w h a t ? !

embarrassing enough?

After blaming vandals, the U.S. agency learns its workers failed to bar the entry to a maze of logging spurs ....

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BLM left gate open on road to Kims' fate

Federal workers failed to lock a gate blocking the logging road that led James Kim to his death last week -- a different story than has been told since his death and his family's rescue.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management was supposed to lock the gate near the entrance of the road, known only as 34-8-36, on Nov. 1. The gate is meant to prevent people from turning onto a maze of logging spurs instead of staying on Bear Camp Road, which cuts through the mountains to the Oregon Coast.

Officials with the agency have maintained since last week that the gate had been locked but was later vandalized. But BLM spokesman Michael Campbell said Wednesday that an internal investigation this week into the suspected vandals turned up the surprising culprit: the agency itself.

"The idea was our BLM engineer, the lead engineer, had directed the staff to go out there and lock the gate on Nov. 1, Campbell said. "Basically what they found was, when they got out there, they were unable to confirm no one was trapped behind the gate. So they made the decision not to close it."