy rather than criminal trespass or some lesser charge, the government lawyers aimed too high and lost it all. The verdicts stunned even the defense attorneys who have no option of appealing.

Without second-guessing the jury, it’s clear that the repercussions of this case will play out for years to come. But I fear that the greatest and most lasting damage caused by the thugs who took over Malheur will prove to be the way they vandalized something essential to every functioning society: Trust. If America doesn’t get its act together, this verdict may prove to be the beginning of the end of one of our greatest experiments in democracy: our public lands…

Consider the words of elation uttered by those who supported the Bundys. Montana state Rep. Theresa Manzella, R-Darby, responded to the news with a Facebook post that read: “BEST NEWS IN A LONG TIME!!! Doin’ a happy dance! Didn’t expect the verdict today!!! Hurray!”

She elaborated to a newspaper reporter: “I think it will be very empowering. It indicates that American citizens are waking up and we don’t want to be kept under the thumb of the federal government.”