Investigation that led to arrest of Forest Service burn boss ongoing, sheriff says

Published 6:15 am Wednesday, April 26, 2023

CANYON CITY — Six months after a U.S. Forest Service employee was arrested on suspicion of reckless burning while supervising a prescribed burn in Grant County, no formal charges have been filed in the case.

“It’s still under investigation,” said Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley.

On Oct. 19, Rick Snodgrass was leading a team of Forest Service employees, with support from Oregon Department of Forestry and contract crews, on the 300-acre Starr 6 burn in Bear Valley when embers from the prescribed burn blew across a county road and charred about 20 acres of private land on the Holliday Ranch.

Responding to a call from the landowners, McKinley arrived and took Snodgrass into custody while the fire was still burning. The remaining firefighters on the scene brought the fire on private ranchland under control within about an hour using hand tools and a bulldozer, and they maintained control of the prescribed burn on Malheur National Forest land.

Snodgrass was taken in handcuffs to the Grant County Jail, where he was booked and released.

“This case will be evaluated once the investigation is complete, and if appropriate, Snodgrass will formally be charged,” Grant County District attorney Jim Carpenter stated in a press release issued Oct. 20.

“To be clear, the employer and/or position of Snodgrass will not protect him if it is determined that he acted recklessly. That the USFS was engaging in a prescribed burn may actually raise, rather than lower the standard to which Snodgrass will be held.”

In the days that followed, the case drew national and even international media attention. It was believed to be the first time a Forest Service firefighter had ever been arrested while doing her or his job.

The arrest was widely condemned by federal officials and members of the wildland firefighting community.

Randy Moore, chief of the Forest Service, issued a statement defending Snodgrass and calling the arrest “highly inappropriate.” Moore added that he would “not stand idly by” and would defend all Forest Service employees carrying out their duties.

Others, including the head of a union representing 110,000 federal workers, suggested that McKinley could be arrested on a felony charge of interfering with a federal employee in the course of their duties.

McKinley said he has never been charged with a crime in connection with his arrest of Snodgrass, nor has he received any official communication stating the he could face federal charges.

A spokesman for the U.S. Attorney’s Office could not be reached for comment before press time.

Critics of Forest Service wildfire mitigation policies, meanwhile, applauded the Snodgrass arrest. As landowner Chad Holliday told McKinley when the sheriff asked if he wanted to press charges: “Somebody’s got to be held accountable.”

In a recent interview, McKinley outlined his own misgivings about the Starr 6 burn.

“I understand they do prescribed burns to try to protect private land from fire,” he said, “but when you burn the very private lands you were trying to protect, it makes it kind of difficult to work out the reasoning for doing those burns.”

McKinley said a “lack of cooperation” from federal officials had made it difficult to complete his investigation into the Snodgrass case but added that he hoped to have it wrapped up soon.

He declined to offer a timeline for when the investigation might be completed, but he did suggest that he’s been working to improve the strained relationship with local Forest Service officials.

“I have been having high-level talks with the new forest supervisor,” Ann Niesen, who was recently confirmed as supervisor of the Malheur National Forest after taking over for Craig Trulock, who retired from the position in February, McKinley said.

“We are trying, in the interest of relationships, to work around some things and just get things better in the future.”

Niesen confirmed that the two agencies were working together to improve relations.

“We appreciate the ongoing discussions with the sheriff’s office and our partners about a positive direction for the future of our relationships,” she said.