The Signpost
In the Line of Fire
A disturbing encounter raises issues of hiker safety on public lands
Photo by “Quantum Guru”
View from the summit of Mount Higgins, in the Mount Baker-Snoqualmie Na-
tional Forest. A confrontation this summer between hikers and a shooter raises
troubling issues about safety and law enforcement on public lands.
By Andrew Engelson approaching.
The shooter became belligerent and
A Troubling Encounter began yelling at the Herberts, warning
On a recent Saturday in July, WTA them if they came any further, they’d
members Frank and “regret it.” The shooting continued. “I’ve
Val Herbert went for hiked for years on thousands of miles of
a hike on the Mount trails,” said Frank Herbert, who lives in
Higgins Trail in the Arlington, “and this was the first time
Mount Baker-Sno- I’ve ever been truly afraid.”
qualmie National The couple went back up the trail, and
Forest not far from then proceeded to try to find a route off-
Darrington. Ascend- trail to detour around the shooter. They
ing above the clouds, bushwhacked through prickly devil’s
the couple reached the summit at about club, found a crossing of the creek and
11 a.m., where they enjoyed views of eventually returned to the trail. The
White Horse, Three Fingers, Glacier Herberts made it safely to their car, but
Peak and Mount Baker. It was a fan- they were concerned about another pair
tastic hike. of hikers they’d seen on the trail.
On the descent, however, a disturbing What made the incident doubly dis-
incident tarnished the experience. turbing was it was only a few days after
The couple heard the sound of shoot- the one-year anniversary of the murders
ing below, and as they approached the of two Seattle women on the Pinnacle
crossing of Dick Creek, about halfway Lake Trail last year.
down the trail, the noise became very Frank and Val then drove to the
loud. About 100 feet from the creek, the Darrington Ranger station to report
shots were extremely loud and came in the incident. The two Forest Service
rapid succession. Frank yelled down the employees at the information desk were,
trail to alert the shooter that hikers were
October 2007
according to Frank Herbert, “of no help
at all.” Only after being pressed, did they
take down contact information, and told
the hikers they could sometimes find
the local sheriff’s deputy “hanging out
at the fire station.” The couple went to
the station, but couldn’t find the deputy,
and eventually called 911 to file a report.
“I was a little frustrated,” Frank told
me over the phone recently. “They had
absolutely no clue how to respond. It was
kind of like, ‘you’re on your own.’”
The Herberts contacted WTA about
the incident, and I followed up with
the U.S. Forest Service and local law
enforcement about the confrontation
and the Forest Service’s response.
A Lack of Law Enforcement
I asked Greg Rasar, a Snohomish
County Sheriff forest patrol deputy who
works on contract for the Forest Service,
whether the ranger station’s response
was appropriate. “No, it wasn’t,” he told
me. After he had learned of the incident,
Rasar wrote a detailed e-mail to the
Darrington District Ranger to ensure
that temporary seasonal employees of
the Forest Service understood protocol
for reporting crimes. That document is
now being used by the district to better
train front desk employees.
“Basically” said deputy Rasar, “we’ve
instructed them that in any situation, if
anyone feels endangered, don’t second
guess it—call 911.”
Rasar indicated that an officer was
dispatched to the Mount Higgins trail-
head about an hour after the report was
filed, and that the officer saw no cars at
the trailhead and did not proceed up
the trail.
Peter Forbes, the district ranger for
Darrington, said that since the incident,
there have been discussions among
staff about proper procedures. Forbes
also pointed out one troubling fact that
could have played a part in the lack of
response. Since May of this year, the Dar-
WASHINGTON TRAILS
 The Signpost
rington District has not had an armed enforcement staffing in the region since general? Most hikers in the Cascades
law enforcement officer patrolling the we went to the LEO system in 1993.” have heard shooting at one time or
Mountain Loop Highway. That’s correct: Much of the impetus for more LEOs another—and not the more regulated
one year after the Pinnacle Lake murders comes from a disturbing trend taking and conscientious shooting practiced
there have been even fewer armed law hold in California and reportedly mov- by hunters.
enforcement officers working the area ing north: rampant marijuana growing. Rasar will confront shooters, when it’s
this summer. Hawkes reports that officers recently safe to do so. “If I hear shooting,” he said,
According to Forbes, a new Forest discovered a record number of plants in “and I don’t know which direction the
Service law enforcement officer (LEO) the Mount Hood National Forest, and shooter is firing, it makes me uneasy.”
has been hired, but until this person that other growing operations have been Rasar reports he’ll cite those who are
completes six months of training, the found in southern Washington and parts blatantly shooting in an unsafe manner.
district will be without an LEO until of the Colville National Forest. But if there’s no life endangerment, he’ll
March 2008. “The Snohomish County “With these and other urban-interface more likely try to educate shooters about
Sheriff’s Office has helped pick up the issues,” said Hawkes, “there are many the laws. He’ll often recommend that
slack,” Forbes told me. complexities to law enforcement on these shooters take their sport to public ranges
But according to Snohomish County large areas of land.” in Arlington and elsewhere.
deputy Rasar, his hours have In addition to noise and
been reduced recently because potential safety issues, target
grants hadn’t come in to ad- The shooter became belligerent and shooting sometimes results in
equately fund his position. And began yelling at the Herberts, warning environmental impacts and
complicating his efforts to patrol litter. Peter Forbes notes that
the Mountain Loop is the fact
them if they came any further, they’d the district has had problems
that the washout near Monte “regret it.” The shooting continued. with target shooters leaving a
Cristo has made it harder to pa- “I’ve hiked for years on thousands of mess. “They often like to go
trol each half of the loop. “That to gravel pits and blast away at
isolates things, when you have to miles of trails,” said Frank Herbert, who anything and everything,” he
drive 40 or 50 miles around to get lives in Arlington, “and this was the first said. “It creates a bit of a mess.”
to the other side,” he told me. The district has been working
To its credit, the district is
time I’ve ever been truly afraid.” to close problem areas down,
working to get a new LEO patrol- where everything from bottles
ling the region as soon as it can. to refrigerators have been shot
And the encouraging news for hikers is up and left behind.
that the Forest Service has an increased Guns On the Forest Though the Forest Service doesn’t
budget for law enforcement in Region Target shooting is not illegal on For- have extensive staff to educate shoot-
6, which covers all national forests in est Service land. “Traditionally, it has ers, they’ve put up barriers and signs
Oregon and Washington. In a detailed been allowed, where appropriate,” said describing applicable laws. Deputy
article in the November/December 2006 Peter Forbes of the Darrington District. Rasar has visited local shooting ranges
issue of Washington Trails, I noted that However, unsafe shooting practices are to get the word out about regulations on
the entire Mount Baker-Snoqualmie prohibited by federal law. The law states public lands.
National Forest had just five law enforce- that one can never shoot on or across As for hikers who encounter shooters,
ment rangers to cover a forest about the a road, a body of water or within 150 it’s up to them to gauge their safety and
size of Delaware. yards of a residence, building, campsite, to report any incidents to authorities.
But, according to Dan Hawkes, Forest developed recreation area or occupied Dan Hawkes of Region 6 says, “It’s
Service Region 6 Patrol Commander, area, into any cave, or in a manner or really incumbent upon hikers to be
since March of this year, the region now place whereby any person or property is situationally aware and to report serious
has additional funds to fill existing LEO exposed to damage or injury. According incidents.” He notes that studies show
vacancies, plus to add eight new LEOs to deputy Rasar, “a trail would qualify as only about 36 percent of all crimes are
in Oregon and Washington. In our state, a developed recreation area.” Addition- ever reported.
that includes new law enforcement offi- ally, if a shooter is behaving in an unsafe Hopefully, the Forest Service will
cers at Amboy, Kettle Falls, Walla Walla, or threatening manner, or is intoxicated, ensure that all of its employees know
and—most importantly for the Mount those are all citable offenses. how to help hikers report those crimes
Baker-Snoqualmie—at North Bend. Certainly, the Mount Higgins incident when they happen.
“We’re still down from the levels we fit that description. “This was the most
were at in 1997,” said Hawkes, “but to my blatant confrontation I’ve heard about,” Thoughts on this issue? E-mail
knowledge this is the first upswing in law said Rasar. But what about shooting in andrew@wta.org. 

WASHINGTON TRAILS October 2007