Forest service officials are restricting recreational shooting in the Coronado National Forest to try to prevent wildfires.
Recreational shooting will be prohibited in the Coronado, Prescott and Tonto National Forests beginning at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
The ban is expected to run through the end of July, the U.S. Forest Service said in a news release Tuesday. Lawful hunting is exempt from the new restrictions.
The restrictions come after seven wildfires in the three forests were likely caused by recreational shooting in the last two weeks, the Forest Service said. Grasses, fuel for wildfires, are getting drier, officials say.
The Forest Service is also trying to reduce the risk of fires in order to protect firefighters from COVID-19, said Heidi Schewel, a spokeswoman for the Coronado National Forest.
“Due to the pandemic and related health and safety concerns, fewer firefighting resources will be available this year to respond to wildfires” Shewel said in an email. “We must limit firefighters’ exposure to COVID-19, and therefore reduce to the extent possible the number of human-caused wildfires requiring a fire suppression response.”
A 66-acre fire burned in the Coronado National Forest near Redington Pass on Sunday night.
The Forest Service on Monday said the fire is believed to be human caused but the cause of the fire remains under investigation, Schewel said.
