On May 1, the Deschutes National Forest will close a 34,600-acre area south of Bend, off China Hat Road, for a large-scale project to clean up hazardous materials, clear overgrown vegetation and conduct prescribed burns.
The closure will restrict all entry to the area — a location where hundreds of houseless people have camped and lived for years. After it goes into effect on May 1, anyone found violating the closure could be fined up to $5,000 and/or imprisoned for up to a year.
It will take place the same month that Deschutes County and the City of Bend are limiting access at Juniper Ridge off Highway 97, known to some as “Dirt World,” another tract of public land populated with encampments. Advocates for the area’s houseless population worry this will cause further stress on the region’s houseless services.
Both projects are an attempt to ensure greater wildfire protection for nearby housing developments and communities, according to officials involved with the closures.
In the case of Juniper Ridge, proponents say it’s also a way to bring safety and support for the hundreds of people living dispersed in makeshift shelters throughout the 1,350-acre undeveloped area on the outskirts of town. Last summer, the Mile Marker 132 fire started on a privately owned, vacant property near Juniper Ridge and led to evacuation orders for surrounding subdivisions, endangering people at encampments within Juniper Ridge. The fire proved to be a catalyst for change, with community members pressuring City and County officials to do something to ensure their safety from another fire. Following the public outcry, the City and County developed a plan for carving out a 40-acre temporary safe stay area at Juniper Ridge off Highway 97.
However, with the China Hat area closing and Juniper Ridge’s footprint being greatly reduced, questions remain about where displaced people will go and what services are available to help them resettle.
“There is no capacity,” said Kathleen Leppert, outreach manager at Central Oregon Villages, a nonprofit that runs multiple shelters in Bend and provides case management services to unhoused people. “And it will frankly overwhelm our system because they [the closures] are happening at the same time.”
Erik Kropp, deputy county administrator for Deschutes County, agreed that despite strides in services for unhoused people, there won’t be enough beds or shelters for everyone in need.
“The impact of this closure for those living at China Hat is significant, but the community is in better shape than previously to support these individuals due to a series of investments in shelter and housing options over the last couple of years. That said, there will not be enough options for all those impacted, and some living in the area may not be able or willing to enter available housing or shelter,” Kropp said.
Two years ago, the Homeless Leadership Coalition’s annual point-in-time count found that in Central Oregon over 70% of unhoused people were unsheltered. Last year, in the City of Bend, that dropped to 55%, said Megan Perkins, Bend’s Mayor Pro Tem and a board member of the regional Coordinated Houseless Response Office.
“They were at 55%, which showed that the investments we made in shelter had started to pay off,” Perkins said. “Although 55% is still an incredibly high number, and it shows that we have a lot of work to do.”
The temporary safe stay area at Juniper Ridge is one way that Perkins says agencies are hoping to reach more houseless people.
“This is not just a place where people can camp,” Perkins said. “It will also be a place where they will be provided services with the intent that, when it does close at the end of 2026, we will have as many people as possible move to better situations.”
Among the services planned are storage and hygiene stations, housing case management support to help move people into permanent living quarters, vehicle repair and animal care. The expected cost for creating and running the temporary safe stay area until the end of 2026 is around $1.1 million, according to City estimates. The funding comes from a combination of City and County contributions — $400,000 each — and allocations from the American Rescue Plan Act, which must be used by Dec. 31, 2026. After that date, Perkins said Juniper Ridge would permanently close to the public.
For people soon to be forced out of the China Hat area, Leppert said she worries about the lack of support and funding for an effort like the one underway at Juniper Ridge.
“They’re just letting us know,” she said of the Forest Service, which last month sent law enforcement officers around to campers at China Hat notifying them of the upcoming closure. “Some people out there have been out there for years. There are vast amounts of people with disabilities out there who have income through Social Security, or jobs, and they just don’t make enough money to afford housing. It’s horrifying.”
Holly Jewkes, supervisor of the Deschutes National Forest, told the Source Weekly that the Forest Service is enlisting regional service providers to help people move out of the China Hat area. But Leppert says she has not seen coordination with organizations like Central Oregon Villages, where she works.
This article appears in Jan 28, 2025 – Jan 28, 2026.
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This situation represents a significant failure on the part of the U.S. Forest Service. Holly Jewkes and Kevin Larkin have not fulfilled their responsibilities, which are to “protect the land and serve the people.” By allowing homelessness to persist in areas such as China Hat and Phils Trail, among others on U.S. Forest land, they have allowed the destruction of wildlife habitats, native grasses, and ecosystems, creating hazardous conditions for recreational users and wildlife alike. These lands were never intended to be inhabited, as they lack the necessary infrastructure to support such living arrangements, presenting a severe fire risk among other dangerous situations.
Despite statements from the supervisors in interviews, if proper enforcement were in place, we would not be facing this issue or having these ongoing discussions. Rather than addressing the problem, the Forest Service has allowed and, in some cases, even encouraged homelessness at Phils Trail, which is unacceptable.
Additionally, I am curious to know when the U.S. Forest Service will be held accountable for failing to fulfill its duties. The article overlooks an important detail: during a December call with Randy Moore, the head of the U.S. Forest Service in Washington, D.C., it was revealed that the Forest Service is facing a $780 million budget shortfall, leading to 1,039 seasonal worker layoffs in our region. This lack of enforcement over the years, coupled with upcoming layoffs, raises serious concerns about how the Forest Service plans to manage these issues moving forward
If these people cared for the land, maybe this wouldn’t be an issue?
Bottom line: These people are destroying public lands and damn near burned LaPine to the ground last Summer. People have had it.
The real issue is why did it take so long for the U.S. Forest Service to DO THEIR JOBS!
Nicole is absolutely correct. They steered people to Phil’s!
Public spaces should be off limits for people to live and abuse! Period. Why is this so difficult? Queue the ‘where is your humanity’ crowd.
The funding for NFS will undoubtedly continue to be cut. They’ve not had more that 2 rangers for the area in question for many years so that may be part of the reason enforcement is abysmal.
It’s a huge and complex problem which I fear will only get worse as government cuts loom on the horizon. It does seem dysfunctional to cut the juniper ridge area at the time when 35000 acres of land is being closed to public use (we know houseless “campers” are part of this public use) and the displacement of these folks cannot be absorbed anywhere, certainly not easily. Then where will everyone go once Juniper closes a year later? Right, back to China Hat, it’s a never ending, ever growing cycle of doom. I wish there was a simple answer, but there isn’t.
PNW
I believe a solution exists. Public lands are not suitable for living, and this should be approached as a community concern, not a political issue. Our leaders must set aside their political agendas and work together in a collaborative effort. The City of Bend has already invested millions in low-barrier shelters, but these initiatives have not broken the cycle of homelessness and have, in some cases, attracted more individuals to the area.
It is essential that all relevant agencies come together to create a comprehensive, high-barrier facility where individuals are required to seek the help they need—whether that involves addiction treatment, mental health support, or social services. A high-barrier facility should be designed to address these critical needs and ensure active participation in recovery, including work at the facility as part of the recovery process.
There is a successful model based in Novato, California, which boasts a 68% success rate, a remarkable achievement in the recovery field, that I have shared with our leaders. If individuals are unwilling to engage in their recovery and do the necessary work to regain stability, they should be required to seek help outside of Deschutes County.
I’ve been homeless in the past. I have family members who are homeless.
On one hand it is cruel to kick people out when there is no affordable housing or disabled people cannot possibly meet the high rents, On the other hand there’s rampant drug use, rape, alcohol, unsafe behavior, garbage and misuse of public lands in many of these communities.
Also one of my unhoused family says once their Oregon town started offering homeless services the town was flooded with new people who came from places with worse weather. This is over in the Valley. He said people were coming from Florida, too hot, and Minnesota, too cold. Everyone knew exactly where to get free meals three times a day, how to put your belongings in a locker for free downtown at the library and then spend all day in the library doing drugs in the bathrooms and keeping warm. It’s a sad situation.
We need a national program so that if a town tries to offer services to its own homeless, not all the homeless from the whole country will move to that town. If the services were spread out all around it would reduce the strain and spread out the work. Under Trump it seems unlikely right?