Claim: Judge considers Hammond Ranches grazing permit.
Verdict: SUPPORTS

Retrieved passages:
title: Timeline of the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
text: of Grant County, New Mexico, a convicted felon, renounced his federal grazing permit at the conference. The Oregon rancher was absent. Surprising other law enforcement officials, Grant County Sheriff Glenn Palmer made a statement saying that freeing the Hammonds "would be a start" in ending the occupation. On January 25, a man on his way to the occupation was arrested in Hines, Oregon, for driving under the influence of intoxicants and resisting arrest. Armed with a pellet gun, he claimed that he was planning on becoming a bodyguard for Ammon and Ryan Bundy, and also threatened to kill federal agents.

title: Hammond arson case
text: ranching in Harney County predates the 1908 establishment of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, with some cattle trails, including those used by the Hammond family, dating back to the 1870s. Disputes between cattle ranchers and the federal government over management of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge have gone on for "generations" and the situation has regularly deteriorated to taunts and threats directed at federal officials from ranchers since at least the early 1970s. In an effort to address concerns of neighboring landowners and interests, the completion of a 15-year management plan for the refuge heavily involved various stakeholders, including ranchers,

title: Hammond arson case
text: in its development process. The plan was completed in 2013 and won praise from some area ranchers for its collaborative approach. In June 1994, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge manager, Forrest Cameron, notified Dwight Hammond that his permit to graze his cattle and grow hay on the refuge was revoked. Two months later, Hammond and his son Steven obstructed the completion of a refuge boundary fence intended to keep their cattle out of the refuge's protected marsh and wetland, prompting their arrest by federal agents. The fence was needed to stop the Hammonds' cattle from moving onto the refuge after

title: Michael Robert Hogan
text: the United States Senate on September 12, 1991, and received commission on September 16, 1991. He served as Chief Judge from 1995 to 2002, and took senior status on September 24, 2011. In June 1994, the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge manager notified Dwight Hammond that his permit to graze his cattle and grow hay on the refuge was revoked. Two months later, Hammond and his son Steven obstructed the completion of a refuge boundary fence intended to keep their cattle out of the refuge's protected marsh and wetland, prompting their arrest by federal agents. The fence was needed to stop

title: Ann Aiken
text: ruled that the minimum sentences must be followed. Armed militiamen led by Ammon Bundy occupied the Malheur Wildlife Refuge near the Hammonds' ranch in protest of the ruling, demanding that the Hammonds be released and that the hundred-year-old wildlife refuge be given over to local control. The defendants in the case were granted a full Presidential pardon by President Donald J. Trump on July 10, 2018. Judge Aiken made a key decision in the case "Juliana v. United States", a suit brought by 21 youths against the U.S. government stating their rights to a clean environment were violated due to

title: Michael Robert Hogan
text: the Hammonds' cattle from moving onto the refuge after the ranchers had repeatedly violated the terms of their special grazing permit, which limited those times when they could move their cattle across refuge property. Officials also reported that Dwight had made death threats against refuge managers in 1986, 1988, 1991, and 1994; and that Steven Hammond also made incendiary remarks against them. In 1999 Steven started a fire, intending to burn off juniper trees and sagebrush, but the fire escaped onto BLM land. The agency reminded him of the required burn permit and that if the fires continued, there would

title: Grazing rights in Nevada
text: two miles of water sources he developed." In a similar case to Bundy's, ranchers in 2007 were sued by the Justice Department for trespassing on public domain lands in Nevada. The ranchers were alleged to have repeatedly grazed livestock without federal permits, despite repeated trespass notices from the BLM and the Department of Agriculture's Forest Service. In 2013, the court found in favor of the ranchers for all other charges, including water rights, grazing rights, and all but two livestock trespass charges in "United States v. Wayne Hage". In the ruling, the judge said, "government officials ... entered into a

title: Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
text: refuge as well as the releases of Dwight and Steven Hammond. He agreed to meet with the FBI again on the next day, but when the meeting occurred, Bundy left when the agent present declined to negotiate in front of the media. On January 23, the militants hosted a news conference at the refuge, promising news reporters that an Oregon cattle rancher and one from New Mexico would be present to sign papers renouncing their federal grazing permits. Only one rancher, Adrian C. Sewell of Grant County, New Mexico, a convicted felon, renounced his federal grazing permit at the conference.

title: Grazing rights in Nevada
text: Bunkerville allotment, and any livestock on that land are there illegally. The Bundy standoff is a 20-year legal dispute between the United States Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and cattle rancher Cliven Bundy in southeastern Nevada over unpaid grazing fees that eventually developed into an armed confrontation between protesters and law enforcement. The dispute began in 1993, when in protest against changes to grazing rules, Bundy declined to renew his permit for cattle grazing on BLM-administered lands near Bunkerville, Nevada. In 1998, Bundy was prohibited from grazing his cattle on the Bunkerville Allotment by the United States District Court for

title: Reactions to the occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
text: as a peaceful and legal protest has become unlawful. It was instigated by outsiders whose tactics we Oregonians don't agree with. Those individuals illegally occupying the Malheur Wildlife Refuge need to decamp immediately and be held accountable." In a January 4 press release, Harney County Judge Steven Grasty said that "[T]he Refuge is under federal jurisdiction. The County Court will stay engaged within the limits of our legal authority. ... The Hammond family is well respected in Harney County, [the] motivation of the militia groups that have descended on Harney County goes far beyond the troubles of the Hammond family

title: American Land Rights Association
text: have documented the burning of land by the Hammond family as affecting "139 acres of public land" to "destroy all evidence of game violations." The United States Department of Justice had also documented that "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." The ALRA believe that the Bureau of Land Management and the Fish and Wildlife Service had sentenced the Hammond family to "gain ownership of the Hammond ranch which is intermingled with Federal ground in the Malheur National Wildlife

title: Hammond arson case
text: recognizance, a rally attended by 500 other cattle ranchers was held in Burns, Oregon in support of the Hammonds. Some charges against the Hammonds were later dropped. In 2012, the Hammonds were tried in federal district court on multiple charges. During a break in jury deliberations, a partial verdict was rendered finding the Hammonds not guilty on two of the charges, but convicting them on two counts of arson on federal land. Striking a plea bargain, in order to have the four remaining charges dismissed and for sentences on the two convictions to run concurrently, the Hammonds waived their rights

title: Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
text: that Ward must shield Dwight and Steven Hammond against re-imprisonment. Ward recalled that when he explained that he did not have authority to shield the Hammonds from a lawful sentence, Bundy's and Payne's demeanor became threatening. Payne told Ward that if he did not shield the Hammonds from imprisonment, "thousands" of armed militiamen would come to the county to "do Ward's job" for him--and Payne pointedly noted that he might not be able to control what else the militia might do. By late fall, local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies noticed that members of anti-government militias had started to

title: Grazing rights in Nevada
text: as a "cattle gather." Sheriff Doug Gillespie negotiated with Cliven Bundy and newly confirmed BLM director, Neil Kornze, who elected to release the cattle and de-escalate the situation.. Cliff Gardner, a defendant in an illegal cattle grazing court case in Nevada, "United States v. Gardner", drew comparisons to his case when he said, "I think Cliven is taking a stand not only for family ranchers, but also for every freedom-loving American, for everyone. I’ve been trying to resolve these same types of issues since 1984." Gardner argued and lost on states' rights, similar to Bundy, and eventually served time for

title: White Grass Dude Ranch
text: of ten to live with his sister. In 1910 he worked for the Bureau of Reclamation at Jackson Lake Dam, then worked as a wrangler for the Bar B C. Hammond was intermittently available at the ranch, probably working at the Bar B C in 1914 and enlisting in the U.S. Army for two years from 1917. After 1919 Hammond and Bispham operated the dude ranch in earnest, doing away with most traditional ranching operations. By 1924 Bispham and Hammond sold out to the Bar B C, but continued to manage the White Grass. Hammond set up a fox farm

title: Grazing rights in Nevada
text: the federal government, that he had not been paying to use it as he should have been, that Bundy and his cattle were trespassing, and that the government had the right to enforce the injunctions against trespass. The court found that Bundy repeatedly violated the court orders and continued to have his cattle trespass. Elko County commissioner, Nevada rancher, and conservative Republican political activist Demar Dahl "notes that Bundy might benefit from following Nye County rancher Wayne Hage, who won a protracted battle with the federal government by successfully arguing that he had the right to graze his cows within

title: Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
text: 27, 2018, Walden pleaded for a pardon for the Hammonds on the floor of the House of Representatives, and in a statement issued July 1, Walden quoted Judge Michael Robert Hogan's opinion that sentencing the Hammonds even to the minimum mandatory sentence would "shock the conscious" and revealed that President Donald Trump was considering a pardon for the arsonists. Harney County held a primary election in May 2016 at which voters turned out in large numbers. All of the winning candidates had opposed the occupation. On January 26, 2018, LaVoy Finicum's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit in United States

title: Bundy standoff
text: Instead, as a protest, Bundy did not pay his renewal fees in 1993. His permit was canceled in 1994. Although the agency made several attempts to have Bundy renew the permit, he declared that he no longer recognized the BLM's authority to regulate grazing, and asserted that he had "vested rights" to graze cattle on the land. Federal courts have consistently ruled against Bundy, ruling him a trespasser with no right to graze on federal land. The courts authorized the BLM to remove Bundy's cattle and to levy damages for his unauthorized use. Bundy accumulated more than $1 million in

title: Taylor Grazing Act of 1934
text: be vacant, unappropriated, and unreserved land from public lands, all except for Alaska, national forests, parks, monuments, Indian reservations, railroad grant lands, and revested Coos Bay Wagon Road grant lands. Surrounding land owners may be granted right of passage over these districts. Permits are given for grazing privileges in the districts. Also permits can be given to build fences, reservoirs, and other improvements. The permittees are required to pay a fee, and the permit cannot exceed ten years but is renewable. Permits can be revoked because of severe drought or other natural disasters that deplete grazing lands. During the administration

title: Occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge
text: they described as a peaceful protest with Harney County Sheriff, David M. Ward, as well as request that the sheriff's office protect the Hammonds from being taken into custody by federal authorities. A sympathetic Ward declined Bundy and Payne's request. He later said that he began receiving death threats by email. Despite several early meetings with Bundy and Payne, the Hammonds eventually rejected their offers of assistance. On November 5, 2016, Ammon Bundy called Harney County David Ward and arranged a meeting later the same day. At the meeting, Ammon Bundy and Montana militiaman Ryan Payne insisted to Sheriff Ward