Anti-government militia have 'increased by a third in the last year'

Activists believe the movement was inspired by an infamous stand-off in Nevada in 2014

Cliven Bundy talking at a stand-off on his land in Nevada in 2014 (AP)

The number of anti-government militias operating in the US has increased by more than a third in the last 12 months, according to an activist group.

As armed, anti-government protesters continue to hold a government facility at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Burns, Oregon, and vow to be killed if necessary, activists said the number of militias now stood at 276, an increase of 37 per cent since 2014.

Heidi Beirich, director of the intelligence project of the Southern Poverty Law Centre, which monitors extremist groups in the US, said the actions in Oregon had come as no surprise.

Ryan Bundy talks on the phone at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge near Burns, Oregon. Bundy is one of the protesters occupying the refuge to object to a prison sentence for local ranchers for burning federal land (AP)

Ms Beirich wrote in a blog post that that centre believed the increase in the numbers of militia was a result of the stand-off in April 2014 between government officials and heavily armed anti-government activists in the Nevada desert.

The activists had gathered at the ranch of Cliven Bundy, whose dispute with the federal government over grazing rights and other issues dates back to 1993. The stand-off ended with the government authorities backing away from a cattle round-up, in order to avoid violence.

As it happens, at three of Mr Bundy’s sons are involved in the Oregon occupation and one of them, Ammon Bundy, has emerged as the leader of the group.

A member of the armed group involved in a stand-off at Cliven Bundy's ranch in April 2014 (Getty)

The protesters claimed they had gone to support local ranchers, Steven and Dwight Hammond, who have been involved in their own legal dispute with the federal government dating back a decade. The Hammonds have since made clear that they do not support the Bundy militia.

Harney County Sheriff David Ward said the Hammonds reported to court on Monday. Mr Ward called for the armed group of men to leave the community.

“We believe these armed extremists have been emboldened by what they saw as a clear victory at the Cliven Bundy ranch and the fact that no one was held accountable for taking up arms against agents of the federal government,” said Mr Beirich.

“When the federal government was stopped from enforcing the law at gunpoint, it energised the entire movement.”

She added: “The fact is, Bundy is still a free man and has not paid the money he owes to the federal government – and the militiamen who aimed rifles at federal agents have gotten away with it.”