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Oregon occupation a year later: Ranch family at center...'scared to death' (OREGON STANDOFF)
OregonLive ^ | 12/30/2016 | Maxine Bernstein

Posted on 01/05/2017 3:59:33 AM PST by Nextrush

BURNS--A knock on the front door awakened Susie Hammond....

She struggled out of bed, hobbled by an aching right hip, and limped to the front of her small house.....

"Susan?" one of them said. "My name is Ammon Bundy."

So began Hammond's passage from 75-year-old matriarch of an eastern Oregon ranching clan to reluctant symbol of the rural West's revolt against federal ownership of vast resource-rich rangeland.

Bundy often invoked the story of Hammond's husband, Dwight Jr. and their youngest son Steven, convicted of setting fires on public lands and ordered back to prison to serve out five-year sentences.....

Susie Hammond wasn't equally enamored of Ammon Bundy.

Her family didn't invite the attention and didn't want it, she said in her first extensive interview since Bundy launched his surprise occupation on Jan. 2....

But over the past year, Susie Hammond has changed. She's come to appreciate Bundy's stand and populist politicking.... his family's fight over cattle grazing rights in Nevada has parallels to her own family's conflict. She's tracked Bundy's arrest, trial and acquittal.......

The men, used to the wide open spaces of the high desert, live in a barracks-style building and share a bunk.....

"It's just cement and razor wire. I went down once. I'm not going again. I can't do anything about it," Susie Hammond said, her voice trailing off. "I just have to hope that the good Lord will keep them safe."

She paused, then added, "I think Dwight thinks his working life is over.".....

.. Rusty Hammond supported the Bundys from the start.....He was called as a witness by the Bundy defense at the trial, testifying that his father was threatened by the government for his contact with Ammon Bundy.

"Without the Bundys and their bunch," Rusty Hammond said, 'you wouldn't know the name of Hammond.".....

(Excerpt) Read more at oregonlive.com ...


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Crime/Corruption; Extended News; US: Oregon
KEYWORDS: hammondfamily; oregon; oregonstandoff; squatters
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To: Gaffer

President Trump should pardon a group of Patriots who have been wrongfully imprisoned. They are truly political prisoners.

There are many environmentalists who have done worse things than the Bundy’s and LaVoy Finicumey. They were simply given a slap on the wrist. The government is holding these men without a fair trial.


21 posted on 01/05/2017 8:08:08 AM PST by azkathy (We the people are FED UP-pun intended!!!)
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To: Gaffer

President Trump should pardon a group of Patriots who have been wrongfully imprisoned. They are truly political prisoners.

There are many environmentalists who have done worse things than the Bundy’s and LaVoy Finicumey. They were simply given a slap on the wrist. The government is holding these men without a fair trial.


22 posted on 01/05/2017 8:08:10 AM PST by azkathy (We the people are FED UP-pun intended!!!)
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To: azkathy

I fully agree. If they won’t charge, try, convict, sentence and imprison racists white-haters in Chicago, then these Patriots should be freed as a first response measure.


23 posted on 01/05/2017 8:11:05 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: bert
Actually the BLM keeps track and administers the vast western land holdings of the US Government. Your statement is without basis nor merit.

It has great merit. All Federal lands not essential for the function of the Federal Government i.e. military and government installations etc., should be given to the respective states to administer as each individual state sees fit.

Once this is done, immediately abolish the BLM.

24 posted on 01/05/2017 8:16:03 AM PST by cpdiii (Deckhand, Roughneck, Mud Man, Geologist, Pilot, Pharmacist, THE CONSTITUTION IS WORTH DYING FOR.)
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To: azkathy

They had a trial and were found Not Guilty on all counts here in Oregon. Now they are being held for a trial in Nevada.

I’m hopeful that Trump’s AG will direct them to be released and drop the Nevada trial.


25 posted on 01/05/2017 8:20:58 AM PST by Valpal1 (I am enjoying the lamentations of their girly-men on social media.)
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To: Gaffer

How many times does a forest fire start on federal land and end up burning peoples homes and sometimes even hurting or killing people yet no-one in the federal government is held responsible or put up on arson charges.

In the case of Dwight and Steven Hammond there is clear evidence that they were harassed by the BLM and the government. They top the list of the patriots who should be pardoned. They used customary fire tactics (backburn) to try and save their property, they already served one sentence when the gov went back after them and resentenced them.


26 posted on 01/05/2017 8:28:33 AM PST by azkathy (We the people are FED UP-pun intended!!!)
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To: azkathy

I completely agree. But I think the only avenue available to the affected two is to pardon them and gut the damn BLM to the point of starvation.


27 posted on 01/05/2017 8:32:22 AM PST by Gaffer
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To: DoodleDawg

I’m a Strict Constitutionalist,hopefully the USSC will be stacked with more like me soon. Its called a plain language Supreme Law not one that takes 20 pages of parsing to get around.


28 posted on 01/05/2017 9:10:42 AM PST by Mechanicos
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To: Mechanicos
I’m a Strict Constitutionalist,hopefully the USSC will be stacked with more like me soon. Its called a plain language Supreme Law not one that takes 20 pages of parsing to get around.

Maybe you can get them to outlaw the Air Force while you're at it.

29 posted on 01/05/2017 9:46:58 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: bert

Don’t know where you iive, but I live where the BLM sets all the rules. The state of Nevada has over 87% of it’s land mass controlled by the Feds. How would you like that in the state where you live?

The arbitrarily set rules & sometimes those rules are charged retroactively. The Feds gave permission (as did the state) to the Hammonds to set a backfire when their hay supplies, home, equipment & grazing pastures were under threat from a totally out of control fire.

Then— AFTER the fire was out—they decided that ‘some small acreage of Federal controlled land’ was burned. Since the Hammonds have Fed grazing rights, they were protecting ALL the surrounding land in working to stop the fire.

The Hammonds had permission to set the backfire——THEN the Feds charged them. This whole incident has been out of control from the beginning-—and for those of you who wonder why the Feds are going after the Hammonds & others, known resources of valuable minerals are in those areas, including uranium-—which Shrillary Clinton as Sec of State with Obama as full accomplice SOLD to the Russians.

The Bundy fiasco was over water——the Bundy ranch is the LAST ranch of 52 that all were on the same aquifer in S Nevada. 51 sold out or were driven out. Only the Bundy Ranch is left. Harry Reid & the Southern Nevada Water Authority are on a march to put all the water in Nevada under their control. They have been building Las Vegas resorts, golf courses & other entertainment casinos at a very fast pace, and they need alot of water to keep washing those sheets!!!

Harry Reid & the SWNA spent years buying up every ranch for sale in eastern Nevada & stripping the irrigation water rights off those lands. Now- SNWA owns water that was assigned to ranches in valleys a long way away from Las Vegas. Harry wanted a 490 mile pipeline to MOVE that water to LV. A Judge finally shut down that plan, but those ranches are now basically worthless, and the land is fallow. Another Dust Bowl in the making.

Harry Reid & his son- Rory Reid have also been working with a Chinese company to put a large solar array into that valley. Steal the land & use the sun at the same time they are draining the aquifer. Both the Reids are behind the Bundy problems

IF you don’t know alot about these events, I suggest that you find RANGE MAGAZINE on the internet & perhaps order a subscription. Quarterly, $20 a year. There is rarely an issue that does NOT have an article about the water grabs in the Western states.

We have had over 4 years of drought here in N Nevada. Prices for HAY quadrupled. Now, the State Water Commission is demanding that EVERY domestic well owner give up 75% of the water WE OWN—Bought WITH the property when we bought the property. NONE of us were ever informed by disclosure when we bought that any person in the state-—much less ONE person Harry Reid controls -—could cut our water from 2 acre feet a year to 1/2 acre foot a year. NO OUTSIDE watering at all-—NO GARDENS—NO TREES—NO FLOWERS-—& NO WATERING OF LIVESTOCK!!!!! None of us have ‘lawns’ already, since this is sand & sage brush territory. As far as I am concerned, this has been YEARS of Real Estate FRAUD. We were sold something we thought we OWNED & CONTROLLED ourselves-—and now we are told THEY control OUR water & can take it from US to allocate to all the new businesses Nevada is attracting. Those new businesses also ring in thousands of new employees—with families—& they all need water for toilets—showers—laundry—dishwashers, etc. The houses being build en masse north of Reno are all being built with LAWNS. WE own this water—it is called an APPURTENANCE to our parcels. Now—the politicians are trying to take it away to support the new housing & the new employees coming to Nevada. Perhaps an economic boon to some, but think about 300,000 people getting their current water they own getting cut to 25% with the stroke of a pen.

About 85% of the population of Nevada lives in Clark & Wahoe counties. The other 15% live on DOMESTIC wells, or get their water from very small ‘municipal water systems’.

Even if only 10% of the population has a domestic well, that is still over 300m000 persons who live a rural life style & some of us live remotely. I know people who go 3 miles to their mail box—and never leave their property!!

However, I & many others bought property where we could have our horses—goats—dogs—sheep—chickens, etc. How much water does a chicken need? Apparently too much for Harry Reid & his cohorts to give a damn about. On the one hand, the local media is always touting the benefits of growing your own food in your own garden——and now the State Water Master wants complete control over all of our domestic wells....and no gardens!!!

Taking that much of our water will devalue our properties to a very dangerous level. I would say we would be lucky to get 20% of the real value if we don’t have water.

That will lead to retired people being unable to get reverse mortgages if they need them. The state has a high number of retired people. When we all die—our heirs won’t be able to sell our properties-—so why would they continue to pay the taxes? In a matter of a very short time, the county will be the largest property owner-—because of UNPAID taxes. The county won’t be able to sell the properties for anything either, without water.

The will lead to a financial collapse of the rural counties of Nevada. Only Washoe county (Reno) & Clark County (Las Vegas) are more suburban.

Want to get an idea of how rural some of this state is? Look closely at those maps that Verizon & others use to show their ‘coverage’. Lots of gaps in N Nevada & Utah. They have their own water problems.

Think I am wrong? Get into the Legislative websites in Nevada and find SB 47, which will be put in front of the incoming Legislature for consideration. It is 20 pages long & quite dry, but they are intent on stealing our water.

This state is full of retirees, like myself. We saved & sold larger properties to buy here and have no mortgage on Soc Sec incomes. Now- All of our value in our largest assets are being fragmented & we seem to have no say in the matter. We are pretty angry over this.


30 posted on 01/05/2017 10:09:25 AM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: marron

The Feds are NOT the owners-—The STATES own these properties—The Feds have run over the states-—just like Obama deciding a couple of weeks ago that he was setting up 2 more national Monuments against the wishes of the people in Nevada & Utah.

ALso—this week—the BLM decided that over 16 MILLION acres needed to be off limits for any kind of mining to protect the Sage Grouse. That is the kind of mischief the BLM is doing.

There already are permitted & accredited mines inside those 16 MILLION acres-—so how would you like to hold stock in those companies??? or be an employee??


31 posted on 01/05/2017 10:15:32 AM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: DoodleDawg

You are wrong. You don’t live with the attitudes of the BLM, etc.


32 posted on 01/05/2017 10:23:17 AM PST by ridesthemiles
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To: Valpal1

They had a trial and were found Not Guilty on all counts here in Oregon. Now they are being held for a trial in Nevada.

...

That’s because they were overcharged. And some of the group made plea deals and weren’t part of the trial.


33 posted on 01/05/2017 10:24:42 AM PST by Moonman62 (Make America Great Again!)
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To: ridesthemiles
You are wrong. You don’t live with the attitudes of the BLM, etc.

What part was I wrong on?

34 posted on 01/05/2017 10:36:02 AM PST by DoodleDawg
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To: ridesthemiles

Thank you for the informative post. The Sagebrush Rebellion is unknown to most Americans.

Agenda 21 rural cleansing is just a conspiracy theory doncha know.


35 posted on 01/05/2017 11:58:01 AM PST by Valpal1 (I am enjoying the lamentations of their girly-men on social media.)
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To: DoodleDawg

Not a bad idea. Fold the Chair Force back into the Army. If its good enough for the Navy and Marines to do with their air wings its good enough for the Army to do it again and will help cut costs.


36 posted on 01/05/2017 12:30:53 PM PST by Mechanicos
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To: bert
Actually the BLM keeps track and administers the vast western land holdings of the US Government.

That task should be turned over to the states. There should be no "vast western land holding of the U.S. Government" it should be state land. In fact much of it should be sold to the ranchers that already own grazing rights and or water rights.

37 posted on 01/05/2017 12:37:24 PM PST by Tammy8 (Please be a regular supporter of Free Republic !)
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To: ridesthemiles
(responding to your PMail reply to me)

Obama Declares Site Of The 2014 Bundy Standoff A National Monument

Alert: Obama seizes Bundy Ranch area in massive last minute land grab

38 posted on 01/05/2017 2:44:37 PM PST by UCANSEE2 (Lost my tagline on Flight MH370. Sorry for the inconvenience.)
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To: UCANSEE2

I disagree. It’s agenda 21.


39 posted on 01/05/2017 2:54:58 PM PST by MarMema
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To: ridesthemiles
ALso—this week—the BLM decided that over 16 MILLION acres needed to be off limits for any kind of mining to protect the Sage Grouse. That is the kind of mischief the BLM is doing.

That's not mischief. That's ecoterrorism. That's the Sierra Club and friends who want to rewild over half the planet. It's called Agenda 21. Or globalism. Or sustainability.

40 posted on 01/05/2017 2:57:14 PM PST by MarMema
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