Clark County says FBI no longer can use Camp Bonneville firearms range

Clark County Council voted 3-2 this week, ending a long-term relationship that allowed FBI agents to train at a firing range at Camp Bonneville

Paul Valencia
Clark County Today

It appears that the theft of 12,000 rounds of ammunition — a case that is still open — has led the Clark County Council to end its long-term relationship with the FBI, denying the FBI from using the firearms range at Camp Bonneville. 

The council on Tuesday voted 3-2 to deny the county manager from executing a memorandum of agreement between Clark County and the Federal Bureau of Investigation that would allow the FBI to continue to train at the facility.

The FBI had been using Camp Bonneville in Brush Prairie since 2006 under a number of agreements with the county.

In January of this year, it was learned that 12,000 rounds of ammunition were stolen from the facility.

Sue Marshall, the chair of the Clark County Council, said that trust was lost, claiming the FBI was never authorized to store ammunition at the site.

Councilor Michelle Belkot countered that there was no trust broken. The previous agreements did not include language on whether or not the storage of ammunition was allowed. She said that the FBI has always been a good partner with the county.

It was noted that the Clark County Sheriff’s Office, which also uses the range at Camp Bonneville, still currently stores ammunition at the facility. 

Kathleen Otto, the county manager, reminded the councilors that the county opened negotiations with the FBI a year-and-a-half ago based on direction from this very council. Her team negotiated in “good faith” with the FBI. She also emphasized that under this new contract, the FBI agreed that they would no longer store any ammunition at Camp Bonneville. 

Nevertheless, the agreement with the FBI was denied.

“I’m not going to support it,” Marshall said. “If those 12,000 rounds had been found, I’d feel better about this.”

Marshall was joined by councilors Glen Yung, and Wil Fuentes in voting against the new agreement. Councilors Belkot and Matt Little voted to approve the new agreement. 

“We will move forward and let the FBI know that they no longer can use Camp Bonneville” for a shooting range, Otto said. 

Otto reminded the councilors that the FBI does have an office in Vancouver. Earlier in the discussion, it was suggested that the FBI officers using the range were based in Oregon.

On Thursday, Belkot told Clark County Today that these are local law enforcement agents using the facility, either Clark County or in the region.

“Those FBI officers live here in the area. They are federal employees, but they live here in this area. They have a field office in Portland, but they also have a field office in Vancouver, too,” Belkot said. 

Now, they will have to travel elsewhere to train, taking their federal dollars elsewhere.

“I want my officers to be well trained and qualified. They have to have a certain amount of training to be qualified in their job. The FBI is going to pay someone other than Clark County to do it,” Belkot said.

She said she was “shocked and disappointed” in the vote, adding that it appeared the council just wanted to penalize the FBI for the theft in January. It was not a good look, she said, for the council to punish a good partner.

When contacted Thursday afternoon, the FBI declined to comment on the Camp Bonneville vote.