La Grande residents gather in protest of recent federal actions 

LA GRANDE – On the Afternoon of Monday, February 17, over a hundred local residents gathered outside the La Grande City Hall to protest the current federal administration, and make their grievances known. 

When Elkhorn Media Group was initially informed of the protest late last week, it was initially framed as a somewhat focused demonstration organized by and for federal employees impacted by the recent layoffs. Speaking with those participating in the rally, the February 17 protest was a far more diverse and grassroots event.

Reasonings for attending varied from person to person, though the unifying message of those participating could very broadly be described as a protest against perceived mass overreach by the Executive Branch of the federal government. Those participating, generally expressed anger at the recent executive orders, the perceived overstepping of the Trump Administration’s authority, a lack of transparency for those impacted by recent executive orders and layoffs, a feared overconcentration of power in the Executive Branch compared to the Congressional and Judiciary branches, and how all these issues could impact the local community long term.

Other points of grievance expressed by participants included conflicts of interest among the upper echelons of the federal government, breach of privacy of citizens, the recent actions/statements of Elon Musk, a feared restriction of certain civil liberties, and the reduction of funding of various federal services (such as Medicaid) and agencies.

As mentioned above, though the protest went far beyond the scope of just the federal layoffs as we were initially informed, they did still play a part in the demonstration. Speaking with Nowell March, a former Forest Service employee that had friends impacted by the layoffs, there is a fear for what the reduction in positions could mean long term, particularly regarding fire safety and firefighting response. As explained by March:

“I’m down here because a lot of my friends and former co-workers are losing their jobs with the Forest Service, among other things. Those are people that help keep us safe, they help fight wildfires. A lot of them aren’t primary fire positions, but they are still fully qualified. When things get really busy in the summertime and all the firefighters are out, everyone else in the district helps out. When those people are gone, what’s going to happen? Also, even with primary firefighters, there’s still a hiring freeze, so they can’t hire their normal seasonal workforce. I think it’s important for people to know that going into this fire season, we don’t have the firefighters around.”

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