The Trump administration is once again pushing ahead with grazing permits for two men pardoned by President Trump
Donald TrumpSouth Carolina Senate adds firing squad as alternative execution method Ex-Trump aide Pierson won't run for Dallas-area House seat House Oversight panel reissues subpoena for Trump's accounting firm MORE whose arson conviction in part spurred the armed takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in Oregon.
A new year’s eve proposal from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) would allow Hammond Ranches to graze on lands in southeast Oregon. The ranch is operated by father-son duo Dwight and Steven Hammond who were convicted of setting fire to public lands in 2012.
The BLM subsequently revoked their grazing privileges in 2014 — a move that caught the eye of Ammon Bundy, escalating to a 2016 takeover of the refuge’s headquarters.
The notice from the BLM would give the Hammonds a permit “due to their extensive historic use of these allotments,” and gives the public 15 days to protest the decision.
Trump pardoned the Hammonds in 2018 and then-Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke
Ryan Keith ZinkeOvernight Energy: Interior finalizes plan to open 80 percent of Alaska petroleum reserve to drilling | Justice Department lawyers acknowledge presidential transition in court filing | Trump admin pushes for permits for men who inspired Bundy standoff Trump administration pushes for grazing permits for men who inspired Bundy standoff Interior secretary tests positive for COVID-19 after two days of meetings with officials: report MORE then sought to reinstate grazing permits for the ranchers.
But a judge revoked the permits in 2019, arguing it an “abuse of discretion” and that Interior didn’t undertake sufficient analysis to determine Hammond Ranches had a “satisfactory record of performance.”
