“By allowing these lawbreaking extremists back on public lands, the Trump administration is sending the message that politics will always trump our American birthright,” said Chris Saeger, Western Values Project executive director, in a statement released following the news that the Hammond family in Harney County, OR, had gained their 10-year grazing permit back.
Just before leaving as the Interior Secretary, Ryan Zinke followed suit with President Donald Trump’s previous action of pardoning Dwight and Steve Hammond of arson charges by restoring their grazing permit through 2024. This was one of his final actions while serving, even though the statement reads from Jan. 2. Current acting Interior Secretary David Barnhardt saw the actions through.
This is another win for the Hammonds while some activists like Saeger are openly opposing any positive news this family is receiving. Under this more agriculture-friendly administration, we have seen many situations like this unfold, where commonsense facts are being used to make sound and unprejudiced decisions.
A statement released by NCBA’s Public Land Council (PLC) President Bob Skinner and NCBA President Kevin Kester said, “In light of a full and unconditional presidential pardon, the reissuance of the Hammond ranchers’ grazing permits is the final step in righting the egregious injustices the Hammonds faced.”
I am happy for the Hammond family in receiving another victory. Even though the damages, hardships and government bullying for decades can’t be undone, establishing a life of normalcy in getting back to ranching is definitely a move in the right direction.
“This is the culmination of years of effort on behalf of this industry to restore a family’s livelihood,” continued the NCBA and PLC statement.
Nearly every headline for news released since Wednesday, Jan.30, has included a reference to the standoff brought on by Ammon and Ryan Bundy and their followers. To make it clear, the Hammond family never sought any attention, nor did they encourage any standoff, especially seizing a government-owned building with arms. These are two completely separate stories.
The Hammond family stood in courtroom after courtroom fighting the process in a legal, civilized manner for several years. Although the sentence handed down called them “terrorists,” anyone who knows them personally knows this statement couldn’t be more inaccurate. It makes sense the pardons came through. They just simply aren’t terrorists; they are cattle ranchers and stewards of their lands. They were sent to prison for backfires set on their own land to protect it, and inadvertently burned a small acreage of public land.
Are the Hammonds completely innocent of all charges? Clearly, that was decided by the courts and is not for me to judge. Dwight and Steven have spent a combined seven years in prison and paid $400,000 in restitution. What is up to me is to point out that this story contains two families, not just one. Two families relatively unconnected to one another that were involved in totally separate matters.
The Bundy family, no matter how well-intentioned in their Oregon standoff, had their own dealings with government officials in Nevada that led to a widely publicized turn of events. When the standoff occurred in Malheur County, OR, a few years later, the stories were connected solely because of the Bundy family’s actions. In the end, the 41-day standoff did not help the Hammonds, although many activists like Saeger are grouping the two situations together.
Most activist organizations that challenge ranchers’ use of public lands are upset with this decision to restore the Hammond grazing permit. The Hammond story goes back several decades before finally erupting into the decision that sent this story spiraling into realms no one saw coming. It is very nice to see this story come back to a healthy cognitive thought process. We see all too often situations where use of courtrooms, regulations and special interest funds are used against the people who are caring for the land more than anyone else. — LOGAN IPSEN
