Where does anyone get the idea arsonists should be allowed to walk free to do it again? Is there any misunderstanding because I recall the west coast being on fire in ways no one expected.
A few years ago a US Forest Service employee set fire to a forest. I do believe she is in prison.
So long as people put on cowboy hats and boots they are above the law. I don't think so.
Members of the Hammond family (click here) post outside a ranch building on their property in Harney County in this undated photo. Steven Hammond, second from left, and his father, Dwight Hammond Jr., center, are due to report to federal prison on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.
December 31, 2015
By Les Zaita
October 7, 2015
...The jury convicted both of the Hammonds (click here) of using fire to destroy federal property for a 2001 arson known as the Hardie-Hammond Fire, located in the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area. Witnesses at trial, including a relative of the Hammonds, testified the arson occurred shortly after Steven Hammond and his hunting party illegally slaughtered several deer on BLM property. Jurors were told that Steven Hammond handed out “Strike Anywhere” matches with instructions that they be lit and dropped on the ground because they were going to “light up the whole country on fire.” One witness testified that he barely escaped the eight to ten foot high flames caused by the arson. The fire consumed 139 acres of public land and destroyed all evidence of the game violations. After committing the arson, Steven Hammond called the BLM office in Burns, Oregon and claimed the fire was started on Hammond property to burn off invasive species and had inadvertently burned onto public lands. Dwight and Steven Hammond told one of their relatives to keep his mouth shut and that nobody needed to know about the fire....
This a problem that has existed since 1994, using tactics seen with other right wing extremist issues. The death threats that let to the arson.
These are very dangerous people. They can't be indulged of their fantasy regarding the rights of the people of the USA. Evidently the Hammonds have rights that no other person in the USA has. I don't know of an arsonist that can simply call out for the arrival of a militia and hope to get away with arson.
For all the reporting of this there is no mention of the firefighters' lives in the path of danger, the cost in fighting the fire, the acres involved and what it cost to restore the burned forests.
October 3, 1994
By Kathie Durbin
Burns, Ore. - The arrest of Dwight Hammond, (click here) a hot-tempered eastern Oregon cattle rancher, has galvanized a nasty campaign of retribution against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
It all began when federal agents arrested Hammond and his son Steven, Aug. 3. That turned a long-simmering dispute over cattle, fences and water on the Malheur Wildlife Refuge into a bizarre Old West showdown.
Federal officials and a fence-building crew were attempting to build a fence to keep the Hammonds' cattle from trespassing on the refuge. When Hammond and his son obstructed federal workers, they were taken into custody by nine federal agents, five of whom were armed.
The Hammonds were charged with two counts each of felony "disturbing and interfering with" federal officials or federal contractors. The Hammonds spent one night in the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, and a second night behind bars in Portland before they were hauled before a federal magistrate and released without bail.
On Aug. 10, nearly 500 incensed ranchers showed up at a rally in Burns featuring wise-use speaker Chuck Cushman of the American Land Rights Association, formerly the National Inholders Association. Cushman later issued a fax alert urging Hammond's supporters to flood refuge employees with protest calls. Some employees reported getting threatening calls at home.
Cushman plans to print a poster with the names and photos of federal agents and refuge managers involved in the arrest and distribute it nationally. "We have no way to fight back other than to make them pariahs in their community," he said....
16.9 percent of federal prisoners are arsonists. Did they have a militia to threaten the lives of Americans and federal employees. Does the USA have to worry about still yet another fire being set if the Hammonds are given a pass on prison time? It think it is unfortunate sons are dragged into problems that belong to their father.
September 24, 1995
By Richard Cole
San Francisco — Arsonists are torching America's national forests for profit, (click here) making money on everything from fire equipment leases to burned timber.
And legislation passed by Congress in July could add even more fuel to the billion-dollar fire sale, critics say.
Americans don't realize the extent of arson in forest fires, said Michael Francis, director of national forest programs for the Wilderness Society in Washington.
"They think most fires are accidental, or caused by lightning. They'd be shocked," he said.
In the Southeast, 90% of the forest fires on federal land are deliberately set, said Allen Polk of the U.S. Forest Service. The figure is lower in the West, where lightning is a major factor--but that doesn't tell the whole story.
In California, only 12.8% of fires on state-controlled land are arson--but they account for 71.5% of the dollar damage, said Karen Terrill of the state forestry department.
A few years ago a US Forest Service employee set fire to a forest. I do believe she is in prison.
So long as people put on cowboy hats and boots they are above the law. I don't think so.
If Mr. Bundy has such great empathy for the Hammonds he should offer to service in prison for them. The Feds might give Mr. Bundy a good deal and allow him to serve his time consecutively with those as the Hammonds. The three can work off the fines Bundy owes the federal government and the people of the USA.
Members of the Hammond family (click here) post outside a ranch building on their property in Harney County in this undated photo. Steven Hammond, second from left, and his father, Dwight Hammond Jr., center, are due to report to federal prison on Monday, Jan. 4, 2016.December 31, 2015
By Les Zaita
...Their arrival in prison, (click here) scheduled for Monday, won't quiet the controversy that has swirled around their case for years.
The men were convicted of arson, but under a provision of an expansive federal law punishing terrorism. They each served prison terms that the sentencing judge thought just, only to be told by appellate judges they had to go back to serve longer.
Their case heightened debate about how the federal government runs its lands. The United States of America holds deed to three-fourths of Harney County. Ranching done for a century and more is under pressure from environmentalists, recreationalists, and hunters.
Across the country, there is deepened concern about how authorities apply justice. And the issue of how to use federal land affects anyone who has been to a national forest or a federal wildlife refuge....
The men were convicted of arson, but under a provision of an expansive federal law punishing terrorism. They each served prison terms that the sentencing judge thought just, only to be told by appellate judges they had to go back to serve longer.
Their case heightened debate about how the federal government runs its lands. The United States of America holds deed to three-fourths of Harney County. Ranching done for a century and more is under pressure from environmentalists, recreationalists, and hunters.
Across the country, there is deepened concern about how authorities apply justice. And the issue of how to use federal land affects anyone who has been to a national forest or a federal wildlife refuge....
October 7, 2015
...The jury convicted both of the Hammonds (click here) of using fire to destroy federal property for a 2001 arson known as the Hardie-Hammond Fire, located in the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area. Witnesses at trial, including a relative of the Hammonds, testified the arson occurred shortly after Steven Hammond and his hunting party illegally slaughtered several deer on BLM property. Jurors were told that Steven Hammond handed out “Strike Anywhere” matches with instructions that they be lit and dropped on the ground because they were going to “light up the whole country on fire.” One witness testified that he barely escaped the eight to ten foot high flames caused by the arson. The fire consumed 139 acres of public land and destroyed all evidence of the game violations. After committing the arson, Steven Hammond called the BLM office in Burns, Oregon and claimed the fire was started on Hammond property to burn off invasive species and had inadvertently burned onto public lands. Dwight and Steven Hammond told one of their relatives to keep his mouth shut and that nobody needed to know about the fire....
This a problem that has existed since 1994, using tactics seen with other right wing extremist issues. The death threats that let to the arson.
These are very dangerous people. They can't be indulged of their fantasy regarding the rights of the people of the USA. Evidently the Hammonds have rights that no other person in the USA has. I don't know of an arsonist that can simply call out for the arrival of a militia and hope to get away with arson.
For all the reporting of this there is no mention of the firefighters' lives in the path of danger, the cost in fighting the fire, the acres involved and what it cost to restore the burned forests.
October 3, 1994
By Kathie Durbin
Burns, Ore. - The arrest of Dwight Hammond, (click here) a hot-tempered eastern Oregon cattle rancher, has galvanized a nasty campaign of retribution against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
It all began when federal agents arrested Hammond and his son Steven, Aug. 3. That turned a long-simmering dispute over cattle, fences and water on the Malheur Wildlife Refuge into a bizarre Old West showdown.
Federal officials and a fence-building crew were attempting to build a fence to keep the Hammonds' cattle from trespassing on the refuge. When Hammond and his son obstructed federal workers, they were taken into custody by nine federal agents, five of whom were armed.
The Hammonds were charged with two counts each of felony "disturbing and interfering with" federal officials or federal contractors. The Hammonds spent one night in the Deschutes County Jail in Bend, and a second night behind bars in Portland before they were hauled before a federal magistrate and released without bail.
On Aug. 10, nearly 500 incensed ranchers showed up at a rally in Burns featuring wise-use speaker Chuck Cushman of the American Land Rights Association, formerly the National Inholders Association. Cushman later issued a fax alert urging Hammond's supporters to flood refuge employees with protest calls. Some employees reported getting threatening calls at home.
Cushman plans to print a poster with the names and photos of federal agents and refuge managers involved in the arrest and distribute it nationally. "We have no way to fight back other than to make them pariahs in their community," he said....
16.9 percent of federal prisoners are arsonists. Did they have a militia to threaten the lives of Americans and federal employees. Does the USA have to worry about still yet another fire being set if the Hammonds are given a pass on prison time? It think it is unfortunate sons are dragged into problems that belong to their father.
September 24, 1995
By Richard Cole
San Francisco — Arsonists are torching America's national forests for profit, (click here) making money on everything from fire equipment leases to burned timber.
And legislation passed by Congress in July could add even more fuel to the billion-dollar fire sale, critics say.
Americans don't realize the extent of arson in forest fires, said Michael Francis, director of national forest programs for the Wilderness Society in Washington.
"They think most fires are accidental, or caused by lightning. They'd be shocked," he said.
In the Southeast, 90% of the forest fires on federal land are deliberately set, said Allen Polk of the U.S. Forest Service. The figure is lower in the West, where lightning is a major factor--but that doesn't tell the whole story.
In California, only 12.8% of fires on state-controlled land are arson--but they account for 71.5% of the dollar damage, said Karen Terrill of the state forestry department.
