People living on U.S. Forest Service land south of Bend have been forced to relocate following a May 1 closure of the area. A collection of lived-in vehicles lined the streets of China Hat Road on Thursday morning, just outside of the now-restricted area that hundreds of houseless residents called home. The closure, in effect for a planned forest restoration project near Cabin Butte, started on May 1, forcing an estimated 150 to 200 people to leave.
The National Homelessness Law Center held a press conference Thursday in front of a Forest Service gate, informing community members and residents about the status of those remaining in the area and those who have left.
While service providers were able to assist many people in towing and moving vehicles and personal belongings out of the forest, questions remain about how those still in the closure area, many of whom are living in inoperable cars or RVs, will be relocated.
Many were able to move out prior to the gate closure, which occurred around 3 am on May 1. However, an estimated 40-60 people remained in the area as of Thursday at 10 am, service providers said.
“We were told that they’ll issue them a warning, which means, leave now. If they don’t leave, then, at that point, they could be arrested,” Chuck Hemingway, service provider with local organization Home More Network, told the Source. “We’re hoping that maybe, as a result of this, the Forest Service will announce a plan.”
According to Kaitlyn Webb, public affairs officer with the Deschutes National Forest, their goal is voluntary compliance.
“Our law enforcement officers are approaching this closure with compassion. Our officers want to support individuals with voluntary, successful transitions out of the closure area with their belongings to the extent possible. Citations will be issued, if necessary,” she told the Source via email on May 1.
The Deschutes National Forest is closing 34,600 acres in the Cabin Butte area through at least April 30, 2026, while crews use heavy machinery to remove hazardous materials and conduct prescribed burns. Several trails in the area are also closed.
Former China Hat resident, Mandy Bryant, and her partner Chris Daggett left their camp in China Hat prior to the closure and were set up just outside of the gate on Thursday morning. While Daggett and Bryant hoped to help others move their belongings out of China Hat, they are unsure about whether they’re able to re-enter the area.
“We’re just trying to get a solid answer on what they’re going to let us do,” Bryant told the Source Weekly.
Bryant said she is unsure where she and Dagget will go from here.
Homelessness advocates have criticized the Forest Service for its closure process, stating that it did not follow through with its plan of coordinating with service providers to assist in the relocations.
“They don’t want us here, they don’t want us there,” Bryant said. “I know we weren’t supposed to be out there, but the same time, [the Forest Service] didn’t do what they said they were going to do.”
In recent months, advocates started an effort to halt the project, or delay the deadline, to avoid the displacement of individuals living in the area. The group submitted a letter to the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District in late March, requesting the project be delayed or canceled, citing significant impacts and an uncoordinated effort to relocate those experiencing homelessness.
In April, the group, which includes Hemingway and Eric Garrity with the Bend Equity Project, a collaborative group supporting human rights efforts and offering aid, requested a Temporary Restraining Order against the May 1 public closure of the Cabin Butte Project.
The request for the TRO argued that the closure would cause “irreparable harm.” On April 28, the Oregon U.S. District Court denied the request.
“We understand the need for fire mitigation, but we’re disappointed that there wasn’t an organized effort by the Forest Service that would have prevented an orderly relocation of people over time, assisted by service providers, instead of what resulted in a mass exodus yesterday and late last night, up until 3 am,” said Hemingway.
Following the closure, service providers plan to continue assisting in relocation efforts.
REACH, a local outreach organization, has been going out to the area to bring auto parts, car batteries and other necessary items for those trying to leave. Executive Director Stacey Witte told the Source that REACH set up at a nearby gas station on Thursday to help fill up gas and propone.
“The challenge is, quite a few people out there have been there for so many years. The vehicles are just a huge challenge to fix, repair and get out of there. Of course, the other barrier is, where did they go? No safe places were coordinated before this effort,” Witte told the Source.
While Witte said some people are going to Juniper Ridge, an area dotted with encampments in north Bend that’s also largely slated for closure in the coming months, others are just scattering.
“We don’t even have anywhere really that we can refer them to, that’s the challenge. So, that’s where we’re coming in,” she said. “We’re making sure people have phones that are working, phone cards, gas, propane, all of those basic needs to make sure that can kind of help them figure out what to do and where to go.”
A portion of Juniper Ridge, which is set to become a temporary managed camp on May 31, seems to be the most viable alternative for people right now, according to Hemingway. However, he hopes to see more coordination in the future, creating safe places for people to stay.
“We need to provide a legally recognized location for people faced with experiencing homelessness, where they can live with dignity and live in a safe and secure environment,” Hemingway said. “We hope that this might be the start of an effort throughout Central Oregon to bring that to pass within the next several years.”
This article appears in Source Weekly May 8, 2025.
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These people belong in a city, not the forest. Their vehicles should be used to create an encampment that it away from the beautiful forest and wildlife, no telling how many are illegally hunting/trapping, besides leaving their garbage and filth in the forest. Where are the OREGON TREE HUGGERS on this? We simply can’t allow them to creep into every little crevice in our state. This is happening because we allow it to happen, not because it’s the state’s responsibility to host homeless wherever they land and then make it a political event with “more funding” needed. We taxpayers are being fleeced for all these special programs, that never solve anything.
Coming from someone who fits into the group of “these people” you’re talking about. I have never heard of a single one of my people illegally hunting or trapping. And I have watched plenty of pickup trucks from local businesses pulling trailers full of garbage or yard debris out into the forest and leave with them empty. Someone with one of the volunteer clean up crews said they removed 5000lbs of garbage and most of it was left from community members, not my people. And I have had to go and put our more bon fires left by your community members teens than fires caused by my people. When you people pick and choose through an issue and point fingers in directions where it fits you best. The problem never gets solved. If you don’t fix it as a whole, you don’t fix it.
Public lands are not housing for anyone but wildlife. Period. We have built managed camps. We have remodeled old motels. Why don’t these places work? Because the people we built these places can’t follow simple rules. Sure, some do. This is a drug issue. This is a mental health issue. Not a housing issue. Period.
I wish Oregon and Bend would follow the lead of California Governor Gavin Newsom……..close and get rid of all encampments! These vagrants are ruining our towns.