FRIDAY, JANUARY 8, 2016
THE BAKER COUNTY PRESS — 7
Local
Hammonds
Imprisoned
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 5
Iler continued, “There
was discussion about
Ammon’s honesty and
about the lack of disclo-
sure of his real mission. A
disturbing twist was that
several members of these
3% cadre admitted that
they made arrangements to
have their children moved
to safe locations, which
makes me wonder if they
are telling the truth about
not knowing what was
obviously planned.
“But the ‘leaders’ at this
meeting were very defen-
sive about their innocence
in the Refuge-occupation
scheme. Nobody knew
what had really happened
there, and it was said that
the Feds had roadblocks
up. There was a lot of
concern in the room.
“Then a lady came in
who had just been down at
the Refuge headquarters.
She had photos on her cell
phone to verify that she
had seen at least 20 oc-
cupiers there, and that the
roads were not blocked.
Apparently, the place was
vacant over the weekend,
and no federal people were
even there. But nobody yet
knew the underlying pur-
pose for the occupation.
“Then someone got
Cliven Bundy on the phone
from Bunkerville, Nevada,
and put him on the speaker.
He mostly spoke about the
plight of the Hammonds
and the criminal conduct
of the BLM, and I don’t
remember much of what he
might have said about his
son Ammon’s involvement
except that he supported
his cause. I did not find out
until the next day that Am-
mon’s two brothers were
with him there.
“Also with him at the
Refuge are two other ‘free-
dom fighters’ that do not
have a sterling reputation,
and are known to have cre-
ated problems at the Sugar
Pine Mine, and those that
know these men are very
reluctant to follow them.
“Someone got Ammon
Bundy on their phone, and
put him on the speaker.
Ammon wanted to talk
about his reasons for his
acts, and his secrecy, etc,
but others demanded that
he come to where we were
at the Fairgrounds and
talk with us in person. He
agreed to come, but I see
now that it was impossible
for him to have come.”
In the end, Iler focused
back on the BLM and
Hammond conflict.
“We must learn from this
experience, and not allow
similar abuses within our
county,” he said.
Ken Taylor of Prineville
also attended the com-
munity meeting, the rally,
and has had conversations
with most of the parties
involved.
“In my conversations
with the Hammonds, one
thing always bothered me,”
he said. “Every consider-
ation the Hammonds had
to make was laced with
fear of the Federal agen-
cies.”
Taylor added, “Many
who were there for the
rally were from the com-
munity. Many were ranch-
ers. It was heartwarming to
see so many when so much
was done to cast fear into
the community about it.
“When we stopped at the
Hammonds’ house it was
emotional to see them step
out onto the little porch ...
Finally, it was time to let
them have their privacy
back and Dwight, holding
both hands up, said, ‘It’s
not about me it’s about our
country.’ He was so right
and yet so wrong. Dwight
Hammond is the essence of
our country and the treat-
ment he received at the
hands of an arrogant BLM
and an over-aggressive
Department of Justice is an
abuse of every American
and our country.”
Taylor added, “It seems
this effort by Ammon
Bundy and the others is
having the effect of gaining
national notice for a seri-
ous problem in our nation.
But it’s also putting a stain
on the professional efforts
of citizen groups that have
prepared to stand for the
rights of citizens. There
have been more than a few
instances where a citizen
has been subject to abuse
of their rights by arrogant
agencies and bureaucrats
where their peaceful but
strong intervention has
provided the required legal
process to go forward.
“If all things are con-
sidered if this situation
is diffused and steps are
put in place to remedy the
problems frames, ranch-
ers and miners have been
experiencing with federal
over-reach the occupation
or trespass on the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge
will have succeeded. I
doubt those participants
will ever receive acknowl-
edgment for putting this on
the national radar.
“When we ask people to
enforce incredibly stupid
and harmful regulations
and laws we put them in a
perilous place. Those that
are subjected to the non-
sense at some point have
little or no patience for it.
Rightfully so.
“I pray for the citizens of
Harney County. It’s a great
place with some fantastic
people. I also pray for
those who felt led to use
what at the moment is
little more than a warm-
ing hut in the remote and
snowy region of the MWR
to make a stand for their
cause. And lastly, I pray
for public officials with
the authority to act on this
and those that would have
to enforce the direction of
leadership.”
Kody Justus of Baker
City said simply, “Many
who had talked to Dwight
over the last few weeks
had begged him not to
report to federal prison.
Dwight explained he had
given his word and would
not go back on that. As I
stood in front of his house
watching him and his wife
talk with protesters I was
brought to tears.”
After the Rally.
Statements from law
enforcement and other or-
ganizations began coming
fast and furious after the
rally, and mainstream me-
dia moved into the Burns
area as news of the Refuge
takeover spread.
The FBI sent this press
release, “The FBI is
working with the Harney
County Sheriff’s Office,
Oregon State Police and
other local and state law
enforcement agencies to
bring a peaceful resolu-
tion to the situation at the
Malheur National Wildlife
Refuge. The FBI is the lead
investigative agency for
the situation at the refuge.
Due to safety consider-
ations for both those inside
the refuge as well as the
law enforcement officers
involved, we will not be
releasing any specifics with
regards to the law enforce-
ment response.”
Harney County Schools
were closed for the week.
Federal employees were
asked not to report to
work.
On Monday, the Harney
County Sheriff issued the
following: “My name is
David Ward, and I am the
Sheriff of Harney County.
The Hammonds have
turned themselves in today
at 1:37 p.m., in accordance
with the law, and are cur-
rently in custody at Federal
Correctional Institution in
California. Harney County
is a community of approxi-
mately 7,000 people; al-
most 5,000 of us live here
in the community of Burns
and Hines. This event has
had a significant impact
on that community. Our
goal is to work together to
restore calm and regular
services for the people we
serve.
“This incident originally
started when people from
outside the state arrived in
an attempt to prevent the
Hammonds from returning
to prison. This began as
a peaceful protest. It took
an unfortunate turn when
some of those people broke
off and began an armed
occupation of the Malheur
National Wildlife Refuge.
“The Harney County
Commissioners and I have
requested law enforcement
assistance from Oregon
State Sheriff’s Association
and Oregon State Police.
Sheriff’s Offices from
around the state have also
sent resources to assist us.
We requested this addition-
al support to make sure the
citizens of Harney County
are safe. This is our top
priority.
“I want to directly ad-
dress the people at the
wildlife refuge: You said
you were here to help the
citizens of Harney County.
That help ended when a
peaceful protest became an
armed and unlawful pro-
test. The Hammonds have
turned themselves in. It is
time for you to leave our
community. Go home, be
with your own families and
end this peacefully.”
Also on Monday, the Or-
egon Cattlemen’s Associa-
tion came out in support of
the Hammonds: “Oregon
ranchers Dwight and Steve
Hammond have left their
homes to report to a federal
prison. Both ranchers are
faithful, long-term Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association
members. Many have
asked where the associa-
tion stands on the Ham-
mond’s predicament...
“ ...While the Oregon
Cattlemen’s Association
does not agree with the
current legal action being
taken against the Ham-
monds, OCA will continue
to assist and represent the
Hammonds solely through
avenues that are in accor-
dance with the law.”
The OCA encouraged
members and the public
to sign a White House
petition to commute the
Hammonds’ sentence. That
link is: https://petitions.
whitehouse.gov/petition/
commute-sentences-
dwight-lincoln-hammond-
jr-and-steven-dwight-ham-
mond-both-harney-county-
oregon
The Oregon State Sher-
iff’s Assocation said, “This
statement is on behalf of
all 36 Sheriffs in the State
of Oregon. The Sheriffs of
Oregon are united in the
support of Harney County
and its residents. We are
supplying logistical and
operational support to the
community while the FBI
works for a peaceful reso-
lution with the militants
at the Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge.”
Baker County supplied
one deputy toward this
effort.
Elected Official
Responses.
By Wednesday, several
elected officials weighed
in on the Hammond family
situation.
Congressman Greg
Walden issued a more than
20-minute statement to
Congress. Said an impas-
sioned Walden, “...I know
the Hammonds. I have
known them for probably
close to 20 years. They
are longtime, responsible
ranchers in Harney County.
They have been sentenced
to prison not once, but now
twice...
“I have had the great
honor and privilege to rep-
resent Harney County for
a number of years ... over
10,000 square miles. There
are 7,000 souls inhabit-
ing it ... It is the public’s
land. That is true. But what
people don’t understand is
the culture, the lifestyle,
of the great American
West and how much these
ranchers care about the
environment, about the
future, about their children,
about America, and how
much they believe in the
Constitution. Now we see
the extent they will go to in
order to defend what they
view as their constitutional
rights.”
Walden continued, “Now,
I am not defending armed
takeovers. I do not think
that is appropriate. I think
the time has come for those
to consider that they have
made their case in the pub-
lic about what is happening
in the West, and perhaps it
is time for them to realize
they have made their case
and to go home.
“But I want to talk about
what happened with the
Hammonds. I want to put
in perspective what hap-
pens almost every year in
my district. That is these
enormous wildfires.
“The Miller Homestead
Wildfire in 2012 burned
160,000 acres, mostly in
this county, if not all; 250
square miles, a quarter
of the size of the State of
Rhode Island. That was
just in 2012. The Barry
Point Fire that year, in
Lake County, next door,
burned 93,000 acres. Last
summer alone, we burned
799,974 acres across
Oregon; that is both forest
and high desert. In 2012,
3.4 million acres burned in
Oregon ...
“The Hammonds are in
prison tonight for setting
a backfire that they admit
to, that burned 139 acres,
and they will sit in prison,
time served and time going
forward, five years, under a
law that I would argue was
never intended to mete out
that kind of punishment...
“I have told you I worked
with the Hammonds and
many ranchers in Harney
County. In the last years of
the Clinton administration,
despite their own agency’s
reviews and analysis, Bill
Clinton threatened to cre-
ate a giant monument on
Steens Mountain.
“When Secretary Bab-
bitt, the Interior Secretary
at the time, came before
the House Resources
Committee, of which I was
a member, I said: Mr. Sec-
retary, your own resource
advisory committees in
the area just reported that
there was no need for
additional protection on
Steens Mountain, and yet,
you and the President are
threatening to create this
national monument. Why
do you waste the time of
the citizens to go through
a process to determine if
additional protections are
needed and then ignore
what they came up with?
“...We went to work on
legislation. It took a full
year. I worked with the
Hammonds. I worked with
Stacy Davies, I worked
with all kinds of folks, put
a staffer on it full-time,
multiple staffs, and we
worked with the environ-
mental community and
others. And we created the
Steens Mountain Coop-
erative Management and
Protection Act, model leg-
islation, never been done
before, because I said: We
don’t have to live by past
laws, we write laws.
“So we wrote a new
law to create a coopera-
tive spirit of management
in Harney County. The
Hammonds were part of
that discussion. We saved a
running camp, Harlan Pri-
ority Runs. We protected
inholder. We tried to do all
the right things and create
the kind of partnership and
cooperation that the Fed-
eral Government and the
citizens should have.
“Fast forward on that
particular law. Not long
after that became law, and
it was heralded as this
monumental law of great
significance and new era
in cooperation and spirit of
cooperation, some of those
involved on the other side
and some of the agencies
decided to reinterpret it.
The first thing they tried to
do is shut down this kids’
running camp because
they said: Well, too many,
maybe more than 20, run
down this canyon and
back up, as they had for
many, many years. They
wanted to shut it down. So
we had to fight them back
and said: No, the law says
historical standards.
“Then the bureaucrats,
because we said: You
should have your histori-
cal access to your private
property, if you are up
on Steens Mountain, you
should maintain that access
like you have always had
it. Do you know what the
bureaucrats said? They
began to solicit from the
inholders in this area: How
many times did you go up
there last year? You see,
they wanted to put a noose
around the neck of those
who were inside. That was
a total violation of what
we intended, and we had to
back them off.
“See, the bureaucracy
wants to interpret the laws
we write in ways they
want, and in this case they
were wrong.
“Then, a couple of years
ago, I learned that, despite
the fact we created the first
cow-free wilderness in the
United States under this
law, and said clearly in this
law that it would be the
responsibility of the gov-
ernment to put up fencing
to keep the cows out, as
part of the agreement, the
Bureau of Land Manage-
ment said: No, we are not
going to follow that law.
And they told the ranchers
they had to build the fence.
“I networked with my
Democrat colleague from
Oregon, Mr. DeFazio,
who was part of writing
this law. I said: Peter, you
remember that, right? He
said: ‘Yeah, I didn’t like
it, but that was the case.’
BLM still wouldn’t listen.
So we continued to push it
and they argued back.
“Well, it turns out there
had been a second rancher
who brought this to my
attention who they were
telling had to do the same
thing, build a fence, when
the government was sup-
posed to under the law I
wrote. The arrogance of
the agency was such that
they said: We don’t agree
with you ... I know what
the intent of the law was ...
because I wrote the law, I
knew the intent.
“... The arrogance of
these agency people was
such that we had to go
to the archives and drag
out the boxes from 2000,
1999-2000, when we wrote
this law, from the hearings
that had all the records for
the hearings and the floor
discussions to talk about
the intent ... Do you under-
stand how frustrated I am
at this? Can you imagine
how the people on the
ground feel?
“You ridicule them. The
Oregonian is running a
thing, what do you send?
Meals for militia. Let’s
have fun with this. This is
not a laughing matter from
any consequence. Nobody
is going to win out of this.
“This is a government
that has gone too far for
too long. Now, I am not
condoning this takeover in
any way ... But I under-
stand and hear their anger.”
Walden added, “The
other thing that has to
change, the law under
which the Hammonds were
sentenced. Now, they prob-
ably did some things that
weren’t legal. I have given
you the size of the acre-
ages that burned naturally.
I haven’t gotten into the
discussion about how these
fires are often fought and
how the Federal Govern-
ment frequently will go
on private land and set a
fire without permission to
backburn. That happens all
the time.
“In fact, in the Barry
Point Fire down in Lake
County, they set fire on pri-
vate timberland as a back-
burn while the owners of
the property were putting
out spot fires down in the
canyon. I drove down there
afterwards. They are darn
lucky to have come out
alive. There was nobody
sentenced under the terror-
ism act there. Oh, heck no.
It is the government. They
weren’t sentenced. Nobody
was charged. Oh, it just
happened ... I can tell you,
a few years back in Harney
County, because I went and
held a meeting out there
right as the fire was being
put out, that the fire crews
came in, went on private
ground, lit a backfire on
private ground, behind a
fence line, that then burned
out the farmer’s fence,
the rancher’s fence, and
burned all the way over
and down into a canyon
where there was a wetland,
which would have been
the natural break to stop
the fire from the other side.
You see, they never needed
to burn that land.
“These things happen
in the course of fighting
fire. It doesn’t mean they
are right. But rare is it that
somebody ends up five
years in prison.
“Let me tell you what
the senior judge said when
he sentenced the Ham-
monds the first time, Judge
Michael Hogan, senior
Federal judge, highly
respected in Oregon. He
sentenced Dwight Ham-
mond to three months and
Steve to a year. There were
different offenses here.
“He said: ‘I’m not going
to apply the mandatory
minimum because to me,
to do so, under the 8th
Amendment, would result
in a sentence grossly dis-
proportionate to the sever-
ity of the offenses.’
“The Judge went on to
say: ‘And with regard to
the Antiterrorism and Ef-
fective Death Penalty Act
of 1996, this sort of con-
duct would not have been
conduct intended under the
statute.’
SEE HAMMONDS PAGE 8