Piper Engler stands on a logging road off Old Hufford county road, east of Sweet Home, surveying what could be described as a muddle of muck and mess.
In front of the Linn County Sheriff’s mountain deputy is a large, obviously deep, puddle. Trash is everywhere – cans, wrappers, ammo casings, pieces of pallets, along with charred remainders of bonfires. Up the road, stumps are scattered where people have been shooting at targets. Grooves in the muddy road show where trucks or ATVs have traveled around rock piles designed to block off the road.
This, she says, is a “prime example” of why she’s out there.
Engler, who grew up in Lebanon, has been a deputy with the department for four years and started working mountain patrol last fall.
She polices the private forestlands in north and east Linn County, while other deputies focus on public lands, such as BLM properties, and the Corps of Engineers land around Foster and Green Peter reservoirs. Around Sweet Home, the majority of those private lands are Hill Timber properties managed by Cascade Timber Consulting.
It’s a varied job. In her diesel four-wheel-drive Ford F250 pickup, she cruises the logging roads, patrolling for blocked or damaged timber gates, littering, trespassers, vandalism, theft of forest products and illegal camping, as well as more typical law enforcement issues such as theft, particularly from logging operations.
“It’s really evident on those tire tracks off to the side of the road,” Engler says gesturing at muddy grooves digging into a bank on an ungraveled spur road. “It’s like, one person does it and then a bunch of these people decide they want to do it. One person decides to drive up this little hump to see if they can make it up here and then a bunch of people do.”
Timber landholders have rules and people violate them. Engler’s job is to, if not prevent violations of those rules, to catch violators. She does both.
Engler was a swimmer for Lebanon High School and then for Southwest Oregon Community College in Coos Bay, where she qualified in multiple events for nationals. After graduating – she earned valedictorian honors in both high school and college, where she earned three associate degrees, she then served on the SWOCC coaching staff. Then, she said, she decided to go into law enforcement – in Linn County, where she’d grown up.
“I only applied one place,” she said as she drove along Marks Ridge Road: “to Linn County Sheriff’s Office. If I couldn’t work here, I wasn’t going to do it.”
After a few years on regular patrol in Millersburg and other areas, she moved to the mountains.
With a reporter riding shotgun, Engler pointed out some of the problems she sees and deals with in her forest patrols.
She said that problems intensify with proximity to the towns, and Old Hufford is a prime example because it’s a county road that’s close to town. The problem, she said, is that what people do often violates company rules and, sometimes, the law.
Milt Moran, president of Cascade Timber Consulting, which manages 145,000 acres of timberland in east Linn County, said the mountain deputy program has been in place for nearly 20 years.
The program is contracted between the Linn Forest Protective Association and the Sheriff’s Office, he said. LFPA pays 80% of the deputy’s salary, which makes the mountain deputy available to respond to traffic and other crimes when necessary, he said.
“We, as landowners, felt it was important to do this, with the amount of public access – so many of our lands are surrounded by neighbors, off of county roads and main lines that bisect our properties.”
Recreation, such as hiking, hunting and fishing is allowed for the public, he said, though camping is prohibited.
Even with those provisions, “people are still breaking the law,” he said.
“It’s super important that we maintain good communication and good visibility.”
Party Sites, Fires, Shooting Ranges
Shooting is a big problem, particularly close to town, Engler said, gesturing at a CTC gate riddled with holes, sporting a cock-eyed warning sign that had been shot up. Nearby, a 6-inch Douglas fir was missing its top, courtesy of some shooter.
She reached into the ragged shaft of the tree’s trunk and pulled out a spent bullet.
“One of the really common things specific to ‘No Shooting,’ signs,” she said, “is people will shoot them down. Yeah, it doesn’t matter how many times that timber companies will put signs up, people pull them down so they can, you know, try to get away with things or claim that they don’t know.”
The Old Hufford area, particularly, is off-limits to shooters.
“Cascade Timber has areas where they allow shooting, but there’s areas where they post not to target shoot, and those are usually the areas where there’s houses in the general decision,” she said, noting that there are residences scattered along the length of Old Hufford and Shot Pouch, which runs to the south of the main line.
“Old Hufford, specifically, is a no-target shooting area. That doesn’t mean you can’t hunt. It’s just repetitive shooting at targets.”
She said a big problem is shooting up a road or trail without a proper backstop.
“Trees are not a backstop,” she noted. “Bullets have a way of traveling long distances.”
“We want to be respectful of our neighbors,” Moran said. “That’s why we put up ‘No Hunting, No Shooting’ signs where people live.”
Another problem, Engler said, is people who decide to bring their TV or some other household item out to the woods to use for target practice.
At another spur road, blue tape marked missing tops of numerous young trees that had been cut off by shooters.
A cattle trail ran up the hill – this was an open range area – and fresh cow tracks were evident in the mud, along with shotgun shells and bullet casings. Several stumps or rocks were surrounded by shattered glass and cans full of holes, and a propane tank lay off to one side, also riddled with holes.
Nearby was a large whipped cream spray container, used by partiers for “huffing.” Engler said she often finds such trash around the remains of fires.
Engler, who said she likes horseback riding, noted that she doesn’t ride in this area.
“You cannot tell me what is behind those trees,” she said, pointing at the trail running up the hill. “You know, someone, maybe they’re walking a cow trail back from a hike. I have horses, and sometimes we like to get off the beaten path and we’ll just take a little, you know, deer trail or cow trail or whatnot. You don’t know who or what is going to be walking around the corner while you’re just shooting into an open area.”
CTC has private security, who work with deputies, and neighbors often will report violators, she said.
Moran said illegal shooting doesn’t just damage trees, it can create hazards for millworkers – especially when target shooters are using metal-jacketed bullets.
Referring to situations such as the tree that had been cut in half by bullets – and he said there are more of those on CTC property, “there’s a lot more bullets in trees out there beyond that. Those bullets, depending on what kind they are, can be very dangerous in a sawmill.
“A lot of people are shooting metal-jacketed bullets these days. If we see that in the tree, if it doesn’t get caught by the cutters, the loggers, somebody in a mill could get badly hurt.”
Fires are another problem; there were charred remains of what likely were party fires, judging by the number of cans and other trash around most of them, in multiple intersections where Shot Pouch intersects with spur lines or cat roads.
“I think across the board, no one wants people to have buyers recreated from or not on their property. It’s just too much of a risk for them and so pretty much no timber company allows fires.”
Off-Road Trespassing
Mudding and off-road vehicles are another big problem, Engler said, adding that off-road motorists damage the landscape, which creates problems for timber owners.
She said it is common to see evidence of trespassing by vehicle operators who skirt boulders and gates to access areas they’re not supposed to be in.
“This is a prime example of, you see, just the tire tracks going through,” Engler said, pointing to a slope with ruts cut into it. A muffler lay nearby on the ground.
“Yep, they leave pieces behind. A lot of times when they go through different stuff, they’ll leave fluids and stuff just naturally from, you know the things that they damage unintentionally and whatnot, and then you destroy like the soil, and you can uncover roots from different trees and and one of the big things that I had no idea about, is that the timber companies are responsible for how much sediment or debris flows through their different streams,” she said; the state can fine timber owners for exceeding sedimentation limits.
Moran said that people tear up roads and, with streams close by, “we have to do a bunch of repair work to keep the water clean” after vandalism.
“We like to have people use our property for recreation, but if it gets to the point that there’s too much damage done, we may have to close it off.”
That’s why, for CTC and other local timber companies, if the public is allowed access, it is usually limited to “maintained, rocked roads,” Engler said. “Anything off of that is usually a trespass, even if you are allowed to be on that private timber company’s property. If you’re not obeying their rules, they don’t want you there; it’s a trespass.”
She said one of the most common intrusions she sees is “16-year-old kids in their first vehicle, yeah, that ‘90 Toyota pickup,” who enjoy off-roading in places they shouldn’t be.
“It’s kind of a nuisance for the timber companies. They try to say that they thought they were able to go through there, and one person does it, and more people follow. And then pretty soon you get like this here where it’s like, they didn’t make that part of their road initially,” she said, gesturing at a spot where muddy tire ruts ran around a closed gate.
Gate Issues
Timber gates are a big issue that deputies have to deal with.
sign dangles after being tampered with. Vandalism to gates is a problem for CTC and other local
landowners.
Nearly daily, the LCSO Sheriff’s log reports incidents of deputies dealing with timber gates blocked by vehicles, trespassing vehicles locked behind gates, locks stolen or damaged, and more.
Engler noted that timber companies operate according to plans created in conjunction with landowners and sometimes those require gates to be open – but not to the public.
“It’s not like they just show up for work one day and are like, ‘What do we want to do today?’ They have a plan and a schedule that they want to keep.”
Gates are often left open during logging operations to allow trucks to pass through and, in the event of an emergency, allow rescue workers to respond without unnecessary delays. But that doesn’t mean it’s open season for everyone.
“If it’s gated, they can’t take their dirt bikes or four-wheelers behind the gate and go up there. People see an open gate and they assume it’s open for them.”
During the most recent hunting season, logging operations were being conducted in the McDowell Creek area and gates were open for that reason, but vehicle access was clearly prohibited by “a large orange sign,” she said. But a number of hunters were cited there and elsewhere in the area for trespassing because they ignored the signs and driving right on in.
“There’s a large, orange sign that says ‘Active Operation, No Public Use,’” Engler said. “As long as you’re not walking into the actual site, CTC will still let you walk back there. They don’t want people getting hurt. There’s a lot of risk for them and they want to respect their workers up there.”
“Some people will see an open gate and drive through it. It’s not a free-for-all, when they open gates.”
She said in responding to reports of trespassing, she will often take a photo of the “No Public Access” sign as she drives through the gate.
“I will go up and I’ll talk to them. ‘No, there’s no sign down there.’ I’ll just show them the picture. ‘I took this on the way up here. I have a hard time believing that someone had the sign down and you drove through, and then they immediately just threw it up really quick.’
“Believe it or not, not everyone is truthful with us.”
Another big problem is blocked gates.
“They’ll have signs that say, ‘Do Not Block Gate,’ right? You never know who’s gonna have to go in that gate, and you never know who’s coming out of that gate.”
But, she said, she sees “many” instances where people have ignored those signs and parked directly in front of a timber gate.
“No one can get through. And they’re parked right in front of a sign that says, ‘Do Not Block Gate.’”
Theft of Forest Products
Last fall a Campbell Global employee was marking timber boundaries in the Quartzville corridor when she spotted two men carrying five-gallon buckets filled with chanterelle mushrooms in some “difficult terrain,” Engler said.
“She doesn’t say anything; she just keeps walking on.”
But the employee checked with her company and discovered that no mushroom permits had been issued for that area, so the Sheriff’s Office was notified.
Engler said she located the suspects’ car, which had been moved by the time she arrived, and found some evidence of the men’s presence – mushrooms along the side of the road, footprints, and more. She found two men, from Salem, “soaking wet,” huddling in the brush nearby. With help from a translator, she questioned them about their activities.
They agreed to open their trunk, which held multiple five-gallon buckets full of chanterelles, and since they didn’t have a permit, they were cited.
Engler said she turned the chanterelles over to a company staffer, weighed them – 96 pounds, which, at $10 per pound were worth nearly $1,000.
The chanterelles were then distributed them to company employees “for their Thanksgiving reward,” she said.
Fir boughs, popular during the holiday season, burls, bear grass, salal bark, ferns and minerals are other forest products that need to be permitted before they are harvested, she said.
“Someone picks up a rock because it’s pretty and they want to take it home for their rock collection, that is one thing,” Engler said. “But when people then go and they’ll, like, dig in the ground looking for rocks, and you’re disturbing all the soil and creating damage, or
You’re taking out five-gallon buckets, and you’re selling this, then that’s different.
“Basically, you picking it up, you moving it from its natural position. Is that harvesting it?
If it’s in your hand, it’s being moved, pretty much.”
Recently, in the Cedar Creek area, a witness reported a man with a trailer stealing gravel from a county site.
“You get a lot of timber companies, they’ll have their different roads, and they’ll have maybe just a big old pile of, you know, three-quarter minus crushed gravel rock, and people just are like,
helping themselves.”
Permits, she added, are required for harvesting from public property such as U.S. Forest Service lands, as well as private timber companies, though some of them allow small collection for personal use. She said information is available on those organizations’ websites or by calling them.
Illegal Camping
Sgt. Colin Pyle, Engler’s supervisor, said the problem of illegal camping, especially dumped trailers and RVs, is “constant for us now.”
Creek, poses an expensive problem for public agencies.
People just leave the vehicles out on a mountain road, he said, noting that a particularly egregious example is located near Milepost 21 on Quartzville Road, a trailer that was left on the side of the road and which has since been vandalized.
Engler took a reporter to the spot. The fifth-wheel trailer is on blocks – someone has stolen the wheels and tires off it. A mattress lies underneath it. All the windows are broken out. Often, she said, people shoot at the abandoned campers, occasionally igniting fires.
“They’re never of any value,” she said of the relics. “People will just load them up with their own trash that they don’t want to take to the dump. The RV’s are really hard to dispose of because no one wants them. So unless you take them apart, piece by piece, and take that to the dump, or whatever. You know, they cost everyone a lot of money to get rid of it.”
“It’s expensive for the tow companies,” Pyle said. “It’s expensive for the private timber companies. They’re garbage on wheels.”
En route to the dumped RV, Engler stopped to check a camp that was located downhill from the 17.2 milepost, which is the point on Quartzville where camping is allowed in BLM territory. The campsite was neat and clean, perched above Quartzville Creek, but it was in the wrong place. The occupants were not around, so Engler wrote out a warning ticket.
She said an ongoing problem is people who might be camping in a legal location for the 14-day limit, but then just move to another site. BLM rules, she said, require campers to move at least 50 miles, as the crow flies, before settling down for another 14 days.
“People will take little spurs and then they’re on private timberland, and they’re like, ‘I didn’t know.’”
Abuse of Privileges
Engler observed that people who abuse their privileges run the risk of getting banned from private timber lands.
Hunters, she said, are “generally law-abiding” and help timber companies by reporting things that don’t look right. Nonetheless, there’s potential costs in allowing the public access to timberlands.
“It’s less loss, less risk to have less people on your property,” she said. “I guess, in some sense, it makes it easier for enforcement purposes, because if no one and nothing’s allowed, then when someone or something, you know, when someone’s doing something on their land, right?”
Prohibited activities such as shooting or dumping trash simply threaten access for everyone, she said, a fact that is not lost on those who simply want to hike or enjoy the outdoors on CTC and other properties.
“So often, you’ll contact people that are just up here, out and about, just enjoying the property, and a lot of those people just can’t stand the people that come up here and shoot at things and leave trash and four-wheel off the road. You hear so much, people will say, ‘They’re gonna ruin it for the rest of us.’
“Timber companies can’t put signs everywhere, which is why they just have some general rules to kind of help cover where they can’t just put signs everywhere.”
Moran said people who bypass CTC’s gates and boulders are “trespassing.”
“They will be cited and maybe trespassed from property for a certain period of time,” he said, adding that the perpetrator’s attitude can influence the outcome.
In Oregon, it’s the responsibility of citizens in the woods to know where they are, Engler noted.
“So many people are like, ‘I didn’t know’ in the state of Oregon for trespassing. It’s on the person trespassing to know the rules about what’s allowed or not on property that is not theirs.”
She said she has had numerous interactions with juveniles tearing up the woods in various ways.
“They get referred to the Juvenile Department and I’ve told the kids that they’re trespassed from CTC or whatever property for a full year. That’s always the worst part of it for them.
“One kid was like, ‘That’s gonna ruin my entire hunting season!’
“I said, ‘You’re gonna have to find somewhere else to hunt. You’re gonna just have to make better decisions.’”
Engler said she likes Mountain Patrol because she enjoys the outdoors and because she feels she can help protect timberlands – “in hopes it will keep the timberland recreational opportunities available for future generations.”
“ I like the job because it is the perfect amount of constant and variety,” she said. “It gets me outdoors most days, and I feel like I find parts of the county I never knew existed. I feel like I am helping protect one of the largest backbone industries for Linn County.”
