‘We feel a lot safer’: La Pine residents share gratitude as local partnership continues to remove encampments
(Update: Adding video, comments from neighbors)
La PINE, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Right next to Doug Young's home in La Pine lay miles of BLM-owned land, but Young says he's been unable to enjoy it because of a growing encampment.
"We get a lot of traffic coming down the road to see if they can get through. We've had people walking," Young recalled.
It's a common occurrence for residents living north of Burgess Road, but with a new partnership between local officials in the area, they've seen a difference.
"We feel a lot safer, because of all the efforts, of the city and the county sheriff and the BLM, and they've kept their word, and they're doing a great job," he said.
Deschutes County inmates and BLM workers spent days in the area cleaning the abandoned encampment last month. It's part of an initiative with the Newberry Regional Partnership, to reduce fire risk and find solutions for homelessness.
According to Deschutes County sheriffs, crews picked up 15,000 pounds of garbage and filled two dumpsters. The city has also blocked off entrances to the area to prevent anyone moving back in, dropping the number of camps in the area from 10 to 2.
"My attitude wasn't the greatest," said Kathleen O'Neill who lives nearby.
She and her husband Kelly say they were skeptical when they first heard of the cleanup. Following the Darlene 3 fire, the pair said they were angry.
"If the wind was coming to the west that could have burned our town down," her husband said. "We didn't go back there until a month or two after it was all out, and we couldn't believe how big it was."
But that anger has quickly transformed into gratitude this past month.
"That's what La Pine is all about. The community and people to be able to go out into the woods with their grandkids, and their dogs, and ride their horses. I'm so happy that they're on it," O'Neill said.
Cleanups are paused for now as snow piles up in La Pine. But the partnership is hoping to start right back up in the spring.
In August, the partnership also gathered nearly 60 volunteers for a cleanup of garbage illegally dumped on public land off Jackpine Loop.
