PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - The father and son of a prominent Oregon ranching family plan to surrender Monday to serve more time in prison for setting fires that spread to government lands they leased as cattle rangeland.
Seventy-three-year-old Dwight Hammond and 46-year-old Steven Hammond say they lit the fires in 2001 and 2006 to reduce the growth of invasive plants and protect their property from wildfires.
Background: Rancher, son guilty of setting Ore. range fires
The two were convicted three years ago and served time, but a judge ruled the terms were too short. Federal lawyers prosecuted the ranchers under an anti-terrorism law that they say required a five-year minimum sentence.
The decision to again imprison the Hammonds has generated controversy in a rural part of the state. It's also playing into a long-simmering conflict between ranchers and the U.S. government over the use of federal land.
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