By Luke Hammill
The Oregonian
PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon State Police are seeking nearly $2.5 million in reimbursement for responding to the 41-day armed occupation of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge.
Police handled “increased call load in the community, security at tense community meetings, the investigation of crimes, the preservation of evidence, closing of transportation routes and the transportation of prisoners,” agency Superintendent Richard Evans wrote in a letter to legislative leaders.
The occupation strained the resources of state police and other local and state agencies, who sent help to the sparsely populated county from all corners of Oregon.
“The significant resource commitment in the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge policing event, including associated staffing backfill at statewide offices, created a significant funding gap for the Department of Oregon State Police, local law enforcement partners, and other governmental agencies,” Evans wrote.
A subcommittee of the state Emergency Board, a group of lawmakers authorized to spend emergency funds while the Oregon Legislature is not in session, will consider the request Monday in Salem.
The occupation began Jan. 2, when Ammon Bundy and a group of armed militants split off from a rally in Burns organized to protest the imprisonment of two local Harney County ranchers. They occupied the federal bird sanctuary for weeks until state and federal officials arrested Bundy and other leaders Jan. 26 as they were traveling to a community meeting in John Day. They await trial on federal conspiracy and other charges.
During the trip outside the refuge, state troopers fatally shot one of the militants, Robert “LaVoy” Finicum, who had fled police and was reaching for a loaded handgun, investigators said.
A small group of protesters remained at the refuge, refusing to leave until Feb. 11, when they surrendered to the FBI. The ordeal created rifts and fear in the community, which temporarily closed schools.
The state Legislative Fiscal Office and Chief Financial Office made dueling staff recommendations on the amount of reimbursement. (The latter office is a unit of the Oregon Department of Administrative Services.) Both offices subtracted from the $2.5 million total for various reasons; for instance, staffers subtracted nearly $380,000 for the work of state police officials who would have been on duty anyway during the occupation.
The Legislative Fiscal Office recommended a reimbursement of nearly $2.1 million; the Chief Financial Office’s recommendation was about $1.9 million. The subcommittee could choose either one, or recommend that the Emergency Board approve the full amount requested by state police.
If either of the staff recommendations are approved, documents show, nearly $874,200 would go to Oregon State Police and the rest would be distributed among 36 other state and local agencies.
In a staff report, Legislative Fiscal Office analyst Julie Neburka wrote that state lawmakers approved $2 million during this year’s legislative session for reimbursing state and local agencies. At the time, legislators didn’t know the true cost of the occupation.
And it’s not just local agencies and state police who are seeking reimbursement, Neburka added.
“The state is continuing to pursue reimbursement from the federal government for the state’s occupation-related costs,” she wrote. If Oregon receives such reimbursement, Neburka’s office recommended it be deposited in the state’s general fund.
The federal government incurred expenses of its own, which aren’t included in the state police request. In February, The Oregonian/OregonLive estimated that Uncle Sam paid about $611,000 to federal workers while the U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service’s local offices were closed during the occupation.
The director of the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, which administers the refuge, estimated in March that the occupation cost that agency alone roughly $6 million.
Copyright 2016 The Oregonian