minnmooney said:
Why just B & Moan... CLEAN IT UP & get it re-opened!
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As these public shooting sites get closed, why don't you contact the owner/controller and offer to clean it up if they'll re-open it ??
That seems like a lot easier solution that to complain about it and have to drive an extra x-amount of miles to a different site.
First, I posted this not as a bitch session, but rather to raise awareness of the problem.
Second,
no one person could keep these ranges clean. Do you propose I keep a dumpster at my house permanently, and buy a trailer to tow trash in? I have no means of disposing of: Hot water heaters, refrigerators, stoves, toilets, tires, etc.
I do what I can, but I can't entirely handle it myself... Nor could anyone else.
Also, the USFS isn't generally very recepetive to these ideas once an area has been closed. Local shooting groups used to organize clean-up days from time-to-time at Left Hand Canyon, but you would no sooner get the trash out than it would re-appear by some other idiot.
storydude said:
Simple answer. Make an "Official Looking" sign that kindly asks to pack out trash...Or, ask your State DEC if they could donate a sign.
Adding "Under Penalty of Law" might help somewhat.
As I mentioned in one of my other posts, this is a common FS theme in these areas...
They add the official signage, and it gets shot within a couple of weeks. The area that I posted about has a very official looking non-official sign. It hasn't been shot up yet (probably because of the specific lack of a "under penalty of law" clause), but it is obviously ignored.
rustynuts said:
If you're REALLY worried about the environment, we'd all have to go to using green ammo. The lead we leave is most probably a bigger problem than the trash. The trash is just more visible. Yes, it's a little California'ish, but I happen to agree somewhat for open ranges where the lead can get concentrated in one area.
Well environmental concerns aside (god knows we have enough old mining tailings ponds in this state, with heavy metal concentrations that could kill death itself), we still have the issue of range closure.
Some folks here are essentially saying: "It's public land, that's just the way it is". The problem with that train of thought is that many of us like to shoot on public lands, and this sort of stuff will ultimately get it outlawed (just as it has in the past).
I also agree that private ranges are generally cleaner and safer. Sadly, the ranges near me are either expensive private deals (
like $13/day/person + park entrance fee; or $16+/day/person, etc --- adds up quick for me and the wife), or they are a part of gun clubs with lengthy waiting lists (
I inquired with two clubs that said it would be at least 2010 before I could get in).
So, the forest is what I have, and it's what I am fighting to save!