Capitol Forest gets some help from Target Shooters

As a regular visitor to the Capitol Forest in Washington State, Jim from Grays Harbor County routinely sports his stewardship at his favorite place to shoot.  In recent months, Jim has seen trash begin to accumulate and got to be a bit more that he can handle by himself. So, he gave a shout out for some help on the website forum WaGuns.org.  He wasn't disappointed!

On Saturday, July 25, 2020, seven shooting enthusiasts, joined Jim and enjoyed a day of doing good and a fun group shoot afterwards.

"It was a good day to get out and pick up others peoples c***", Jim said.  "Was good to meet a new member here and some that I’ve had the privilege to meet a while ago.  Thanks for all of your help, it is much appreciated. Last year there were 3 that joined in on the fun and we took 4 bags of shot shells and lots of steel from shot up appliances.  This year there were 7 of us and very few if any shot shells!!! But still a lot of trash and steel cases. Everyone worked hard and we got it done around 1 pm.  Then there was time for shooting!!!"

That's what it's all about.  Clean up everytime you go shooting.  It's written in the law that clean up is required.  By this action, from Jim and the others who helped, we see it is also written in their stewardship hearts!

Thank you all!

#StewardshipKeepsItOpen!

Special Shooting Lanes Are Well Cared For!

I was pleased to see the condition of the North Fork Wolf Creek Rd improved dispersed shooting lanes this weekend, (July 18, 2020).  Very little trash up there!

I arrived at 8 AM and there were people shooting at each lane.  I stopped to see conditions and visit with the shooters at all 4 lanes.  All the people I met were very nice, but more impressive was the fact they were all using legal targets, target stands and good choices of target placement!  Wow!  I'm not used to seeing that!

The only lane that had much trash was lane 3.  It was such a minor amount and cleaned up quickly.

This is good news and I hope it keeps up!  The improvements done out here are the kind of things shooters would like to see in forests throughout the Northwest.  It fosters a spirit of ownership, stewardship, respect and responsibility in recreational sport shooting.  It also makes it easy to comply with the common rules for safe responsible shooting on public lands.

We don't see as much special care at a typical dispersed shooting sites in the woods.  Trash left behind at those places seems to be a common thing.  That's not right.  It should not be any different if you shoot at an improved or unimproved place.  Cleanup is a requirement every time we go shooting, no matter where you shoot!

Recently, there have been reports of graffiti on the jersey barrier firing lines at most all lanes.  It didn't last long when the responsible shooters heard of it and was quickly covered up!

A shooter arrived looking for an open lane to shoot.  As he approached lane 3, he told me he always carries extra trash bags and fire prevention equipment since he heard about it on Trash No Land.

These reports of stewardship and responsibility make me feel good and hopeful that perhaps our message is getting through!

After visiting the lanes, installing a sign, cleaning an area near lane 3 and doing a quick cleanup of lane 3, four of us went back down to Wolf Creek Road to replace a couple other missing signs.  We cleaned up those places where people should not be shooting because of public safety and fire hazard concerns.

In just a few short morning hours, we had installed 3 signs and bagged up 10 trash bags.  I took them to a landfill near my home and the cost was only $14.

This surprise of the well cared for Wolf Creek Shooting Lanes, gave me a good feeling that people actually do value a quality place to shoot and are happy to share in the stewardship efforts it takes to keep them available to the public.

Thank you to all who use and care for this special place!

And thank you to Gregory Propf, Erica and Geoff Goode for helping with the signs and cleanup!  You are appreciated!

To Shoot or Not To Shoot? Someone please give me a sign!

To shoot here, or not? 

That's a question that shouldn't have to be answered with a sign!  But when you are not familiar with the concerns in a certain area, a sign can help you with the answer.

This is the sign has was posted in the Tillamook State Forest at six locations along the North Fork Wolf Creek Road, in October of 2019.  They are places where heightened awareness needs to happen because of public safety and/or fire hazard concerns.  Two, of the six signs, are now missing and needed to be replaced.  In addition, one new location has recently become a concern.  The signs are a joint effort by the Tillamook State Forest and the Trash No Land organization in an attempt to alert shooters to potential hazards.

On Saturday, July 18th, 2020, three Trash No Land followers joined me to replace the missing signs and install one new one.

We started with the new sign at the improved dispersed shooting lanes off North Fork Wolf Creek Rd at Lane 3.  On the corner, across the road from lane 3, is a blocked off area that often serves as a picnic area or sometimes dispersed camping.  Recently, however, people have been shooting targets in that spot.  This is a public safety issue because of what lies beyond the line of fire.  The dirt berm looks adequate in height, however, targets have been found on top and on the small trees behind the berm and there is not a secondary larger backstop.

Beyond the berm, slightly to the left, is Lane 4 and straight behind is private timber land.  Shotguns have been used, off the East edge, which rains down shot over Wolf Creek Rd below.  Also to the East is forest land that often has work activity.

These concerns may not be so obvious to some shooters, so, we posted a sign to let them know.

If you're going to post a sign, remove all signs of previous shooting!  We couldn't just drop in a sign and leave the evidence.  It kind of negates the message of the sign!  So, we cleaned it up.

Next two places got their signs replaced and evidence removed.

Then it was back to Lane 3 for the reward!  A nice family, from Hillsboro, were gracious enough to share the lane and we enjoyed their company.

Thank you Gregory Propf, Geoff and Erica Goode for your help and dedication!

A Snohomish County shooting pit gets an unexpected cleanup!

Six Target Shooting Stewards take charge of their favorite place! Another shooter pays the dump fee!!!
On Saturday, July 18th, at a gravel pit Northwest of Darrington, WA, six dedicated target shooters joined forces in cleaning up their favorite place to shoot.
Long time shooting enthusiast, Pat from Arlington, WA, put out a call for help in cleaning up the pit and enjoy some shooting fun when done. Five others joined in and got it done. One gentleman brought his young son and another drove from Sedro-Wooley. They spent about two hours picking up the trash.
"We were working on the lower pit and there was two guys shooting steel up in the upper pit", Pat said. "One of our guys went up there and asked them if they could either move their steel targets to the right or hold off shooting at them for a little bit. When they asked why, he told them we were doing a pit clean up and we were at the back of the pit and there was a chance of the bullets deflecting down where we were picking up trash. He offered to haul the trash away when they were done shooting. There had to of been a dozen big bags of trash and a bunch of metal. It filled his truck up and he had to strap it down. He was offered cash for the dump fee and declined."
Well done Pat and crew! Thank you for your stewardship!
#StewardshipKeepsItOpen! #CleanUpToShoot! #TrashNoLand!

A day of target shooting turns into a cleanup day!!!

Target shooters, who went to shoot in the Mt. Hood National Forest at the 36 Pit, were in for an unexpected surprise on Saturday, July 11, 2020.  There, in the parking lot, was a kiosk booth with information about responsible shooting on public lands.  They were given flyers about the rules for shooting on public lands, the Trash No Land 'Target Shooting On Public Land' brochure, free paper targets, free ear plugs, trash bags and hot coffee.  There were examples of legal type of targets, target stands and an encouragement to bring fire prevention equipment.

All visitors were so inspired, that they shared in the critical goal of protecting and preserving our public lands and our places to shoot, as they chipped in and bagged up trash from the pit when they returned from their shooting fun.

All said and done, they removed 28 bags of trash!!!  Well done shooters!

The Trash No Land "Target Shooter Info Center" was staffed by the TNL board members who also participated in cleaning up some trash.  Our Treasure, Aaron Piazza, took home 5 bags and will personally pay for disposal as his contribution toward preserving our places to shoot.  Thank you Aaron!  Trash No Land paid for the remaining bags at the landfill in Sandy Oregon, (who also gave us an unexpected discount because of our efforts!).

This information center is a Grass Roots effort to save our places to shoot and show our respect for the public land recreational shooting sports.  It was not a scheduled group event and the forest agency was not involved (they didn't even know were were doing it!).  Just a few of us recreating in a slightly different way, hoping to cause a positive change in everyday recreational shooting.  The cleanup just happened to happen, by the visitors who came to shoot, because they felt it was an important and a routine thing we all need to do every time we go shooting.  (I suppose it did help that Trash No Land offered to pay for the disposal if they cleaned some up!).

There is still a lot of trash in the 36 Pit!  We are asking for those who go shooting there to please remove what you can and properly dispose of the trash as your contribution to helping improve recreational shooting.  Thank You!!!

Way to go shooters, one and all!  Such nice people we met today. It was our pleasure and everyone's benefit!