The U.S. Forest Service has extended a ban on unmanaged target shooting throughout the Los Padres National Forest. The ban—first announced in January 2019—allows forest officials and volunteers to address the proliferation of litter, soil and water contamination, wildfires, vandalism, impacts to endangered wildlife, and other environmental and public safety hazards caused by decades of unmanaged target shooting across nearly two million acres of public lands in Santa Barbara, Ventura, San Luis Obispo, Monterey, and western Kern counties.
The order, signed by the Forest Supervisor on December 31, 2020, applies to unmanaged or “dispersed” target shooting. Legal hunting with a valid license is not affected, and target shooting is still allowed at the Ojai Valley Gun Club and the Winchester Canyon Gun Club, both of which are staffed and operated by nonprofit organizations permitted by the U.S. Forest Service.
Individuals cited for violating the ban will face a mandatory appearance in U.S. District Court, where the judge can levy fines of up to $5,000 and/or six months in jail.
A ban on “dispersed” target shooting in the Los Padres National Forest was first announced in 2005, when the Forest Service updated its management plan for the area. But in the years following, the ban was not implemented.
A 2016 report by Los Padres ForestWatch found nearly one hundred informal shooting sites throughout the forest. The report—Forest in the Crosshairs: The Environmental and Health Impacts of Target Shooting in the Los Padres National Forest—revealed large amounts of trash at these sites, along with dozens of trees left dead or dying from repeated shooting. Televisions, computer monitors, refrigerators, microwaves, and other household appliances were frequently used as targets, contaminating nearby soils and waterways with toxic heavy metals. Shooting-related vandalism was also recorded at public restrooms and trailhead signs, costing tens of thousands of taxpayer dollars to repair.
Following the report and a ForestWatch lawsuit, the Forest Service pledged to ban unmanaged target shooting forest-wide pending further studies.
With the ban in place, ForestWatch—in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service and other community organizations—has launched a massive effort to clean up the trash left behind at these informal shooting sites. People interested in helping with the cleanup effort can email volunteer@LPFW.org to receive notification of future cleanup events.
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