The U.S. Forest Service on Thursday expelled dozens of homeless people who lived in Central Oregon’s National Forest for many years as it shut down areas of the wildfire prevention program, which would involve removing smaller trees, removing debris and setting up controlled burns with thousands of acres of land.

The project has been on books for years and has decided to cancel camps in the Deschutes National Forest two months after the Trump administration issued an executive order directing federal agencies to increase timber production and forest management projects aimed at reducing the risk of wildfires. It is unclear whether the eviction was the result of the order, but homeless advocates caught on Thursday’s schedule as U.S. Forest Service officers blocked access.

"I don't think it's a coincidence that they did this with such vitality shortly after the announcement that the forest would be opened for logging," said Jesse Rabinowitz, spokesman for the National Center for Homeless Law.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which is in charge of the U.S. Forest Service and the Northwest Territory of the Service did not immediately respond to an email request for comment.

"The shutdown is not targeting any specific user group and will restrict all access, including daytime use and overnight camping, while staff operate heavy machinery, perform prescribed burns and clean up hazardous materials," Kaitlyn Webb, spokesman for Deschutes National Forest, said in an email. "When heavy machinery is running, the public unsafely enters the area, trees are cut down, grass mowing operations are active, and prescriptions are being burned."

Campers scrambled to build trailers, recreational vehicles and tents in the dark country forest on Wednesday night and packed, packed, and got the engine working again on Wednesday night. Authorities closed the two-lane road early Thursday morning, and although some were unable to leave, it was unclear how many people remained in the woods in the afternoon.

The U.S. Forest Service has been planning for years to close a portion of the Forest National Forest near Bend to ease forests. But the number of people living in that part of the forest has increased due to unemployment and high housing costs, and many have lost their homes during the coronavirus pandemic.

Donald Trump's administration takes action to withdraw environmental protection measures around more than half of the future logging projects of the U.S. National Forest and under emergency designation citing wildfire dangers.

Whether the administration’s move will increase the timber supply as envisioned by Trump’s executive order signed in March remains to be seen. Joe Biden's administration also sought to fight fires by conducting more logging in public forests, which became even stronger under the dry and hot conditions associated with the climate crisis, but under his tenure, sales of forest service timber in the United States remained relatively flat.

The Butte vegetation management project at the Hut is about 30,000 acres (12,000 hectares) of wildfire relief therapy, which is driving closures in the Deschutes National Forest.

The purpose of the work is to reduce wildfire risks and restore damaged habitat, while the Lilac National Forest officials said in a statement that natural areas near Bend have occupied them. Entertainment venues and trails in the area will be closed in April next year.

Several U.S. Forest Service officials and vehicles were stationed at Deschutes National Forest Road Closure on Thursday. A sign on the metal door blocked the road, saying the temporary emergency closure will last for at least a year.

Violators could face six months in prison, up to $5,000 in fines, or both.

On Wednesday night, Mandy Bryant said she had been living in the camp for about three years and was cleaning up her website and trying to get the trailer to start so she could move.

"You might feel the heavy air, just the stress and frustration that people feel," she told the Associated Press. "We are on a list of people that society doesn't really care about."

Four people in the camp, including Kobe, and two homeless advocates have introduced restrictions to stop closures that were closed earlier this month. The claim argues that this will cause irreparable harm to more than 100 people living there, many of whom have disabilities.

The government responded in court documents that U.S. Forest Service staff began notifying homeless people living in areas that are about to end. The original plan for the project was released in 2019 and authorized by the U.S. Forest Service in 2023, court documents said.

U.S. District Judge Michael McShane denied the restraining order Tuesday and made a written comment Thursday.

"The public's significant interest in restoring natural habitats, preventing catastrophic wildfires, and maintaining the overall health of hill national forests does not have more than 150 or so people living on this particular land," he wrote in the ruling.

Webb, a national forest spokesman, told Oregon/Oregon Oregon that the government’s goal is to “voluntary compliance,” but forest service officials and staff will patrol and “enforce closures and ensure public safety.”