Forest Service Jihad Hits Washington Stumbling Block

Some good news for a change on the USFS antigun jihad, thanks to the excellent reporting of Dave Workman at GUN WEEK (1 SEPT>THIS WEEK>USFS...):

A US Forest Service (USFS) public affairs specialist in Washington state has indicated to Gun Week that the time is “long overdue” for the agency to open a dialogue with the shooting community to solve problems between recreational shooters and other users, and the USFS.

That remark came as Gun Week solved a year-long mystery about the origin of an alleged court “ruling” that declared a forest road to be an “occupied area” under the definition of a national forest regulation. Gun Week tracked down the officer involved in that case and learned the truth about this ruling that has been, in the officer’s opinion, distorted with each repetition.

Veteran USFS Public Affairs Officer Alan Gibbs told Gun Week, “I think the time is long past ripe for more conversation to occur.”

[...]

Two months ago, USFS Chief Dale Bosworth sent a memorandum to all national forest districts stressing that, “Shooting sports are long standing and appropriate uses of National Forest System (NFS) lands.” Gun Week obtained a copy of that memo.

“Shooting sports bring together the hunting, target shooting and general recreational shooting interests that have enjoyed these activities for many years,” Bosworth wrote. “With ever increasing population, use, and urban interface development affecting NFS lands we must, now more than ever, work with our partners to facilitate safe and responsible use.”

Bosworth outlined several efforts now in motion in Washington, DC, to accommodate recreational shooting and encourage local USFS offices to work with shooters.

Some critical issues were revealed during Gun Week’s investigation of this latest incident. Gibbs acknowledged that it is still the belief among USFS law enforcement officers and other staffers that a forest road is an “occupied area” as defined under a forest regulation first discussed more than a year ago as part of an earlier Gun Week investigation into shooting on national forest lands.

He confirmed that law enforcement bases its position on an unwritten, verbal “ruling” by an unidentified federal magistrate that a road is an occupied area. Yet last year, Mark Rey, Undersecretary of Agriculture for Natural Resources and Environment—essentially the man who oversees national forest operations—told Gun Week in an interview that this ruling is “an urban legend.”

The important thing to remember, however, is that at least in my neighborhood, the "Posted" areas are still posted. In fact, as recently as two days ago the Greenies were actively enforcing the NON-LAW "no shooting with 150 yards of a road" in Colorado's Front Range.

It's important to keep up the pressure on the rogue Clintonistas who are promulgating this jihad! If I was going to have a "conversation" with the Greenies, I think I'd start it this way — NO COOPERATION; NO VOLUNTEERS; NO FINANCIAL SUPPORT FOR ANY USFS PROGRAMS UNTIL THE POSTED SIGNS COME DOWN AND YOUR ILLEGAL 'ENFORCEMENT" ACTIVITIES END! Now, let's chat...