Mercedes-Benz ad won't be shot in Ore. forest

By The Associated Press Published: Feb 15, 2012 at 10:36 PM PDT Last Updated: Feb 16, 2012 at 9:05 AM PDT
Mercedes-Benz ad won't be shot in Ore. forest
In the May 16, 2001, file photo, a car travels down the Cascade Lakes Scenic Byway with the Three Sisters mountains in the background 25 miles west of Bend, Ore. A proposal to film a Mercedes-Benz commercial on the Byway in the Deschutes National Forest has collapsed with a location scout saying the U.S. Forest Service dragged its heels and the agency saying the scout turned in skimpy paperwork. (AP Photo/Don Ryan, file)

BEND, Ore. (AP) - A proposal to film a Mercedes-Benz commercial in the Deschutes National Forest in Central Oregon has collapsed.

A location scout has blamed the U.S. Forest Service for dragging its heels and the agency said the scout turned in skimpy paperwork, according to The Bulletin newspaper in Bend on Wednesday.

The idea was to film a Mercedes-Benz sport utility vehicle driving through snow on the Cascade Lakes Highway, with Mount Bachelor in the background.

Location scout Doug Reynolds said Deschutes County gave him a permit in three days, and he sent an application to the Forest Service Feb. 6 to film on Wednesday.

"Any highway in Oregon, I can get a permit in five days or less to do whatever I want," said Reynolds of Locations NW in Portland. "It's always an uphill climb, but in 25 years as a location manager, I have never not gotten a permit."

The Forest Service said his one-page application did not address the safety concerns over bringing two SUVs and a low-flying helicopter into an area filled with people on snowmobiles, cross country skies and snowshoes.

"On any given day, there are hundreds (of people in the area), and that's no exaggeration," said Brant Petersen, acting district ranger for the Bend-Fort Rock Ranger District. "On weekends, I would put thousands up there.

"All of this boiled down to our first and foremost concern, which is public safety."

When the issue wasn't settled during a Feb. 8 conference call between Reynolds, the Forest Service and the governor's office of Film and Television, Reynolds contacted the office of Rep. Greg Walden, R-Ore. A Feb. 11 meeting reached no agreement, and Radical Media, the production company, moved the shoot to California.

Peterson said the Forest Service repeatedly asked Reynolds for more information, which he did not provide until late night Feb. 11. That left the Forest Service just two business days to review the permit.

Petersen said the Forest Service offered alternative sites for the shoot, and has approved 15 film permits in Deschutes National Forest in recent years.

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Information from: The Bulletin, http://www.bendbulletin.com

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.