The U.S. Forest Service signed an order on Dec. 28 placing new
restrictions on recreational shooters who use Colorado’s Arapaho and
Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland.
The order states that shooters are prohibited from “discharging a
firearm, air rifle or gas gun unless shooting at cardboard targets,
paper targets, manufactured metallic targets (metal targets
specifically designed for firearms), or manufactured thrown-type clay
targets (clay pigeons).”
Any target that does not fit into one of the above categories is
prohibited, making many popular targets used by recreational shooters,
such as tin cans, plastic cartons, and the newer ballistic polymer
targets, off limits. Violations of the order are punishable as a Class
B misdemeanor, with a fine of not more than $5,000 for an individual,
$10,000 for an organization, and/or imprisonment for not more than six
months.
Hunters possessing a valid Colorado hunting license who are engaged in hunting are exempt from the order.
“I don’t like an order that prohibits shooting metal or plastic
beverage containers,” said Richard Gandolf, chairman of the Colorado
Springs Friends of NRA Committee. “Those items are the favorite targets
of grandparents, parents and grandchildren everywhere. Commercial
target frames that hold empty metal drink cans are sold in most major
sporting goods stores, and in most episodes of “Lock N’ Load” on the
History Channel, R. Lee Ermey is shooting water-filled gallon milk
jugs.”
The Front Range Shooting Sports Partners (FRSSP), of which the
Forest Service is a member, contends that the Forest Service issued the
restrictions without first consulting or collaborating with the other
members of the partnership. A memorandum of understanding exists
between the group’s 18 members to work cooperatively on all issues that
impact recreational shooting along Colorado’s Front Range.
“The key point here is that the Colorado Forest Service is not
collaborating with its partners on any decision, action or policy it is
taking with respect to recreational shooting on public lands,” said
Susan Recce, NRA-ILA Director of Conservation, Wildlife and Natural
Resources. “From my perspective, there has been no communication,
coordination, cooperation or collaboration with the shooting community
by the Forest Service on decisions that impact shooters.”
The Forest Service maintains that it did communicate its intent to
issue the order, but that the final decision rested with the forest
supervision, Glenn Casamassa, not the FRSSP.
“The shooting sports partnership is a collaborative group, but it’s
not necessarily a decision-making group,” said Tom Ford, recreation,
planning and design staff officer for the Arapaho and Roosevelt
National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland. “The forest supervisor
still has responsibility and authority for decisions that he has to
make. We have committed to open communication. Frankly, we felt that we
had communicated that we were looking at this order and intending to do
it openly. That being said, there was some feedback that we certainly
could have done it differently or added emphasis to it. There were some
folks, unfortunately, that were taken by surprise.”
Jim Goodyear, the Colorado Division of Wildlife’s representative on
the FRSSP, said no one at his agency had prior knowledge of the order.
He also said the order places too much blame on recreational shooters
for trash being left in the forest—hence the restrictions on the
targets shooters may use—but that other user groups aren’t being
targeted.
“The feeling is that we’re being treated differently than the other recreational users on the forest,” Goodyear said.
In explaining the reasoning behind the order, the Forest Service
said the target restrictions were put in place for public health and
safety, as well as resource protection.
“Shooting sports activities are a legitimate use of National Forest
System lands, and we believe this order will help make shooting more
sustainable and environmentally friendly, while increasing shooter and
public safety,” said Casamassa.
But is it really unsafe to shoot some of the targets that are now forbidden, like tin cans and milk cartons?
“Absolutely not,” said Gandolf, who is also an NRA Range Technical
Team Advisor. “Shooting tin cans and plastic bottles is not inherently
unsafe.”
“Heck no,” said Goodyear.
Gandolf, who also serves on the FRSSP, said he believes the order is
really about trash being left in the forest, not safety.
“If I read between the lines, the problem the Forest Service is
trying to prevent is abandoning trash in the forest, since the order
does nothing to improve safety,” he said. “Regulations should focus on
the problem, not the symptom. Responsible shooters would have written
the order to prohibit abandoning any type of target on National Forest
land. A better approach would be creating an order that mandates
removing your target when you leave, even if you didn’t bring it.”
Gandolf also said the order unfairly paints recreational shooters as
the main source of litter on national forests, something he says is
just not true.
“My wife and I have property adjacent to Pike National Forest,” said
Gandolf. “We hike that area all the time. I have picked up TV sets,
gallon jugs of waste motor oil, signs, a sink, cans and bottles. None
of them had holes in them. None of them were shot. I would stick my
neck out and say the vast majority of the trash and things left in our
national forests have not been shot or left by shooters.”
But, as NRA has long maintained, hiking trails are not closed down
or restricted when hikers litter, and campers are not subject to
superfluous rules when trash is left at camp sites, so recreational
shooters should not be treated any differently than other forest
users.
“We don’t in any way mean to imply that it’s necessarily the
shooters that are bringing the stuff out there that gets shot,” Ford
said. “But, televisions, for example, if somebody dumps one, it’s not
really hazardous or a problem to pick up, but once it gets broken or
shot, the difficulty of picking it up increases.”
The FRSSP works to coordinate range clean-up events on national
forests in Colorado and has initiated a clean range campaign that
encourages shooters to clean up after themselves when they are finished
shooting. The Colorado Division of Wildlife also works with shooters
and volunteers to keep its public ranges clean. The success of these
programs underscores the point that most recreational shooters use
public lands responsibly.
“I am personally and professionally strongly opposed to individuals
that shoot at inappropriate targets, such as used appliances like old
refrigerators, obsolete computer monitors, fire extinguishers or
glass,” said Goodyear. “However, there are responsible shooters out
there, and for me as a youth, and even a young father with his three
boys, we shot at clean washed tin cans, empty soda cans, and even a jug
or two of frozen water. Then, when we were done, we scoured the area
and cleaned up our brass, our debris, and other’s debris, too, leaving
the area cleaner than we found it. It was an education process and
taught responsible behavior.
“However, this order has nothing to do with education or behavior,
and certain issues seem open for interpretation. I would like to know
in advance how the Forest Service plans to enforce this order.”
When the rule was announced in early January, NRA sent a letter to
the Forest Service urging that the new target policy be withdrawn.
Other groups have also expressed concerns about the restrictions, and
the Forest Service has said that it will entertain ideas for improving
or modifying the rule.
“We don’t want to unduly burden recreational shooters,” Ford said.
“We value that. It’s a legitimate long-term use of the national forest,
but our goal is to make it sustainable. With some of the things we’ve
seen and that we’ve heard from our other forest users and our publics,
we felt that this order would actually help to perpetuate recreational
shooting by eliminating some of the problems.”
As of now, the original order is in effect, and shooters who use the
Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland
should be mindful that what has long been considered an appropriate
target may now be illegal—and could land them a steep fine or jail
sentence, even if they clean up after they finish shooting.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
While
only a small minority of shooters create problems on public ranges,
these actions lead to unnecessary restrictions that impact all
shooters. A national campaign called “Respected Access is Open Access”
is underway to encourage all public lands users to improve their
behavior so that the lands remain open for everyone to enjoy. The
campaign is one of the top initiatives of the Federal Lands Hunting and
Shooting Sports Roundtable. For more information on the campaign, visit
www.treadlightly.org.
