Arizona man accused of living eight years at trash-filled forest campsite

U.S. Forest Service rangers found a 65-year-old man at an illegal campsite in Arizona’s Tonto National Forest on June 25, where officials say about 1,000 pounds of trash had piled up around a wood-burning fire. Court documents identify him as Mark Aaron Gatz, and officials said the site sat along National Forest System Road 1006 in central Arizona.

According to a probable cause statement, Gatz told officers he had lived in the Payson Pine area of the forest for eight years total and at that particular campsite for two years. The debris spread across the site suggested a long-running encampment rather than a temporary stop: officials described a canopy structure being used as a carport, a fireplace with active embers and a cooking station holding 10 to 12 frying pans.

The trash load reached about half a ton, officials said, and included ladders, totes stuffed with debris, 55-gallon drums, tires, bike frames, motor oil, plywood and other lumber. One Forest Service officer called it one of the worst residential cases he had ever seen, while another said he was flabbergasted by the amount of debris.

The case highlights the difficult line federal land managers face on public lands that can become informal refuges for people living outside the housing system while also absorbing environmental damage, fire risk and cleanup burdens. In this case, the camp included active embers and a wood-burning fire, details that underscore how quickly an isolated site can turn into both a safety hazard and a waste dump.

The Arizona discovery also recalls earlier federal action in Colorado, where the U.S. Department of Justice said a man was charged and convicted of residing on national forest system lands, maintaining a structure on national forest lands and leaving debris there. In that case, the man was sentenced to six months in federal prison and one year of probation. The Tonto National Forest site now sits in the same category of enforcement concern: long-term occupancy, unmanaged trash and the challenge of policing remote public land before a campsite becomes a permanent scar.