In 1973 there was a big gas shortage.  Gas was rationed, and cars made blocks-long lines at gas stations.  Getting a tankful of gas often required a wait of an hour or two.

Mac Kerns worked for the U.S. Forest Service in John Day, Oregon.  He was in charge of the fleet.  The fuel shortage created a huge, insurmountable problem for the Forest Service because they couldn’t find fuel for their vehicles.  Service stations only had a limited amount of gas, and reserved it for their regular customers.  Inasmuch as the Forest Service was not a regular customer, the service stations refused to fill their vehicles.

What to do?  The forest supervisor called his staff together to ask for ideas for how to deal with the problem.  Mac pointed out that the Pendleton area had experienced a very short wheat harvest, that the farmers were hurting financially, and that they all had on-farm gas storage.  He suggested that the farmers should be approached to see if they’d be willing to sell their gas for a profit.

A man was found who had a tank truck, and who was willing to go to Pendleton and beat the bushes looking for farmers with surplus gas to sell.  He reported that he drank a lot of coffee as he made the circuit of restaurants and shops; but by doing so, he secured enough fuel to keep the Forest Service in operation.