….for context, I needed a refresher.
Add more if I'm missing the gist ….
"Dwight Hammond, 73, and his son, Steven, 46, were convicted by a federal jury in 2012 of using fire to destroy federal property, according to the Oregon U.S. Attorney’s office.
The fires were set on land managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management. The Hammonds leased grazing rights for the property from the BLM.
According to prosecutors the 2001 fire was located in the Steens Mountain Cooperative Management and Protection Area. The U.s. Attorney’s Office said:
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.
Steven Hammond was convicted in the 2006 arson, which occurred in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge:
An August lightning storm started numerous fires and a burn ban was in effect while BLM firefighters fought those fires. Despite the ban, without permission or notification to BLM, Steven Hammond started several ‘back fires’ in an attempt save the ranch’s winter feed. The fires burned onto public land and were seen by BLM firefighters camped nearby. The firefighters took steps to ensure their safety and reported the arsons."
https://
heavy.com/news/2016/01/dwight-steven-hammond-oregon-ranchers-protest-prison-arson-fire-land-charges-sentences-age-bundy-armed-militia-judge-photos-family/