Would anyone be down for a Rampart Cleanup?

[DrJ]

Sans the morons on the busy times, it's a nice easy fast place for us locals. I have a truck and don't mind haulin trash out. Normally I try to pack more out then I bring, but if some people are willing to, I think it'd be a nice gesture to help keep the range open.

[Chief_of_Scouts]

Funny that you mention this. I was just up there a couple of times in the last month and it is appalling how trashed it is. I have seen it worse, but it needs a good cleaning.

So, my Cavalry Troop at Fort Carson is going to go up there soon and help clean the place up as a community service. I am going to coordinate with the Forest Service to see if they will drop off a dumpster like they have in the past. If not, most of the guys in my unit have trucks. I also hope to have the forest service there to assist in keeping the range closed while we clean the place. I figure 2 to 3 hours on a weekday morning should have minimal impact.

I will post the time and day of this event here for anyone interested in joining us.

[w748]

Please be sure to update with time and date! Also , when the F.S. does one of these they provide the trash bags , should we provide our own for this? Not a big deal , just want to know ahead of time.
Thanks.

[gnihcraes]

Date place and time - more notice the better, I'd be interested to help just to meet people and learn the locations of the sites. Got many things going on in life right now...but will try to help. (I got a truck and could bring a trailer probably too)

Kc.

[theGinsue]

I'm interested as well. I also have a truck and a trailer that could be used.

My only question is what do we do with the load of garbage once we have it in the trucks &/or trailers. I know that just a load of garbage BELOW the bed of my truck is about $45 to dump @ the landfill or it's satelite locations.

[Marlin]

If You do get with the F.S. They will let You either leave it by the road, or take it to the work station there in WP... We have done that in the past.. Of course, it has been awhile, they may not still do that...

[Graves]

I'll be in to help out, but the soonest I have is Next Sunday. Let me know either way.



Mike

[Chief_of_Scouts]

It's going to be in March, I just need to confirm the date. I will post as far in advance as I can. We plan on doing a little shooting after the cleanup, so plan on bringing some ammo with you. Based on the conditions, the sooner the better.

If necessary, we will provide all the funds to cover disposal fees and cost of trash bags.

Thanks to everyone that is interested in helping. If the weather is nice, it might turn into a BBQ/cleanup/shooting day. Who knows, we might even have a few private sales of firearms between legal Colorado residents. ;)

[DrJ]

Very cool! More response then I expected. I was up 2 days ago the other morning, the trash along the side of the lanes is pretty bad. And on the other side of the road. Though it looked like someone was sweeping/cleaning the area around the tables in the rifle area.

[roman gnome]

have the forest service there to assist in keeping the range closed while we clean the place.

This is really the only way to go,to avoid confrontations.

Just let us know dates and times![Beer]

[theGinsue]

.... Though it looked like someone was sweeping/cleaning the area around the tables in the rifle area.

My guess is that someone was sweeping up expended brass (been thinking of going there to do that myself!).

[gnihcraes]

Me too. But thought my magnet on a stick would be great to clean up the steel - anything left could be had with leaf rake maybe?

kc.

[xjtwo]

Though it looked like someone was sweeping/cleaning the area around the tables in the rifle area.

My friend and I went up there last Sunday, early in the morning and there was a guy up there sweeping the 50yd lane. He was getting all the steel with a magnet on a stick and picking up brass as well.
He loaded his truck with all the trash it would take and left shortly before we did which was around 1pm.
We also picked up as much trash as we could...good to see others actually picking up the junk that builds at that place.

That said I would love to lend a helping hand and I'm sure my buddy would also.

-J

[DrJ]

Very cool! I've seen a few guys there in the early mornings going after the brass. I generally give em mine cause I don't reload, or box em up and leave them for whoever.

The issue about closing the place for a few hours to clean it could get sticky for sure, does anyone know of a local number for the forest service to organize a time they can be there?

[Chief_of_Scouts]

I am waiting for a reply from the WP USFS Ranger Station on logistical support information. As soon as I arrange the details, we will post the information here.

Expect this to occur on a Friday morning within the first 2 weeks of March. Looks like we will have at least 24 personnel in attendance. More to follow...

[Marlin]

Well, IF I'm not working and, IF I have the gas,, I will show up.. Of course, You'll have to tell Me where it is... I've never been there...

[DrJ]

Very cool Chief, appreciate the effort!

[xjtwo]

You could contact the FS Station on Weber as well, I know they cover the Pike National Forrest.

[Chief_of_Scouts]

You could contact the FS Station on Weber as well, I know they cover the Pike National Forrest.

I think they are the ones that told me to call the Woodland Park Ranger Station.

As it stands right now, we are tentatively planning on meeting at the range at 0900 hrs. 13 March 2009 (Friday) regardless of USFS support.

We will have several trucks and trashbags as well as several able bodied Cavalry Troopers to help cleanup. This is an open invitation to anyone that would like to attend. We also plan on spending some time shooting after we are through cleaning up. An informal BBQ is also planned for lunch.

*All dates and times are dependent on weather, watch this thread for updates just prior to the date.

**Please help spread the word to anyone you know that uses the range that we will need to shutdown Rampart Range to all shooting for approximately 2 to 3 hours, from 0900-1200 on 13 March 2009.

Thank you in advance to anyone willing to help and I hope to see as many of the forum members there as possible.

Chief

P.S. Apologies to DrJ for hijacking his thread and idea. It was just something we had planned to do already and I didn't want to see a duplicated effort.

[xjtwo]

I'll have to see if I can get Friday off......

If this gets pushed back to a weekend day then I and one other will be there for sure to lend a hand.

Nice work guys!

J

[gnihcraes]

The wife is working and I must be on call - within 30 mins response... so I won't be able to make it... wish I could. stinks.

kc-lakewood

[XJ]

Does this mean there won't be any "official" cleanup on a weekend?

[Sixgun]

I'm in if things work out to be off work.

[Chief_of_Scouts]

I spoke with Ranger Rick Ellsworth from the WP Ranger Station. Here's the plan:

We are going to conduct a cleanup of the Rampart Shooting Range on 13 March 2009 at 0900 - 1200 hours.

I am still waiting on a confirmation regarding a dumpster, but this is still not an issue since many of us have trucks. Although this is intended to be a community service project from the "Avenger" A Troop, 1-6 Cavalry from Fort Carson, it is open to any willing and able to participate. Our unit returned from a 15 month tour in Iraq a few months ago, so it may be a good opportunity to come out and talk with some veterans and hear a few war stories. As stated before, there will be some shooting and possibly a BBQ following the cleanup.

We intentionally planned this to be on a weekday instead of a weekend to minimize the impact it would have on the recreational shooters that fill the place up on weekends. If you are unable to attend on a Friday morning, there is a tentative cleanup planned for next month. As I understand it, the Front Range Shooters Association (or something like that) is planning a cleanup on 22 April 2009 (Wednesday) as an Earth Day event.

I will update as I get more information.

[Fal Grunt]

I might be able to come out and help if you guys tell me where.

:) Like... directions, or GPS.

Any shooting, or just clean up and BBQ?

-myers

[Chief_of_Scouts]

Any shooting, or just clean up and BBQ?

Cleanup followed by shooting and BBQ. The BBQ is in doubt due to the possibility of some cold and cloudy weather (snow?). But as it stands, we will be cleaning and since we are making the trip, we plan on shooting afterward.

To get there:
Take Hwy 24 West out of Colorado Springs,
Take the Manitou Springs exit, stay to the right, go under the bridge,
Make the the first right (Buena Vista Rd.)
Go to the stop sign and make another right (El Paso Blvd.),
Take the next left (Garden Dr.)
Stay on Garden Dr. past the rocks and parking lot,
Take the first dirt road to the left (Rampart Range Road)
Go up the mountain on the dirt road until you see the dirt parking and ranges on the left (approximately 5.8 miles).

This is still on and the USFS should be posting signs announcing the range closure for that morning. Trash hauling will be done by my unit.

Hope to see everyone there!

[Chief_of_Scouts]

Oh, and if you need the coordinates:

38°53'51.30"N

104°54'42.56"W

[Fal Grunt]

I think I drove up there once. You go into the garden of the gods, up the dirt road on the right, a couple switch backs and past the commo tower? Steel benches etc?

I didn't get to shoot last time I was there. Just scouted and picked up some brass. 300-400 pieces of .223, about 50 pieces each of 7mm and 8mm mauser once fired commercial brass, about 100 pieces of .30-06', and a 1/2 gallon ziplock of other types.

One of my favorite ranges and I haven't even shot there yet!

-myers

[theGinsue]

Fal - I recommend that you always have someone else there with you if/when you do decide to go. Typically there are some spooky individuals that go there (no range etiquette, openly staring too long at your firearms, etc).

Chief - you and your unit are the greatest for getting this thing coordinated and especially for the hauling part.

I'm going to try to be there but in case I can't can someone else who plans to be there GPS the coordinates for the place and pass it on in this thread?

For those who plan to go and have never been there, be advised that the road up there is almost always washboarded. No attempting to mix TNT during the drive and I recommend that you watch your speed on the turns as the washboarding can push you across the road fairly quickly - often with someone coming towards you driving down the middle of the road.

[Chief_of_Scouts]

Good advice about the washboard Thomas. The last time I was up there, I watched two guys in a SUV doing 40+ mph t-bone a guy in a car with his kids coming the other direction at the curve by the 25m range.

There is a possibility of wintery weather Thursday night and Friday morning. I am going to make a weather Go/No-Go decision tomorrow. If we postpone, I will post the next scheduled time for a cleanup in a new post. I don't want to postpone, but there is no point trying to clean the range in snow and freezing rain as is predicted.

[Chief_of_Scouts]

The cleanup is officially postponed due to the winter weather conditions expected.

We will reschedule and post the new date and time in a new thread. We are already looking at the 27th of March, but will not know until next week. Thank you for your support and apologies for the inconvenience.

[theGinsue]

Thanks for the heads up on that. I was really dreading the idea of going up there in bad weather and was trying to think of a way to beg off without looking (too much) like a loser.

The 27th of March is perfect for me. I'm off every-other Friday and tomorrow and the 27th are those days.

Thank you again for all of your efforts on this. The shooting community as a whole will be better off for it.

[Armed Springs]

So I went up this morning anyway with my friend. We got up there at 9am, only a quarter inch of snow. It cleared up by 10:30, we were the only people shooting for 4 hours. I do not think I can help next week so we took 8 bags of trash today, mostly plastic since it can not break down. If you need some heavy duty plastic bags donated let me know. I work in foodservice and have a lot.

[Chief_of_Scouts]

It seems like the weather didn't get as bad as the meteorologists had briefed.

[Armed Springs]

It seems like the weather didn't get as bad as the meteorologists had briefed.


Today was the best day I have ever had at Rampart. 4 different ranges for two shooters.[M2]

[gnihcraes]

Thanks for cleaning. I hopefully can make the next one.

kc.

[RRD3]

I'm a new guy here on the site, but this action is right up my alley. If someone could let me know the time and how to get there I'll bring my gloves and pitch in.

Glad to see more people taking the initiative to help.

[EOD3Holcomb]

as the Owner of JP Outfitters I will bring a few of my guides and my family members to do this........Please make sure you notify me and we will be there!

psholcomb31@msn.com

paul@jpoutfittersinc.com

719-302-0345

[Chief_of_Scouts]

We are still looking for the best date to do this. We were hoping for March 27th (Friday), but it's already looking like snow and cold conditions. The intent is to have fun while cleaning, not be cold and miserable digging for trash under an inch or two of snow.

As soon as we can get a good day to do this, we will make a new post. Expect to have less than a weeks notice.

Feel free to bring trash bags anytime you head up there and pack out more than you brought up with you. I have a rule of bringing 2 bags of trash back down every time I go shooting.

[Aloha_Shooter]

I'm game when you reschedule. I can even bring trash back home and put it in my 96 gal container for pickup (I typically fill one kitchen bag every other week!).

[andcam]

i'm also interested. i'm pretty sure i can get some contractor bags (thick plastic trashbags) ...i work for a general construction contractor (my dad) i'll have to ask the wife in advance![Swim]

when?

[Vandy58]

A bunch of us are planing this on the ar15 forums

http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=8&f=20&t=351281

[Chief_of_Scouts]

A bunch of us are planing this on the ar15 forums

FYI, there is a planned cleanup on Earth Day (April 22nd). The USFS Ranger I have been talking with said this has been planned for a few months, so I am not sure what affect that may have on your April 25th cleanup.

[Vandy58]

good call!

[Chief_of_Scouts]

Vandy, I will call Rick (USFS Ranger) and ask if the April 22nd cleanup is still a go. If so, I will post it here so anyone interested in attending can participate and also you can inform the guys at ar15.com.

Additionally, the person who was thinking of using the Sheriff's Office to prevent anyone from shooting might not be the best plan. The USFS has primary jurisdiction and will not only help in preventing shooters from endangering lives, but will also post range closure signs and provide a truck for trash removal. The other factor is, the ar15.com plan of a weekend cleanup is problematic in that you will interfere with more shooters than if you do a cleanup on a weekday morning.

I will update what the USFS says tomorrow.

[Chief_of_Scouts]

I spoke with USFS Ranger Rick Ellsworth (Woodland Park Sta.) about the Rampart Shooting Range cleanup.

The cleanup that was planned for the 22nd of April is now on for the 25th of April (Saturday). It looks like there are multiple groups or organizations that will be cleaning that day. It sounds like a good day to just show up and help, regardless of your affiliation. Although this isn't my military unit, I will likely be there.

I will create a new post to announce this cleanup.

[theGinsue]

I spoke with USFS Ranger Rick Ellsworth (Woodland Park Sta.) about the Rampart Shooting Range cleanup.

"Ranger Rick"? Oh, this is just too tempting.
[ROFL1]