The U.S. attorney for Oregon says a Harney County ranching family engaged in a conspiracy to set fires on public land. For more than 20 years the men allegedly started fires after lightning storms.
The Bureau of Land Management purposely burns rangeland in eastern Oregon. According to the indictment, rancher Dwight Hammond Jr and his son Steven Dwight Hammond thought environmental studies were delaying those controlled burns.
So they set their own fires on public land on Steens Mountain and even monitored the fires with a plane.
According to the indictment, in 2006, the Hammonds drove by a fire engine on their way to start a burn. The firefighters tried to stop the Hammonds. The two men set a fire anyway.
That confrontation led to the government investigation.
Bill Hoyt is president of the Oregon Cattleman’s association. He’s known the Hammonds for years.
Bill Hoyt: "These are good folks who have probably gotten themselves in an uncomfortable and unfortunate situation. I’m sure the rest of the ranching community supports them as I do”
A member of the Hammond family declined to comment. The ranchers will hear the charges against them in court next month.