Pike National Forest Trashed
On Saturday of Memorial Day weekend we headed up Gold Camp Road/ Old Stage for a picnic. I know I have seen the area in bad shape but what we saw today shocked and saddened me. I respect our forest and value it a resource for us all to use. I most cases what we saw were indications of partying and shooting. Bags of trash had been left behind as well as shotgun an shells and brass all over the place. Groves of trees have been literally shot down with others being harmed by the bark being stripped away by blasts. Even though there are many responsible users and gun owners, there are a few that are ruining it for all others. For my part I would totally support a ban of shooting in the national forest (Expect for the practice of hunting). I will let the photos here speak for themselves through they represent just a small portion of the damage that we saw:
We finally found a place that was somewhat clean to have our picnic though we had to eat with the sounds of gun shots echoing through the area rather than to the sounds of silence and birds.
I’m a gun enthusiast and this sickens me. The range I attend has a strict policy of tending to your own brass! What a bunch of irresponsible people! I too would like to have a ban on shooting in the National Forest areas for the same reasons you expressed in your articles. This is an issue that needs pushed! Good job bringing it to people’s attention!
It’s like this for anything in any park. If you go to any type of USFW park or SRA/WMA bring a bag with you and help out.
If I could show you areas where irresponsible four wheel drivers had trashed the National Forest, would you “totally support a ban” on four wheel driving in the National Forest? No, of course not. You would want the culprits prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
The same should apply to irresponsible gun owners. Maybe rangers should stake out some known areas where this gun trashing is going on, and make a few arrests. It would stop quickly when word got out.
If this was a isolated problem in just a few areas I would agree with you. However, the problem is endemic with shooting taking place at almost ever place you can stop along the roads and jeep roads. The damage is vast and the trash is truck loads. I would fully support getting a ranger in there to ticket but I suspect that the funding is not there. It takes money and time to properly manage our public lands. If the lands can be protected with out restrictions I am fully for that option, I just don,t think that is going to work in this case.
Believe me, I understand the dilemma. I believe the destroying of the trees could warrant an arrest, and just littering tickets for the target trash etc., should be $500=$1000. Maybe there’s some revenue there for a couple of weekends anyway. The main thing is, if they do catch someone it has to be publicized big time, so the word gets out that it’s not worth it.
Tragedy of the commons, it has nothing to do with shooting. Pick any human activity and there will be those that abuse it.
You could ban shooting, but then you could ban just about anything else with the same argument until no one is allowed to use the area.
Not exactly “leave no trace”. :-P
Agree with Jeff, Idiocy is an equal opportunity employer.
Phil
This is a prime example of how and why we 4×4 and gun owners get so many haters, I don’t know how exactly to put this in place, My idea would involve solar powered outdoor camera, the same type that are used for hunting and wildlife observation. The camera would be strategically placed in areas like this, the cameras would be sound activated to shotgun noise. My thoughts are if the authorities had pictures of the perpetrators vehicles and or action photos might help them in prosecuting these vandals, not to mention posting said photos at the entrance to the parks and on parks and wildlife websites.
/Joe