- Slug: Trigger Trash,500
- Sidebar: Reducing trigger trash.
- Photos available (thumbnails, captions below)
- Video story planned
By SUMMER PAULI
Cronkite News
TABLE MESA RECREATION AREA – After target shooting recently in this remote expanse of high desert north of the Valley, Donnie Miller picked up all of the brass casings that fell around his rifle. But it’s clear from the landscape around him that not everyone does the same.
Spent red and yellow shotgun shells, broken clay targets used for skeet or trap shooting and more items cover the ground in areas. Then there are the shot-up TVs, computers, furniture and other items used inappropriately for target practice.
“If everyone just picked up what they shot it would be a lot cleaner,” said Miller, a former Marine.
Surveying the area, Marty Fabritz, shooting sports branch chief at the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and Tom Bickauskas, natural resource specialist with the Bureau of Land Management, said that too often trigger trash left by inconsiderate shooters is spoiling landscapes around the state.
“You can see that others have been there and they do not act in a responsible manner and pick up their trash,” Bickauskas said.
Their agencies worked with Tread Lightly, a national nonprofit, to create the campaign Respected Access in Arizona, which educates shooters on the importance of reducing trigger trash and provides tips on how to do so.
For example, the campaign encourages shooters to use spinning metal or paper targets that can be easily carted away rather than items like household appliances that foul landscapes.
“The end goal is to change behavior,” Fabritz said.
The campaign also urges shooters to carry bags to pick up their own trash as well as what others have left.
As part of the effort, Tread Lightly offers guidebooks, brochures and how-to videos.
Respected Access in Arizona organizes cleanups of trigger trash around the state. More than 400 people turned out for the last two events, filling two large dumpsters at each site, Bickauskas said.
The next cleanup was scheduled for March 1 at Table Mesa.
Sandy Bahr, director of the Sierra Club’s Grand Canyon Chapter, said in an email that she appreciates the effort to educate but wants officials to close some areas to target shooting. In those areas, lead and other metals from ammunition and electronics that are left on the ground could cause contamination.
In addition, she said, saguaro cactuses are often shot and eventually die from bullet wounds. Rocks are often painted and used as targets, she added.
Bickauskas and Fabritz said many gun users are unaware of the trash they are leaving or think there is an organization that cleans it up for them. However, public land users are required to take out what they take in and could face fines if they don’t.
“This kind of trash is very noticeable and comes from target shooters,” Bickauskas said.
For Donnie Miller, the former Marine, it’s about keeping the desert looking nice.
“With a bunch of brass lying all over the place it looks kind of trashy,” he said.
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Reducing trigger trash:
● Be aware of sensitive areas like desert soils, tundra and seasonal nesting and breeding areas.
● Trees, cactuses and other living objects should never be used as backstops or targets.
● Carry a trash bag in your vehicle and pick up trigger trash and litter left by others.
● Pick up all target trash, including spent shotgun shells, spent rifle or pistol casings, ammunition boxes and targets.
● Only shoot in designated shooting areas.
● Never use signs, kiosks or plants as targets.
Source: Tread Lightly
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Marty Fabritz, right, shooting sports branch chief at the Arizona Game and Fish Department, and Tom Bickauskas, a natural resource specialist with the Bureau of Land Management, survey a landscape marred by trigger trash in Table Mesa Recreation Area. (Cronkite News Photo by Summer Pauli)
After target-shooting at Table Mesa Recreation Area north of Phoenix, Donnie Miller picks up his spent brass shell casings. He wishes others cleaned up their trigger trash. (Cronkite News Photo by Summer Pauli)
Despite signs spelling out the rules for target-shooting at Table Mesa Recreation Area, many shooters ignore them and litter the desert. (Cronkite News Photo by Summer Pauli)
Spent shotgun shells, shattered clay targets and more litter a section of Table Mesa Recreation Area that’s popular with target shooters. (Cronkite News Photo by Summer Pauli)