'Burn boss' arrest inflames Western land use tensions
A ranching family in Oregon is applauding the arrest of the leader of a U.S. Forest Service crew that carried out a prescribed burn in a national forest that spread onto the family’s property
SALEM, Ore. (AP) — When U.S. Forest Service personnel carried out a prescribed burn in a national forest in Oregon on Oct. 13, it wound up burning fencing that a local family, the Hollidays, uses to corral cattle.
The crew returned six days later to restart the prescribed burn, but the flames then spread onto the family's ranch and resulted in the arrest of “burn boss” Rick Snodgrass.
Repercussions of the singular incident in the remote corner of eastern Oregon have reached all the way to Washington, D.C., where Forest Service Chief Randy Moore denounced the arrest. But the ranching family is applauding Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley's actions.
“It was just negligence, starting a fire when it was so dry, right next to private property,” said Sue Holliday, matriarch of the family.
