‘Devastating loss:’ Campers in national forest outside Bend prepare for eviction

Published on: 04/30/2025

This news was posted by Oregon Today News

Description

Deep in the Deschutes National Forest, near Horse Butte Trailhead, several people were camped together for the last several years. On Wednesday, they worked to pack up what they wanted to take with them as they waited for a truck with a fifth-wheel hitch to tow their trailers out of the forest. Signs for the Cabin Butte Vegetation Project off Forest Road 18, closing a portion of the Deschutes National Forest outside of Bend, Oregon. Campers living in the area are preparing for the closure to begin on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Warning sign posted on a trailer left behind in the Deschutes National Forest. The U.S. Forest Service will have officers and staff patrol and Inside the school bus belonging to Zachary Polton, 37, in Deschutes National Forest outside of Bend, Oregon. He had his bus towed out of the forest around 5 p.m. Wed., April 30, 2025, hours before the forest closure. Piles of personal items belonging to campers in Deschutes National Forest outside of Bend, Oregon. Campers living at the site are preparing for US Forest Service closure on Thursday, May 1, 2025. J. Smith, 62, sits while waiting for a medical transport out of forest after living there for five years. He says he has a torn acl and knee problems. Inside the school bus belonging to Zachary Polton, 37, in Deschutes National Forest outside of Bend, Oregon. Campers living at the site are preparing for US Forest Service closure on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Campers in Deschutes National Forest outside of Bend, Oregon prepare for US Forest Service closure on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Some prepared to move their trucks and RVs out while others were staying put. Jessica Gamble previously lived in the Deschutes National Forest for three months while pregnant following a divorce. Gamble later started a nonprofit called Home More Network and now helps others seeking permanent residence. Jessica Gamble, founder of the nonprofit Home More Network, and Chuck Hemingway, also a homeless service provider, spent the day assisting longtime campers in the forest. Hemingway helped find trucks to tow campers' vehicles out of the forest as Gamble provided gas cards, car parts and help with DMV forms. Signs for the Cabin Butte Vegetation Project off Forest Road 18, closing a portion of the Deschutes National Forest outside of Bend, Oregon. Campers living in the area are preparing for the closure to begin on Thursday, May 1, 2025. Access to Deschutes National Forest from Forest Road 18 outside of Bend, Oregon. Gates to the Cabin Butte area of the forest were expected to be closed and locked as of 12:01 a.m. Thurs., May 1, 2025. Terry Bass, 58, said she's ready to leave after living in the forest for four years in her 1974 Collins camper. She said she has survived on food stamps and collects bottles and cans for cash, catching rides to Bend to deposit them. A yellow warning sign on a trailer deep in the Deschutes National Forest. Forest Service officers and staff will patrol and Longtime campers scrambled Wednesday to pack up their belongings and find a way to have their trucks, vans and trailers hauled out of the campsite before the U.S. Forest Service's planned closure at 12:01 a.m. Thurs., May 1, 2025. Bend resident Jack Walker, on right, came to help his former co-worker Dwight Nelson, pack up some of his belongings before the U.S. Forest Service closed the area to campers. Boxes of food filled the trailer Wednesday afternoon. Zachary Polton was able to get a trucker to help him haul his old bus, which he has lived in for the last two years in the Deschutes National Forest, out before the U.S. Forest Service's planned closure of the area at 12:01 a.m., Thurs., May 1.

With less than 24 hours until the U.S. Forest Service locks the gate to their sprawling home in the Deschutes National Forest southeast of Bend, longtime campers scrambled Wednesday to move their trucks, cars and at least one old bus to avoid an eviction years in the making.

News Source : https://www.oregonlive.com/environment/2025/05/devastating-loss-campers-in-national-forest-outside-bend-prepare-for-eviction.html

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