Eastern Oregon cattle ranchers plead not guilty to illegally setting rangeland fires

Two members of a prominent Eastern Oregon cattle ranching family pleaded not guilty on Monday to charges they conspired to illegally set fires on federally managed grazing lands dating back years. Dwight L. Hammond Jr., 70, and his son, 43-year-old Steven D. Hammond, are accused of targeting rangelands in a Piper Super Cub airplane, then setting fires that burned through acreage managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The Hammonds, who own and operate Hammond Ranches Inc. near the community of Diamond, face a criminal trial set for June 12 in Pendleton. Government court papers suggest the Hammonds were displeased that "BLM 'takes too long' to complete the required environmental studies before doing controlled rangeland burning."...more