There comes a time during a controversial situation where public officials need to step back, take a deep breath and start acting like adults.

A good case in point is the current hullabaloo around the U.S. Forest Service and Grant County regarding a 2022 prescribed fire that spread beyond its start on the Malheur National Forest onto private land owned by the Holliday family.

On Oct. 19, 2022, Grant County Sheriff Todd McKinley arrested Rick Snodgrass, a Forest Service employee, while the prescribed fire that Snodgrass was in charge of was still burning south of John Day.

On Feb. 2, 2024, a grand jury indicted Snodgrass on one count of reckless burning, a Class A misdemeanor.

The entire case should leave most readers with a slight distaste on the palate.

On the big picture level, the case is in some ways a classic local versus federal dispute, but why this incident has been drawn out for this long is a mystery.

Snodgrass was doing his job, a job delegated to him by his superiors. The arrest is believed to be the first case of a Forest Service firefighter being arrested in the course of his normal duties.

Anti-government sentiment is nothing new to Eastern Oregon. As a culture, we tend to be suspicious of the federal government and hold dear the concepts of personal land ownership and dislike interference from federal and state governments. Those sentiments are ingrained into our culture as Americans.

Yet this case in Grant County remains baffling on many levels. Local and federal officials are at loggerheads while an individual who was following orders and adhering to established protocols for prescribed fires is left holding the bag.

This incident should have been handled in a totally different way and through appropriate channels.

The prosecution of this case only serves to exacerbate already existing tensions about federal land management in Grant County and Eastern Oregon. Feeding and stoking anti-government feelings may be convenient for some but hardly qualifies as problem-solving.

Instead it looks absurd. Worse, the prosecution could impede efforts to find common ground and solutions to the growing danger that wildfire poses.

Prescribed fire is a vital tool, but not always a perfectly precise one.

Legitimate concerns or disagreements regarding prescribed burns or other land-use issues should be addressed through proper legal channels and in a manner that is in line with our system of laws.

The fire ignited by Snodgrass and his crew torched some trees during the afternoon, when the wind picked up, and embers spread onto land owned by the Hollidays.

The ember started a fire that burned an estimated 20 to 40 acres of the Hollidays’ land.

If the Hollidays can show that the fire damaged their property, or reduced its value, then they have legitimate grounds for a civil suit against the federal government.

That, rather than a criminal case, is the appropriate legal venue for trying to punish the Forest Service.

What this matter needs is some adult leadership to bring everyone to the table to find a viable solution. Indicting people isn’t the answer. Compromise is.