Oregon Standoff Is Expected to Cost Millions, and Occupiers May Pay Part of the Bill
BURNS, Ore. — The cost of the six-week standoff in rural Oregon will most likely reach into the millions of dollars, with local and state agencies looking to the federal government — and the arrested occupiers — to shoulder the bulk of the bills.
The total cost may not be known for weeks or months, but the remote location of the occupation, at the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in the eastern part of the state, combined with the complexity of the law enforcement response, suggests an expensive operation, said Brian Levin, a criminal justice expert at California State University San Bernardino.
“When you have an unpredictable occupation like this, you have to free up a lot of personnel assets and resources,” Mr. Levin said. “The cost of maintaining a multiagency task force can get very expensive.”
The protest over federal control of Western lands began in early January and ended Thursday when the final four holdouts surrendered.
Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon is seeking up to $1 million from the Legislature to offset expenditures by counties and towns, and she said the state, in turn, would seek reimbursement from the federal government.
Ronald T. Hosko, a former assistant director of the F.B.I.’s criminal investigative division, said that he thought the agency would pay for its own personnel, but that the State of Oregon and the counties affected would more than likely be expected to cover their own costs. “It’s going to be every agency for themselves,” he said.
The governor’s $1 million figure, equal to half of the law enforcement budget of Harney County, where the refuge is, is based on the estimated cost of personnel, transportation and lodging incurred by the state’s 36 counties, which all sent reinforcements to help Harney County deal with the occupation, said Kristen Grainger, a spokeswoman for the governor.
Harney County alone spent nearly $240,000 through the end of January, the latest figures available, said Laura Cleland, who was contracted to act as the county’s temporary spokeswoman during the standoff. Ms. Cleland’s $6,400 monthly fee is included in the county’s tabulation of the cost of the standoff.
Judge Steven E. Grasty of Harney County, who also serves on the county commission, said the total cost to the county could reach $500,000. Judge Grasty said the county planned to seek reimbursement directly from the occupiers, and was prepared to take legal action.
“If you’re going to come in and undo a little a community, come prepared to pay the cost of it,” he said.
Other agencies and municipalities are also beginning to weigh in. The weeklong shutdown of public schools in the area in early January over safety concerns added $160,000 in teacher salaries and other expenses to the bill. The City of Burns, closest to the refuge, incurred costs totaling $30,000 and neighboring Hines spent about $25,000.
Figures are not yet available for the cost of repairing the damage to the refuge, a popular bird sanctuary operated by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service.
On Friday, the F.B.I. said it had deployed its Art Crime Team, trained in investigations of cultural property, to work with the Burns Paiute Tribe to identify and document damage to the tribe’s artifacts and sacred burial grounds at the sanctuary, a process estimated to take weeks.
The F.B.I. declined to provide financial information on the standoff, but a law enforcement official estimated that at least 90 federal agents would have been required to staff the three checkpoints set up outside the site of the standoff 24 hours a day.
By: Reuters
Source: New York Times
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