Trump administration pushes for grazing permits for men who inspired Bundy standoff

The Trump administration is once again pushing ahead with grazing permits for two men pardoned by President Trump 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 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.”