Case Against Forest Service Burn Boss Dropped, USDA Hails Decision

The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) applauded a recent decision to drop the criminal charge against a U.S. Forest Service employee for setting a prescribed burn on federal land.

It’s a case that exposed tensions between federal employees doing their jobs and local law enforcement in Oregon.

Burn Boss Ricky Snodgrass was facing one misdemeanor charge of reckless burning, for setting a prescribed burn in the Malheur National Forest that burned almost 20 acres of private land before it was contained.

Snodgrass was arrested by the local sheriff in October 2022 and later indicted by a Grand County, Oregon, grand jury. Given that Snodgrass is a federal employee the case was moved to federal court, where it was recently dismissed.

In a blog post, U.S. Forest Service Chief Randy Moore wrote, “Since Ricky’s arrest we, and leaders in the department, including Secretary Vilsack, have supported him. We have maintained and continue to assert that accountability should be held by the agency if we experience a bad or unexpected outcome. The accountability should never be held by an individual employee working within the scope of their official duties.”

Chief Moore noted that he reached out to Snodgrass after the dismissal to let him know that the agency will continue to support him and his family as they recover from the ordeal.

Chief Moore also noted that he hopes the Snodgrass case doesn’t deter recruits from joining the agency, especially as it’s in great need of more firefighters.

“While we can’t guarantee that something like this won’t happen again, we can learn from this experience and continue to keep employee safety as our priority. However, I personally assure you that, as Chief of the Forest Service, I will always have the back of any employee who is mistreated while performing their official duties,” wrote Chief Moore.

The case was dismissed after Snodgrass’s attorneys wrote to a federal judge asking for a dismissal. It was not challenged by Grand County District Attorney Jim Carpenter. 

“Mr. Snodgrass was charged because the State — or more precisely, the local sheriff — took issue with the Forest Service’s decision to conduct the prescribed fire,” defense attorneys wrote in court documents. “But the State cannot charge Mr. Snodgrass with a crime simply because it disagrees with the Forest Service’s decision.”