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Firearms in a US Forest

nathan

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I came across this interesting tidbit on the USDA Forest Service website.



[font="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"]Firearms[/font]
  • It is legal to openly carry a firearm in most areas of most National Forests. It can be an issue if a weapon is carried in a concealed manner in which case the wearer/owner needs to have a legitimate concealed weapon permit for that privilege. It is important you know what is the requirement for the area you are using since any one of the circumstances noted above may apply.

    It is unlawful to discharge a firearm, air rifle, or gas gun or other implement capable of taking human life, causing injury, or damaging property as follows:

    (1) In or within 150 yards of a residence, building, campsite, developed recreation site or occupied area, or,
    (2) Across or on a National Forest System road or a body of water adjacent thereto, or in any manner or place whereby a person or property is exposed to injury or damage as a result in such discharge, or,
    (3) Into or within any cave.

    The National Parks Service (Department of Interior) has much stricter regulations and most National Parks do not allow firearms, visitors should check with the National Park they plan to visit for more information.
 

amlevin

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Every day there are newbies joining those of us that know everything. :celebrate

It is important that they ask questions so we will have someone to share our wealth of knowlege with and to have someone to carry on when we die:what:
 

carhas0

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Mainsail wrote:
...

NATIONAL FORESTS:
Dogs
Guns
Geocaches
This is exactly why I like National Forests so much! I went backpacking this summer carrying a Mossberg 590 shotgun with shell holder on the stock. I got some second looks, but everyone was at least cordial. No one took off running in the opposite direction. There was even one guy tell me he had the same gun and didn't know it was legal to carry there. Now he knows!
 

heresolong

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Ridiculous rule in the parks. I have a concealed permit in about thirty states and it pisses me off that I can travel all the way across the country carrying my pistol and then have to take it off to ride through a national park. Funny, I thought that the national park service was created for the people. Apparently only people who aren't exercising their constitutional rights.
 

amlevin

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heresolong wrote:
Ridiculous rule in the parks. I have a concealed permit in about thirty states and it pisses me off that I can travel all the way across the country carrying my pistol and then have to take it off to ride through a national park. Funny, I thought that the national park service was created for the people. Apparently only people who aren't exercising their constitutional rights.


What about that $25 fee just to enter a National Park that is being supported with your tax money?

If you are driving along a public road that passes through a national park (Rocky Mountain National Park and Mount Rainierare two examples that I have experienced) that Fee makes it damn expensive just to pass through.


I can't wait 'til they put Guard Houses on Hwy 20 where it passes through N. Cascades NP:banghead:
 

kparker

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Amlevin,

Sure the entrance fee is an annoyance, but at Mt Rainier and Olympic National parks, there is never an entrance fee required for traveling on highways that merely traverse the park.
 

amlevin

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kparker wrote:
Amlevin,

Sure the entrance fee is an annoyance, but at Mt Rainier and Olympic National parks, there is never an entrance fee required for traveling on highways that merely traverse the park.
So if I drive east on highway 706 from Elbe(jct of 7 and 706), and I am going to Yakima via Highway 123 and 12 I won't have to pay the $fee$? Otherwise I have to go south to highway 12.
 

kparker

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Sorry, I'm not saying you can't find a route that goes through the park to somewhere else, but there's no case where a significant route/best highway requires entrance fees. Look at 101 in the Olympics, or 410/123 on Rainier where you have to turn off at White River if you want to find an entrance station.

If you're in Elbe and headed for Yakima, surely Highway 7 to 12, or Skate Creek Road to 12, is better than winding your way through the park. Less scenic, admittedly, but better and faster roads, especially the former.
 

amlevin

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kparker wrote:
Sorry, I'm not saying you can't find a route that goes through the park to somewhere else, but there's no case where a significant route/best highway requires entrance fees. Look at 101 in the Olympics, or 410/123 on Rainier where you have to turn off at White River if you want to find an entrance station.

If you're in Elbe and headed for Yakima, surely Highway 7 to 12, or Skate Creek Road to 12, is better than winding your way through the park. Less scenic, admittedly, but better and faster roads, especially the former.

The same could be said if you are traveling from Granby, CO to Loveland, CO. The point is that the road that is more "point-to-point" requires that one backtrack through Empire and Denver, CO. I used to be a "traveling salesman" and every once in a while I found myself just outside the gate on the west side of Mt Rainier and in order to go to Yakima I had to backtrack considerable distance or pay the toll.

Since the road is numbered as a State Highway, I wonder how much work the state does on it at OUR expense only to have a de-facto Toll charged on it by the park?
 
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