BURNS, Ore. (AP) – An armed group is occupying a building at a national wildlife refuge in Oregon and asking supporters around the country to join them. They came to contest a judge’s order sending two ranchers back to prison for setting fires on federal land, but they ultimately hope to turn over the property to local authorities so people can use it free of U.S. oversight.
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HOW DID THIS SITUATION BEGIN?
Tension has been building for weeks in the eastern Oregon over the case of Dwight and Steven Hammond. Dwight Hammond, 73, and son Steven Hammond, 46, said they lit 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 three years ago and served time – the father, three months; the son, one year. But in October, a federal judge in Oregon ruled their terms were too short under U.S. law and ordered them back to prison for about four years each.