Trouble on the Mountain

Horse Mountain is a popular place for outdoor enthusiasts in the Humboldt Bay area. In the winter, the 4,880-foot peak attracts snowboarders, sledders, skiers and snowshoers. In the spring, summer and autumn, it brings birders, wildflower viewers, hikers, photographers and rock-climbers, while history buffs enjoy the remnants of an old quarry where copper was once mined, and the remnants of an old ski lodge. Technology buffs gape at the array of communication towers at the mountain’s summit. Recreational target shooters also pick up their guns and set up their targets in an unmarked area near the top. Many of them shoot into an old quarry, believing its uneven walls are an adequate backstop for their bullets.

Many of these uses can coexist safely within the 1-square-mile area sitting off State Route 299 about 23 miles east of Blue Lake, but the shooting has long caused a host of concerns, especially considering the designated walking trails near the quarry.

To make matters even more complex, the top of the mountain has been designated a Botanical Area by the U.S. Forest Service. The area contains many rare and endangered plants, which thrive there because of the mountain top’s unique geological composition. Most plants cannot survive in serpentine soil, but many of those that can are not found in other forests and meadows. Among other things, the area contains a particular group of Port Orford cedars genetically diverse from every other Port Orford cedar in California.

At present, nothing designates the Botanical Area, except for a sign, but it is well known to members of the California Native Plant Society (CNPS), who often go there to monitor the health of endangered wildflowers, shrubs and trees.

Carol Ralph, president of the North Coast CNPS branch, said she is disturbed by the presence of shooters in and close to the botanical preserve. Many, she said, are careless about picking up the shells and casings dropped from their firearms, or pack in old TVs, empty beer cans and other objects to serve as targets, leaving them to rust when they are through. Others shoot at the Jeffrey pines, she said, filling them with holes, which eventually disturbs the trees’ vascular systems, killing them. Even more of a problem is the lack of adequate backstops, which are essential to safe target shooting. There are many stories, she said, of people coming around a bend in a trail to hear bullets whizzing by.

“Up at Horse Mountain, people have been target-shooting for generations,” said Ralph. “There are dads there teaching their kids how to do it. They were taught by their dads how to shoot, umpteen years ago. It’s a nice place, and some of the shooters appreciate that. But there is really not a safe place to shoot where you are not endangering people who are up there doing other things.”

The mountain falls within Six Rivers National Forest but she said the U.S. Forest Service has been reluctant to crack down on the shooting because its mandate is to allow all kinds of outdoor recreation, which includes target shooting.

The Journal interviewed several gun owners to get their take on this situation. Most would only speak on condition of anonymity, saying it’s become a highly divisive social issue. But longtime Humboldt resident Byrd Lochtie spoke to the Journal freely, saying her father led a junior rifle club and she and all her siblings grew up shooting.

“I learned to shoot when I was 5 years old,” Lochtie said. “Target shooting is what we did. Target shooting teaches you discipline, honesty, gratification when you get a good score and the push to better your own score.”

“We shot in quarries,” she continued. “My dad had steel plate backings. Every target was in a frame. And it had a steel backing to it. We shot against quarry walls that had no trails or anything up above them — no houses, no trails, nothing. We had permission from the quarry owner to be there.”

She said her father taught them not to shoot at anything other than the targets, with their steel plates behind them, to ensure there weren’t ricochets.

“We followed the rules and learned them, and learned the discipline of them,” Lochtie said. “I know it’s very different now. Some people don’t think they should have rules. They should be able to do just what they want. Not all target shooters are like that. But there are some. And they are probably the ones who are shooting at cans or televisions or anything.”

Ralph said the forest service has not done much to address the growing concerns on Horse Mountain.

“CNPS has been writing them letters [for] at least 10 years, saying this target shooting in the botanical area isn’t any good,” she said.

Ralph said target shooting was a documented concern when the Horse Mountain Botanical Area was created in 1998, mentioned in the forest service’s management strategy for the area. The document established the Botanical Area’s boundaries and specified that it was formed to protect the unique vegetation for public use, education and enjoyment.

“In the description that they give in this document from 1998, they mention that target shooting is a problem and is going to have to be dealt with,” Ralph said. “Even back then it was a problem. It still is a problem.”

That problem grew along with the mountain’s popularity as a recreation site, she said.

“Over the years, more and more people have discovered that it’s a nice place to go hiking,” Ralph said. “Hiking and rock-climbing. Botanizing and birdwatching. Those kinds of things. And the target areas are not set up in a way that is safe. This is a serious issue at this point because of the increase in recreation up there by people who don’t want to be shot.”

Ann Wallace, another CNPS member who said she’s been visiting Horse Mountain for 50 years, agreed, noting the site is also a popular destination for wildlife photographers and disc golfers, complete with a course. And it’s been a popular place for people to go play in the snow going back 75 years, she said.

“Now there is more target shooting,” Wallace said. “Target shooting goes in and out of fashion. Right now, a lot of people are doing target shooting. It seems to be popular.”

A former U.S. Forest Service employee, who spoke to the Journal on the condition of anonymity to honestly detail concerns brought to the agency, said she regularly heard from members of the public who felt endangered on Horse Mountain.

There was the Humboldt State University student who was working on a science project when they heard gunshots and saw bullets ricochet of nearby trees; the hikers who were walking through the white pine serpentine savanna when they heard a bullet whiz past; and even a U.S. Forest Service staffer who was conducting rare plant monitoring when they heard bullets whistle by, she said.

Wallace described another near miss. She said a group of Kentucky rock climbers learned about Horse Mountain from a website, which gave specific instructions on where to go, but were dismayed to find the area covered with trash. They were even more dismayed, she said, when, after reaching the summit, a different group of people arrived with their guns and began shooting in their direction. The climbers yelled for help and finally got down safely, Wallace said.

There are other stories, too.

“A local cyclist rode to Horse Mountain during an event called ‘From Sea to Summit,'” Wallace recalled. “She rode all the way there from Mad River Beach on some back country roads and when she got up there to where the target shooting is, she couldn’t go all the way to the top of the mountain because there was just shooting everywhere and she didn’t feel safe.”

The equestrian community has also been affected. Wallace said her daughters were part of a group that put together a 17-mile horse trail that soon fell out of use.

“The last time they were on it, they said they’d never go up there again,” Wallace said. “These people had set up a target that was in a row, right in the center of their trail …. They set up a target right where they would be coming and [the equestrians] knew the people couldn’t hear them. They had to turn and go way back.”

Another CNPS member said she and her husband, both well-practiced target shooters, made the trip up to Horse Mountain to hike but left quickly, feeling the situation was unsafe.

Ralph said she and a group of concerned citizens went up the mountain with the idea of documenting where target shooting is occurring — she said the group found people had been “shooting every which way” — and, hopefully, identifying a safer alternative site. She said the group ventured down various roads but couldn’t find a safer site that seemed to meet shooters’ evident desires.

“Judging by the two main shooting places, what most people are looking for is someplace where they can be right by their car and shoot … [where] they don’t have to walk anywhere,” she said.

Although there are at least two legal gun ranges within an hour’s drive of the mountain, they generally do not appeal to the Horse Mountain shooters, said Ralph.

“There are two gun clubs, plus the skeet shooting club,” she said. “There’s the Redwood Gun Club, which is the one down here in Manila, and there’s the Long Prairie Gun and Archery Club, which is on the left side on the way up to Lord Ellis. … They all have memberships, so you have to pay, and they have hours so you can only go when they’re open to the public if you’re not a member.”

Both the Redwood Gun Club and the Long Prairie Gun and Archery Club also require new members to join the National Rifle Association for insurance reasons, which costs money and may not appeal to those who either oppose the NRA’s policies or just want to keep their politics separate from their recreational activities.

There are also indoor shooting ranges in Eureka but they may not appeal to people who want to get out into the wilderness.

Some have pushed the forest service to simply close land around the Horse Mountain Botanical Area to shooters but the agency has expressed reticence to do so, citing the Dingell Act, a package of laws passed in 2019 that expressly call on the agency to expand “recreational shooting opportunities” and strictly limit conditions under which an area can be closed to shooting.

As one local gun enthusiast told the Journal: “Any public land is open to shooting. Period.”

Joann Kerns, another CNPS member, stressed the society is taking this on as a safety issue, not because it’s anti-firearm.

“We’re not necessarily asking for a closure because we don’t like target shooters,” she said. “We’re asking for a closure because [target shooting is] not consistent with the values that a special Botanical Area is established for. In terms of that special Botanical Area, it’s a very interesting document, and it states very clearly that it’s a Special Botanical Area designated by the U.S. Forest Service for these reasons and that target shooting is inconsistent with those values. This is in their management plan from 1998.”

The Journal asked both the Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office and several staffers at the U.S. Forest Service about the situation on Horse Mountain. The sheriff’s office did not respond by deadline, but Betsy Totten, a spokesperson for Six Rivers National Forest, replied by email on behalf of the agency.

“Our agency values the diverse interests of all who recreate on the Six Rivers National Forest,” Totten said. “We are actively working on finding safe and sustainable solutions for all parties involved. We want all members of the public to have positive experiences on our multi-use federal lands and our mission is always to listen and consider all people. While we cannot comment on any specific actions, Forest service law enforcement is just like any other law enforcement agency. If laws are broken, they will act accordingly in accordance with the law.”

According to the U.S. Forest Service’s website, the law is clear on the issue, saying target shooting is prohibited if done in a manner “that endangers persons or property.”

“It is prohibited to shoot … in any manner where any person or property is exposed to injury or damage as a result of such discharge,” the site states. “In general, you should target shoot only if you use approved targets along with a safe, ‘bullet-proof’ backstop. Do not attach your targets to vegetation of structures such as trees, log decks, slash piles, fences or water tanks.”

Wallace pointed out that private owners of timberlands, such as Green Diamond, seem to be more concerned about the safety of their workers than the U.S. Forest Service is.

“The Long Prairie range [which borders Green Diamond property] is well set up, with distances and terraces,” she said, “but the timber people were up there doing their timber harvest plans and, when they heard the target shooters, they got out of there. So Green Diamond had the Long Prairie range shut down. They take better care of their employees than the forest service did, where one of their staffers had bullets whizzing around her.”

One hunter interviewed by the Journal, who requested anonymity discussing a divisive issue within shooting communities locally, said he understands the draw of Horse Mountain, one of few easily accessible places people can go and shoot for free.

Saying he took up hunting for ethical reasons — he doesn’t trust corporate meat suppliers or condone the conditions most livestock are raised in — he said responsible shooting requires extensive safety procedures that would-be hunters are expected to know before obtaining license in California.

He emphasized the importance of having a good backstop — a heavy barrier that bullets cannot penetrate — when target shooting.

“One of the five golden rules of firearms safety is knowing your backstop,” he said. “The others are: Make sure your gun’s unloaded; always keep your guns pointed in a safe direction; keep your finger off the trigger until you’re ready to shoot; know your target and what’s beyond; never use drugs or alcohol before or after shooting; treat all guns as if they are loaded.”

But, he stressed, knowing what’s behind what you’re aiming at — whether a target or animal — is an absolute.

Although he has not been to Horse Mountain, he said he has many friends who go regularly to two informal ranges there on or near the mountaintop.

“I would say it’s almost one of the closest free places to go, so you don’t have to pay $20 every single time,” he said. “It’s well known throughout the county that this is a great place to go.”

He suggested good signage may go a long way toward helping to alleviate the conflict on Horse Mountain, making shooters aware that hikers are present and they’re in a designated Botanical Area, while also alerting hikers that recreational shooting takes place there.

“Even though there’s gun ranges up there, the solution is being aware,” he said. “That’s the solution to everything in life: Know what you’re getting into.”

But, he emphasized, shooters have rights on public lands, saying that was something “mind-blowing” to him before he took up hunting.

“They’re allowed to go and shoot anywhere they want — it’s the forest,” he said. “If I was out in the woods and wanted to re-sight my gun, I could go anywhere, find a couple of downed logs as a backstop, post a piece of paper, such as toilet paper, step back 100 yards, and go shoot it. … You’re allowed to do it.”

Janis Taylor, a local resident who grew up in a family where firearms were a part of everyday life, agreed the current situation is unsafe. Firearms users, she said, should receive training, just as drivers of motor vehicles receive training before they can get their licenses, and safety should be part of that. While hiking in the Horse Mountain area, she said she has heard gunshots that, even though they were not close, made her nervous.

“A long rifle can shoot a half-mile” she said, adding that unless the shooter is aimed at a solid backstop, whether natural or manmade, they have no way of knowing where their bullet will end up.

Ralph said several meetings have been held with forest service staff over the past few months but they seemed to go nowhere. Some management staff expressed concern about arousing public conflict, she said, while others mentioned the scarcity of law enforcement personnel in the huge Six Rivers National Forest. Another issue brought up was the possible need for a National Environmental Protection Act review if any existing uses within the area were to be forbidden.

According to NEPA, however, minor changes that do not have a direct effect on the physical environment are more appropriately dealt with by a simple categorical exemption rather than the more extensive Environmental Impact Statement. And although interested parties must be notified, this can be done by a simple legal ad in a local newspaper. Ralph said staff were also concerned with the Dingell Act’s provisions preserving the rights of firearm users on public lands.

At one of the meetings, Ralph said a forest service employee pointed out there are already laws regulating safe shooting that can be enforced by the agency’s division of Law Enforcement and Investigations.

“Law enforcement could, if they had manpower to go up there and spend time, be giving lots of citations,” Ralph conceded. “Of course, they don’t have that manpower.”

Elaine Weinreb (she/her) is a freelance journalist. She tries to re-pay the state of California for giving her a degree in environmental studies and planning (Sonoma State University) at a time when tuition was still affordable.

This article appears in Trouble on the Mountain.