.jpg "Tin cans are now among the targets that are illegal to shoot on Colorado's Arapaho and Roosevelt National Forests and Pawnee National Grassland. (Photo by Justin McDaniel)")
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.
.jpg "Jim Bulger/Colorado Division of Wildlife")
“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.
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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.
