A4 The BulleTin • Tuesday, June 22, 2021
Warm Springs
Continued from A1
On Monday, fire crews
prioritized holding the
north end and establishing
control along the north-
east and southwest ends of
the fire in order to keep it
from spreading into Pine
Grove or from closing
U.S. Highway 26 and state
Highway 216, which are
both located a few miles
from the fire.
As crews attempt to hold
the north and west sides,
the southern end remains
totally uncontained, and it
is not known how long it
Land
Continued from A1
Dean Guernsey/Bulletin photos
Code enforcement officers with the city of Bend, Kristin Bates and Jason Gault, give official notices to vacate to people camping along Emerson
Avenue in Bend on Thursday.
“I don’t know if it’s
really worth offering.
It’d almost be less
expensive to help
someone pay one
month of storage
somewhere.”
Cleanups
Continued from A1
While the public agencies
like the city are required by
law to collect personal prop-
erty and store it after homeless
camp cleanups, previous clean-
ups and evictions in Central
Oregon show that the story
of property loss for homeless
residents is more complicated.
Due to a variety of barriers, ex-
tremely few homeless residents
pick up personal belongings
after they’ve been collected and
stored, according to informa-
tion from the Oregon Depart-
ment of Transportation and
Deschutes County.
Out of several cleanups ad-
ministered on property owned
by ODOT since the beginning
of the year, only five homeless
campers have come back to re-
trieve their belongings, accord-
ing to Peter Murphy, a spokes-
man for ODOT. The rest that
isn’t picked up is sent to the
landfill.
In a homeless camp removal
effort near Redmond in 2018,
none of the campers chose to
use a personal storage option
provided by the county, accord-
ing to Whitney Hale, the coun-
ty’s public information officer.
Several barriers can exist
when it comes to someone
homeless trying to recover
items taken away in a cleanup
or eviction, according to home-
less service providers, which
contributes to a cycle of people
needing to replace their be-
longings.
Cleanups also come with a
cost. The cleanup at Emerson
Avenue is expected to cost be-
tween $10,000 to $15,000, ac-
cording to the city. As of early
June, ODOT has spent $47,700
on homeless camp cleanup ef-
forts in Central Oregon, Mur-
phy said in an email.
That raises questions about
whether the storage practice,
which is intended to be more
humane for homeless residents,
is effective, and whether there
are better alternatives.
“I don’t know if it’s really
La Pine
Continued from A1
Sunday’s fires, which burned
only a few acres in total, are
considered suspicious and the
law enforcement investigation
into their cause remains open.
The first call to 911 was
made around 5:37 a.m., when
columns of smoke were seen
near the intersection of U.S.
Highway 97 and Rosland Road
just a few hundred yards north
of La Pine.
The property is owned by
the Bureau of Land Manage-
ment and home to a number
of transient camps, parked RVs
and abandoned vehicles. Re-
sponding personnel on Sunday
experienced difficulty access-
ing the area due to rough ter-
rain and lack of roads, Supkis
said.
On Sunday morning, fire
personnel arrived to discover
two unoccupied RVs, about a
quarter-mile apart, in flames.
Crews contained both fires
before either could burn much
of the surrounding wildland.
Both RVs were destroyed, and
there were no reported inju-
ries. A mid-50s temperature,
Adam Pendell with SMAF Construction delivers a 40-foot shipping con-
tainer where personal property belonging to homeless people evicted
from a city right of way will be stored in downtown Bend.
worth offering,” said Stacey
Witte, the executive director of
REACH, a nonprofit organiza-
tion that serves homeless peo-
ple. “It’d almost be less expen-
sive to help someone pay one
month of storage somewhere.”
For the effort at Emerson
Avenue, city workers will close
the street Wednesday and be-
gin collecting items that have
been tagged by residents as
personal property, and throw-
ing away the rest, said Grant
Burke, the city’s facilities direc-
tor. Last week, the city posted
notices to let people know
when and where people can re-
trieve their belongings, which
will be stored in containers in
the Troy Field parking lot in
downtown Bend.
But there are many reasons
why homeless people choose
not to store their belongings,
or retrieve them, Witte said. It
boils down to trust.
“Everything in their entire
life is in those garbage bags or
in that tent, so there’s a trust is-
sue,” Witte said. They are wor-
ried they won’t get their things
back.”
Coordination is also an is-
sue, said Colleen Thomas, De-
schutes County’s homeless ser-
vices coordinator.
People often don’t have a
way to transport their stuff, or
have a sense of where to put it
because they don’t know where
they are going next, Thomas
said.
Money can also be a poten-
tial barrier. For items cleared
off ODOT property, campers
are charged $2 to pick up their
items, which is an administra-
tion fee, said Tim McGinnis,
a transportation maintenance
manager with ODOT.
The fee is used to filter out
those who want to retrieve their
items and those who want to
come to the ODOT office to
complain, he said.
All of this can contribute to a
pattern of more people seeking
donations for essentials after a
cleanup, Thomas said.
“They are in that survival
mode, so they panic and leave.
Then there is a request for a
new tent and sleeping bag,”
Thomas said.
Dave Notari, the director
of development at Shepherd’s
House Ministries, said the non-
profit doesn’t have any scien-
tific data to show whether the
need for donations goes up af-
ter a cleanup, but said based on
experience it does appear that
way, and that the organization
does see people come in for es-
sentials like sleeping bags and
jackets.
“If we were able to provide
people some stability,” Thomas
said, “I still think there would
be a need for resources, but it
might not be as much.”
moderate humidity and low
wind contributed to the posi-
tive outcome, Supkis said.
At 3:17 p.m., firefighters in
a Central-Oregon based For-
est Service engine traveling
on Highway 97 spotted smoke
about a mile away, west of the
highway in the Jack Pine Loop
area just south of La Pine.
Firefighters with various
agencies again had difficulty
accessing the source of the
smoke. And again, the source
of the smoke was discovered:
an unoccupied RV engulfed in
flames. This fire burned about
an acre before it was contained.
“There’s a big black hole in
the forest right now,” Supkis
said.
Sunday’s efforts around La
Pine required the cooperation
of numerous fire agencies: La
Pine Fire, Crescent Rural Fire
Protection District, Bend Fire
& Rescue, the Oregon De-
partment of Forestry, Walker
Range Fire Patrol and Sunri-
ver Fire Department. The De-
schutes County Sheriff’s Office
evacuated several dispersed
campgrounds in the area.
Last year, three fires of at least
35 acres burned in the same
area east of La Pine. The largest
of the three was 335 acres.
In addition to the six fires in
the past two years, La Pine Fire
has responded to various med-
ical calls at self-built camp-
grounds tucked away in the
forest off trails and dirt lanes.
— Stacey Witte, the executive
director of REACH, on storing
the belongings of people
experiencing homelessness
after city cleanups
Other solutions — like in-
vesting in community lockers
so people experiencing home-
lessness can secure their be-
longings during the day with-
out fear of them getting stolen
or damaged — could help. A
system of volunteers who trans-
port or otherwise help home-
less individuals retrieve their
stuff could also help, but would
likely require more trusted peo-
ple who work in providing ser-
vices to homeless people to exe-
cute, Thomas said.
“It’s going to take dedicated
compassionate people to do
that work, and part of that is
for agencies to provide a liv-
ing wage,” Thomas said, noting
that prospective workers in this
industry face similar housing
affordability challenges as the
clients they serve.
Witte said her organization
has focused efforts on buying
utility carts and larger back-
packs for people to help them
carry their belongings more ef-
fectively.
But ultimately, these are
short-term solutions, Witte and
Thomas said. People need a sta-
ble place where they can legally
stay and call home.
“We need a safe camping
area and … to work with peo-
ple to take responsibility to
keep their areas clean,” Witte
said.
e
Reporter: 541-633-2160,
bvisser@bendbulletin.com
“It is an issue, and it con-
cerns us greatly,” Supkis said.
“Someone’s going to get hurt or
injured, and it is very, very dif-
ficult to get help to these peo-
ple, and to get them out.”
e
Reporter: 541-383-0325,
gandrews@bendbulletin.com
Robert “Robby” Allen
Ulam of Prineville, OR
Edward James Kettle
of Terrebonne, OR
July 26, 1974 - June 6,
2021
Services:
There will be a service an-
nounced at a later date. To
light a candle for Robby or
leave the family and online
condolence, please go to;
www.whisperingpinesfu-
neralhome.com
May 13, 1949 - June 14,
2021
Arrangements:
Autumn Funerals -
Redmond is honored to
serve the family. 541-504-
9485. Condolences may be
conveyed to the family at
www.autumnfunerals.net
Services:
A private service will be
held.
Contributions may be
made to:
St. Jude; 501 St. Jude
Place; Memphis, TN 38105
or considering planting a
tree in Edward’s honor.
Samantha Jane Kline
of Prineville, OR
August 30, 1945 - June 13,
2021
Arrangements:
Autumn Funerals, Red-
mond 541-504-9485 www.
autumnfunerals.net
Services:
No Services will be held at
this time.
OBITUARY DEADLINE
Call to ask about our deadlines
541-385-5809
“We have the highest
home prices in the state,
and some of the highest
rents in the state as well,”
Kropf said. “More and more
people who work in Bend
are no longer able to afford
to live in Bend.”
Zika noted that the me-
dian home price in Bend
was $700,000 — out of
reach for all but the wealthy.
Employers had told him
of offering jobs to candi-
dates from outside the area,
only to be turned down
once they discovered the
cost of living seriously de-
valued the salary offered.
People in key commu-
nity roles were priced out
of buying homes or paying
rents.
“Firefighters and teachers
cannot afford to live where
they work,” Zika said.
But opponents of the bill,
notably Democratic law-
makers from the Portland
metro area, said Bend was
making an end run around
the state’s land development
system that balances devel-
opment needs with main-
taining open space.
If the Bend project is ap-
proved, critics said, other
cities would follow, saying
they needed the waiver be-
will take to contain it.
Temperatures in the area
were expected to exceed 90
degrees with low humidity
Monday, and winds were ex-
pected to be light but shifting.
Javin Dimmick, a spokesper-
son for Warm Springs Natural
Resources, said he was con-
cerned about the high tem-
peratures expected Monday
and Tuesday.
Air quality throughout the
state has been impacted by
the fire in Warm Springs and
another in Klamath County.
In Klamath County, the Cut-
off Fire was 10% contained
on Monday and had burned
1,150 acres.
cause their development issue
was also acute.
“This is a precedent-setting,
proactive government action,
so please remember it’s not just
affecting Bend. It’s affecting
land use in the state of Ore-
gon,” said Rep. Susan McLain,
D-Hillsboro.
Rep. Mark Owens, R-Crane
disagreed, saying Kropf and
Zika had made the case that
this was a one-of-a-kind situ-
ation.
“Exceptional circumstances
that have been fully addressed
and thoughtfully addressed
from the community some-
times can necessitate this body
taking affirmative action, even
on land use,” Owens said.
Rep. Greg Smith, R-Hep-
pner, said Kropf knew the
needs of Bend and he should
get the benefit of the doubt that
the city needed action by the
Legislature.
“This isn’t Washington, D.C.,
— we don’t have to fight each
other,” Smith said. “Let’s help a
colleague.”
e
gwarner@eomediagroup.com
Find it all
online
bendbulletin.com
OBITUARY
Alonzo Leif Gilbertson
September 15, 1959 - May 22, 2021
Alonzo “Leif” Gilbertson was
born to Curt Gilbertson and
Susan Horner Gilbertson
on September 15, 1959 in
Sacramento, CA. The family
moved to Oregon in 1965,
and had a dairy in Redmond,
Oregon for several years,
where Leif got his fi rst horse,
Alamo. In 1973, the family
moved to Luverne, MN. Leif
graduated high school in 1977,
adding “Graduati on Day” to
the long list of days he “played hooky”. Leif instead got
behind the wheel of the family’s yellow Ryder truck, and
moved back to Oregon. His love for the road was born.
In 1980, Leif drove log truck in Cascadia, OR for his
Grandpa and Uncle. By 1981, Leif & his older brother,
Wynn, started hauling catt le out of Sioux Falls, SD.
Eventually the brothers moved back to Oregon and each
bought a truck, Leifs being a bright yellow Kenworth,
with “Gilbertson Trucking ‘’ on the side. The last 20
years, he made a weekly trip to Canada to haul hogs for
the Huterites. Leif conti nued driving truck for the rest of
his life, logging more than 8 million miles.
Leif married his childhood, family friend, Dawn Tschantre,
in 1984. They welcomed their fi rst son, Sterling Sage in
‘85, a second son, Dakota Dean, in ‘87, and a baby girl,
Shayanne Elise in ‘90. The couple raised their kids in
Prineville, OR, and divorced in 2012.
Leif loved his children, riding horses, especially his horse-
Tyler, fast cars, loud music, trucks, running, working, and
reading biographies and nonfi cti on country western
stories. He knew every Rock N Roll radio stati on this side
of the Mississippi River.
Leif was preceded in death by his Grandparents, Earl
& Irene (Chandler) Gilbertson, Amos & Dorma (Cole)
Horner, Uncle David Horner, and his dear mentor, Duke
Tschantre.
Leif is survived by his parents, Susan (Horner) Goldsmith
and Curt & Judy Gilbertson. His children, Sterling (&
Ashlie), Dakota (& Heather), and Shayanne (& Dallas).
Two grandchildren, Lotti e & Leilani, as well as two
“bonus” grands, Clancy & Ella. His siblings, Wynn (&
Candy), Darcy, Levy, Chance (& Rhonda), and Reagan (&
Julie). Leif is survived by many loving nieces, nephews,
cousins, aunts and uncles. Friends, neighbors, and his
“World Champion” horse, Tyler.
A party will be held at Leifs ranch in Powell Butt e, on
July 30, 2021, starti ng with a prayer service at 5:30pm.