‘Every summer, we’re dodging bullets’: Gunnels hopes ruling prompts feds to remove homeless campers near cities

Isabella Warren toured China Hat Road area; her report at Five

BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- Deschutes County District Attorney Steve Gunnels told county commissioners Wednesday that "every summer, we're dodging bullets," in terms of homeless campers on federal public lands near Central Oregon cities possibly sparking a devastating wildfire.

Gunnels was on hand for any questions about a state grant request to deal with the issue of organized retail crime. But having heard public comments at the meeting’s start about a familiar topic: concern about wildfire risks and other issues among homeless campers on federal land – prompted the DA to weigh in on that as well.

“The threat to public safety is clear to everyone,” he said. “The public lands are not being managed adequately to address the threat.”

“It’s something that needs to be changed, immediately,” Gunnels said. “Every summer, we’re dodging bullets. Someone is going to be killed.”

Isabella Warren got a tour Wednesday of a long-time focal point in the local debate: the Forest Service land off China Hat Road, south of Bend, for an update on the homeless camps in the area and the latest on related fire, crime and public safety issues. Her report is coming up on NewsChannel 21 at Five,

The district attorney said he’s “hopeful” that the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling involving the city of Grants Pass, giving local governments more ability to regulate homeless camping on public lands, “changes the way federal public land management agencies address this issue.”

“That case gives them more freedom to address it,” he said, and move the homeless “away from population centers to safer places, where they can camp without threatening the lives of their neighbors.”

Commissioner Phil Chang said much of the discussion since the Grants Pass decision has focused on how it affects local government regulations and enforcement, but “I haven’t heard anything” about the impact on the federal lands issue.

“It applies to both,” Gunnels replied, noting a previous Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision involving the city of Boise had said that moving people off public lands without available shelter beds violates the Eighth Amendment of the Constitution’s clause involving “cruel and unusual punishment.” That left local entities with little enforcement legality he said.

But the Supreme Court ruling “gives the authority to move people away from cities. All you need is a reason to do it, and a will to do it.”

Commissioners, meanwhile, approved a resolution imposing public use fire restrictions on county-owned lands as well as unprotected lands in the county.

It’s similar to the rules imposed each fire season that ban smoking, open fires and use of chain saws, cutting, grinding and welding between 1-8 p.m.

Such restrictions were not imposed by the county last year, when new County Forester Kevin Moriarty was new to the position. He said the sheriff’s office approached him with a request to put the restrictions in place.

Chang asked that the rules be posted on the applicable properties, while Commission Chair Patti Adair asked that in future years, the item come before them earlier, in the spring, before the fire season takes hold.