Arizona man pleads guilty over illegal forest campsite

An Arizona man who told federal officers he had lived in Tonto National Forest for about eight years pleaded guilty this week to violating fire restrictions and unlawfully residing on federal forest land, after authorities said they found a makeshift campsite surrounded by roughly 1,000 pounds of trash.

Mark Aaron Gatz was arrested June 25 at the campsite, according to federal court records. He pleaded guilty Monday as part of a plea agreement to violating fire restrictions and unlawful residential use of a federal forest.

Court records cited by NBC News say a judgment filed Tuesday sentenced Gatz to three months of probation and ordered him to pay $20 in criminal penalties, while avoiding restitution of up to $5,000 to the U.S. Forest Service. The Guardian, also citing court records, reported that he was sentenced to time served and three years of probation. Under the judgment described by NBC News, Gatz also agreed to avoid visiting national forests in Arizona and to refrain from using cannabis.

Gatz initially faced an 18-count federal indictment that included allegations of building illegal fires, overstaying camping time limits, leaving trash in unsanitary conditions and related offenses. Campers are limited to 14 days in Tonto National Forest, whose western edge is about 28 miles east-northeast of Phoenix.

“Defendant has been living illegally on the U.S.F.S. lands and has violated fire restrictions despite prior warnings and citations for doing so,” U.S. Magistrate Judge Camille D. Bibles wrote in a June 30 order, according to NBC News.

In probable cause statements filed in federal court in Flagstaff, U.S. Forest Service officers wrote that they had contact with Gatz several times last year and this year. Officers said Gatz occupied a campsite for two years as of May and had accumulated refuse including “tires, plastic bags, trash bags, aluminum cans, and other items of trash.” One officer estimated the trash pile weighed about 1,000 pounds.

Officers reported finding Gatz’s SUV under a canopy structure in the woods about half a mile down a two-way dirt trail. They also described a campfire inside an illegal stone structure used for cooking. According to The Guardian, a Forest Service officer wrote that Gatz had a “hot wood burning campfire” despite fire restrictions and that Gatz “said that he knew about current fire restrictions but had to have fire to eat.”

Earlier encounters described in court filings detailed broader debris at the site. In February, an officer wrote that “upon arrival at the camp, I was flabbergasted by the amount of debris in the area,” according to The Guardian. Investigators said the debris included three ladders, six to eight overfilled totes, five 55-gallon drums, eight tires, multiple bicycle frames, 5 gallons of motor oil, plywood and other lumber, with trash scattered over about half an acre of Forest Service land.

During a May encounter, officers told Gatz to clean up the trash and leave within two weeks, according to the filings. They also reported that a campfire he had left unattended the previous day was still hot. By the time of his arrest, officers said a records check showed six outstanding federal warrants tied to earlier violations, including building fires during restrictions, constructing on national forest land, unsanitary conditions and occupying national forest as a residence.

A representative for Gatz did not immediately respond to requests for comment, according to the reports.