Judge Denies Grazing Rights To Dwight And Steven Hammond

This is not a specifically wolf-related story, but it is related to the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupation of 2016, the so-called "patriot" movement, and broader land-use issues in the west, all of which are very near and dear to NWLobos's heart and have received extensive coverage here in the past.

Here's  a link to the OPB story on the issue, and lest we be accused of only linking to milquetoast liberal news organizations, here's a link to THE WESTERNER, a blog published by former New Mexico Secretary of Agriculture Frank DuBois who, while certainly not a wild-eyed extremist, appears to be far more sympathetic to the Hammonds than is NWLobos.

In any event, please do read the articles linked above, but if you can't, or just don't feel like it, the short version of the story is this:

Father and son ranchers, Dwight and Steve Hammond, whose legal misadventures sparked the Malheur Wildlife Refuge occupation, have had their grazing permit revoked by U.S. District Judge Michael H. Simon.   On Friday Judge Simon overturned former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke's order renewing said permit saying it was a "abuse of discretion."  

The Hammond Family.  I post this because I don't want to demonize anyone.  These are just regular people with whom I happen to disagree.  It's never personal.  No one can be blamed for wishing to protect the lifestyle they've cultivated for generations.    

Readers who have kept abreast of the Malheur fiasco will recall that the Hammonds were convicted of arson in 2012 for burning public land --ostensibly to protect "their" winter range, though also, allegedly, to cover up the illegal slaughter of deer-- were subsequently imprisoned and then became a cause célèbre for the "Patriot" Movement, ultimately resulting in the armed occupation of the Malheur Wildlife Refuge by a group led by brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy, sons of Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy who'd gained notoriety in 2014 as the leaders of an armed standoff between federal law enforcement and members of the "Patriot" Movement.

The upshot is that this ruling is generally good news for those of us who believe in the rule of law and the primacy of public over private interest with regard to the management of public land in the west.  It is also a blow to the Trump administration which has thus far deferred entirely to private land-use interests in the west, one suspects, out of an understanding of where it's base lies, rather than for anything resembling ideology.

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