Homeless camp in Oregon national forest to be cleared

BEND, Ore. (AP) — The U.S. Forest Service on Thursday is set to evict dozens of homeless people living in an encampment in a federal forest in central Oregon.

The federal agency has been working for years on plans to close part of the Deschutes National Forest near Bend for forest restoration and wildfire mitigation. But the number of people living in that part of the forest has grown, with many losing homes during the coronavirus pandemic due to job losses and high housing costs, said Jesse Rabinowitz, spokesperson for the National Homelessness Law Center.

People who refuse to leave could face one year in jail, $5,000 in fines or both, Rabinowitz said.

He said it will be the Trump administration's first significant homeless encampment eviction. It also comes on May Day, which commemorates the struggles of the working class for fair wages and better working conditions around the globe.

Four people living in the encampment, along with two homeless advocates, filed for a restraining order to stop the closure earlier this month. The claim argued it would cause irreparable harm to more than 100 people who were living there, many of whom have disabilities.

U.S. District Court Judge Michael McShane has yet to issue a written opinion, but the federal court posted on its docket Tuesday that the restraining order was denied, The Bulletin reported.

Up to 200 people were living in the forest several months ago when they were told that the forest area would be closed May 1, Rabinowitz said.

Local homeless advocate and retired attorney Chuck Hemingway, who filed the claims, told the newspaper he estimated 80 people remained there as of Friday, and at least 40 would likely still be there on May 1.

Chris Daggett, who lives in the forest, told KTVZ-TV this week that his family has been in Bend for several generations and that living in the forest doesn't make him or anyone else a bad person.

“It’s incredibly difficult to get back on your feet once you’ve been knocked down,” Daggett said. "If they force us out on May 1, we still won’t have anywhere else to go. It’ll just make it even tougher for us to rebuild our lives.”

The Cabin Butte Vegetation Management Project, a wildfire mitigation treatment on some 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of the forest, is prompting the closure. The goal of the work is to reduce wildfire risk and restore damaged habitats where development encroaches on natural areas near Bend, Deschutes National Forest officials said in a statement. Recreation sites and trails in that area will be closed through April next year.

Deschutes National Forest spokesperson Kaitlyn Webb told The Oregonian/OregonLive that the government's goal is "voluntary compliance," but Forest Service officers and staff will patrol and "enforce the closure and ensure public safety."