The Hammonds were imprisoned after a drawn-out legal battle with the federal government after two fires started on their property leaked onto a small section of neighboring BLM ground.
The Hammonds admitted to starting two fires – one in 2001 to fight invasive species that burned 139 acres of public grazing land, and another in 2006 to protect against a wildfire that burned a single acre of public land.
The mandatory minimum sentence for the anti-terrorism charges the Hammonds faced was five years in prison, although the evidence at the trial regarding the Hammonds’ responsibility for the fire was conflicting and the jury acquitted them of most charges. However, noting that the Hammonds are respected in the community and given the conflicting evidence, a federal judge reduced the sentences to a year for Steven and three months for Dwight, which the two men served before returning to the ranch. An appeal from the Obama administration in October 2015 resulted in both men being sentenced to five years in prison.
“The exercise smacked of retribution and coercion, since the Hammonds remain one of the last private ranching families in the Harney Basin,” the Wall Street Journal reported. “The feds have been on a campaign to drive out private landowners to expand a federal bird refuge around Malheur Lake. In recent years the feds have revoked grazing permits, mismanaged water to let ranchlands flood and harassed ranchers with regulatory actions.”
The harsh treatment of the Hammonds provided the spark for the movement that resulted in the 41-day militia occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge led by Ammon and Ryan Bundy in February 2016. Family patriarch Cliven Bundy, who was released from prison in early January after a federal judge dismissed the federal case against him and his sons, told CBS that he was pleased with the Hammond’s release.
A statement from the White House regarding the Hammond’s pardon calls the Obama-era appeal “unjust.” “The Hammonds are devoted family men, respected contributors to their local community, and have widespread support from their neighbors, local law enforcement and farmers and ranchers across the West. Justice is overdue for Dwight and Steven Hammond, both of whom are entirely deserving of these grants of executive clemency.”
At the time of their release, Dwight, now 76, has served approximately three years in prison, and Steven, now 49, has served approximately four. They have also paid $400,000 to settle a civil suit from the federal government.
The Hammonds told The Oregonian that they were “doing a lot of decompressing,” and expressed thanks to Trump and those who supported them and their family throughout the ordeal. 
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Carrie Veselka
- Associate Editor
- Progressive Cattleman
- Email Carrie Veselka
PHOTO: Oil executive Forrest Lucas, founder of Protect the Harvest, a nonprofit advocacy group for farmers and ranchers, brought the Hammonds back home to Burns, Oregon, in a company jet on July 11. Photo screenshot courtesy of Protect the Harvest Facebook page.
