2021/02/27 08:56 PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Interior on Friday rescinded a January Trump administration decision to grant grazing allotments to an Oregon ranching family whose members were convicted of arson in a court battle that triggered the takeover of a federal wildlife refuge by right-wing extremists. The new memo from the Interior secretary’s office found that the Trump administration hadn’t allowed for sufficient time to receive and consider public challenges to the permit for Hammond Ranches Inc. It directed the Bureau of Land Management to further consider the matter. The Oregonian/OregonLive reports the latest action came just days before the cattle were expected to be turned out on public lands neighboring the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in eastern Oregon.
Laura Daniel-Davis, a senior advisor exercising delegated authority of the assistant secretary of land and minerals management, signed the Interior Secretary Office memo that rescinds the awarding of the grazing permit to Hammond Ranches Inc., and sends the matter back to the Bureau of Land Management for additional consideration.
Grazing rights rescinded for controversial Eastern Oregon ranchers
KTVZ file
Steven and Dwight Hammond, Dwight's wife Susie meet with crowd that greeted them in July 2018 at Burns Airport, day after the father and son were issued a presidential pardon and released from federal prison in California.
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Interior has rescinded a January Trump administration decision to grant grazing allotments to an Eastern Oregon ranching family whose members were convicted of arson in a court battle that triggered the takeover of a federal wildlife refuge by right-wing extremists.
The memo Friday from the Interior secretary’s office found that the Trump administration hadn’t allowed for sufficient time to receive and consider public challenges to the permit for Hammond Ranches Inc. It directed the Bureau of Land Management to further consider the matter.
Grazing rights rescinded for controversial Oregon ranchers mymotherlode.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from mymotherlode.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Environmental groups sue to overturn last-minute granting of grazing permit to Hammond Ranches
Updated Feb 25, 2021;
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Four environmental advocacy groups on Thursday sued the U.S. Interior secretary and federal Bureau of Land Management seeking to overturn the Jan. 19 decision to grant a 10-year grazing permit Hammond Ranches Inc. on the final day of former President Donald Trump’s administration.
The suit alleges the decision was “tainted by political influence” and that a “rushed and truncated public process” cut out opportunities for public participation required by law. It further accuses the federal government of granting the permit to the Hammonds over other applicants who were qualified and bypassing an administrative appeal process.
Photo grabbed from Maxine Bernstein/The Oregonian/OregonLive: https://www.oregonlive.com/oregon-standoff/2018/07/oregon_rancher_pardon_draws_sw.html
Dear Oregon Bureau of Land Management staffers,
I am writing today to ask you to please defend the proper administration of public lands. The recent decision to award Hammond Ranches, Inc. a livestock grazing permit and grazing preference to use four allotments in the Burns Field Office appears to have been politically influenced, and we need you to shed some light on the process.
In 2014, the Bureau refused to renew the Hammonds grazing permit, citing years of conflict and poor stewardship. The decision not to reissue the permit included the statement: “This narrative describes the actions of Dwight and Steven [Hammond] and demonstrates how the Hammonds violated BLM grazing regulations and the terms of Hammond Ranches, Inc.’s grazing permit, endangered the lives of numerous individuals including firefighters, and altered ecological conditions on public lands.” It goes on to describe multiple incidents of improper actions.