Bead Drawn on Shooting Sites in Cleveland Forest

Erin Barlowe squinted while sighting down the barrel of his shotgun, concentrating in the afternoon sun, and gently pulled the trigger.

The shot hit the mark, shredding a paper target lying against a dirt embankment in the rugged hills of the Cleveland National Forest. “Some people like to play the violin. . . . I like to think I’m a good shot,” Barlowe said.

During an average weekend, more than 1,000 people travel roads leading into two isolated canyons in rural Orange County, out for camping, hiking or a family outing. And like Barlowe, many spend several hours at target practice at one of two open shooting areas.

But unsafe shooting practices at the county’s two open shooting areas have forced U.S. Forest Service personnel in the Trabuco Ranger District to reconsider how it will manage the sites--a move that could result in the closure of at least one, an official said. In December, officials began “preliminary brainstorming” about the fate of the shooting areas. The Forest Service will make a final decision this month, according to Bill Pidanick, public affairs officer for the district.

“There is a problem out there, and we need to look at it from a standpoint of safety,” Pidanick said. “The problem is that (shooting) regulations are not being adhered to, and we don’t have the personnel to go out and enforce them.”

Pidanick said the district’s seven employees are kept “quite busy” patrolling the forest and the shooting areas at the North Main Divide, which is located 2 1/2 miles north of Ortega Highway on North Main Divide Road, and Maple Springs, which is located just beyond Silverado Canyon, 4 1/2 miles off Maple Springs Road.

The “unsafe” shooting practices that Pidanick

referred to include shooting across the canyons, across the roadway and into blind spots, as well as shooting illegally on private property.

In June, similar practices forced Forest Service officials to close the shooting area at Tin Mine, an area southeast of Corona off Chase Drive in Riverside County, which had been the only other open area in the district. The Cleveland National Forest as a whole now includes a total of four open shooting areas: the two in Orange County and two in San Diego County.

“A total disrespect for private property,” as well as a report of a minor injury at Tin Mine last year, resulted in closure of the area, acting District Ranger Ernest Martinsen said. Landowners complained that shooters were firing into their orchards and destroying crops. There were also reports of aggravated assaults and suspected drug deals.

Safety Violations Discussed

While there has not been a history of accidents at Maple Springs or the North Main Divide, the Forest Service is seriously considering closing Maple Springs, said Galen Young, a Forest Service officer. Because of the winding roadway on Maple Springs Road, “you could have people shooting on top of each other” as they fire down into the areas below, even though it is illegal to do so, he said.

Safety rules permit shooting only in posted areas parallel to roadways--not into blind spots--and preferably into a solid backstop or bank. The use of automatic weapons is restricted, as well as shooting at glass objects, rocks, trees and on private property.

“You must shoot in a safe manner that complies with any other regulations that apply to the use of firearms,” Young said. Fines for illegal shooting begin at $35 but can carry a $500 penalty, six months in jail or both, depending on the severity of the incident, he said.

Neither the Forest Service nor the Sheriff’s Department has a record of how many citations for illegal shooting have been issued in the past year.

There are no restrictions on night shooting, and there are no age limits. But Pidanick recommended that persons under 16 be accompanied by an adult.

Young said the number of people using the Maple Springs and the North Main Divide shooting areas is increasing, especially after the closure of Tin Mine. He said specific figures were not available, but use “has increased yearly,” even before Tin Mine closed.

Overcrowding a Concern

According to Young, closing Tin Mine has had the effect of “compressing people into certain areas” and causing still another concern: overcrowding.

Both Maple Springs and the North Main Divide, which have been open about three years, accommodate about 300 shooters each weekend, Young said. Each site has about three optimum shooting areas.

The use of the Maple Springs area, however, decreased during the past month when inclement weather forced the Forest Service to close the main gate to vehicle traffic. Shooters had to walk the 4 1/2 miles to the legal shooting areas, Young said. The gate has since been reopened.

Another reason for the widespread use of the shooting areas has been new residential development in the areas, particularly in the El Sinore Valley and El Cariso Village near the North Main Divide, Pidanick said. “There are more people coming into the areas. . . . There is more demand. . . . They are being used more. And the more development you get closer to (the forest), the more people you get coming into it,” he said.

Illegal Shooting

But therein lies another problem. While most people take precautions when shooting, “the minority of shooters that don’t can have such an impact,” acting District Ranger Martinsen said. “It’s not so much the shooting area, but the shooters themselves that we’re concerned with. It’s really difficult for us to catch them in the act.”

Illegal shooting into the residential areas below the canyons, noise and the possibility of fire in the forest are other concerns that the Forest Service will address during an evaluation this month, Pidanick said.

“Those are the kinds of things that need to be eliminated,” he said. Even though the Forest Service and the Sheriff’s Department “run patrols through (the areas) on a regular basis, it’s impossible to have anyone out there 24 hours a day.”

Because new development is slowly creeping closer to the forest boundaries, Pidanick said, “the problem is the distance the slug from the shell (can travel).”

For example, a bullet from a .22-caliber rifle can travel a straight distance up to a mile, he said. The closest development, El Sinore Valley, is about a mile from the shooting area, but there have not been any reports of rounds hitting the residential areas, Pidanick said.

One Complaint

Martinsen said the only complaint reported so far was from a resident objecting to the noise from night shooting.

Young said both sites have become eyesores because shooters often don’t remove their targets. The refuse includes televisions, cars, appliances, paper, cans and other objects that have been discarded after continually being used for target practice.

“The trash is a never-ending problem in the shooting areas,” he said. “The majority of the people don’t take it with them when they leave. As it starts building up, people just assume it is acceptable to leave the trash there.” In some instances, however, shooters won’t stop firing long enough to allow people to pick up their trash, he added.

Because of federal budget cuts, he said, “we just don’t have the funding to place receptacles out there and the personnel to pick (trash) up.”

Budget Cut

A 5% budget cut affecting personnel in California’s Pacific Southwest Region of the U.S. Forest Service will leave nearly 300 positions unfunded for fiscal year 1986. That means some employees will be offered early retirement, while others may be laid off, Pidanick said.

The Trabuco District will suffer a 10% cutback, but the seven employees will remain. However, no new employees are anticipated, Pidanick said.

“We are still going to try to provide service at the same level. But we need to make some decisions as to how to manage the numbers (of people) with the employees we have,” Pidanick said. “These are among the few remaining unstructured shooting areas available to folks.”

The evaluation this month is to consider the alternatives, including closure, changing the boundaries or starting a law-enforcement task force--possibly with the Sheriff’s Department--to beef up weekend patrols.