Local News in Brief : Forest Closes Area to Target Shooters

The last target-shooting area open free to the public in the Saugus district of Angeles National Forest has been closed because of high maintenance costs brought about by the illegal acts of some of its users, officials said.

Jim McGauley of the U.S. Forest Service said the Dry Gulch shooting range in recent years had been turned into a dumping ground by shooters who brought everything from mannequins to television sets to use for target practice. “They shoot at anything and everything just to watch it explode,” he said.

A metal Forest Service sign is so filled with bullet holes that the rules printed on it cannot be read.

The district last year spent $6,000 in dumping fees for trash it had to haul away and at least $2,000 to maintain the range above Santa Clarita, District Forest Ranger Mike Wickman said. In addition, fires started by shooters using illegal ammunition this year have cost the Forest Service $125,000 to put out, Wickman said.

Target shooters have also been wounded by stray bullets at Dry Gulch, McGauley said. In one instance last summer, a person was killed by a ricocheting bullet.