Posted: Feb 7, 2012 6:44 PM
Updated: Feb 7, 2012 6:49 PM
IRONWOOD FOREST NATIONAL MONUMENT- An Avra Valley man is calling on mystery shooters to stop firing at desert treasures.
Last week AJ Duncan found yet another Saguaro cactus uprooted and knocked to the ground at the Ironwood Forest National Monument. "I knew something was wrong right away, I knew the wind didn't do it," Duncan says. "They probably shot it with a shotgun about 100 times."
Since December the Arizona Bureau Land of Management has found five saguaros knocked down with bullets and empty shell casings surrounding them. The destruction has promted investigations by the BLM. "When we get damage like this, we are addressing that as damage to natural resources, damage to objects of the monument," says BLM Field Manager Brian Bellew.
The BLM is looking at banning recreational shooting on all 129,000 acres of the monument. Duncan, who is a shooter himself, says he's not against gunfire, it just has to be done the right way. "They just need to clean up after themselves and not destroy 150 year old saguaro cactus," Duncan says.
The BLM's proposed ban on shooting does not include hunting. The idea is going through a planning process that includes public comment and protest, which should finish up this summer.
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