OBAMA
WANTS
MORE GUN
CONTROL
HERMISTON UMATILLA
BRINGS OUT BEATS
THE TALENT MAC-HI
REGION/3A
33/28
BASKETBALL/1B
NATION/4A
TUESDAY, JANUARY 5, 2016
140th Year, No. 57
One dollar
WINNER OF THE 2015 ONPA GENERAL EXCELLENCE AWARD
Standoff in
Harney Co.
Mark Graves/The Oregonian via AP
Brand Thorton, 63, of California, blows into an African
spiral horn Sunday at the Malheur National Wildlife
headquarters near Burns after armed protesters took
over the building Saturday.
Wildlife refuge
occupation part
of long-running
lands fight
The characters
By REBECCA BOONE
and BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press
BURNS — The small
group of armed anti-govern-
ment activists occupying a
remote wildlife preserve in
Oregon’s high desert gave
visitors free access to the
snowy site Monday, allowing
some local residents and
ranchers in to satisfy their
curiosity or show support.
The group also appeared
to be trying to keep the site
tidy, picking up cigarette
butts from the ground and
keeping vehicle and foot
traf¿ c primarily to roads and
pathways. Federal authorities
made no immediate attempt
to retake the headquarters of
the Malheur National Wild-
life Refuge, which about
two dozen activists seized
over the weekend as part of
a decades-long ¿ ght over
public lands in the West.
There appeared to be no
urgent reason for federal of¿ -
cials to move in. No one has
been hurt. No one is being
held hostage. And the refuge
is a bleak and forbidding
stretch of wilderness. It’s also
the middle of winter.
Some have complained
that
the
government’s
response to the situation in
Oregon would have been
more severe had the occu-
pants been Muslim or other
minorities.
But others said from
a tactical standpoint, the
government’s
cautious
response would make sense
no matter who was holed up
in the government building
in the reserve.
Meanwhile, the group
said it wants an inquiry into
whether the government is
forcing ranchers off their
land after the father and son
D. Hammond
S. Hammond
Dwight and Steven Hammond
Father and son ranchers from
Harney County who were convicted
in 2011 of arson for starting i res
that spread to federal land on which
they had grazing rights. Dwight, 74,
and Steven, 46, had served shorter
sentences that were overturned by
an appeals court and the men were
later forced to serve the full i ve-year
minimum sentence. The men report-
ed to prison in California on Monday,
but not before the protest in Burns
on Saturday.
Ammon Bundy
Mark Graves/The Oregonian via AP
Established in 1908, Malheur National Wildlife Refuge headquarters, seen here Monday is one of the
premier migratory bird habitats in the U.S., featuring Malheur Lake. Armed protesters took over the
Malheur National Wildlife Refuge on Saturday after participating in a peaceful rally over the prison
sentences of local ranchers Dwight and Steven Hammond. No workers were on duty when the armed
activists arrived.
who were ordered back to
prison for arson on federal
grazing lands reported to a
federal facility in California
Monday.
They demanded a govern-
ment response within ¿ ve
days related to the ranchers’
extended sentences.
Ammon Bundy — one of
the sons of rancher Cliven
Bundy, who was involved in
a 2014 Nevada standoff with
the government over grazing
rights — told reporters that
Dwight Hammond and his
son, Steven Hammond, were
treated unfairly.
The Hammonds were
convicted of arson three
years ago for ¿ res on federal
land in 2001 and 2006, one
of which was set to cover
up deer poaching, according
to prosecutors. They said
they lit the ¿ res to reduce the
growth of invasive plants and
protect their property from
See REFUGE/9A
Feds weigh options at refuge
By GENE JOHNSON
Associated Press
SEATTLE — The armed takeover
of a remote Oregon nature preserve
has put federal of¿ cials in a tough
spot: Should they confront the occu-
piers or lay off, given that the public
faces no imminent harm?
The former risks bloodshed. The
latter risks emboldening anti-gov-
ernment groups and possibly giving
the impression that authorities treat
the white armed anti-government
activists with more deference than,
say, young black men in the city.
A look at some of the key issues
surrounding the federal response to
the takeover at Malheur National
Wildlife Refuge south of Burns:
Race and religion
About 20 people are occupying
the refuge in the frigid high desert to
protest the prison sentences of two
ranchers who set ¿ re to federal land.
They want the property turned over to
local authorities so people can use it
free of U.S. oversight.
President Barack Obama said
Monday that federal authorities were
monitoring the situation, but agents
made no apparent moves to surround
the property or confront the group
— an approach that reÀ ected lessons
learned from bloody standoffs at
Ruby Ridge, Idaho, and Waco, Texas,
in the early 1990s.
But it also prompted complaints
from many observers who suggested
the government’s response would
have been swifter and more severe
had the occupants been Muslim or
other minorities.
“Every time something like
this occurs, we use the phrase, ‘If a
Muslim had done it,’ and we imagine
the completely different response that
would follow,” said Ibrahim Hooper,
spokesman for the Council on Amer-
ican-Islamic Relations. “You don’t
have to stretch your imagination to
See RESPONSE/9A
Son of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy
who was at the center of an armed
standoff with
federal agents in
2014 over grazing
rights. Ammon,
40, is the spokes-
man for the group
of about 20
armed protesters
who splintered off
from the Ham-
mond demonstra-
Ammon Bundy
tion to occupy a
federal wildlife
refuge at Lake Malheur. He said the
group’s goal is to redistribute the
land to the people of Harney County.
Sheriff Dave Ward
The Harney County Sheriff has been
an outspoken critic of the armed
protesters, saying
Sunday they had
come to over-
throw local and
federal govern-
ment and spark
a national move-
ment. He told the
group Monday in a
press conference
to “go home, be
David Ward
with your own
families and end
this peacefully.” The FBI and Oregon
State Police are also on scene.
Eden, Edgar ¿ rst Umatilla County babies of 2016
By JADE MCDOWELL
East Oregonian
Staff photo by E.J. Harris
New mother Hannah Hiltz holds her newborn daughter, Eden Elizabeth
Adele Stewart, on Monday at her home in Pendleton. Stewart was born
on Friday, Jan. 1, making her Umatilla County’s fi rst baby of the year.
It’s not uncommon for multiple
mothers to be in the running for the
¿ rst baby of the new year in Umatilla
County, but 2016 had a clear winner.
Eden Elizabeth Adele Stewart was
born at 5:58 p.m. on New Year’s Day
in St. Anthony Hospital to Hannah
Hiltz and Tyler Stewart of Pendleton.
She was the only baby of the day at
St. Anthony, and Good Shepherd
Medical Center’s ¿ rst baby of the
year didn’t come until Jan. 3.
“We were the only ones in the
birthing center that night, so that was
really exciting,” Hiltz said.
Eden made her entry into the
world Friday night weighing in at
seven pounds, four ounces. Hiltz said
after nine months of pregnancy and
12 hours of labor she was incredibly
excited to meet her ¿ rstborn child,
and Eden did not disappoint.
“She’s just wonderful and I love
her so much,” she said.
Stewart had already gone back to
work on Monday, but Hiltz said he
couldn’t stop staring in wonder at his
daughter when he was home.
“He’s in love with her,” Hiltz said.
“He was excited before, but now he’s
so excited.”
She said Eden’s ¿ rst name is in
reference to the Garden of Eden,
the paradise where Adam and Eve
dwelled in the opening chapters of
the Bible. Her parents couldn’t decide
between Elizabeth and Adele for her
middle name, so decided to use both.
So far the baby makes lots of
“goofy faces,” Hiltz said, and is a
“fantastic sleeper.”
See BABIES/10A