Oregon standoff is latest in dispute over Western lands

Associated Press

BURNS, ORE.

The remote high desert of eastern Oregon became the latest flashpoint for anti-government sentiment as armed protesters occupied a national wildlife refuge to object to a prison sentence for local ranchers for burning federal land.

Ammon Bundy – the son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy, who was involved in a 2014 standoff with the government over grazing rights – is among the people at the headquarters of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge. It was unclear exactly how many people were taking part in the protests.

Ammon Bundy posted a video on his Facebook page asking for militia members to come help him. He said “this is not a time to stand down. It’s a time to stand up and come to Harney County,” where Burns is located.

Bundy and other militia members came to Burns last month, a small town about 280 miles southeast of Portland, Ore. They were upset over the looming prison sentences for local ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond. They went to the wildlife refuge Saturday evening after a peaceful rally in Burns to support the ranchers.

Dwight Hammond, 73, and Steven Hammond, 46, said they lit the fires on federal land in 2001 and 2006 to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.

The two were convicted of the arsons three years ago and served time – the father three months, the son one year. But a federal judge ruled in October that their terms were too short under U.S. minimum sentencing law and ordered them back to prison for about four years each.

The decision generated controversy and is part of a decades-long dispute between some Westerners and the federal government over the use of public lands. The issue traces back to the 1970s and the “Sagebrush Rebellion,” a move by Western states such as Nevada to increase local control over federal land. Critics of the push for more local control have said the federal government should administer the public lands for the widest possible uses, including environmental and recreational.

In an interview with The Associated Press at the wildlife refuge Sunday, Ryan Bundy, Ammon Bundy’s brother, said the protesters’ ultimate goal is to turn the land over to local authorities so people can use it free of federal oversight.

On Sunday, supplies were seen being delivered to the refuge area, which is remote even by rural Oregon standards.

Dwight Hammond has said he and his son plan to peacefully report to pristoday as ordered by the judge.