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U.S. Forest Service boss decries arrest of worker in planned burn

By Andrew Selsky

The head of the U.S. Forest Service has denounced the arrest by an Oregon sheriff of a Forest Service employee after a planned burn in a national forest spread onto private land.

Rick Snodgrass, the U.S. Forest Service “burn boss,” was arrested on Oct. 19 and transported to the Grant County Jail, where he was conditionally released. Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley handcuffed Snodgrass before he was taken away, even as Snodgrass’ crew was working on the fire.

“In my opinion, this arrest was highly inappropriate under these circumstances,” Randy Moore, chief of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service, said on the agency’s website.

In his message, posted Monday to all the Forest Service’s more than 25,000 employees, Moore said he won’t “stand idly by without fully defending the Burn Boss and all employees carrying out their official duties as federal employees.”

The arrest underscored simmering tensions over management of federal lands in rural, conservative eastern Oregon.

In 2016, right-wing militants staged an armed takeover of a federal wildlife refuge in adjacent Harney County to protest the treatment of ranchers Steven Hammond and his father, Dwight, who were both convicted of arson for setting fire to federal range land and sent to prison. They were freed early after being pardoned by then President Donald Trump.

Grant County District Attorney Jim Carpenter said last week that once an investigation is complete, Snodgrass could be formally charged with reckless burning. Carpenter’s office did not immediately return calls and an email requesting an update Tuesday.

Carpenter had warned that Snodgrass’ federal employment “will not protect him if it is determined that he acted recklessly,” adding it may raise the standard to which he will be held.

Snodgrass told the local Blue Mountain Eagle newspaper that his arrest by McKinley disrupted the chain of command while the Forest Service crew was conducting the prescribed burn in the Malheur National Forest.

“Other individuals were able to pick up the slack, fortunately, that were well-trained,” Snodgrass said. “He put not only my guys at risk out there, their safety, but he put that land at risk as well as all of Bear Valley.”

Prescribed burns are set intentionally and under carefully controlled conditions to clear underbrush, pine needle beds and other surface fuels that make forests more prone to wildfires.

McKinley said last week that the prescribed fire burned about 20 acres (8 hectares) of land belonging to the Holliday family before it was brought under control in an hour. Chad Holliday estimated that almost 40 acres (16 hectares) of the family property was burned.