A4 The BulleTin • Friday, FeBruary 12, 2021
LOCAL, STATE & REGION
Most Oregonians who applied for disaster aid denied
The Associated Press
SALEM — More than 24,000
Oregonians applied for federal
disaster assistance after the cat-
astrophic 2020 wildfires and
about 57% of them were de-
nied.
Oregon Public Broadcasting
reports that nearly 14,000 Ore-
gonians have been denied aid,
according to data provided by
the Federal Emergency Man-
agement Agency.
Oregon’s high rates of denial
are on par with previous natural
disasters. FEMA denied about
60% of Puerto Rican disaster
assistance applicants after Hur-
ricane Maria. A study by Texas
Hausers, a housing nonprofit,
found that FEMA denied a
quarter of disaster applicants af-
ter Hurricane Harvey hit there.
Many of the people who
have been denied assistance are
low-income. Among Hurri-
cane Harvey applicants, people
whose annual incomes were
below $15,000 had a 46% de-
nial rate. People with annual in-
comes exceeding $70,000 had a
10% denial rate.
Following Oregon’s wildfires,
FEMA issued press releases
encouraging people to appeal.
They said the appeals process
could be as simple as correcting
a typo or providing a missing
document.
OPB reports that disas-
ter-victim advocates and le-
gal-aid attorneys say appealing
FEMA’s denials is anything but
simple; and that by denying
so many people the first time,
the agency is using a complex
bureaucratic process to weed
out people who likely need the
most help.
“People who’ve been affected
by a disaster are dealing with
trauma,” said attorney Tracy
Figueroa with Texas RioGrande
Legal Aid. “They’re trying to
pull the documents together,
and just hearing “no” from
one entity or another can shut
things down. They don’t know
how to navigate the bureau-
cracy. They’re just done.”
FEMA’s denial letters aren’t
always clear about how appli-
cants can amend their applica-
tions.
For example, several Ore-
gon applicants said they were
denied assistance because they
have homeowners insurance,
a common misunderstanding,
since FEMA often lists home-
owners insurance as a reason
for denial.
Rather, FEMA can help peo-
ple with homeowners insur-
ance, but those applicants need
to follow a few other steps first.
Chris Tuite/imageSPACE/MediaPunch/IPX
Talent Mobile Estates 81 was gutted during the Almeda Fire and
sprayed with colorful fire retardant. The state says more than 2,300
homes were destroyed in Jackson County in September’s wildfires.
Permits
Continued from A1
The plan received some early
public criticism due to the fees,
which were later dropped, al-
though a processing fee does re-
main.
Nelson-Dean called the system
a “thoughtful and fair method”
that will allow continued access
to the wilderness areas while also
helping to preserve them for fu-
ture generations.
“The balance of moving some
of our high use onto other trails
or areas will allow people to
have new experiences and to
also experience popular trails
with more solitude and less trash
and resource damage,” said Nel-
son-Dean.
In the Three Sisters Wilder-
ness, the trailheads include: Scott,
Obsidian, Sisters Mirror, Devil’s
Lake/Wickiup, Green Lake/Soda
Creek, Todd Lake, Crater Ditch,
Broken Top, Tam McArthur Rim
and Lava Camp.
In the Mount Jefferson Wil-
derness, the trailheads include:
Pacific Crest Trail Breitenbush,
South Breitenbush, Pamelia Lake,
Marion Lake, Duffy Lake and
Jack Lake.
The affected trailheads in the
Mount Washington Wilderness
include Pacific Crest Trail McK-
enzie Pass, and Benson/Tenas.
The permitting system covers
trails in the Deschutes and Willa-
mette national forests.
Rick Creekmore, the store
manager of the REI in Bend, said
the permitting system is a positive
step forward insofar as it will help
resource protection.
“The big issue is overuse in
some trailheads, and I think it
will help to have that kind of sys-
tem in place,” said Creekmore. “I
Lawsuit
Continued from A1
The claims echo those filed a
week ago by fired 19-year Red-
mond officer Donald “Ryan”
Fraker, who alleges in a sepa-
rate lawsuit he was subjected
to a campaign to destroy his
career after he reported officer
misconduct to supervisors. Co-
peland’s case also shares claims
with those made by former of-
ficer Craig McClure, who sued
in 2019 for age discrimination
and other claims alleging that
as a 42-year-old rookie he was
bullied severely by other of-
ficers. His case settled out of
court last year.
The three lawsuits were filed
Ryan Brennecke/The Bulletin file
A group of backpackers hike together while making their way along a trail in the Three Sisters Wilderness near South Sister and Broken Top.
used to live in Washington, and
they had that kind of system in
place, and it seemed to work re-
ally well in terms of protecting
the resource and giving folks a
chance to get out and enjoy the
outdoors.”
Creekmore, 60, said he has
personally witnessed some of the
negative effects of trail overuse in
the Cascades, especially on popu-
lar routes such as the Green Lakes
Trail.
“Impromptu campsites get set
up, and too many visitors make
parking difficult because it’s so
by Portland civil attorney Dan
Thenell.
Hired by Redmond in 2000,
Copeland has enjoyed a suc-
cessful career that includes
receiving the department’s Of-
ficer of the Year award in 2016
and a reputation as one of the
region’s best domestic violence
investigators, according to her
lawsuit.
“(Copeland) had to work
harder than some of her peers
to achieve success as a female
police officer in a male domi-
nated field,” reads the lawsuit.
In 2016, she was awarded
“acting in charge” status, mean-
ing she would be in charge if
no patrol sergeant was on duty.
Around this time, Cope-
high traffic areas off Century
Drive, including Green Lakes, will
benefit from the system, and trail
users will have access to cleaner
and better-maintained facilities.
Hikers can purchase a permit
through the website www.recre-
ation.gov or by calling 877-444-
6777. Reservations for permits
will open up on April 6 at 7 a.m.
Permits are also available from
the Deschutes National Forest
office. But due to COVID-19, of-
fices may be closed, so officials
recommend calling ahead first.
Purchasers of the permits must
busy on those summer week-
ends,” said Creekmore. “Trash
and human waste is also an issue.”
But Karl Findling, a member of
the Oregon Hunters Association,
worries that not everyone will fol-
low the rules.
“The wilderness permit sys-
tem will just be an inconvenience
and annoyance to some, who will
disregard big government and
bypass getting a permit in many
cases,” said Findling, who owns
Oregon Pack Works, an outdoor
gear company.
Still, he holds out hope that
land began developing con-
cerns over Beckwith’s conduct
and favorable treatment for
his friends, specifically fel-
low members of the SWAT
team and the members of the
five-person elected board of
the Redmond officers’ union.
The lawsuit states that as
Beckwith was promoted, first
to sergeant then to lieutenant,
he became increasingly bold in
his abuse and wielded his au-
thority to “prevent challenge or
dissent.”
Beckwith allegedly bragged
about past instances of bully-
ing, relaying stories about haz-
ing fellow classmates at Idaho
State University.
“Beckwith is a charismatic
speaker and would include
many details in his stories,
which made (Copeland) ex-
tremely uncomfortable,” the
lawsuit claims. “One such story
involved Beckwith using saran
wrap to wrap a special needs
student to their bed.”
Copeland states that among
the officers singled out for se-
vere bullying and mistreatment
was McClure.
After McClure sued in 2019,
she met with representatives
of the city’s insurer, Citycounty
Insurance Service, and pro-
vided “significant” details
about mistreatment she wit-
nessed. In a separate meeting
with her union representative,
union President Derek Hicks
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pay a $1 per individual for day
use-permits and $6 per over-
night-use permit for a trip up to
14 days. Up to 12 people can be
included on a single overnight
permit.
A portion of the permits for the
entire season will be available for
purchase on April 6. Some per-
mits will also be available on a
seven-day rolling basis. This sys-
tem prevents a situation where all
permits could sell out early in the
summer.
e e
Reporter: 541-617-7818,
mkohn@bendbulletin.com
at one point paused the record-
ing to take Copeland outside
the room to admonish her that
she was “opening doors that
should remain shut.”
After this, Beckwith’s de-
meanor toward Copeland no-
ticeably changed, she states. He
would regularly work in close
proximity to her and attempt
to discuss the McClure case in
an effort to make her feel re-
morse for her disclosures, ac-
cording to the suit.
Following her deposition,
Copeland was stripped of her
“acting in charge” status in re-
taliation, and, she says, she
was also felt forced to resign
her position as a defensive tac-
tics instructor in the depart-
ment, to stay out of proximity
of Beckwith, who supervised
training programs.
Copeland is asking for
$250,000 in damages.
Beckwith moved to the area
to work as a sports reporter
for The Bulletin before transi-
tioning to law enforcement in
2007. As an officer, he can be
seen in several widely viewed
online videos interrogating
murderer Edwin Lara, after his
arrest in 2016 in the high-pro-
file killing of Central Oregon
Community College student
Kaylee Ann Sawyer.
e e
Reporter: 541-383-0325,
gandrews@bendbulletin.com