China Hat Road is just a few miles from Bend, Oregon, where a large area of homeless encampments has existed for years. The vast Deschutes National Forest area has served as a refuge for people living out of their vehicles. As many as 200 people have lived there in dozens of encampments across hundreds of acres.
As the cost of living has exploded in central Oregon, the number of people living in national forests has increased dramatically. Some camps, including China Hat, have become established homes for people partly because that’s where police and deputies take people to get them off city streets.
The Forest Service notified China Hat Road campers three months ago that the area would be shut down. Weeks later, they began leafleting the area, warning of steep fines and possible imprisonment for those who don’t leave. Forestry officials say the area needs to be thinned to reduce the risk of wildfires. Fire mitigation is a serious issue, but no organized effort was made to relocate the homeless camping there in an orderly and safe manner.
