Today I want to share some long-awaited news regarding the case against Burn Boss Ricky Snodgrass from the Malheur National Forest. We learned this week that the Grant County case against Ricky, which had been removed to federal court, has been dismissed.

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.

This almost two-year ordeal has been a long and difficult road for Ricky and his family. Although the outcome is a positive one, his arrest should never have happened in the first place. I have personally reached out to Ricky to congratulate him on this excellent news and let him know that we will continue to support him and his family as they continue to recover mentally and physically from their unnecessary suffering.

I know that Ricky’s arrest has given many other firefighters pause as to whether to continue their role as a burn boss for the agency. I am hopeful that the positive outcome of Ricky’s case will give many of you the confidence necessary to continue working in your much-needed roles. As we continue to implement our “Wildfire Crisis Strategy,” the agency needs experienced firefighters more than ever. We are all in this together, and we can’t do it without you.

I want to thank everyone, from the ranger district to the Washington Office, who has stood by Ricky for the last 22 months. I especially want to express my sincere gratitude for the employees on the Malheur National Forest for their unwavering support for Ricky and for inspiring other employees with your commitment to our values of safety, interdependence and service to the public and to one another.

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.

My hope for Ricky and his family is that eventually they will be able to put this ordeal behind them and return to a new sense of normal. Until that time, I know that Ricky and his family will continue to receive much-needed support from the entire Forest Service family.

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