PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — A senior adviser in the U.S. Department of Interior has rescinded a January Trump administration decision to grant grazing allotments to an Oregon ranching family whose members were convicted of arson in a court battle that triggered the takeover of Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by right-wing extremists.
The memo Friday from the Interior secretary’s office found that the Trump administration hadn’t allowed for sufficient time to receive and consider public challenges to the permit for Hammond Ranches Inc.
It directed the Bureau of Land Management to further consider the matter.
Steven Hammond, co-owner of the ranch, and his father, Dwight, were both convicted of arson for setting fire to range land and sent to prison for mandatory five-year sentences.