Embers of the Sagebrush Rebellion

Our next true crime tale has us venturing a bit further north than usual. But the journey is worth it to explore an unsolved series of bombings targeting federal land management officials in Northern Nevada during the 90’s.

Coverage in the Nevada press at the time of the 1993 bombing of the Bureau of Land Management headquarters in Reno. (AP/Las Vegas-Clark County Library District)

Midnight bombing in Reno

On Halloween night in 1993, long after kids and their parents had finished trick-or-treating, a blast ripped through the quiet night in a suburban neighborhood of Reno.  The explosion occurred at about 12:45 a.m. and was loud enough to be heard from two miles away.  In the aftermath of the blast, a cloud of bluish smoke rose from the one-story Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offices on Harvard Way.

Investigators with the FBI and ATF arrived at the scene the following morning and determined the explosion had been caused by a powerful bomb.  The perpetrator had thrown a briefcase containing the explosives onto the roof of the one-story building and made his escape before detonation.  Fortunately, the building was unoccupied at the time of the attack as the blast tore a three-foot hole in the roof and destroyed six workstations.

Despite the bombing clearly being intended to send a message, no one claimed responsibility in the aftermath of the explosion.

Press coverage and footage of the aftermath of the bombing of the Forest Service offices in Carson City. (AP/Las Vegas-Clark County Library District)

Striking Nevada’s Capital

Almost 18 months after the bombing of the Bureau of Land Management offices in Reno, another federal agency was targeted in nearby Carson City.  An explosion erupted outside offices of the Toiyabe Forest Service office in the downtown area of Nevada’s capital on the night of March 30, 1995. 

The blast – caused by a pipe bomb – caused significant damage to the office of Forest Service district ranger Guy Pence.  As the top Forest Service official in Nevada, Pence had long drawn the ire of ranchers and miners that bristled at federal regulation of public lands.  Investigators eventually determined that Pence’s office had been specifically targeted by the bomber. 

The bombing in Carson City occurred one day after a pipe bomb was used by unknown individuals to blow up a concrete outhouse at a Forest Service campground near Elko. And the day after the Carson City attack, a Forest Service office in Sparks was evacuated after someone called and threatened, “You’re next.”

Forest Service ranger Guy Pence was targeted in two bomb attacks in 1995. (Las Vegas-Clark County Library District)

Terror hits closer to home

Five months after the Pence’s office in Carson City was bombed, the threat drew much closer to home.  Pence was out of his house with one of his daughters on the night of August 4, 1995.  While watching television, one of Pence’s older daughters heard a noise coming from outside.  Pence’s wife opened the front door but noticed nothing out of place. 

A few minutes after going back inside, a forceful blast shattered the living room window and damaged the structure. A van parked in front of the house was destroyed. Federal investigators determined the suspect or suspects had left a pipe bomb under the Pence family van.

The initial “Sagebrush Rebellion” was sparked in the 1970’s over disputes regarding federal land management policies in Western States.

sagebrush rebels: Miners, Ranchers, and Cow Counties

There have existed simmering tensions between federal land management agencies and local government, business interests, and rural residents of Nevada since the 1970’s.  The passage of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act shifted the goal of federal land policy from maximizing extraction to accommodating the needs of all users and focusing on preservation of natural resources heightened tensions over the federal government’s control of over 85% of land in Nevada.

This tension ultimately developed into a movement known as the Sagebrush Rebellion.  However, with the exception of sporadic acts of vandalism across Western States (which often targeted Pueblo archeological sites), the Sagebrush Rebellion largely consisted of States like Nevada pursuing legal action against the federal government in an effort to obtain greater local and private control of public lands, as well as introducing legislation in Congress to devolve control over land managed by the BLM and Forest Service to State and local governments.

But the second phase of the Sagebrush Rebellion that erupted in the early 1990’s took on a more violent tone, with Nevada having a reputation as being particularly inhospitable for federal land management employees assigned to the State.  Gloria Flora, a supervisor of the Toiyabe Forest, resigned her position over the hostility she faced in Nevada, noting Forest Service employees were often shunned in their communities and refused service at local businesses.

Local government officials even became involved in the more confrontational phase of the Sagebrush Rebellion.  Nye County, which sits immediately north of Clark County, has long been known for its antiregulatory sentiments.  But those sentiments boiled over on Independence Day in 1994 when Nye County Commissioner and local rancher Dick Carver drove a bulldozer draped in an American flag through a blockade erected by the BLM blocking an old stagecoach road to limit traffic during an environmental and archaeological impact study.

Aftermath of the 1995 bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City by antigovernment extremists.

Oklahoma City and a dead-end investigation

Between the March and August attacks on Pence, far-right violence burst onto the national scene when a truck bomb parked outside of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building in Oklahoma City exploded, obliterating most of the multistory office complex and leaving 168 dead in the concrete rubble. 

Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols were quickly arrested in connection with the Oklahoma City bombing, with the primary motivation being revenge over the actions of federal law enforcement agents during the 1993 Waco siege, but with both men also adopting a broader ideology that viewed the federal government as a tyrannical entity warranting violent resistance.

In the aftermath of the Oklahoma City bombing, the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies reallocated massive resources to confronting domestic militants.  However, this heightened attention did not result in the identification of any suspects in relation to the bombings targeting federal land management agencies.

The best theory developed by investigators is that 1995 bombings targeting Forest Service officials were the work of the same individuals given the similarity between the explosive devices used in the attacks. The 1993 attack appears to have been the work of a different individual or group since the explosives used in the attack were significantly more powerful than in the later bombings.

Local press coverage of a failed bombing of the Reno IRS offices in 1995. (Las Vegas-Clark County Library District)

avoiding tragedy in reno

A few months after the attack on Ranger Pence’s home, extremists attempted a much more devastating attack.  On the morning of December 18, 1995, an employee arriving for work spotted a 20-gallon white barrel next to the back entrance of the Internal Revenue Service offices in Reno. 

The local bomb squad determined a fuse had been lit after the bomb was placed at the rear of the IRS offices. Fortunately, while the fuse detonated a blasting cap attached to the bomb composed of fuel oil and ammonium nitrate fertilizer, the main charge was not set off. About 60 employees inside the building were evacuated while the charge was dismantled and then hauled into the desert to be detonated. Experts determined the bomb was powerful enough to destroy a large portion of the rear of the IRS building and kill anyone in proximity.

Two residents of rural Douglas County – Ellis Hurst and Joseph Bailie – were convicted of placing the bomb in retaliation for their personal grievances with the IRS, with Bailie boasting in the past that he was not obligated to pay taxes (the IRS apparently disagreed as they had garnished Bailie’s wages for years to recover back taxes).

Some commentators and researchers argue we are currently in the midst of a third phase of the Sagebrush Rebellion that involves more direct confrontation with federal authorities. Clockwise from top left: Standoff between armed supporters of rancher Cliven Bundy and BLM agents outside of Las Vegas; BLM managed lands in Nevada; a modern supporter of the Sagebrush Rebellion; supporters of Cliven Bundy protesting outside the federal courthouse in Las Vegas.

The Sagebrush Rebellion: Phase III

More recently, some commentators have speculated that we are in the midst of a third phase of the Sagebrush Rebellion that is characterized by more open and organized confrontations between federal land management officials and those opposed to federal regulation. The standoff outside of Las Vegas between rancher Cliven Bundy and federal agents, as well as the takeover and standoff at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon are notable episodes from this most recent stage of the Sagebrush Rebellion, all of which indicate this low-intensity conflict has no signs of calming in the immediate future.

Links:

AP Article about the bombing of Guy Pence’s house:

https://apnews.com/article/363d8053c423ac9286bf9669d7bf238e

Unsolved Mysteries Article About the Unsolved Bombings:

https://unsolvedmysteries.fandom.com/wiki/Sagebrush_Rebellion