Public lands trash packout

[BuzzH]

The Wyoming Chapter of backcountry hunters and anglers put on a couple local trash packouts on a couple pieces of BLM land close to Laramie.

I think I'm done accepting that its "only a couple bad apple target shooters" that think my public lands are a place to shoot everything from propone tanks to used appliances to pieces and leave it.

The first cleanup was in an area we've done a couple previous clean ups, but still picked up 830 lbs of shooting debris.

The next area south of Laramie was a different story, and 9 people working for 2 hours picked up 2150 pounds of trash, literally picked up a ton of crap left by the "few bad apples". This area is going to take at least another half day and at least another "ton" or two to clean up.

Thank you for the twenty or so people we had show up for both events, pretty solid work that 20 people picked up just about 3 thousand pounds of garbage off our public lands.

 

[Nameless Range]

That's awful. Thank you to all for the effort and time to clean it up.

I'm curious what you think the answer to this is: Banning shooting at these locations, increased LEO presence, heads on pikes?

 

[BuzzH]

That's awful. Thank you to all for the effort and time to clean it up.

I'm curious what you think the answer to this is: Banning shooting at these locations, increased LEO presence, heads on pikes?

Good questions...we've thought about hanging interactive targets in these areas, gongs or the like so people don't bring a bunch of jars, cans, etc. to blaze away at.

I don't think banning shooting will work in these areas either...close one spot, they'll just move to the next closest area and do the same thing.

LEO's are so sparse...doubtful that will work.

I think the only solution is literally dedicating a day to clean up after the hogs...

 

[Dougfirtree]

That's awful. Thank you to all for the effort and time to clean it up.

I'm curious what you think the answer to this is: Banning shooting at these locations, increased LEO presence, heads on pikes?

Velociraptors

 

[jmveverka]

Actually really like that idea Buzz of putting target/steel plates out - but people would likely still bring the crap to shoot at.

 

[TriStar Hunt]

Thank you for this! It reminds us of the goal to leave no trace...or in these cases to remove all trace.

 

[npaden]

It would be interesting to see if putting up a few targets or gongs would change things up at all.

Short of tannerite, most of the crap people think would be cool to shoot are pretty underwhelming. I had some old monitors from work and I thought they would be cool to shoot, but they weren't and then I just had a mess to clean up. It was on my own property so not affecting anyone but me, but for sure wasn't worth the effort to haul them out there then haul them off.

Thanks for cleaning things up.

The slobs are not limited to target shooters at all though. I live in the country and it is amazing the stuff people just dump on the side of the country roads. Appliances, mattresses, roof tear offs, etc. Always sucks after the 4th of July people go out to the country to shoot off fireworks and just leave everything sitting there in the road.

We generally do trash clean up along about 4 miles of county road a couple times a year and generally get a pickup bed full each time.

 

[Mtnhunter1]

I vote for NR's "heads on pikes".

Spent two days in late August poking around my daughter's sheep unit and almost filled the bed of my truck with trash. I'd blame this on COVID but this problem has been escalating for years. Hell, I felt like MM and filled a Walmart bag with 223 and 9mm brass. Beer cans/bottles, brass and dirty diapers......ya, good quality folks just enjoying our public lands!

Buzz....good job on the clean up. Big thumbs up to you and the crew.

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

I doubt setting up permanent targets would help. It may just encourage folks to leave their own targets out there since there are already targets out there. Maybe not.

Good work though @BuzzH . I live in Laramie. Do you guys have any more clean up days in the near future? I have actually been thinking of just going out to some of those places myself and loading up the back of my pickup. Wouldn't take long.

 

[88man]

Buzz a big thank you!!
I saw a place like this near Lander. Basically a BLM dump and people shot at the trash.
Again, Thanks

 

[Gellar]

Thank you for the service Buzz and WY BHA.

Over the past 6 Covid months my usual job conducting environmental education Programs in schools has come to a screeching halt and I have shifted more of my job to park maintenance. cleaning restrooms, Picking up trash etc. we have seen record amounts of visitors along with record amounts of trash. In that time I have sometimes found myself wondering if we are making the matter worse by picking up after these people. Now, I know that this is not true and the garbage needs to be picked up, but I feel that many of these record amounts of visitors have not visited these areas before and do not know about leave no trace or carry in, carry out policies that are often used on public land. And by picking up after them after they leave a mess it gives them the impression that it’s ok to leave all their shit laying around because someone will just clean up after them and in a few days or weeks when they return it’s back to its pristine condition.

 

[BuzzH]

Thank you for the service Buzz and WY BHA.

Over the past 6 Covid months my usual job conducting environmental education Programs in schools has come to a screeching halt and I have shifted more of my job to park maintenance. cleaning restrooms, Picking up trash etc. we have seen record amounts of visitors along with record amounts of trash. In that time I have sometimes found myself wondering if we are making the matter worse by picking up after these people. Now, I know that this is not true and the garbage needs to be picked up, but I feel that many of these record amounts of visitors have not visited these areas before and do not know about leave no trace or carry in, carry out policies that are often used on public land. And by picking up after them after they leave a mess it gives them the impression that it’s ok to leave all their shit laying around because someone will just clean up after them and in a few days or weeks when they return it’s back to its pristine condition.

Interesting you say this...I agree completely.

Had one group of guys that showed up to do some shooting, asked one of the guys helping with the cleanup what we were doing. He said, well, cleaning up the area...the guys response, "About time somebody cleaned up this mess"...then drove off a ways and did their shooting.

Conversely had another couple come out to try a new shotgun that they bought and they asked what we were doing, said the same thing, cleaning up the area. They said, "well, give us a couple trash bags, we want to pitch in".

Funny stuff...

 

[Harrier]

We need a program like this in Texas. There isn’t nearly as much public hunting land here as there is in most other states, but what there is has been trashed pretty badly. At one WMA in particular, it’s hard to take 50 steps without running into someone’s garbage.

I pick up what I can in the hopes of generating good hunting karma.

 

[MTPUBLICLAND]

We have never seen so much garbage in the forest as last summer. Considerably worse than any year prior. Every campsite we went to was glass and plastics with fire pits full of garbage. Plus the amount of fire pits left burning or smoking hot after people pack up and leave was crazy. There was definitely a change this year it was sad. We brought bags of garbage home from every camping trip. This was on FS lands, not in actual campgrounds.

 

[BuzzH]

I doubt setting up permanent targets would help. It may just encourage folks to leave their own targets out there since there are already targets out there. Maybe not.

Good work though @BuzzH . I live in Laramie. Do you guys have any more clean up days in the near future? I have actually been thinking of just going out to some of those places myself and loading up the back of my pickup. Wouldn't take long.

Probably not until this spring...tough to get hunters to volunteer during hunting season.

 

[ChrisC]

I'm not sure if this is the case in that area, but a lot of common parts left behind (appliances, mattresses, etc.) are pieces that you usually need to pay for to get rid of at the dump. Because it seems so common to bring these out there to shoot and subsequently leave them, perhaps the act of shooting these pay-to-dump items is a way for them to feel separated (and consequently less guilty) from those who would just dump them on the side of the road. This is pure speculation and maybe I'm way off base here, but if there weren't any costs for getting rid of these items (I know nothing about how a dump operates), maybe it could reduce their prevalence on public land.

 

[Red Fox]

I don't think that putting up targets would change anything. Here this spring they cleaned it up and put range markers out and now they are all shot up and it is full of garbage. Just walk by a camp site yesterday and less then 40yds away was TP all over the ground it was like walking through a mine field. Just don't know what is wrong with people

 

[ashersdad]

Thanks Buzz. I have taught my boys that we always carry a trash bag in all of our backpacks and as we find trash, we pack it out. On a recent antelope hunt I watched my youngest walk 30 yards off the trail to grab a piece of garbage and throw it in his pack. I guess my years of cussing the lazy POS's that leave trash in the woods is paying off.

 

[COEngineer]

I am a member of a club with locked gates, member cards are scanned and recorded along with photos of everyone that passes through the gate...and our ranges still get trashed. Weekly. People feel entitled and act like a-holes.

If you put gongs out they will be stolen and or destroyed - our members bring large-caliber and armor-piercing rounds that will destroy anything.

 

[Dl1969]

Some people no matter where they’re from have NO RESPECT FOR ANYTHING OR ANYBODY