All this week we have had triple-digit heat. We tend to get this right before the monsoon, and with the cicadas chirping louder each day, perhaps that means that our much-needed rain is near.
To fight the heat, I have been going to the foothills an hour before sunset to let the dogs romp. They are used to this now, and come by my office at around 5:30pm anticipating me to get up, grab the keys and camera, and yell out "Let's Go!" which always ensues in four dogs running into each other to beat one another to the front door.
Three evenings ago (yes, I know I'm late in writing this), a lone target shooter was at the former campsite, firing off rounds rapid-fire so I took the dogs to a nearby trail to get out of the line of danger. The man exploded what sounded like a bomb as a finale (Tannerite?) and then took off around 7:30pm. He had left a lot of brass behind.
The next morning I went back to the site with the dogs and the district ranger, Mark Ruggerio, came by around 8am and asked me if I had heard an explosion last night. Why yes, I had, and I even had the licence plate number in a photo I had taken. The ranger wanted that as proof for his law enforcement buddies, and he told me that starting on June 5th (today), the forest would be at Category II fire ban, which means no target shooting. It's about time! And he also added that the popular shooting areas in Hunter Canyon will be closed to target shooters to give the area time to recover from the damage. Several once-live trees, mostly oaks, have toppled from damaged bark from repeated bullet holes and will have to be cut down. The ranger seems to have changed his tune a bit since I spoke to him in March 2013 about the damage.
The closures will now mean more quiet walks in the forest for a while.
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