Illegal Shooters a Menace in National Forest

An increasing number of illegal shooters, some armed with automatic weapons, are destroying trees and animals, damaging property, creating a hazard to visitors and frustrating rangers in Cleveland National Forest.

An example of shooter destruction recently found by rangers was a stately 30-foot tall, 50-year-old oak tree, alongside Kitchen Creek Road in the Descanso district of the forest, cut down by bullets.

“I think the worst areas in the country for this problem are the Angeles, San Bernardino and Cleveland National Forests,” Forest Service agent Thomas Lanier said.

“There are millions of people, and the forests are close and easy to get to. For most people we are the first open land they come to when they go east. And it seems as if everyone has a gun nowadays.”

A number of factors complicate the problem at the 420,000-acre Cleveland National Forest that sprawls over parts of Orange, Riverside and San Diego counties.

One is the multipurpose national forest concept that means hikers and campers, grazing cattle, off-road vehicles and hunters and target shooters all share the forest.

While target shooting is allowed in much of the Cleveland National Forest, the rules covering it are as strict as they are often violated.

Shooting is allowed only in posted areas alongside roads and into solid targets. Automatic weapons are illegal and shooting at rocks, trees, across roads or into private property is prohibited.

Hunting is allowed in posted areas, which includes much of the Descanso district of the forest. Hunters must have a valid California hunting license and obey California rules on the types and numbers of animals that may be killed and the seasons for hunting.

The penalty for illegal shooting varies from a fines up to $500 and/or jail sentences up to six months, depending on the seriousness of the incident.

Part of the problem is a matter of numbers. Officials estimate there may be 200 to 300 shooters in the 200,000-acre Descanso district of the forest alone on weekends, but there are only five rangers to patrol the district.

Further complicating the problem is the fact that most rangers are unarmed and, following threatening incidents in the past, hesitant to confront illegal shooters.

In an incident last April, three men armed with an array of weapons, including high-powered rifles and pistols, some firing armor piercing bullets, threatened rangers who discovered them in a no-shooting area. The men were arrested by San Diego County sheriff’s deputies.

“Since most of our people are not armed, situations like this can cause major psychological problems,” said Dan Gustafson, resource protection officer for the Descanso district. He said about five citations a week are made for illegal shooting in the district.

Gustafson listed a number of other threatening or damaging incidents caused by illegal shooting:

- Three shooters, one armed with an illegal automatic weapon, were discovered last summer after they killed a cow and were loading it onto a truck. Gustafson said ranchers who lease grazing land from the government lose dozens of cattle to shooters every year.

- Beekeepers who maintain hives in the forest regularly find them shattered by bullets.

- Signs, including no-shooting signs, are continually riddled with bullets, until they are unreadable and destroyed. Gustafson said one road-closed sign was peppered with at least 100 shots.

- A San Diego Gas & Electric power pole has been a favorite target for shooters, raising fears that a forest fire could be sparked if bullets downed the pole.

- In summer months, campers and hikers regularly complain of being exposed to shooters.

“The main issue (in illegal shooting) is public safety,” said Byron F. Lindsley, director of the Mountain Defense League, an environmental group.

“There is neither the presence in numbers (of rangers and law officers) nor the power to deal with illegal shooters, and we would like to see that change. Right now, what we have is an honor system in which armed people are acting illegally.”

Even gun club members and hunters are upset by the situation and the destruction caused by illegal shooters.

What is taking place in the national forest is “very unsafe shooting,” according to Olin Thompson, secretary of the San Diego Fish and Game Assn.

“I like to deal with organized shooting ranges only, because I want to feel safe when the bullet comes out of the rifle,” Thompson said. “In the wild you don’t know who is around you. A .22-caliber rifle bullet will carry a good mile and the higher powered .243, .270 and 30.06 caliber rifles can carry seven miles and still have a big impact.”

There are some people who believe there should be a total ban on shooting in the national forest, but few observers believe the government is likely to take such action soon.

In fact, William Pidanick, public affairs officer for the Trabuca ranger district, thinks the problem of illegal shooters will get worse before it gets better.

“As these areas continue to be developed, you have more people coming in and more demand for different uses of the forest area--one of which will be shooting.

“It may come to the point where . . . we may have to do something like shut down the forest to shooters completely.”