Cattle graze in Eastern Oregon.

Roughly a month after their grazing permit was restored, Oregon’s Hammond family has again lost access to four federal allotments totaling 26,400 acres.

The U.S. Interior Department has reversed its decision to re-issue the Hammonds’ grazing permit after several environmental groups filed a lawsuit challenging the decision, claiming it violated administrative, environmental and land management laws.

The federal government re-authorized the 10-year grazing permit on Jan. 19, the Trump administration’s final day in office, after initially announcing the proposal on Dec. 31.

However, the Interior Department now says that interested parties weren’t notified of the proposed re-authorization for several days, which means they didn’t get the required 15 days to file a protest.

The agency said the rescission isn’t a “final determination” in the case and has ordered the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which regulates the allotments, to reconsider the decision.

“On remand, the BLM is encouraged to initiate any additional processes and opportunities for public involvement that it may determine appropriate under applicable law following a careful and considered review of protests,” the rescission notice said.

In previously re-issuing the grazing permit, the Interior Department cited the Hammond family’s historic use and proximity to the federal property.

Steven Hammond, who operates the ranch, and his father, Dwight, originally lost permission to graze the allotments near Diamond in Harney County in 2014 when the government refused to renew their permit after they were criminally charged with setting fires to rangelands.

The Hammonds were convicted and completed their initial prison terms, then ordered back behind bars after the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled they had to serve five-year mandatory minimum sentences for arson.

Their return to prison in early 2016 sparked protests that culminated in a month-long stand-off with federal agents at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge that attracted national attention.

The ranchers were released early in 2018 after receiving a full pardon from former President Donald Trump, which prompted the Interior Department to renew their grazing permit the following year due to “changed circumstances.”

However, environmental groups convinced a federal judge to reverse that decision in 2019 because the grazing permit was renewed contrary to regulations.

The Interior Department then opened up the grazing allotments to applications from other ranchers but ultimately decided to issue a new permit to the Hammond family.

The Western Watersheds Project, Oregon Natural Desert Association, Wildearth Guardians and Center for Biological Diversity filed another lawsuit seeking to rescind the grazing permit’s most recent approval.

The environmental plaintiffs argued the federal government’s decision involved “rushed, opaque, and highly unusual public processes” that were “tainted by political influence and are not the product of reasoned, lawful decision-making,” the complaint said.

According to the complaint, the federal government approved the grazing permit “without opportunities for public participation required by law” and wrongly determined the Hammonds were more qualified than other applicants.

The decision also didn’t comply with land use protections for the sage grouse and with a statute aimed at conserving the “long term ecological integrity” of Steens Mountain in Eastern Oregon, the complaint said.

Steven Hammond and Alan Schroeder, an attorney for the family, were not available for comment as of press time.